Chapter 1044: Annihilation Singularity

"How did you do it? Tell me."

Augulevi's gaze swept over the many Grand Mages, and his voice could not hide his surprise, even a hint of shock; it was the first time in years his emotions surged so violently.

He was simply too curious.

Even with the Heart of the Main Brain and Creation Technique, which can create many caster avatars, and the original body possessing the deepest magical knowledge, the avatars only need to retrain and upgrade step by step; however, whether Grand Mage or Holy Soul Wizard, advancing beyond Level 20 is not easy.

Before Level 20 is the fastest, but it still takes over a decade.

After reaching Level 20, each additional level becomes harder; at least fifty years are needed to break through Thirty-level, and level alone is useless—you also need massive spiritual power and mana to master spells.

An avatar above Thirty-level, from creation to forming formidable combat power, takes at least a hundred years!

Augulevi could not be clearer on this.

Yet Lei En's mage avatar completely broke the time limit, and in just over ten years possessed such a powerful lineup.

Both in number and in quality!

This is a problem no talent can solve; Augulevi considers himself the greatest talent in history, having lived over two thousand years, having witnessed almost all known Elements and spells, yet he cannot solve this difficulty—how did Lei En manage it?

Lei En must have mastered an astonishing secret technique.

"Master, forgive me, I have nothing to disclose," Reslin replied softly; the existence of the MutatedPhone, of course, cannot be told to anyone.

Augulevi stared deeply at Reslin, then suddenly laughed, though his face looked more terrifying than crying, and said, "Lei En, if you can tell me the method to quickly raise casting levels, I will not only consent to you becoming the Oriense Empire emperor, but will personally help you ascend the throne."

Reslin felt a chill in his heart.

Before arriving, he had guessed that he could not hide the MutatedPhone from Augulevi Master; it would inevitably be detected.

"Master, would you abandon the Empire?" Reslin asked tentatively.

"If a thousand years ago you had dared such ambition, I would never have let you go, because the Empire was my greatest aid in exploring magical truth; but now the Empire no longer serves me. Letting it continue to exist is best, and if its destruction can bring me further in magical truth, then even the Empire's ruin..."

Augulevi said very casually, "I don't care either."

The Oriense Empire's destruction, spoken from his mouth, seemed merely to brush aside a mottled cobweb blocking the path, effortlessly, with no moral pressure at all.

Reslin sensed a deeper meaning.

Augulevi Master not only cared nothing for the Empire's ruin, but was even willing to actively destroy the Empire to exchange for the secret.

In his eyes there was only higher magical truth, stronger power!

Reslin shivered, not because Augulevi was cold and ruthless, but because this meant Augulevi seemed to have lost his emotions; after performing the ritual that turned him into a Lich, he still retained free will and did not become a pawn of the Lord of the Dead, yet his mind irreversibly shifted toward Lichhood, becoming a complete undead being.

"I'm sorry, Master," Reslin warned as he refused.

"Do you still remember what you owe me?" Augulevi's eyes flashed with dangerous light, "I've changed my mind; I'll use your secret to fulfill the Heart of the Main Brain and Creation Technique deal."

Reslin shook his head: "I refuse."

"Hehehe..."

Augulevi let out a series of sharp, cold laughs, "Now that you're powerful, do you feel confident enough to spar with me, no longer taking my words to heart?"

"My respect for the Master remains unchanged," Reslin replied respectfully.

"Is that so?"

Augulevi gave no answer.

He lightly tapped the "Time's End" in his hand, and the palace rippled with void waves as figures appeared around it.

Three Grand Mages, two Holy Soul Wizards.

Three Saint Rank Spirit-absorbing Monsters, also called "Spiritual Saints," and two Holy Soul Liches radiating strong death power!

A total of ten Saint Rank casters, perfectly matching Lei En's ten Grand Mages one by one.

Reslin instantly gauged the strength of these ten avatars; the highest level was a Holy Soul Lich at Thirty-eight-level! There was also a Grand Mage at Thirty-five-level, a Holy Soul Wizard at Thirty-three-level, and a Spiritual Saint at Thirty-level.

The remaining six casters ranged between Level 20 and Level 29.

From this level distribution, Augulevi Master's avatars show a clear rank gap; he cannot, as he does, simply break through Soul Transformation to swiftly raise the level to the next bottleneck.

Augulevi's caster avatars certainly exceed ten; even if only a portion is revealed, the ceiling would not surpass twenty!

"Master, please think it over," Reslin said gravely.

"Are you scared?"

Augulevi remained unmoved, "If you wish to be emperor, you should consider the current situation; since you have the courage to challenge me, you must be ready to die."

Reslin remained silent in response.

"You still owe me an unfulfilled promise that will be useful later, so I won't kill your original body, but your avatars must die, and stop dreaming of becoming the Oriense Empire emperor," Augulevi said calmly, looking at Reslin's original body, "If you can leave Yilaientu alive today, why not hand the Empire over to you?"

Reslin hesitated not at all, bowed and said, "Please, Master, enlighten me."

The moment his words fell, he acted.

In the same instant, over twenty Grand Mages, Holy Soul Wizards, Liches, and Spiritual Saints in the palace unleashed terrifying magical surges, each casting at locked targets.

Augulevi was enveloped in dazzling light, turning into a strange light sphere, and simultaneously he instantly activated Time Stop to control the entire scene.

Only one person did not cast a spell: Reslin's Number‑three real Mirror Image.

Snap!

A crisp sound.

The Number‑three real Mirror Image standing behind crushed a crystal hidden in its palm; it was only pigeon‑egg sized, meticulously faceted with hundreds of cuts, dazzlingly brilliant.

It was a Kirldalin Gem, capable of storing spells; crushing it would release them.

But it differed from ordinary Kirldalin Gems.

Basic Kirldalin Gems store One-ring to Three-ring spells, intermediate ones four to six rings, and high‑grade Kirldalin Gems can store Six‑ to Nine‑ring spells; the Ai Lun E Si world has no higher storage gems, the maximum being Nine-ring.

But Lei En created a miracle.

A few years ago, while studying the workbench in the Pixel World, he discovered that high‑grade Kirldalin Gems could be "combined"; after research and testing, he used sixteen high‑grade Kirldalin Gems to synthesize a result.

It broke the Nine-ring spell limit, able to store Ten-ring spells.

It might even be higher!

Lei En renamed this gem as "Miracle Gem", using it as one of his trump cards.

Unfortunately, high‑grade Qierdalin Gems are also very rare; he collected from multiple sources and after several years only obtained a little over twenty, enough to synthesize a single Miracle Gem. A high‑grade Qierdalin Gem costs around one hundred thousand Gold Shield, with fluctuations.

Converting, a Miracle Gem costs roughly one million five hundred thousand Gold Shield!

And it is a one‑time consumable.

Reslin No. 3 crushed the Miracle Gem; in an instant, a vast sea‑like spirit energy erupted, sweeping the entire palace in a flash.

Instant Ten‑ring Spell: Real Illusion!

Augulevi Master looked stunned; even he cannot instantly cast a Ten‑ring Spell, such power belongs only to deities. The only instant spell he can cast, "Time Reversal", is attached to the staff "Time's End", but it is not cast the moment he acts.

His Time Stop was interrupted, leaving him standing motionless.

In the palace, Augulevi's ten spell‑caster clones were all hit; their spells were interrupted, and like Augulevi they stood there, faces twisted with bewilderment, fear, shock, pain, etc., their expressions changing rapidly.

Real Illusion is the most powerful spirit‑energy illusion art.

It can trap enemies in the most realistic hallucination, bypassing external senses and protective spells, acting directly on the soul; within the illusion one cannot discern reality from unreality, what is seen, heard, felt is indistinguishable from the real world, and one can see one's deepest fears.

If killed within the illusion, one truly dies in reality, as if struck by an instant‑death spell, the soul disperses.

This is Makado's spell.

He is Lei En's only Grand Mage clone specialized in a single discipline, mastering spirit‑energy spells; after reaching Thirty‑level and, with the aid of the Hers Magic Array, spending nearly a year, he finally mastered the Ten‑ring "Real Illusion".

Then stored it within a Miracle Gem.

Makado himself casts Real Illusion, which takes about twenty seconds, but when released from a Miracle Gem it is faster than instant!

Augulevi was caught off guard and was immediately hit.

Reslin never imagined that a single Real Illusion could kill Master Augulevi; after No. 3 Real Mirror Image crushed the Miracle Gem, he immediately followed with a spell.

A faint golden light fell, empowering the adjacent No. 1 Real Mirror Image.

Time Acceleration!

Simultaneously, No. 2 Real Mirror Image cast Time Stop; the entire palace fell within the spell's range, the world fell silent. Augulevi's clones struggled to move, while Lei En's clones moved freely; each Grand Mage clone locked onto an enemy, frantically hurling Nine‑ring Spells.

Reslin's main body and No. 1 Real Mirror Image, when the Real Illusion was released, shook their shoulders in unison, creating twelve mirrors.

At once, twenty‑four Reslins appeared in the palace.

Endless Storm can upgrade Mirror Image to the ninth ring; these mirrors can cast Nine‑ring Spells, though only at seventy percent of the main body's power, their sheer number compensates. After appearing, they immediately dispersed around the palace, throwing spells at Master Augulevi.

Summoning the mirrors, Reslin's main body's No. 1 raised a hand, pointing at Augulevi; his mana burst forth without reservation, his expression focused, a black speck of light coalesced at his fingertip.

Ten‑ring Spell—Annihilation Singularity!

This is the second Ten‑ring Spell Reslin mastered; after investing several hundred thousand grid energy to upgrade the Key of Doors to the tenth ring, it was learned from that nameless existence.

The Ten‑ring Key of Doors lets Reslin perceive time and space, drastically shortening Arcane casting intervals, accelerating casting, amplifying potency; a mere thought lets him traverse void planes, omnipresent, unstoppable by any means.

The Annihilation Singularity, which originally required twenty seconds to cast, was sped up to ten seconds!

With Time Acceleration, the Endless Storm staff and Deep Crimson Signet hastened casting, allowing Reslin to release the Annihilation Singularity in just eight seconds.

This is the world's most terrifying single‑target attack spell, bar none.

It twists spacetime to the limit, instantly creating a plane and transporting the target and all attached items into it; as the target arrives, the plane vanishes, erasing all matter from the world without a trace. Neither Resurrection, Time Reversal, nor Wish Spell can reverse this, and even destroyed items cannot be summoned back.

If struck by the Annihilation Singularity, even Master Augulevi cannot withstand it; he will inevitably suffer total annihilation of body and spirit.

However, the Annihilation Singularity must hit him.

Augulevi is protected by numerous spells—spatial barriers, Magic Siphon, and over a dozen other protections—yet none let him escape.

These layers of protection must be broken.

Reslin's No. 2 and No. 3, after completing Time Acceleration, immediately cast Mirror Image; the palace's Reslins increased by another twenty‑four.

At this moment, there were fifty‑two Reslins surrounding the brain pool!

Apart from the main body and No. 1 Real Mirror Image, the other fifty Reslins, while Time Stop persisted, cast spells wildly, but none of the spells were offensive.

Tim Kainen Disintegrate;

Anti‑Magic Ray; Ruby Reverse Ray; Greater Dispel Magic;

Dimensional Anchor; Phase Distortion; Dimensional Prison;

Release Binding;

Incantation: Soul Rift; Greater Nightmare Art;

All ten of these spells are Ten‑ring; the target is singular—to break Augulevi's protective spells and destroy his magical items.

The final Incantation: Soul Rift and Greater Nightmare Art target Augulevi's weakness. After merging with the Spirit‑absorbing Monster's main brain, his mental state is unstable; finding a flaw in his psyche could yield a disproportionate effect.

Tick! Tick!

While under Time Stop, Augulevi's expression kept shifting; he was almost immune to Time Stop, and at the third second, a pale blue flame erupted in his eyes, radiating a light of wisdom.

He broke free from the Real Illusion.

Reslin had long foreseen this change; a Miracle Gem appeared on the hand of Real Mirror Image No. 2, and at the instant before Augulevi regained his will, it was crushed.

This Miracle Gem was duplicated by the Real Mirror Image Technique and can exist for only one hour.

Real Illusion released again.

Having just escaped, Augulevi fell back into it, becoming a helpless stake. After another three seconds, Time Stop ended, and the hundreds of spells released by the fifty mirrors crashed down; rays, orbs, and energy converged into a torrent, instantly engulfing the second‑escaped Augulevi!

(End of Chapter)