265 Key

Zatiel and Zitra reached the 1st magic tower in an instant after using the teleportation formation. The duo's presence was hidden thanks to Zitra's Law of Shadows. The Magus already knew their first destination, so less than a second after reaching the tower, they disappeared. 

One thousand meters away from the magic tower, Zitra and Zatiel rose from the shadow of a rock.

The Law of Light created a dome around them that made those looking from the outside see an illusion. If they destroyed the area, even a Rank 4 life form would find it hard to notice anything.

Zitra released her consciousness to investigate the surrounding. She made this to make sure there was no one hiding in this place and also to analyze why this place was so significant.

She knew that Zatiel considered this mission extremely important. That aroused her interest, but no matter how much she tried, she could not detect anything unique about this place. 

The Neo-Demon saw her efforts, and a funny smile appeared on his face. Zatiel shook his head before stomping the ground. A wave of energy was released from his foot that transformed the terrain and made it completely flat. 

"No matter how much you try, you won't find anything. Even the consciousness of a Peak Soul Law Domain existence would only detect a bunch of earth and rocks."

Zitra was surprised when she heard those words. She was smart enough to understand that Zatiel was someone special and that he did not consider Rank 4 extraordinary. However, the consciousness of a Peak Soul Law Domain existence could explore the core of a sun and manipulate it.

The fact that her consciousness could not see it was normal, but that even a Rank 6 life form could not do it, shocked her.

Zatiel noticed the expression on Zitra's face. He made a small cut on the palm of his hand and created an orb made of his own blood. Under the control of the Neo-Demon's consciousness and Mind Force, hundreds of threads of blood were formed.

With amazing dexterity and superb control, the threads of blood started to engrave runic lines in the earth.

"I did not choose this location because it was special. I could have started anywhere else. You could say that this location became special because I chose it. This is where the end of our saga in this world starts." Zatiel maintained his sight on the rune formation as he spoke.

Zitra's eyes widened when she heard that. The Fornes continent was already theirs. It was a matter of time before the force field of the Ten Tower Formation extended all over it.

But then, they will have to carry on with the rest of the world. Totally dominating a Middle World, especially one controlled by a powerful faction like the Heavenly race, could take thousands of years.

All sorts of questions filled Zitra's mind, and she could not hide her curiosity. 

"You can ask me anything you want. I may choose not to answer your questions, but at least I won't lie."

Zitra's eyes narrowed as she stared at Zatiel. The Neo-Demon proceed with the rune formation, and it appeared he did not notice the woman's gaze.

The Magus remained silent for a moment, and all the locations they will be visiting appeared on her mind. There was not a clear patron in them, but they covered the entire continent.

"What are you creating?"

"Hmm, I guess you could call it a key. One that only I know how to make and whose sole material is my bloodline." 

The Magus understood that she would not obtain a more concrete answer. Although she had more questions, this was not the time for them, so she remained quiet by Zatiel's side as he worked.

The more he advanced, the more intricate the runic formation became. It was not long before Zatiel had to use the Eye of Life and Creation to assist him in his work. Each runic line created a pattern that connected with the others around them, all of them reaching a perfect sense of harmony. 

Zitra had no talent as a Runemaster, but her knowledge about the profession was vast. However, she could not identify anything in Zatiel's work.

The one thing that was clear to her was that the complexity in the runic formation was extremely high. 

Just the fact that the runic lines were so thin that even her, a Rank 4 life form, could barely see them proved that it would be impossible for a normal Rank 3 Runemaster to create this runic formation.

'With his talent and knowledge, becoming an Origin Runemaster will be extremely easy. A monstrous genius in the hardest profession that exists, capable of pushing his battle power to the boundary of Rank 4 despite entering Rank 3 a short while ago and the greatest military mind that I have ever seen. I wonder if there is anything he could not achieve given enough time.' Zitra's eyes glowed as she saw Zatiel's flawless work.

When Zatiel's started to work, the sun was at its zenith. The night had already arrived, and the runic formation was a little more than eighty percent completed.

All of a sudden, the eyes of the Neo-Demon started to twitch, and he jumped away from the runic formation. The orb of blood, along with the threads, was pulled back into the Neo-Demon's body.

Zitra was confused by his behavior, but in the next second, she understood what happened.

Zatiel's eyes became bloody, and he clenched his fist with so much strength that the nail buried in his skin. His entire body trembled, and his face became pale. A wave of soul tearing pain was assaulting the Neo-Demon.

The Prayer of Horus improved the condition of his body while also mending the damage on his life force and delayed the episodes of agony he had to endure due to the wound on his soul. However, it did nothing to diminish the pain.

Luckily, the Neo-Demon was able to react to it and move away from the runic formation, or else he would have lost control of the threads of blood. Any damage to the formation would force him to start all over again.

The feeling of having a piece of his soul ripped from him lasted a little less than one minute. Zatiel found it hard to regulate his breathing, and he almost crumbled to the floor.

"Do you need to rest?" There was concern in Zitra's face as she supported the Neo-Demon.

She could not imagine what that type of pain could do to someone's will. The psychological pressure of knowing that you have to endure it over and over again could drive anyone mad.

Zatiel noticed the emotions in the woman's eyes and the sincerity in them. A small smile appeared on his face as he regained his bearing.

" I have a purpose, and my spirit will remain firm as long as I push myself to it. This level of pain could never break my determination to move forward." Zatiel made the orb of blood appear again, and he continued working in the runic formation.

Zitra's eyes glowed with admiration, and her sight was glued to Zatiel's back, which appeared capable of bearing the weight of the world. 

.......

On the highest floor of the winged castle in Saint City, Tomas and Oliver were having a conversation. 

"The Magi are acting very bold. They are constructing magic towers without even having active the Second Layer to assist them. What news did we get from the team we sent to monitor them?." Tomas' face was pale, and parts of his wings were missing.

"They were instructed to send hourly reports, but we have been unable to contact them for more than fourteen hours." Oliver did not comment on the fate of the team, but anyone could see by the sour expression on his face that he did not have hopes of them returning.

When Tomas heard that, he was surprised. The team they sent to spy on the Magi invader force was composed of three Soul Forging existences, and all of them were very talented in gathering information undetected.

The Angelic Paragon did not have to think too hard to have an idea who killed them. It should have been the same person that destroyed his wings, severely harmed his consciousness, and left injuries full of killing energy in his True Soul.

There should have been sadness in the Angelic Paragons' hearts due to the death of their comrades and friends, but the way their minds analyzed it was as a loss of military power. 

They saw them as nothing more than numbers. This would have been unthinkable a few months ago, but now they found it normal, and they did not even realize how much they have changed.