Fire Mage

Without hesitation, Charles cast [Flame Teleportation]. Crimson flames swirled around him.

Thanks to [Swift Thought], Sasha snapped back to full focus and thrust her spear with blinding speed.

The spear tip shimmered greenish-purple, tearing a rift in space as it flew.

She refused to leave everything to chance and unleashed another skill—[Consciousness Pull].

This exclusive technique yanked at Charles's Consciousness, sealing it away from his body for two seconds.

But Sasha wasn't finished.

She drained every last drop of stored 'Destiny' divine power from her armor and artifacts, pouring it into the spear.

Its tip shifted from purple to an eerie black—

The Legendary Sword Aura, capable of slicing through time and space.

One of Sasha's trump cards.

At that moment, Charles's body became painfully vulnerable.

His Consciousness was forced out, hovering just two feet behind him.

No good! There's no time for my other Consciousnesses to take over!

His expression grew deadly serious.

Though Charles wouldn't die outright—his Consciousness, soul, and body fused as one—he knew this blow would wound him.

He sensed something wrong about Sasha's spear and furrowed his brow, scrambling for options.

If my soul gets injured... No, I still have a trump card.

As the spear drove toward his heart, the [Robe of Shadowed Sage] activated its [Ancient Ward] skill automatically—a shimmering force field of pure divine energy.

The spear tip struck the shield with a thunderous clang.

Yet, the black aura cut relentlessly through the force field on a microscopic scale. Even divine energy cracked and splintered under the assault.

The Demi-God rank skill [Ancient Ward] held only for a moment before shattering, leaving Charles's body dangerously exposed.

Instantly, both spear and Sasha froze mid-air, locked in absolute stillness—as if time itself had halted.

[Genesis] sensed the peril and triggered [Time Stop].

Time stilled briefly before Sasha's body glowed with divine power.

A slow grin spread across her face.

Then she lunged, driving the spear deep into Charles's chest.

"I've got you now!" Her voice rang out like a divine oracle across the dimension.

The black aura carved through everything in its path down to the molecular level, gouging a deep wound in his soul form.

In an instant, Charles's body, soul, and Consciousness crumbled into ash, engulfed by crimson flames.

Not a trace of him remained.

The time-stop spell ended, returning the world to normal.

Yet, Sasha's face showed no relief.

"I know you can revive in your strange domain, Charles. Stop playing games—die for real this time!"

"Heh, did the Fate Professor tell you that? No, I don't think so."

From the molten ground, a droplet of lava rose and grew until it took the form of a young man with deep blue hair.

Sasha turned, flapping her metallic wings with her thoughts, brows furrowed.

Though her spear still pulsed with that destructive black aura, time was running out.

"I'd love to hear more about what happened at Miracle City—but I'm out of time!"

She stepped forward midair, spear pointed at Charles's head, and dashed toward him.

"Then I'll take you seriously."

Charles gripped Grace's hilt and unsheathed the sword.

At once, he cast [Accelerate Thoughts], [False-Field], and [Swordsmanship of Madness], activating Grace's [Madness Berserk] skill.

His attributes and spell power doubled.

Grace's edges glowed blood red, radiating raw destructive energy.

Charles felt the sword's madness infecting his mind, pushing him toward frenzy.

"Don't blame me for being ruthless!" he said coldly.

He leapt into the sky—and vanished.

In a heartbeat, he reappeared behind Sasha, slashing at her nape with deadly precision.

Sasha's [Eye of Truth] flared, revealing a grim future: death was certain unless she used her trump card to escape.

Only one word escaped her lips before the blade struck—

"Fate Rewind!"

Time halted—and then flowed backward.

Her falling body reversed course, rising until she danced again in midair.

Her nearly burned head emerged from the lava, regenerating before soaring upward.

At the same time, Charles's movements rewound.

His sword retraced its path back to the severed neck.

Sasha's head reappeared above the blade, slowly reattaching.

The scene rewound until the blue-haired figure rose from the lava once more.

[Error! Error! Error!...]

[An anomaly occurred!!!]

"Anomaly?" Charles raised an eyebrow and immediately stepped back, casting the [Flame Teleportation] Spell.

In an instant, he reappeared over 100 meters away, slowly hovering upward.

He glanced at the auburn-haired woman floating beside him and asked Genesis, "Can you explain more about this?"

At the same time, he noticed the visions in his left eye blur and shift unnervingly.

Two major anomalies have appeared within the Host.

First, the current time limit of the Rebirth Domain spell doesn't match reality—it's running ten seconds faster than actual time.

Second, the Host has unknowingly lost 120 years of lifespan.

"Really?" Charles's sharp gaze landed on Sasha—and his heart skipped. Her spear was gone.

"Something happened in the last ten seconds, but I don't remember a thing... No, actually, I do remember everything. Except a few pieces don't add up." His grip tightened on his sword hilt as he unsheathed it.

He recalled the brief clash with the Fate Professor in the auditorium—a battle that lasted barely two seconds but unfolded in the Astral Realm. It seemed tied to altering one's fate.

"But I doubt she can pull this trick more than once."

Sasha's eyes narrowed, calculating.

"I don't know what you did, but I'm really pissed right now," Charles growled.

He dashed forward, activating Grace's [Madness Berserk] skill, and soared at incredible speed toward her.

Sasha barely registered his movement, her divine power draining from the artifact as she tried to retreat using metallic wings.

Locking her gaze on Charles, she unleashed a trump card skill: [Fool's Gaze].

A mysterious force surged from her soul, invading his mind.

But the [Mind Blank] Amulet flared to life, instantly nullifying the attack.

Before Sasha could react, Charles vanished from sight, reappeared behind her in a blink, and slashed down vertically.

Desperately, Sasha tried to back away, but his sword cut through her head, slicing from crown to chin, cleaving her in two.

In a flash, Grace absorbed her consciousness and blood, leaving only a dried corpse that dropped into the sea of lava below.

Satisfied that no trace of Sasha remained, Charles dispelled the [Rebirth Domain] Spell and searched for an exit from this dimension.

…

Dreamforge City Outskirts

Runeth fixed his gaze on the white-haired old man hovering a hundred meters ahead, then glanced at Titus.

"He's yours." He paused, then added, "Noel, handle the three men in black robes. Jessie and Rhea, take two each."

Jessie furrowed her brow but kept her eyes on Marcus. "What about you, Mr. Runeth?"

"I won't join unless it's urgent." Runeth's voice was calm as he waved his hand and vanished completely.

Titus locked an eerie gaze on Marcus and activated his unique skill, Soul Reaper's Gaze.

His sight pierced dimensions, spotting a soul chanting in a mysterious language over ten meters away.

He shifted focus back to the white-haired man in the physical world.

"A unique living soul, able to walk freely in the Astral Realm. And that body? Just a puppet. Even Necromancers and Death Mages can't pull this off."

This was the second time Titus had witnessed such a phenomenon since returning from the Underworld.

"Sister, hold their leader a few more seconds. Once I force his soul out of the Astral Realm, he'll return to his body—and won't pose much threat. I'll handle him after."

Truthfully, Titus wished to avoid worldly affairs and let things unfold naturally.

But this one's an anomaly too. Cheating death, wandering the Astral Realm without dying—just like Charles.

Jessie seemed to grasp his meaning. She glanced at Rhea and Noel.

"It looks like you'll have to hold off those robed men without me for a while."

Her eyes flashed blood red as she lifted off the ground, her skin shifting to a strange bluish hue.

Strange blue scales sprouted on her cheeks, hands, and legs in seconds.

Around them, the sky darkened unnervingly. The bright sun vanished, replaced by three blood moons, casting an eerie glow over the city and unsettling its citizens.

Without pause, Jessie tapped her space ring and muttered an incantation.

A jar of blood appeared in her palm, then shattered into countless fragments.

Instead of falling, the droplets hovered midair, swirling and merging into the shape of a spear.

The spear hardened—now a blood crystal of deadly beauty.

"I'll do my best to keep him busy." She said coldly before dashing toward the white-haired old man.