The door swung open.
Inside was a magnificent, spacious hall, a luxurious carpet covering the floor. Smooth, marble-like tiles were neatly laid out on the surrounding walls.
Tapestries, precious ornaments, and portraits of past kings were neatly arranged above.
Towards the innermost part of the hall, there was a platform slightly elevated above the ground. Atop it, a simple metal throne sat high above.
Atop the throne sat a burly man dressed in a luxurious yet simple robe.
He seemed to be reading something in his hand. Behind the throne, two heavily armored knights stood silently guard.
Following Alka and the others through the door,
Kriel looked up and saw the guards collapsed to the ground after the door had opened.
The two knights behind him were incredibly fast. Instantly noticing something was amiss, they drew their weapons and blocked his path.
A spatial rift suddenly appeared behind the throne.
However, the crack barely appeared before it vanished.
Under Krill's furrowed brow, a tumbler landed in the center of the hall.
The tumbler swayed slightly in the center of the hall, making the surrounding space incredibly stable.
Having sealed the enemy's spatial abilities, Alka also sealed his own.
Simple spatial manipulation might be possible, but attempting spatial transformation, or even movement between them, was sheer wishful thinking.
Matricia waved her hand, and vines began to sprout wildly from the potted plants that had been placed on either side of the hall.
These vines began to climb and entwine around the walls. In an instant, the entire hall was covered in a layer of foliage, and any entrance to the outside was blocked by lush greenery.
The entire process was seamless.
It took less than three seconds.
Kriel looked at the potted plants sprouting vines; they had been placed there during this period.
"Baraz? After all these years, is it finally going to begin?"
Kriel stood up and looked at Alka and the others as they slowly approached.
"Are you the helpers Baraz has recruited to kill him in a king's palace?"
"Where's Baraz? Where's my nephew? Don't you want to witness it with your own eyes?"
Kriel didn't recognize Alka and the others at all. Alka waved his finger gently. The substance covering their faces slid away like liquid mercury.
They converged on Alka. This was the effect of the mirror, combined with the power of dreams, creating a detailed facial disguise.
Looking at Alka and the others, their true faces revealed,
Even Kriel couldn't help but stare wide-eyed. It had only been a few years, and there was no way he could forget Alka and the others.
Being dragged into the dream, the experience on that island—he would never forget it.
And the people who should have died suddenly appeared before him. How could he not be surprised?
He frowned and looked at Alka and the others, asking, "You're not dead?"
In that place, at that time, Alka and the others hadn't died. He was deeply surprised.
In his mind, he had never imagined that Alka's people would survive.
Alka didn't answer his question, but instead asked curiously, "Why do you think we're dead? Did you see our bodies?"
"Or did you witness our deaths yourself? Or do you know nothing and are just guessing?"
At this point, Alka and the others couldn't help but laugh.
Kriel's face was as gloomy as water, and she said silently, "It seems that there was quite a commotion around me while I was unconscious."
Now she might have come to understand some of the possibilities. Perhaps part of the scene she saw when she woke up was fake.
It must have been orchestrated.
"I have to admit that your strength is increasing at a rate beyond my imagination, but if that's all you're trying to do to take my life, then I might think you're overthinking it."
Kriel had almost seen through Alka and the others' current strength. The strongest among them was probably Alka, whose strength had almost reached the middle of the fourth stage. The others were only at the fourth stage.
Even with Alka's superior numbers, they still couldn't pose any fatal threat to him.
He himself had already established himself at the fifth stage, even though the two knights before him were only at the perfect third stage.
Because this country had no more treasures, even if it did, it was unlikely that they would be bestowed upon these guards.
But the gap between stages was enormous.
At this point, he couldn't help but look at the flower pots on the wall again.
"Use whatever tricks you have. Baraz must have already told you about my strength. Or are you really planning to defeat me with your fourth-stage abilities? That would only make me underestimate you.
Is that Vesk? I heard this foolishly loyal fellow has possessed a treasure for years, so it should be at the fifth stage."
Vessk was the middle-aged knight behind Narmins, whose power had reached the fifth stage.
His mission was to stop another captain of the guards, also at the fifth stage.
"Just the few of us are enough."
Alka said, and instantly filled the hall with pink mist, transforming it into a world of mist.
With a gentle wave, the two knights in front of Kriel fell to the ground.
Even if they had reached the pinnacle of individual power, ordinary people without treasures, who had been enlightened, would be of little use in a battle between treasure wielders.
As the pink mist spread, a circlet flickered from Kriel's head, emitting a faint glow that seemed to block the mist from reaching him.
Alka could see the object radiating a blue glow; it was merely a piece of spell equipment.
A light also flickered from his neck, and combined with the circlet, it seemed that Alka's pink mist could no longer drag him into dreams.
Something that restricted sleep, or rather, dreaming.
"Ever since I suffered last time due to this mist that seemed to be related to dreams, I usually prepare something to counter it."
Kriel said, using his leg to push the two knights who had fallen in front of him aside.
He reached out and grasped the still-stable space, his eyes fixed on the tumbler that was already behind Alka.
"A targeted measure?"
"I advise you not to force the space open, as it might very well cause disturbances.
By then, perhaps we won't even need to intervene; you'll be strangled to death."
Kriel had just tested this. She clenched her right fist and, from a distance of more than ten meters, slammed it down on Alka. "Thank you for the reminder. Now pay the price for your offense."
The power transmitted through the air instantly pushed the mist, causing the attack to be clearly reflected in the air, with a complete trajectory.
Pororo had already used his magic from the start. With a twist of his body, the tail hammer on his tail struck the air bomb directly from the air.
It instantly spread out in the surroundings, creating a shockwave that dispersed the mist surrounding them, revealing a void.
Vines shot out from the surrounding walls, instantly binding Kriel's hands.
He clenched his fists fiercely, and with overwhelming force, he instantly broke free from the vines.
The vines were torn and ripped apart.
Looking at the vines that were simultaneously entwining around him, aiming for his legs, he clenched his fists and pressed down.
The two vines were instantly pinned to the ground.
With a resounding thud, Pororo, relying on sheer strength and incredible speed, crashed directly into Kriel.
At this moment, Pororo looked like a giant, toothed monster covered in scales.
With his hands swirling with blue-gray lightning, he swung down fiercely.
Kriel raised his hand to block the powerful blow with his right fist. A massive shockwave enveloped his fist, and the blow sent Pororo's massive body flying like a ball.
In a trance,
At some point, a blue light had appeared behind Kriel's side.
Kriel had sensed it, but he no longer had the chance or time to react.
It was like a meteor impact.
He felt a massive impact force strike his side, a crack like a broken bone.
His entire body tilted and drifted sideways and backward.
He immediately braced himself with one hand, directing a powerful blow to the ground, sending his entire body flying. Then, the heavy pressure stopped him, also absorbing the force of the impact, allowing him to land smoothly.
The moment he landed, he launched a sideways kick with his right leg. However, before he could even kick, he was instantly entangled by several vines that shot out.
Sofia appeared beside him, his kick, shrouded in a blue light like a meteor, and struck him in the stomach.
This time, without any protection, he crashed directly into the ground, creating a huge crater. He rolled several times.
The moment Kriel stopped, without giving himself a chance to calm down, he slammed his fist down on the floor.
A massive pressure filled every corner of his body, pressing down on him instantly.
He suddenly looked up in the direction of Sofia, but the moment he felt the pressure, Sofia retreated.
Although her speed was significantly slowed by the pressure, she had already retreated to Alka's side the moment Kriel looked up.
"Cough, cough, cough!"
It was then that Kriel coughed violently, blood dripping from the corner of his mouth.
Drop by drop, blood dripped from his left side onto the floor, leaving him covered in blood.
Looking at his left arm, he saw a large area of clothing had been torn off, revealing a huge hole.
Three claw marks appeared on the flesh above it. Strangely, the flesh above these three claw marks had simply vanished.
The wound wasn't a tear, but a dent.
He reached out and pressed, and the blood flowing from his left arm immediately stopped.
He used his pressure-generating ability to suppress the wound, effectively applying a temporary bandage.
He had used pressure to counteract Sofia's two attacks, preventing himself from sustaining serious injury.
He looked at Porolo, the only one seriously injured and sent flying.
Porolo had only sustained a single blow, but a large section of his scales had fallen off his right side.
His entire arm was completely twisted, hanging from his body.
But several needles had already been inserted into his back, hidden between the scales.
The wounds on his arm and body were healing almost visibly.
Given a little more time, he would be ready to fight again in top form.
He recalled the brief, fleeting battle and stood up with a frown.
He looked at Alka, who had remained motionless.
"You're influencing me?"
His question elicited no response from Alka, who simply smiled and spread his hands.
Kriel watched the pink mist around him retreat under the pressure.
He probably sensed the pervasiveness of the pink mist during the recent battle, completely clouding his judgment.
It seemed as if he'd misjudged the direction of the battle, reacting incorrectly every time.
"Are you going to keep maintaining this pressure around you? Like a coward?"
Alka said as a mirror card flew in.
About five meters from Kriel, it was instantly crushed to the ground, shattered into fragments, and then dissipated into magical energy.
One could imagine that Kriel was exerting an extremely heavy pressure within a five-meter radius.
However, the only thing he could feel was, as Alka had previously suspected, not gravity.
It simply generated a certain range of pressure, much like some kind of shock wave pressing down.
But this was just Alka's guess.
The moment the mirror shattered, mirrors appeared one after another around him.
However, facing these mirrors, Kriel didn't panic too much.
Since he couldn't teleport, Alka naturally couldn't either.
Not to mention these mirrors, each about the size of a head, floating in a circular pattern.
Sofia suddenly reached out, pointed a finger, and pointed in a direction.
A beam of light shot out, a golden glow, not the blue starlight.
Golden light immediately struck a mirror, then rapidly bounced between them. Sofia continued to shake his fingers, firing various golden beams that darted endlessly around the mirrors.
In a matter of moments, the surroundings were filled with a constant cascade of dazzling light.
However, all the dazzling light reflected by the mirrors was directed towards Kriel.
Correspondingly, during the reflection process, the light continued to pass between the mirrors.
Until one beam pierced directly into Kriel's range.
Kriel, now completely focused, dodged the beam by moving sideways.
These beams were completely unaffected by pressure, their speed not decreasing at all within the pressure range.
Seeing this, Alka smiled.
Turning to Sofia, he gestured.
Numerous beams of light shot towards Kriel from all corners, almost 360 degrees without blind spots.
Kriel could only constantly adjust her posture to avoid the beams.
Suddenly, a shockwave of some kind exploded.
Instantly, a shockwave spread throughout the surrounding area, its force pushing the fog back once again.
A large area clear of fog was revealed.
"Ah!"
Standing in the distance, Matresha screamed before being slammed directly into the vine-covered wall.
The vines instantly formed a trampoline, catching her securely.
Though she had blocked the attack, her arms were completely broken and drooped.
Several fine needles pierced her hands, and then more and more vines enveloped her, forming a cocoon that encased her.
His entire body was enveloped within it.
Arka, who had been standing still, was instantly shattered by the sudden force.
"Is it really fake?" Kriel asked, dodging another beam of light aimed at him.
He again created a mutual pressure collision in the air beside him.
The powerful shockwaves spread outward once again, sending shattered vines and broken rubble flying.
These waves once again pushed back the surrounding mist.
In this way, Kriel pushed the mist back to a sufficiently safe area.
Then, dodging, he continuously punched through the air.
Several more air bombs slammed into the vine cocoon where Matresa was.
But the vines were incredibly resilient and intertwined, and the air bombs only broke a few of the surface strands before being enveloped by more vines. After a few attacks, Kriel knew it was pointless.
Matlisa, wrapped in the center of the cocoon, used the vines outside to sense the entire battlefield and repair her arms.
Her brow furrowed, sweat beads forming on her forehead from the pain.
Alka's figure was completely hidden in the mist that permeated the entire hall, making Kriel completely unaware.
More attacks were directed at Sofia and Pororo, who was recovering from his injuries.
Faced with this invisible attack, Sofia's entire body transformed into a straight beam of light.
Easily dodged.
There was no chance to fire further beams, as the shockwaves had already shattered most of the mirrors.
Even though the mirrors had been reinforced by Alka, Kriel's air bombs were incredibly powerful.
Facing invisible air bombs, the pressure they create is only felt when they're about to hit a person.
They're extremely difficult to dodge, but the damage they inflict is so overwhelming that even a single one can't be easily taken.
It seems as though all attacks are now directed at Pororo.