The topmost level of the Devils Spice building was even more extravagant than an Emperor's bedroom. Wealth, jewels, and everything that could indicate the massive 'success' of the owner were spilled everywhere; the entire 'house' was built with precious materials: diamonds, jewels, and gold. Any mortal or even Mana Wielder entering this floor would be mesmerized and lost in greed.
However, all of this had no effect on the two mortals currently staying on this floor, as one was blind from birth while the other was just a baby.
"Jeanah? Tenly?" Aubrey called out to her maids but received no reply. Following that, she called out a few other names, yet none responded. It was eerily silent, as if everyone had disappeared and left her and her son, Rory, all alone.
Feeling the continuous rumbling and shaking of the building, she knew something major was happening downstairs and her husband might be in danger. However, she didn't call out or murmur his name even once, and gently touched her chest to feel her panicked yet serene heartbeat.
A silent, lone droplet trickled out of her always-closed eyes.
Aubrey ignored the teardrop and slowly crawled out of her bed. With the help of the wall, she walked toward the wailing child inside the cradle.
She gently cradled him and tried to soothe him, but due to the continuous shaking of the building, she was wobbling and had a hard time standing. So, while staggering, she brought the child back to the bed amidst the continuous rocking, which was getting more severe by the second.
The baby simply wouldn't stop wailing, and she eventually stopped trying. After arriving back at her bed, she gently laid her son down and lay beside him.
She gently caressed her son's tiny chest and tummy while their bed continuously shook.
A moment later, she smiled at her baby—though she couldn't see anything—and spoke in a loving tone, "Rory... I knew this day would eventually come." She paused for a moment and continued, "But this is also good. You no longer need to carry the burden my husband will leave you with, nor the helplessness of my own inability." She sighed and stayed silent for a long time before continuing, "Let's return to where we came from. Our time was short, while yours was much shorter as you are still a baby, but this will also be a release for you."
Since the day Aubrey had climbed this tall building, she had been able to hear countless screams of agony and misery. These voices were suppressed by various music, songs, and people's empty laughter.
Since she was blind from birth, she had never seen colour or light, but she had heard others describe how colourful and dazzling Devils Spice was. All of this made her feel as if countless corpses were being wrapped in beautiful, fragrant blankets. She had feared that one day, these blankets would no longer be able to suppress the nauseating stench of the continuously decaying bodies, and when that day arrived, the consequences would be too much for anyone to bear.
"Now... let's sleep together as mother and son... for the final time."
The child suddenly stopped crying, and even amidst the constant rumbling and shaking, he started giggling like the baby he was. Then, he went completely silent, as if he had heard his mother's final wish and had gone back to a long, peaceful, happy sleep.
---
Eric smashed his massive four-metre-long Telepathic Slap palms over the gathered Mages. All of them turned into blood and gore, squashed to the ground like a million tons of steel dropped from high above; they could only become the new floor paint.
"ATTACK WITH EVERYTHING!" Antonio thundered. His previous calm and steady expression completely disappeared.
He had no idea how the cloaked man had dodged so many attacks and arrived behind them, all while evading even his sight! Leaving that aside, even he with his massive strength couldn't crush that many Mana Wielders to nothing. He indeed could do it against one Rank 1 or 2, but the cloaked man had crushed everyone indiscriminately, whether they were Rank 1, 2, or 3. All were squashed to the ground in no time as if Ranks were nothing to him. What's worse was that even he couldn't see how the cloaked man did it!
Hearing the order, the mages and archers moved backward to create distance, while the warriors charged toward Eric.
Eric stood in the same place and squashed all the newly arrived to the ground like bugs, no matter whether it was a man, woman, warrior, mage, or whatever Rank they held. He showed no discrimination in his compassion.
As Eric was smashing them, a pillar beside him crumbled to the ground with a boom.
Antonio, who was initially cautious and didn't want to approach Eric easily, could no longer hold back. He now fully understood what the cloaked man was trying to do.
He was trying to bring the entire Devils Spice building to the ground!
"STOP HIM! KILL!" After roaring, Antonio no longer hesitated, pulled out his massive war hammer from his ring, and charged at Eric by himself.
Eric moved for the first time and started running. He blocked and guarded against all spells and arrows with one of his Telepathic Slaps, and with another, he kept squashing everyone around him to the ground like squashing cockroaches and spiders to their deaths.
Eric launched straight toward another pillar, and with a flying side kick, it crumbled.
Seeing this, even the Rank 3 Warriors flinched with disbelief and horror.
It was said that even a late-stage Rank 3 Warrior couldn't destroy these pillars with a single attack, even by using a weapon, yet the cloaked man did! This just showed how high his physical strength was.
Even Antonio felt this was too unbelievable. For the first time in his long life, he felt he had met someone who might have a similar strength stat as him within the Apprentice Rank; however, the guy was only at Rank 1!
Antonio didn't dare to pause and charged toward the cloaked man, but soon he realized that the man was also insanely fast. This put him in a difficult situation, as he couldn't attack if the cloaked man was moving that fast.
So, Antonio finally used his Element.
A loud rumbling sound echoed through the huge hall as blue thunder flashed beneath his feet and spread across his legs, and his speed instantly increased.
He didn't stop at that and covered both his arms and weapon with thunder. The whole war hammer was now crackling with blue thunder.
Eric turned to look, and his eyes couldn't help but light up after seeing the transformation in Antonio.
Thunder Element!
Eric knew with his current speed he couldn't outrun this godfather anymore, as with the thunder element, Antonio's speed had reached an abnormal level.
This was the benefit of the Thunder Element; it could increase both the attacking power and speed of the person. Of course, it cost Mana and required sufficient Mana Control. Although Eric's Dark Element didn't give him any offensive power, his ability to see in the dark didn't cost him any Mana.
Eric pounced and kicked another pillar, and while destroying it, he also turned around and launched himself toward the incoming Antonio.
He covered himself with mana and punched against the plummeting war hammer head-on in mid-air.
BOOM!
Thunder boomed and rumbled across the hall. The few surrounding Mana Wielders of Devils Spice juddered and fell, instantly electrocuted.
Both Eric and Antonio stayed motionless in the air for a short moment as they tried to overwhelm each other with pure strength. However, their clash ended in a draw, and both were thrown backward with powerful force.
After steadying himself, Eric was awestruck. He had no more doubt that this moustached Godfather was actually a Mystical Knight! A late-stage Rank 3 Mystical Knight! The same as Bella Noll!
It was Eric's first time meeting a Mystical Knight outside his known circle.
He was truly astounded by Antonio's strength.
In this clash, it could be said he had the lower hand and suffered more, as he was thrown further away than Antonio, though a percentage of it was due to Antonio's thunder element and weapon.
Eric was a little emotional internally; after all, the moustached man was in a sense the same as Bella Noll. She had the Light Element, while Antonio had the Thunder Element; both were considered White Elements, and both were late-stage Rank 3 Mystical Knights. He felt a glimpse of how strong Bella Noll might have been when she was at her peak.
Eric sincerely wanted to fight Antonio without using any of his abilities, as both their stats were nearly the same—with Antonio having more than him due to his lifetime of training to improve his stats and also due to the thunder element. Yet, that would only increase the fun and excitement of battle. But unfortunately, he couldn't dally too long. He wished to leave Devils Spice before the old man Gideon appeared.
On the other side, Antonio was utterly shocked at the absurdity of the situation. Unlike others who were doubtful of the cloaked man's Rank, he no longer had any doubt that this man was truly a mere mid-stage Rank 1!
Antonio was very experienced and could feel his opponent's spiritual base more vividly, especially when directly clashing against them.
This was the same for other experienced Mana Wielders too; they could clearly sense what their opponent's current stage was, especially during a head-on clash. It was like how a doctor who had seen countless human skins could guess a person's age just by looking at the skin. And if they could touch and feel the skin directly, there would no longer be any doubt, as they would be almost 100% accurate.
Antonio was now completely certain that the cloaked man's spiritual base was just as it was projected outside—a mere mid-stage Rank 1, possibly a Mystical Knight as well.
'But is this even possible?'
Antonio absolutely couldn't believe this. It was his first time clashing against an Apprentice Rank and not being able to overwhelm his opponent with his immense strength. Not to mention, they were not even of the same Rank, but two whole Ranks and a minor rank of difference!
He stood there dazed. If he hadn't seen and personally experienced this, he for his entire lifetime would have never believed it. This was the same as a peak Apprentice Rank fighting and winning head-on against a Master Rank; even fictional story writers wouldn't write something so unimaginable, as no one would believe such nonsense even in stories.
While Antonio stood dumbfounded, he noticed Eric had started speeding toward another pillar. His face pale, he recalled just how much of a messed-up situation he was currently in. If he couldn't stop the cloaked man, his family would die!
"STOP!" he roared and shot straight toward Eric at a thundering speed.
He jumped and appeared above Eric, raised his war hammer high, and with another roar, drove his hammer down upon Eric.
At this moment, Eric suddenly turned his head and smiled at Antonio.
Although the cloaked man was completely covered, somehow Antonio felt the man had a mocking smirk on his face.
He was startled.
Before he could figure out why, he suddenly felt an unstoppable force assault him from his right, and he was hurtled away with tremendous power in mid-air, wrecking and destroying everything in his path, including multiple pillars. The power was so massive that Antonio felt as if a Master Rank had slapped his entire body.
After smashing through three pillars, Antonio only stopped after slamming into another pillar and falling to the floor, powerlessly.
He tried to stand but wasn't able to; he felt as if almost all the bones across his entire body had broken.
"Lord Antonio!" The remaining Warriors and Mages of Devils Spice cried out in horror.