With a silver-white spear piercing through his forehead and exiting at the back of his skull, Mafflin leaned back violently.
His eyes widened, mouth agape, his face displaying extreme shock and disbelief.
In the next moment, all the ice crystal spikes surrounding Mafflin shattered, and he broke free from the icy confinement, his arms spreading wide, his mouth opening and closing silently.
A strange wave of magical energy emanated from him, and within the realm of frost, the black ice that had frozen the souls exploded one after another. At the same time, Mafflin's entire body seemed like a dried and cracked clay figure under the scorching sun, his skin rapidly splitting open, revealing gaping wounds the size of a baby's mouth, from which intense black beams of light shot out, as if something was trying to break free from within him.
At that moment, the silver-white spear that pierced through Mafflin's forehead quickly melted, flowing down his cheek like mercury, sealing some of the radiant wounds.
Mafflin's face twisted in rage as he reached out to grab the flowing mercury-like substance, but suddenly, a tall and imposing figure appeared silently before him.
"Congeal!"
Ronan looked down from above, coldly gazing at Mafflin, his right hand pointing at him. In an instant, countless metallic tendrils made of Ithium sprang up, wrapping around the struggling Mafflin layer by layer.
Each Ithium tendril emitted a faint aura of spatial stagnation, causing Mafflin to freeze in place, his mental energy thrashing in defiance, like a trapped beast ramming against the closing "prison door."
Ronan knew that Mafflin was preparing to unleash his hidden spells, but it was too late for that now.
The realm of ice and snow, composed of ice crystals, snowflakes, and thorny ice spikes, rapidly collapsed under Ronan's command. The chilling air and various extraordinary magical energies converged toward one point—Mafflin's body.
Mafflin's body, wrapped in Ithium metal, began to sprout solid ice rapidly, layer upon layer, and within the endless deep blue ice, strange patterns seemed to grow.
In the blink of an eye, Mafflin's figure completely vanished from the battlefield, leaving behind a massive spinning ice sphere that released an incredibly pure icy aura, continuously slicing through the empty void like a cold and sharp rotating ice blade.
Ronan stood high above, revealing his true form as he stepped out from behind the Ithium metal cover.
He held his palm out toward the ice sphere, his silver-gray robe billowing in the raging cold wind, and the energies of various magical domains coiled around him like invisible snakes, his handsome face completely shrouded in coldness.
As all the coldness in this space converged, Ronan's expression remained unchanged as he softly uttered, "Collapse!"
In an instant, the wildly spinning ice sphere abruptly came to a halt.
An inexplicable aura rapidly spread out from the battlefield.
The onlooking wizards affected by this aura felt an indescribable discomfort, as if their hearts had skipped a beat, their bodies momentarily frozen in chaos.
However, this discomfort came and went quickly, and in the next moment, everyone saw the halted ice sphere suddenly shatter.
The previously compressed coldness and magical power burst forth like a dam breaking, instantly clearing the surrounding area of wandering souls, followed by an indescribable terror of shattering and cutting.
In the small area where Mafflin had been, the void seemed to transform into a smooth, flat mirror, shattering into countless silver fragments, leaving behind shocking black cracks.
"Boom!"
In the violent energy shockwave, it seemed as if something was being crushed and exploded.
A fist-sized dark object fell out.
Ronan's eyes flickered, and he instinctively reached out to grab it. Upon closer inspection, he found it to be a square, bell-shaped object with its bottom hollowed out.
It resembled an ancient cowbell, with many mysterious ancient patterns carved on its surface.
He gently shook the strange cowbell, but it made no sound. Instead, a pile of pale, decayed severed fingers tumbled out from the bottom of the bell, each adorned with a faintly glowing spatial ring.
Could these all belong to the wizards that Mafflin had killed and harvested? As Ronan pondered, a cold and overwhelming mixed aura suddenly surged from the center of the "Shattered Silver" power explosion.
Ronan's expression tightened, ready to counterattack at any moment, but when that terrifying aura fully manifested, he found it to be a mass of swirling gray energy.
Each stream of energy represented a powerful ghostly entity, and at the very center of this mass, a soul was struggling to crawl out.
Its form was emaciated, its face twisted, filled with extreme despair and terror, its eyes looking at Ronan, seemingly pleading for help.
Ronan immediately recognized that this was Mafflin's soul.
In an instant, Mafflin's soul was ensnared by terrifying ghostly entities, being pulled back.
Among them, one ghost was particularly fierce and savage, clawing at Mafflin and swiftly dragging him into the massive gray energy mass.
From its appearance, it seemed to have been a rather young and handsome boy in life.
"Was he backfired?"
Ronan was momentarily stunned, feeling somewhat unexpected about this outcome.
Mafflin's final attempt to unleash his hidden spell was interrupted and extinguished by himself. Perhaps it was due to the backlash from a failed spell, or perhaps after his physical body perished, he no longer had the strength to control the countless vengeful souls he had commanded, leading to this situation.
Ronan thought for a moment and took out a small bone ring from his spatial ring.
This ring was something he had obtained long ago during his apprenticeship from a black-robed wizard, specifically used to store souls—the ghostly bone ring.
Previously, this bone ring had housed a madwoman ghost who was intent on killing "Valensuna."
Later, when the madwoman ghost died, the ring had been left idle.
Ronan used the bone ring to collect the energy mass entangled with countless souls before him. The ring, which was merely a mid-level zero-tier magical tool, barely managed to contain all the souls, including Mafflin's, before a crack immediately appeared on its surface, and the crack began to spread.
Ronan was not surprised, but he had no more suitable storage container at the moment, so he had to encase the bone ring in frost, temporarily suppressing the restless ghostly entities.
After completing his tasks, Ronan looked up to see countless colorful energy masses of various sizes rushing toward him.
"Whoosh—"
Like a strong wind brushing against his face, Ronan closed his eyes, feeling his soul power surging rapidly, approaching a critical point.
In his mind, three pale golden mental energy crystals simultaneously radiated a hazy glow, vibrating incessantly, "Boom!"
It was as if a gray torrent erupted from Ronan.
The rolling gray smoke enveloped him entirely, coalescing and refusing to dissipate, resembling a dense gray cloud.
This gray cloud churned continuously, as if something was about to be birthed from within.
Around the battlefield, third-tier wizards stood frozen in place.
Gazing at the faintly visible tall figure of Ronan within the rolling gray cloud, many fell into a momentary daze.
"Is Mafflin dead?"
The same question arose in the minds of every observing wizard, instilling a strong sense of unreality.
Moments later, as the observing wizards fully accepted the reality before them, their expressions began to tremble violently.
Mafflin was dead! The contemporary heir of Bones' Death Knell, a mid-level third-tier wizard, who had been regarded by many as a top-tier figure qualified to compete for a spot among the top twenty in the Hramas talent seats, had actually died?! And it was at the hands of a young wizard whose surface strength was merely second-tier.
Shock, horror, disbelief, incredulity—various emotions erupted like a volcanic explosion within the crowd of observing wizards.
"Who on earth is this person? Has anyone heard of his name?"
"When did the southern region have such a powerful ice magic legacy?!"
"What a terrifying monster!"
A small shockwave formed among the observing wizards, many realizing that the southern wizarding world was likely witnessing the rise of a prodigious new star, soon to shine brightly in this seat competition!
"Uh..."
The person most impacted by this battle was naturally Claire, the genius wizard of the "Hand of Magic Energy," a member of the Blue Mist Society alongside Ronan.
At this moment, Claire's mind was still in a daze, unable to fully process the shock of Ronan's overwhelming defeat of Mafflin.
Suddenly, Claire recalled what Aurelian had said when leading Ronan to join the Blue Mist Society—"Perhaps you can try to spar with him; I don't think you'll be his match."
At the time, he had only felt that it was Aurelian's humiliation toward him, but now he realized that it was clearly a pitfall Aurelian had dug for him.
"What's this 'four-color metal' Aurelian? It's just a smokescreen created by the silver law ring. This Ronan is the true top genius of the silver law ring, their hidden trump card."
Claire muttered in a daze, finally uncovering the truth, while the vast majority of the Blue Mist Society remained oblivious.
The current president, "Morning Breeze" Havide, should be aware of the situation; otherwise, he wouldn't have agreed to let a mere second-tier wizard join the Blue Mist Society, and treated him so warmly. Claire was still pondering this when—
"Boom!"
An invisible wave suddenly surged from a distant location.
Claire and the other wizards still present instinctively turned to look in the direction of the wave.
Everyone's gaze sharpened as they saw a gray-white stone pillar on the eastern side of the Fairy Ancient City, with a blazing white light beam piercing the sky.
Vaguely, everyone saw a mass of incredibly dense gray clouds quietly drifting into that light beam, gently landing on the top of the stone pillar, where a figure seemed to emerge. All the wizards stared blankly at this scene, and the atmosphere fell silent for a few seconds.
Moments later, someone reacted, exclaiming in shock and emotion.
"It's a seat!
One of the thirty-two talent seats of Hramas has already been occupied!"
In an instant, everyone was stirred.
This was too fast! The Fairy Ancient City had just emerged, and the competition had only just begun, yet someone had already defeated enough opponents to gain recognition and secured a spot among the thirty-two talent positions.
At this moment, everyone felt an inexplicable sense of urgency.
Although many were self-aware and did not expect to be among those thirty-two talents, the confirmation of the seats also meant that the end of the first phase of the competition was approaching.
The time left for them to reap their rewards was limited, and many did not want to be treated as prey, becoming stepping stones for others to rise.
Many wizards cast deep glances at the figure that had brought them immense shock and impact, filled with lingering astonishment and deep apprehension, before quickly leaving.
Claire continued to stare at the prominent light beam, and when she turned around, she found herself facing a pair of deep blue eyes, as serene as an autumn lake.
"You..."
Claire was startled, instinctively taking a step back, unsure of what to say.
At this moment, Ronan, having absorbed all the mysterious energy masses collected by Bones' Death Knell Mafflin, was now enveloped in thick gray smoke that nearly concealed his entire being.
His body was entwined in gray smoke, flickering like a burning gray flame, swaying unpredictably, combined with his deep, cold eyes and tall, slender figure. Even without doing anything, just standing there exuded a strong sense of mystery and power.
"I need to find a quiet place to prepare for my promotion to third-tier."
Ronan calmly looked at Claire before him and stated directly, "I'm afraid I can't join you in finding other members of the Blue Mist Society."
Mafflin's "gift" had completely closed the gap between Ronan and the last bit of soul power needed for his promotion to third-tier, even exceeding it.
He now felt ready to break through to third-tier wizard at any moment.
The transition from second-tier to third-tier, whether it was condensing the fourth mental energy crystal, constructing the fourth soul seal, or further enhancing and transforming his mental and soul powers, would significantly boost his combat strength. Ronan needed to complete this as soon as possible.
Even though he was currently in the midst of an intense competition.
Claire, the genius wizard of the "Hand of Magic Energy," had initially left a mediocre impression on Ronan, but her two returns had completely changed his perception of her.
Claire was not a bad person; in fact, one could say she was more "human" than the average wizard.
Even when facing a powerful opponent like Bones' Death Knell, she would think to lend a hand to this "rival" second-tier wizard.
Thus, Ronan felt it was necessary to inform Claire about his need to find a place to break through.
Upon hearing Ronan's words, Claire was first taken aback, then her expression quickly changed, and she promptly said, "You find a place to promote; I'll guard for you."
"Uh..."
Ronan was somewhat surprised. Before he could react, Claire was already eagerly searching around, as if trying to find a suitable place for him to seclude himself, continuously asking, "Have you prepared the materials needed for the promotion from second-tier to third-tier? I have some on hand; you can take them first."
Ronan looked at Claire, who seemed even more anxious than he was, and couldn't help but smile.
Compared to the change in attitude due to his revealed strength, he preferred to think that this was simply her true nature.
Ronan did not refuse Claire's kindness. In fact, within the Fairy Ancient City, especially now that someone had just secured a seat, everyone was beginning to feel anxious. The intensity of the competition was bound to escalate, making his choice to seclude himself for a breakthrough an extremely risky move.
With Claire helping to guard him, he could focus on his breakthrough with much more peace of mind.
Ronan and Claire quickly left the battlefield where they had fought Mafflin, eventually finding an inconspicuous fairy ancient building that resembled a giant gray mushroom in a relatively secluded area.
The ancient fairies who once lived in the Fairy Ancient City had long since vanished.
Ronan pushed open the old, small door made of an unknown material and stepped inside the building, surveying the interior environment.
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