A vague figure, almost like an ethereal blur, cut through the air above one of Milis's vast, verdant plains.
The sound of its passage was muffled by the violent displacement of air, almost like a distant thunder, but the figure was already far away by the time the echo finally arrived.
The person behind that movement was Rygar, moving at hypersonic speed.
Suddenly, he stopped.
The wind exploded forward as his form came to an abrupt halt, completely defying inertia.
His black Magic Cloak with gold details, wrapped in a faint glow, helped him decelerate with abnormal perfection.
It billowed violently for a moment, trembling under the accumulated pressure of high velocity, but remained intact.
That Magic Cloak, which he had received from Aisha and company, was a high‑level magical artifact that ignored the laws of physics—one of the most useful items he possessed.
Still, Rygar had already performed tests on it.
He knew that if his speed exceeded certain limits, the pressure could become unsustainable even for it.
It was a reliable weapon, but not infallible.
Rygar slightly tilted his head to the side, as if sensing something in the air. His pupil glowed with an intense golden hue as he activated his Demon Eyes.
For a moment, he stood silent, apparently observing nothing, but his expression tightened.
"I see…" he murmured. "They're using a Mana Barrier to detect me."
He studied the Barrier for a while, and a malicious smile appeared on his lips.
"All right… this won't take long."
He lifted his gaze for a brief instant, observing the position of the sun in the sky. Based on its height and the intensity of the light, he calculated the time mentally. He had enough.
He then began to cast a Barrier Spell, enveloping his body in an almost invisible magic circle.
Pale blue lines floated around him, converging into a shape that resembled a fluid, translucent dome.
He spent about half an hour modifying and adjusting the Barrier, trying to create the perfect response for his situation. Finally, it was ready.
This was yet another barrier of his own invention, based on observations made while studying the Detection Barrier used by Milis's mages and priests.
"This should do it…"
His gaze swept the horizon again.
Endless fields, a few sparse trees, gentle hills… and then, many kilometers ahead, a military encampment.
Small white tents, a few stone structures, watchtowers, Milis's banners fluttering in the wind, and soldiers moving in formation.
He could see some things, even at that distance.
Rygar had been leaving a trail of destruction wherever he passed. He was fast enough to prevent messengers—or even ravens—from carrying any information.
No letter escaped. Yet… some outposts managed to evacuate to a certain extent. It was as if they knew he was coming.
For a while, he had thought that Milis was using some kind of "radio" or long‑range magical communication.
But now he understood the cause: Detection Barriers strategically placed to capture mana flows above a certain threshold.
Rygar had also advanced his own research on barrier magic. As soon as he sensed the detection, he created a new type of barrier. He called it the Nullification Barrier.
He inserted a set of conditions into the barrier's structure, instructing it that when it crossed a Detection Barrier, it should identify the pattern and neutralize the effect before it could activate.
It was a precise response, designed for a specific target.
Of course, the process was not so simple.
The Nullification Barrier had to be adapted to the target's magical framework. The more complex the effect to be nullified, the more intricate its coding needed to be.
Rygar assumed they were all using the same type of barrier for this.
He moved again.
His body crossed the invisible line of the Detection Barrier. No alarm. No reaction. Nothing. The Detection Barrier did not activate.
Rygar smiled once more.
And then, like lightning, he shot toward the military camp, leaving behind only the whisper of wind and a cutting pressure in the air.
Another thing Rygar had finally succeeded in developing some time ago was the Spiritual Sealing Barrier—a Saint‑level magic that, in theory, if elevated to the extreme, could prevent any kind of mental invasion.
Modifying and strengthening it to that point, however, had been a true nightmare of research and testing.
Originally, the barrier's basic function was to contain or repel undead and prevent spirits, specters, and ghosts from entering or leaving its area of influence.
However, against high‑level specters or more powerful beings, its effectiveness was almost nil. The simple act of reinforcing it with more mana did not solve Rygar's problems.
During his long journey—from his stay at the Sword Sanctuary to his return to Milis—he conducted dozens of experiments on his own.
There had been some progress, yes, but he still didn't feel safe. He still believed that if he were confronted with an entity like Hitogami, his defenses would be ineffective.
That scenario changed when Rygar reunited with his master, Verdia Solarion.
Although her practical mastery of Barrier Magic was limited to the Advanced level, her theoretical knowledge was vast and deep, fueled by centuries of study.
Verdia offered Rygar ideas and approaches he had never considered. And when he put those ideas into practice, Rygar achieved concrete results.
Thus was born a new spell: the Mind‑Block Barrier, an Emperor‑level barrier magic.
It was a highly advanced form of the Spiritual Sealing Barrier, adapted to resist mental influences, spiritual pressures, and subconscious invasions.
The magic was still far from perfect—its mana cost was high, its duration limited, and it needed to be renewed daily—but it was already a huge leap compared to his previous passive defense.
At least now, Rygar was protected against the whispers and manipulations of the malicious God.
If Hitogami were, in fact, an incorporeal soul or being, then this barrier could prevent his approach, at least while it was active.
It was a partial but significant victory. Rygar needed to thank Verdia deeply for that.
His next goal related to Hitogami was bolder: to hide completely from his sight.
He already knew that the God watched some of his movements—perhaps all of them—and that he could also see his future to some extent.
That made any plan extremely difficult to execute.
The Dragon God seemed to have a way to hide from his gaze, and Rygar surmised that Badigadi could as well, so it wasn't impossible.
And once again, Verdia had already given him some ideas he would need to explore to reach that new level.
Apparently, she also had some achievements in Divination Magic, so Rygar would eventually ask her help again.
For now, at least he wouldn't have his dreams invaded.
If someone used a Magic Power Eye to observe him, they would see a peculiar coloration: a pinkish‑blue aura enveloping his head, undulating gently like an enchanted mist—the visible manifestation of the Mind‑Block Barrier, protecting him from spiritual attacks and intrusions.
As he contemplated these advances, Rygar spotted the Milis military camp on the horizon. As he had predicted, they had not been alerted this time.
No messenger had escaped. No alarm signal. Everyone followed the normal routine of a military camp.
Rygar drew his swords: Nighthunter, the dark blade that seemed to drink the light around it, and Watermirror, his faithful silver sword.
His ki was concealed with mastery, making him even more undetectable to normal eyes.
Activating his Demon Eyes, he surveyed his surroundings with surgical precision. He noticed that, curiously, there were civilians inside the camp—something rare, given the military nature of the location.
Perhaps they were suppliers, family members, or slaves.
Two knights stood near the camp's entrance, chatting casually as if there were no threat. They were relaxed. Vulnerable.
Rygar slid like a shadow. When he approached, he used the Longsword of Light, a single fluid movement—almost effortless.
The blade sliced through the air with absolute precision, and the two knights were cleaved in half, cleanly and silently, before they could even comprehend what had struck them.
There were two towers with direct visibility to where Rygar and the fallen knights were.
Each housed two knights. One pair chatted without care, laughing and talking; the other watched in silence, one man alert and the other distracted, facing the opposite direction.
The alert knight barely had time to register that the two guards below had been cut in half before the black blade, Nighthunter, pierced his eye with brutal precision.
The blow killed him instantly. His body began to fall.
The second pair in the other tower, still conversing, suddenly saw a silhouette in the sky. That was all they saw before their heads flew in opposite directions.
Rygar's silver blade had cut through both of them and the tower itself, which began collapsing due to the clean slice.
Using Wild Dash, Rygar propelled himself off the falling tower's wall and leaped onto the other structure with an acrobatic spin and supernatural speed.
The first knight who had been pierced in the eye hadn't even reached the ground when Rygar appeared, retrieving Nighthunter and piercing his companion's throat with the black blade.
Blood spurted in a grotesque arc, muted by the speed at which everything happened.
With his Demon Eyes active, Rygar saw everything in slow motion: the tower crumbling slowly, the blood splattering, the man's body collapsing nearby, and the unsuspecting soldiers inside the camp still going about their mundane routines.
No one had noticed him.
And then, like a hungry beast, he launched himself from the tower toward the center of the military camp.
The stone building in the center caught his attention. Inside it, he realized, a spell was being activated through a magic circle.
Probably an emergency barrier encircling only the camp. A priest likely sensed him and was about to trigger the alert.
But it was too late. If it were any other troop, perhaps some would have had a chance to escape. But the visitor was far more terrifying than their worst nightmares.
Running, Rygar pointed his finger. A Supersonic Wind Bullet formed in the air. As he traversed the camp, the spell was already ready.
A sibilant ring cut through the air like a rifle shot, piercing the building's walls and cracking the priest's skull with a dry snap.
The body fell lifeless.
However, even dead, the magic circle was activated.
Several crystals scattered throughout the camp began to glow a vivid red, like eyes awakening from a deep sleep.
Rygar advanced. Four soldiers crossed his path, chatting animatedly.
With a single horizontal slash from Watermirror, he cut them in half—their bodies collapsed like puppets whose strings had been cut.
For a fleeting moment, it seemed as if the soldiers had lined up to facilitate his strike.
Rygar chuckled at the thought.
More red crystals activated around him.
But he didn't care. He tore through the camp like a hungry hurricane.
When he reached the large central courtyard, dozens of soldiers had gathered. Some were eating, others training or sharpening swords; some were polishing armor with religious dedication.
In the center, however, six crusaders—knights in ornate armor—laughed before three figures tied to stakes, surrounded by a blazing fire.
Two were of the beast race. One was human. There was also a chained demon nearby, clearly awaiting its turn.
No cries were heard.
Even with the fire reaching them and burning them, the three refused to make any sound. They only gritted their teeth, fighting until their last breath against the pain.
Rygar became furious at the sight. A deep, savage rage welled up in his chest.
Immediately, he intensified his efforts.
The first thing he did was summon a freezing frost over the fire, instantly extinguishing the flames of the fire.
Then the massacre began.
The Holy Beast Battle Aura exploded within him, heating his blood like boiling lava.
His ki burned and roared, pulsing with every beat of his heart.
Rygar brandished his sword. A wave of silver light erupted from the blade, devastating everything in its path.
The ground cracked, the courtyard trembled. A chasm opened where there had been solid earth, bodies flung aside like rag dolls.
And that was just the beginning.
With Watermirror in hand, he advanced like a living blade. One by one, soldiers fell. No one could even follow his movement.
The fastest among them—a crusader standing near the fire and one of the Saints stationed in that camp—shouted:
"It's the Red Wolf! Fall into forma—"
Rygar's kick hit him before he could finish the sentence.
His armor caved in, his body bent at a grotesque angle and was launched like a projectile, tearing through tents and bodies, leaving a trail of destruction in its wake.
A shockwave rocked the courtyard as he collided with a wall. Silence fell.
The five remaining crusaders and the soldiers around stared, stunned. And they saw.
The eyes of the beast.
Golden. Brilliant. Savage.
They stared into the eyes of death.
And that was the last thing they saw.
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