Magnus tapped his chest with one hand, inviting.
"Come on, no point in waiting. I've already set up countless barriers all over this place. I'll have plenty of time to erase every trace of you before you break through them all."
Urien wasn't a fool. He knew Magnus had been taunting him the whole time. But that didn't change the fact that Magnus had left him only two choices. Escape—though that was nearly impossible with someone who could teleport and had a traitor on his side, or fight through. He didn't understand how a human mage could heal so well, but he didn't believe Magnus was immortal like his kind. Even Master-level mages could be killed, no matter how tough.
Besides, I don't buy that claim about taking on every Hierarch at once... if he could, he'd have killed me already. He gains nothing by keeping me alive and dragging this out. It had to be mostly bluff. Still, from what he'd seen, he probably really did kill Austra himself. That means I need to end him before he uses whatever power he'd used against her on me.
His eyes locked on Magnus with quiet determination.
"You said you wouldn't fight back, right?" Urien asked lightly.
Magnus nodded.
"That's right. I'm all yours. Though if you don't actually kill me-" He trailed off, knowing Urien didn't need the rest.
"Oh, don't worry. If you want to die so badly, I'll make it happen!" At that moment, even Urien's initial movement was too fast to track. He moved even faster than Austra when Magnus had been fighting her, at least until he slowed her with Rokshaata. When something moved multiple times faster than sound, sight became useless. Urien was nearly invisible, the air ionizing from his speed and leaving a burning, plasma-like trail marking his path.
Magnus stood firm as the warning from the BGM Glitch blared, though right now he didn't even need it. Despite Urien's incredible speed, Magnus's eyes could still catch brief flashes of his movements, and his mind could process them as well.
Still, he didn't move an inch.
Suddenly, Urien appeared in front of Magnus like a lightning strike—before any sound or vibration could travel through the air or ground. In one quick motion, Urien slammed his palm into Magnus's torso. His ability worked at longer range, but it lost power the larger the area. So a close-range strike like this hit with full force, all focused on Magnus.
Instantly, the area around Magnus's torso was crushed under extreme pressure—almost a million psi. That kind of force could turn anything, from bone to concrete, into dust in an instant. It was dozens of times greater than the pressure in the deepest ocean trenches. Even the crushing weight Magnus had felt underground, trapped in magma, was nothing compared to this. In that second, Magnus's body looked fragile, like wet tissue paper. Every rib caved in. His lungs collapsed, and his heart was flattened so badly it was barely recognizable.
The damage didn't stop at his torso—this compression tore through every inch of him. Blood sprayed from his eyes, ears, and mouth. His legs exploded like before, and every bone that didn't shatter was pulled out of place. The only thing that didn't break was the magic artifice Magnus always wore on his chest. Durability was why he bought it, and even under Urien's crushing force, it didn't crack.
After losing its surface to stick to it, it simply fell off, landing on the ground.
But no one could survive that kind of injury. Urien knew it and smiled. His power wasn't very useful against vampires, though few things were—but against living beings, it was almost always fatal.
"There. Dead. Just like you wanted," Urien muttered as the shockwave from his strike and speed blasted past him, Magnus, and Niall. The force was strong enough to toss anything not firmly planted or heavy into the air. Branches snapped everywhere, mixing with dust and debris.
When the shockwave finally faded, Niall, who had stayed back, stared in disbelief at Magnus's broken body. He was used to seeing gore, but this was worse than anything he'd ever witnessed.
As for Urien, standing tall, his thoughts turned inward.
Now to deal with the traitor, and I'm home free. The barrier should fall easily now-
Urien's thoughts froze as his gaze snapped back to Magnus's mangled form—or what should have been a corpse. Somehow, it was still standing. No bones were supporting it, yet it stood. And that wasn't all. Urien had used even more pressure than he had before. More than when he crushed Magnus's leg. Still, Magnus's body hadn't turned to paste like it should have. Somehow, all his organs, veins, flesh, and muscle, which were badly damaged beyond belief, remained intact and just barely recognizable.
"What… how is-" Urien struggled to find the words, but before he could speak, the flesh, the twisted mass that used to be a person, began to move. Parts that should have been dead started to untwist, heal, and regrow.
"No, that can't be… Damn monster! I'll make sure you stay dead!" Urien didn't hesitate. In an instant, he struck Magnus's left shoulder, which imploded, sending a spray of gore into the air, followed by a pressure wave that sounded as loud as thunder as it swept through the sky. Before that blow had even fully taken effect, Urien struck again at his heart. Each blow carried the full force of a Hierarch's power combined with Urien's pressure control. Some parts collapsed entirely, while others imploded from the inside, causing surrounding tissue to explode outward.
Urien blurred, his arms seeming to multiply as he attacked a body that should have been little more than a puddle by now. Yet beyond a certain point, Magnus's body seemed to reject destruction. Damage stopped increasing and instead began to heal. And that wasn't the worst part.
Urien noticed every use of his power growing weaker. The crushing still affected Magnus, but less than before. Parts of his body became more resistant to internal implosions.
Wh- What the hell!?
He hesitated for a moment. That's all Magnus needed. His body started regenerating rapidly. Urien couldn't afford to pause, or this human would recover. But why did it feel like he was fighting something impossible to kill?
"Dammit!" Urien snarled and attacked faster, pushing his pressure even higher. Every strike targeted vital points, trying to kill what should've been long dead. For a time, it worked. Magnus's body broke down again under the new intensity. But soon, Urien hit the same wall—a limit beyond which Magnus's body refused to be destroyed, like a law written by something unseen.
And faster than before, his attacks began losing their effect.
No matter if it was the skull, spine, heart, or any other vital spot.
It was like watching something grow exponentially—the speed of Magnus's regeneration and the new ways his body reshaped itself. Soon, he was healing faster than Urien could do damage, no matter how much pressure he used.
Stopping right in front of Magnus, Urien stared in disbelief as Magnus rebuilt himself. Parts that hadn't been destroyed or scattered, pieces that shouldn't have been able to regenerate naturally, came back together. Wounds twisted and torn unwound and sealed up.
Seconds.
That's all it took for Magnus to go from a broken mess to almost fully human again. Just a bit longer, and his appearance shifted back to normal. His eyes, shriveled before, refilled with life and shone even brighter in the sunlight than before. They rolled forward to lock onto Urien. A calm smile spread across his lips as he stretched, his body clearly having gone through some kind of transformation.
It was all visible since his clothes were completely ruined. The magic artifice was the only thing left intact, floating back and reattaching itself to Magnus's chest.
"You know, I have to admit, your ability really was something," Magnus said, stopping his stretch and holding his hand out.
He turned his palm over, examining his skin.
But he wasn't just looking with his eyes. The magic artifice and his enhanced vision revealed the many changes inside his body. His cells had rearranged, with more of his inner components swapped out for compact, harder versions—almost non-organic. Muscle fibers and connective tissues now looked like perfectly organized networks, with cross-linked fibrils.
That was just one way his body had become quasi-crystalline.
"Hmm, replacing internal fluids with something non-Newtonian—like gel-foam—would be the next most efficient step. Using synthesized materials, or even changing my body's nanostructure directly, would make things easier too," Magnus muttered, almost like reading off a grocery list. He wasn't saying these things because [Perfective Regeneration] couldn't do them. He knew they were possible. His mind was buzzing with ideas and potential experiments. The problem was that the magic artifice on his chest was holding him back.
He glanced down at it, the object resting on his torso, connected to his mind.
Looks like I've finally outgrown this thing. Micrometer-level precision just isn't enough anymore if I want to push new innovations. Damn, and I haven't even finished paying it off. Debt really sucks.
"Well, I'll get to that when I can." Magnus turned his attention back to Urien.
The Hierarch hadn't tried to attack again. While Magnus focused on his internal changes, Urien noticed the changes outside, too—especially Magnus's voice. It had taken on a chime-like quality, unnervingly pleasant, like a perfectly tuned bell ringing. A side effect of his body reaching an internal balance in handling stress, pressure, and even vibrations.
In a way, this was Magnus's true voice, free from the rhythm and interference of his old body.
"What did you do..." Urien asked, his voice sharper than cautious. Everything about this boy—every human feeling and resemblance—felt like a disguise. He'd seen inside Magnus's body and never experienced anything like it. How could something be so chaotic and complex, yet so perfectly complete?
His own vampiric body didn't compare, not even close.
Magnus answered willingly, "To put it simply... I adapted my body to resist your ability while I was regenerating from them. It's a little trick of mine. I didn't get to do it against Austra, so I decided to use it against you instead. Honestly, it was the best choice—your pressurized attacks helped toughen my body way beyond the level it was at before. Pretty sure you could drop a skyscraper on me now and I'd be fine... if skyscrapers even existed here."
Urien didn't understand most of what Magnus said, but the first half hit him hard, sending a cold weight settling deep in his chest.
He- He got stronger from my own attacks? Is that even possible? Does magic like that exist? If all he needs to grow stronger is to endure attacks, then how can anyone beat him? How can we beat him?
The answer felt like it screamed at him:
They couldn't.
In that moment, any pride, hesitation, or logic holding Urien back vanished. He spun around, ready to run. It was the same look Austra had when she realized the truth.
"But you always learn it too late~♩" Magnus hummed, narrowing his eyes but still grinning.
Urien, about to bolt and create decoys to cover his escape, suddenly saw his vision blur, and then the ground rushed up to meet him. He hit the earth hard, confusion flooding in as he looked down. His legs—and the parts of his true form inside them—were gone, leaving only a clean cut and leaking black haze.
"Ah!" Experiencing [Deletion] for the first time, Urien couldn't help but scream. Niall, watching everything, understood. Though he hadn't felt it himself, he could only imagine how terrifying it was for a Hierarch—an immortal who had lived for centuries to suddenly, truly, lose a part of him.
"Oh, don't scream. You should die with some dignity," Magnus said, making a zipping motion with his hands. Suddenly, Urien felt his entire body freeze. He couldn't move, couldn't blink, couldn't shift into another form.
He was completely stuck.
Magnus stepped up beside the top half of Urien's body, glanced at Niall, and gestured.
"Come on, I need you to find his Nexus for me."
"Hu- Ah, yes, of course. Coming, my Lord," Niall said, rushing over with the urgency in his voice matching his steps. Even without the mark of loyalty, what he'd just seen would have crushed any thoughts of rebellion or escape. As for the mark itself? It made him feel a little pleased, not about the situation, but that he'd been smart enough to side with Magnus and not resist when he had the chance. Even with a mark, who didn't like having their choices confirmed?
A mix of genuine will and influence.
Niall stood on the opposite side of Urien's broken body, looking down at the defeated Hierarch. He hesitated just briefly before bending down. His nails sharpened, then he plunged his hand into Urien's back. Surprisingly, while the rest of Urien's body was stiff and frozen, that spot gave way easily.
Immediately, Niall began searching for Urien's Nexus. After about a minute, he frowned.
"Hmm, what's going on?" Magnus asked, raising an eyebrow.
"He's moving his Nexus too fast through his body. I can't get a hold of it, my Lord," Niall replied, worry creeping into his voice. He'd failed at the one thing he'd been kept around for.
But Magnus didn't seem bothered.
"Well, just tell me where it is."
Niall nodded and refocused on Urien's body. The Hierarch didn't understand why Magnus wanted the Nexus instead of just erasing him, but even if his shell couldn't move, he wasn't about to accept death quietly.
After a moment of tracing an invisible path with one hand while the other stayed buried in Urien's back, Niall shouted, "His… head. It's in his head!"
The second he said it, Magnus's eyes narrowed, locking onto Urien's head. The next moment, it vanished—like it had been scraped out of existence. Almost instantly, the restless energy in the rest of Urien's body stilled.
"Jeez, so much effort just to be annoying," Magnus muttered before turning to Niall and gesturing.
"Anyway, go ahead. Eat up, or drink up. I kind of forgot I was supposed to be giving his energy to you, so my bad about deleting his legs," he admitted casually.
"Oh, it's fine, my Lord. We usually condense most of our true forms in the torso anyway, since it has the most space," Niall said as he began absorbing the ownerless energy from Urien. It was thick and rich, far beyond anything he'd tasted before. This was the compressed essence of a Hierarch, built up over centuries and refined through equal experience.
Now, it was in his hands—a Nightborn with a rare chance.
By the time Niall finished, Urien's corpse was gone completely, only scraps of his clothes left behind. Magnus had already remade his clothes and redressed after his original ones disappeared.
"You done?" Magnus asked.
The cheerful tone he'd had was gone, replaced by a calmer voice. He didn't sound solemn like before in the alley, but he wasn't happy either.
Niall, still adjusting to the sudden shifts Magnus could take, nodded slowly as he stood, though his movements seemed delayed and sluggish.
"What's wrong with you?" Magnus asked.
"Uh, oh, it's nothing, my Lord. Just getting used to controlling this much energy... I've never devoured this much at once."
"So, you're bloated?" Magnus said, curious.
Niall nodded.
It wasn't a way the vampire ever thought he'd describe himself, but it was true—he'd just done the human equivalent of overeating.
"Interesting," Magnus muttered, surveying their surroundings. The barrier he'd set up was already breaking down after severing his connection to it. After their brief fight, part of the forest was scarred—trees uprooted, burned, or scorched in different ways.
"Ugh, what a mess. Seriously, does he have to play around so much?" Magnus said, as if talking about someone else, even though he'd been the one who made it like this.
Basker, are you sure we have to rely on my joyful side? Can't we pick someone who takes things a bit more seriously?
[I'm afraid not, Master. Your mind still isn't stable. When you work with just one emotion, you also take on its extremes. Your joyful side just wants to have fun and finds everything fascinating. It'll enjoy itself but still get the job done, especially with me guiding it. The other emotional versions of you? There's no telling if they'd cooperate or not. They might even hurt you, given your current mental state.]
"I see... well, fine. If that's how it has to be," Magnus muttered, turning to Niall.
"Ready to go? I want to scoop up one or two more Hierarchs before nightfall."
Niall hesitated.
"My Lord, I don't think I'm in much shape to... devour anything else."
Magnus didn't seem bothered.
"That's fine. I'll capture them alive and feed them to you later." Niall felt a flicker of unease hearing his new Lord talk about capturing Hierarchs like fish, but he said nothing and just nodded.
With that, Magnus raised a hand and snapped his fingers.
In an instant, both he and Niall vanished, traveling across space back to Arlcliff City. At the same time, spells were cast over the battlefield where he'd fought Urien, which began cleaning up and restoring the area, also erasing any evidence they'd been there. That kind of magic went far beyond the functionality of the Adept Class, but then again, Magnus wasn't an Adept to begin with.
As for Arlcliff City, it didn't suffer another disaster like when Magnus raided the Nocturne.
And aside from their Mind Slaves, no one noticed when two more well-known figures from the noble circles disappeared.