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　　"Y-you damned monster……," Growled the Earth Sage, bleeding profusely and struggling to get up, her blood pooling around her. 

  　　"Man, it's too bad I gotta end this quickly……with a body like that, I'd have dearly loved to have some fun with you before finishing it, but, oh well," I replied with a smirk, before reaching in and ripping her heart out, killing her. 

  　　I then strolled out as I used transform to turn her heart into an apple and chomped into it, humming as I teleported away. 

  　　That went really, really well. When I approached Idyll, I was uncertain as to exactly where to infiltrate from, but then I lucked out. 

  　　I came across a young Elf boy, who'd probably snuck out to explore the area outside of the nation, which is understandable since the nations have prevented civilians from leaving their walls, for safety reasons. 

  　　This little idiot let his curiosity and boredom get the better of him, and paid for it. I captured and tortured the hell out of him for information, and found out exactly where the Earth Sage stays, along with the spots where their communication and barrier maintenance centers were located. 

  　　And so, after killing him, and eating his heart after using transform to turn it into a piece of chocolate in order to check whether it'd still work, which it did, I broke through the protective barriers, used massive Obliteration Magic blasts to destroy the centers, preventing them from calling for help or maintaining any of their barriers, most significantly, the detection barriers. 

  　　I then cast Nullification at its full range to prevent any individuals from contacting the other nations, before making my way to where the Earth Sage was holed up, managed to sneak up on her and deal a critical hit. 

  　　She tried to fight, but my opening strike weakened her significantly enough that she was no threat to me whatsoever. And despite her power, all she has at her disposal was Earth Magic, so she was no threat to me. 

  　　It didn't even take me half a minute to fully incapacitate her, and now, I'm on my way out. I'm pretty tempted to go after a few more members of the other races, but there's no need to risk it, I've gained a boost of about 25,000 to my base power level with this, so I'll refrain from getting greedy. 

  　　Man, this is great, I had no idea I could use transform like this. I never had to worry about water since I have Water Magic, but now, I'll never had to worry about food either. 

  　　Heh, I bet they could solve any food shortage issues with this……the only catch is that you have to be pretty familiar with whatever you're transforming something into, otherwise it'll be all hollow and stuff. 

  　　That's why I'm good at transforming stuff into corpses, I'm very, very familiar with the insides of a human body. And I've eaten plenty of apples, came across an apple tree when I was hiding out for those twenty years, so yeah. 

  　　I actually improved on it, this apple I'm eating right now has no seeds, so I can eat it fully. And I can feel my power level swelling up, feels good to get a boost without having to endure the disgusting taste of human hearts. 

  　　Like, seriously, I thought I'd at least get used to the taste after all these years, but I never stopped feeling grossed out while eating someone's heart. Just so damn disgusting. 

  　　Now, then……I think I'll head to the Democratic Republic of Rustlands, they probably won't expect me to attack immediately after I killed the Earth Sage. Might as well surprise them! 

  　　I don't know where they maintain their barriers, so I can't destroy like I did here with Idyll, and I doubt I'll get so lucky as to find someone sneaking out again. 

  　　Too bad, that kind of info would make things so much easier. But it's fine, I'm done playing this game of cat and mouse……I'll bring the fight to them, and with how powerful my Earth Magic is right now, I can cause some pretty severe death and destruction. 

  　　I seriously didn't expect my Earth Magic to become so much more powerful so drastically, it's incredible……so, this is the power of an Elemental Sage, huh? Delightful. 

  　　But it's not enough, I want more……I'll target all the most powerful options in the Democratic Republic of Rustlands, and then……I think I'll help myself to the options in Abyss. I'm gonna feast to my heart's content, and no one will be able to stop me…… 

  　　———————————————————————————
　　Point-of-View: Shiro Blanc

  　　———————————————————————————
　　"This is bad……we thought he'd most likely go into hiding again, but it looks like he's decided to get bolder," Frowned Rai with a look of concern.

  　　"It is hard to imagine that he would attack another of our nations so soon after this, but baselessly predicting what he will do is pointless," Added Jhin with a grimace. 

  　　"So, then, what do we do?" Inquired Esta, looking worried.

  　　"We will have to bolster security at our walls. Unfortunately, there is no barrier that can withstand Obliteration Magic, so there is no way to keep him out," Responded Cusana in frustration. 

  　　"Actually……Luell has managed to create a new barrier, but it has too many drawbacks to use," Spoke up Rai. 

  　　Oh? 

  　　"Elaborate, what exactly does this barrier do, and what are the drawbacks?" I asked him. 

  　　"Well……it prevents absolutely anything from leaving or entering, including intangibility, of course. And also Obliteration Magic. It's almost more like a seal than a barrier……those inside of it won't even be able to communicate with anyone who's outside of it. 

  　　The only way to break through it would be to unravel it with another spell, but that'd have to be even more complex, so much so that even Luell himself doesn't know how to create it."

  　　"That sounds amazing!" Exclaimed Cusnai excitedly, before calming down as she saw Rai's grim expression, "What are the downsides to it?" 

  　　"Well, it can't be sustained with Mana. Instead, it sustains itself using natural energy from the surrounding area. As a result, it's easily the biggest barrier ever made, and even if it's cut off from natural energy somehow, which would be nearly impossible, it'd take decades to fade. 

  　　Also, once activated, it can't be deactivated, the only way to take it down would be to create a counter-spell to unravel it, but like I said, we don't have such a spell yet. 

  　　Of course, thanks to all those risks, we haven't actually tested it out yet, but Luell's spells have always worked exactly how he says they will, so yeah. In other words, if we use this spell, we'll essentially be trapping ourselves inside it," Explained Rai in response.

  　　"I see……yes, that is quite a problematic drawback," Frowned Cusana with a nod. 

  　　"By the way, exactly how big is this barrier?" Inquired Minise curiously. 

  　　"Yeah, about that. If we activate it at the very middle of the spot in the mountain range between Abyss and Liberty, it'll form a sphere that'll be big enough to contain both nations and a fair amount of the surrounding areas. We estimate it being able to cover approximately a fifth of the entire planet," Came the response. 

  　　Woah, holy shit. 

  　　"So, it'll create a sort of safe-zone, huh? Except, if the Spectre happens to be within the area of effect, everyone inside will be trapped with him," I surmised. 

  　　"Yeah, exactly. And like I mentioned, once it's activated, communications to those outside of it will be completely cut off, so there'll be no way to know what's happening outside……no magic can go in or come out. So, we've shelved this spell. Although, we have considered using it as a last resort in case the worst happens and the Spectre grows too powerful for anyone to stop," He informed us. 

  　　"Indeed. We will have to confirm the Spectre's location, evacuate as many people as possible into the area of effect, and then activate it. It will almost be impossible to have every single person evacuate while the Spectre still remains outside of that range, and it will be pointless if he ends up inside of it. 

  　　Of course, we did consider creating a smaller version of this, in order to potentially seal him away and have him starve to death inside of it. But so far, that has proven to be impossible. Luell has attempted many such modifications on the spell, but has stated that none have worked," Explained Jhin grimly. 

  　　"Hm, a last resort, indeed……and if the decision to activate it is made, no time can be wasted in doing so, because if the Spectre hears of it and gets within the range of the barrier, it will all be for nought," Added Cusana, looking stressed out. 

  　　This guy has really turned the world on its head, and single-handedly at that……in hindsight, maybe it's a good thing that Belia is sealed away right now, it's possible that all this chaos might have riled her up and even prompted her to join up with the Spectre. 

  　　Now, there's a scary thought……huh? I felt like a just heard a rumbling in the distance, like an explosion or concrete collapsing. 

  　　Right on cue, an incoming video call sounded in, Cusana answering it, to see an alarmed looking guard in the hologram-like screen…… 

  　　"Urgent news! The northwest section of the wall and the parts of the barriers around there have been breached with Obliteration Magic! It's……arghh!" He exclaimed in pain, as blood burst out in the display, right before the call abruptly cut off. 

  　　Oh, crap, you've gotta be kidding me……he's attacking here already!? 

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  　　Thank you for reading, I hope you enjoyed this chapter! Don't forget to vote, and feel free to leave a comment, I appreciate any and all feedback and criticism!

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