Magus Supremacy-Chapter 885: Let them Come

Chapter 885

Stretching endlessly across the terrain where the brutal battle was unfolding, the darkened clouds from earlier instantly dispersed, revealing an enormous, shimmering fist made of pure Ki.

The width of the spectral limb extended as far as the eyes could see, dominating the horizon.

One could almost fail to call it a simple fist, as the base spanned several meters, glowing with a deadly, pulsating yellow energy that seemed to hum with the power of a collapsing star.

The fist exuded a crushing force that leveled the surrounding terrain, reducing the jagged rocks and dry earth to a giant, smooth-bottomed crater that littered the area with pulverized stone.

Thalos was now forced onto his knees, the sturdy mound he had been sitting on earlier having shattered to pieces under the peripheral weight of the technique.

Grey was being pressed deeper and deeper into the suffocating ground as sickening cracking sounds filled the air.

His blood was now pooling and rising beneath his broken body as his face was driven further into the unforgiving earth.

His eyes bulged widely, veined with red.

The vibrant aura surrounding his body disappeared swiftly, extinguished by the pressure.

Even the lightning armaments coating his hands and legs shattered in a sudden rain of electrical sparks, leaving him entirely exposed.

He was left defenceless, his breathing coming in heavy, shallow hitches.

With how tight he was clenching his jaws in a desperate bid for stability, his teeth began cracking under the mounting strain.

His skull felt impossibly heavy, shaking as if it were close to a violent explosion.

All the blood in his veins seemed to be bubbling, as if trying to burst through his skin to escape the gravitational cage.

In short... if something didn’t change soon, Grey was going to be turned into a bloody pulp against the bedrock.

....

Borfan stared at this scene with an amused, dark smirk on his face.

While Grey was visibly struggling, trying to push himself upward against the invisible mountain, the youth couldn’t even move the slightest of muscles, let alone actually stand up.

The gravitational force was now so immense that his already mangled leg was on the verge of completely collapsing under the agonizing strain.

"Hm. So that’s all?" Borfan uttered with a somewhat disappointed look on his face as he turned his gaze toward Thalos, who remained pinned on his knees.

Though the primary pressure wasn’t even directed at the gargoyle, the massive range of the technique still reached him; hence, he was unable to even struggle to his feet.

However, the ancient creature didn’t even look worried as he kept staring back and forth between the pinned mage and the towering warrior.

"Grey Dawn, otherwise known as the Supreme Magus," Borfan uttered, standing ten metres away from the mage who lay prone on the ground.

As he began speaking, the warrior started taking measured, heavy steps toward his opponent.

Slowly, he began closing the distance between them.

".... I have heard a lot about you, and one of them is your drive and anger towards the Otherworlders. You seek to vanquish them. You are so obsessed with that singular goal of yours that you have minimized your own vision."

Tak. Tak. Tak.

As he walked forward, the pressure became insurmountable on the mage’s body, the air itself growing thick and heavy.

"You fail to realize there are powers far beyond your understanding in this vast universe of ours. Entities occupying realms far above this lowly mortal plane."

He paused for a moment and also halted his deliberate movement.

"You have encountered one of these powers... the demons. But do you know there is one more power in this universe that could obliterate this mortal realm if they so sought? The Celestials... those you mortals call the Gods."

Grey was trying his absolute best to listen to the man’s words, though his eardrums were vibrating painfully due to the force mounted on his head.

"Do you know what happens when someone reaches the stage 10 of the Yun stages? Do you know what happens when someone becomes a stage 10 Yun warrior?" Borfan asked as he resumed his slow, predatory steps.

"... They become Celestials. They will ascend to that higher plane where those with powers far beyond the reach of mortals exist. The same thing happens to you mages when you reach the absolute pinnacle of your power system; you will be forced to undergo that same ascension."

Thalos was listening attentively to the revelation.

He knew a little about this from his time spent with Sir Armin, but he was still nonetheless intrigued by the explanation—and so was Grey.

"Orion was close, very much so, being a high stage nine Yun warrior. He was almost there and about to become a Celestial, hence the title: the one closest to godhood."

Grey had already stopped his futile struggling against the pressure and just chose to listen to the free lesson being bestowed upon him.

"You asked who I am, right? What I am? So listen attentively, Supreme Magus!" Borfan smiled as he paused, his hands spreading into the air as if declaring the inevitable end of the world.

"I’m a Celestial! One who has already ascended to a strength far beyond what the normal warrior can ever hope to achieve."

**** 𝘧𝓇ℯℯ𝑤ℯ𝘣𝓃ℴ𝓋𝑒𝑙.𝑐𝘰𝑚

Borfan smirked after his declaration, the yellow glow of his Ki illuminating the jagged craters of the battlefield.

"Shall I tell you one thing for free?" The Celestial asked as he began walking forward again, the distance between them considerably shorter than before.

"... The Celestials are a meddling bunch of narcissists. They don’t care about anyone but themselves, and they refuse to allow anyone to rise stronger than they are.

Above the standard Celestials, we have the Gods—beings far more potent than the average ascendant, who could be termed the original Celestials to ever exist."

Borfan was now a mere three metres away from the pinned mage.

"Those beings refuse to let anyone grow more powerful than them. They would crush any entity capable of reaching their level before they ever truly rise, and that includes you, Grey Dawn. Do you know why they haven’t taken notice of you yet?"

Grey was genuinely curious after hearing that question.

He remembered Fenrir mumbling a few times about how and why ’They’ hadn’t noticed him yet, though the wolf had never been explicit.

Borfan chuckled as he halted his steps once more.

"I will leave you to find that out yourself later on in the future. But unfortunately for you, they have taken notice of you now. They will seek to crush you before you can evolve into a cosmic anomaly."

The Celestial tilted his head to take in the mage’s battered appearance—his crushed frame and the way the earth tried to swallow him whole.

"... This begs the question; if you couldn’t even defeat me, how do you plan on handling them when they come?

You are so weak that they will erase your lineage and everyone you care about. So how will you handle yourself, Supreme Magus?! How will you hold them back?! They will come for you soon!" Borfan’s voice bellowed into the air, echoing like thunder.

....

There was a moment of absolute silence, save for the ragged, wet breaths that escaped Grey’s lips.

Then, with a hoarse and exhausted voice, the mage croaked out:

"Let—let them come."

Then, something shifted.

One hand was firmly planted on the ground, his teeth gnashing back and forth as he began to resist the mountainous pressure atop him.

A blazing red aura started surrounding his body like a second skin, flickering with heat as he huffed.

His bones continued to crack under the intense strain, yet he was undeniably pushing back.

With a second firm hand, he managed to painstakingly lift his upper body.

The sight caused Borfan’s face to darken in an instant.

In his incredibly long life, nobody had been able to resist his gravitational force once it was fully applied, yet the lad before him was actively shoving against it.

Veins bulged across Grey’s neck and arms as he struggled, his breathing coming in jagged bursts.

"... I—I fear nobody. The Otherworlders harmed all those I hold dear. They took everything away from me, and I’m prepared to hunt them down... haaa... haaa...."

Grey panted as Borfan increased the pressure again, the air humming with the weight.

One of Grey’s hands buckled under the strain, but he immediately smashed his elbow into the ground, shattering the terrain to maintain his leverage.

He refused to collapse.

"... And if the Celestials decide to do the same thing by harming those I care about, haaa... haaa... I will hunt them all to the moon and back. That’s my promise. So, let them fucking COME! I DARE THEM ALL!"

The scream tore out from Grey’s mouth, raw and unfiltered, shocking Borfan for a brief moment.

The warrior stared at the struggling, defiant mage for a few seconds, then his expression shifted to one of grim necessity.

"Very well then. Let’s take you down."

With a sudden blitz of speed, Borfan closed the distance in a heartbeat.

In one fluid motion, his leg cut through the air, smashing into the mage’s joints with surgical precision.

In a single second, Grey’s face was hammered back into the earth. For the first time in years, Grey had lost a fight to a single opponent.

Now he understood why the first mage had said he wasn’t strong enough.

This was the true, terrifying power of a Celestial.

"Like I said; I have heard a lot about you. I knew this wouldn’t work unless you were down, so here goes nothing, Supreme Magus." Borfan smiled bitterly as he proceeded to place his palms directly on Grey’s head.

The mage was taken aback, a flicker of fear crossing his mind that he was about to be finished off.

He prepared to ignite his affinities one last time to rain down havoc despite his destroyed body.

But then, he felt it.

Warmth. Power. Strength.

He felt an immense tide of energy coursing through his body at a rushing rate, stunning him to his core.

’Wait.... This is similar to when I used to steal people’s Ki and life force, but—but reversed? Is he—?’

Grey’s eyes widened in realization of exactly what Borfan was doing to him.