Earth's Greatest Magus

Chapter 2690: Infiltration

When a grand magus dies, their legacy rarely ends with the fading of their soul. Their bodies, though empty, can still hold fragments of their power—an aperture, the pocket of reality they carved with their will. Such domains might linger for years, slowly collapsing, sometimes even decades if untouched.

But in Kronos’ case, there was nothing left. Both his body and his soul had been utterly annihilated. What remained was only the raw aperture itself, trembling on the brink of collapse.

For the past several days, Emery had been forcing his own spirit energy into it, like a man plugging cracks in a dam, sustaining it against collapse. He knew such preservation couldn’t last forever. Today, with determination, he decided it was time.

He summoned the lump of energy into open space outside his domain. Like a dying star reigniting, it swelled and drew in the air around it until the lump burst outward into a vast cloud of swirling vapor. Veins of pale light streaked through it, then hardened into arcs of luminous gold.

Emery stepped forward. He extended his hand and focused his divine sense, letting it sink into the barrier like a blade of thought. His spirit energy pressed harder. "Open."

Ripples spread across the smoke. The aperture shivered violently, golden light scattering like sparks, before settling back into stubborn silence.

He expected no less. Every aperture carried the mark of its master’s soul, and without the rightful owner’s signature, entry was always denied.

Through his readings, the aperture’s nature had been confirmed. It was light-based, one single cosmos aperture. As Morgana had reported, Kronos’ second cosmos had not been cultivated naturally—it was forcibly bound to him through that ominous hourglass artifact. Its defenses were no stronger than Mo Yan’s, the spirit master Emery had already bested.

With his divine sense sharpened, his spirit-devouring technique honed, and fragments of temporal law in his grasp, Emery felt confident he could breach it. But unlike the hunchback slavemaster’s aperture, this time, he would not rely on brute force.

This time, he had help.

"Senior... whenever you’re ready," Emery murmured into the void.

A soft hum answered him—not with words, but with presence. As Emery unfolded his domain, the air rippled, and a translucent figure slipped free. It was Veyarel, the spatial grand magus.

For days the grand magus had lingered at Emery’s side, recovering what little strength remained and assisting in scouting the beast’s cavernous belly. He already knew Emery’s plan to attempt opening a grand magus aperture, and despite his weakened state, he had been eager to lend his hand

The grand magus had been renowned not just as a spatial master but also as an expert at unraveling seals and barriers. His pale eyes studied the swirling currents of energy that guarded the aperture. He watched in silence for several long seconds before exhaling a wistful sigh.

"This is not too difficult, actually," he murmured. "If only I still possessed my body..." Breaking this would take me minutes.

The reminder cut. His body and aperture had been destroyed in the fight, leaving him with only one-third of his former strength. Yet his comprehension of spatial law remained undiminished, and with it, the techniques he had perfected across centuries.

"Watch... and learn."

He began weaving incantation runes, fingers moving in patterns Emery had never seen. The runes shimmered with delicate lines of light, spiraling inwards, probing the aperture’s surface.

"I name this... Runelock Threading," he said softly, more a teacher than a warrior now.

Unlike Emery’s Spirit Devour, which tore at barriers with raw hunger, this method was subtle, almost surgical. It did not attempt to crush the aperture’s defenses head-on. Instead, it searched for the smallest fractures in the runic lattice, threading itself into the gaps, teasing the structure apart from within.

Veyarel intentionally performed the technique slowly and repeatedly, clearly aiming to teach Emery the finer points of his art.Each deliberate movement carried hidden depth, and the more Emery observed and practiced, the more he found himself impressed by the grand magus’ mastery.

After nearly an hour, a faint crack finally appeared in the fabric of the domain. Yet with Veyarel’s weakened state, the opening was unstable. To prevent it from collapsing, Emery stepped in—activating his Spirit Devour technique to stabilize the breach and hold it open.

"Good," Veyarel said. "Now, the best way to infiltrate someone’s aperture is in soul form. Less resistance."

At once, Emery’s darker self was sent to follow Veyarel through the aperture, while his brighter self remained behind to guard the entrance and maintain his divine sense. Ṟã₦ŐＢÊ𝐬

Inside, the two souls—Veyarel and dark Emery—descended through a thick layer of clouds until the domain revealed itself. It was not immense, spanning only about ten miles across—slightly larger than the domains of most one cosmos experts.

Yet instead of land or forest, it was sky. A great expanse of clouds, and in its midst floated a majestic flying island. Upon that island rose a gleaming citadel of gold and marble, its spires piercing the heavens. The palace radiated brilliance, like a second sun.

The sight stirred something primal in the dark Emery. His eyes glimmered with greed, and without thinking, he surged forward to claim what lay ahead.

"WAIT!" Veyarel’s voice thundered.

Startled, the dark Emery halted mid-flight. Only then did he notice the faint shimmer encircling the floating island—a lattice of power woven seamlessly into the air. It was not a simple boundary but a restriction array, carefully designed to trap and retaliate.

"If you set foot on it... our infiltration will be exposed to the lingering will. In many cases... such traps trigger the self-destruction of the domain itself."

The dark Emery drew a long breath, realizing how close he had come to ruining everything with a single reckless step. "Thank you, senior. I was careless," he said, lowering his head with rare humility.

Vayarel once again stepped forward and unleashed his [Runelock Threading] technique, tearing through the barriers while Emery watched with intense focus. It took nearly another hour before they finally broke through and found themselves standing in a massive grand courtyard.

The courtyard was lined with towering statues of Kronos himself—some depicted him as a mighty, regal figure, while others were far more disturbing, showing grotesque scenes of him devouring his own sons and daughters.

"There is something wrong with his head..." Emery muttered.

Beyond the courtyard stood the gate of the main building. Here, yet another formation had been laid—no, not just one, but a third and fourth layer. These were designed so that only Kronos himself could pass through; not even his kin would be allowed entry. It was a testament to how paranoid and cunning Kronos truly was.

Yet, Vayarel dismantled them one by one with apparent ease.

"Señor, I am impressed," Emery said sincerely.

As he worked, Vayarel shared a story. He spoke of a young magus who had once been infamous throughout the Golden City as an uncatchable thief. His rare spatial abilities had allowed him to slip through even the grasp of the city’s grand magus enforcers. That was until he met his teacher—Rosin Karat. Under the Supreme Magus’s guidance, the thief abandoned his old path and turned his gifts toward a higher purpose.

Emery listened carefully. He felt there was a hidden meaning in the tale, but his thoughts were soon broken by the final shattering of the last formation.

Together, they stepped into the main vault.

Emery froze in astonishment. Before him stretched an endless display of Kronos’s wealth: mountains of spirit stones, stacks of high-grade materials, gleaming precious artifacts, and treasures beyond count.