Earth's Greatest Magus

Chapter 2744: Violet Mist

<Don’t let him escape! Follow my mark!>

Annara’s voice echoed sharply in Emery’s mind. Almost immediately, his divine sense caught glimpses of multiple tiny beetles swirling across a stretch of snow-covered ridges. Each insect pulsed faintly with Annara’s spirit signature.

Then came her voice again, a whisper through the link. <Down here!>

Without hesitation, Emery shifted his focus and blinked. Space folded around him in an instant, and he appeared mid-air above the snowy plain. He extended one hand toward the ground below.

A deep rumble followed—low at first, then rising into a violent tremor that shook the frozen landscape. The snow-covered hills split apart like paper, trees cracked at their roots, and dozens of panicked beasts fled from the disturbance. Out from the fissures of stone and frost, a shape writhed — a dark mass coated in crawling centipedes, burrowing desperately to escape.

Emery’s eyes narrowed. "Still trying to run?"

With a thought, he summoned his nature spells. The earth itself obeyed his will — roots tore through soil, vines erupted like serpents, and the frozen ground hardened into barriers, trapping the burrowing creature.

The figure burst from beneath the snow, a masked grand magus wrapped in a shell of chitinous armor. Around him coiled a single massive centipede, violet in hue and oozing faint toxic fumes. Its legs twitched restlessly, its mandibles dripping venom.

The man’s voice was rough but controlled. "It’s clear you’re no common grand magus. But if you force my hand, I’ll drag you to hell with me!"

Emery tilted his head slightly, studying him with measured curiosity.

In that instant, the man’s energy erupted outward. A wave of cosmic power rolled through the air, heavy with malice and decay. His body twisted grotesquely as chitinous plates sprouted across his arms and chest, forming a hardened carapace that shimmered in hues of violet and black.

Emery frowned. "Is he part of the insectoid race...?"

The large centipede coiling around him hissed sharply, its mandibles clattering. The creature then dissolved into a cloud of dark violet smoke, expanding outward until it cloaked the battlefield in thick, poisonous mist. The air itself began to shimmer.

Emery immediately sensed the danger—not from the poison, but from something subtler. The toxic vapors were infused with energy that distorted perception and suppressed the divine sense. Within moments, the enemy’s presence vanished completely from his awareness.

Emery raised a brow, mildly impressed. "So that’s how you do it... an aura concealment through poison miasma. Interesting."

Then it began—the assault.

From within the swirling violet mist, a chain shot forth like a streak of lightning. Its end was tipped with a hooked dagger, much more formidable than the ones used by his subordinates earlier.

The first strike came straight for Emery’s head.

He sensed it just in time. With a flicker of thought, the space around him rippled—and he blinked several meters away, reappearing in a burst of warped air. But another chain came hurtling from the side, aimed at his flank.

The masked man had anticipated his movement.

He sidestepped again, vanishing through another spatial fold, but this time two chains crossed paths midair, forming a deadly snare at his new location. Their precision was unnerving—each swing perfectly timed, each strike guided as if by some eerie sixth sense.

Emery did not panic. His expression calm, analytical. His mind was no longer on the fight itself but on the violet mist that surrounded them. The way it shimmered faintly, how his divine sense slid across it like oil on water—it was fascinating. This was no ordinary poison. It distorted not only the senses but space itself, bending perception and scattering spiritual signals like broken glass.

He’s using the miasma as both camouflage and guidance.

A third one whistled through the fog, slicing toward his back.

This time, Emery didn’t evade. He extended one hand, his fingers moving with preternatural speed.

Clang!

"I got you," Emery murmured.

He caught the chain mid-flight. The metal vibrated in his grip, alive with energy that burned faintly against his palm, but he held firm. Then, in a single motion, he pulled.

Emery’s fist flared with energy, gathering that force into a single devastating strike. But just before the blow landed, the centipede coiled around the enemy’s shoulder, suddenly writhed and arched upward. It hissed sharply, then spat a spray of gleaming spikes from its maw.

Instinct took over. Emery released the chain and thrust his free hand forward—roots burst from his Elysian Vambrace, forming a dome of condensed nature energy. The toxic projectiles clattered against it, hissing where they struck, leaving trails of corrosive smoke and searing scars across the toughened roots.

"What an extreme toxin," he muttered, half in amusement.

When the air finally cleared, the enemy was gone.

Emery’s eyes narrowed, scanning the surroundings. The mist thickened once more, swallowing everything in its eerie violet glow. The chain in his hand dissolved into smoke, its physical form vanishing entirely.

He exhaled slowly. "He’s fast... and cunning."

Despite being of a lower realm than him, Emery knew better than to underestimate such opponents. Most Grand magus had cultivated unique abilities—secret techniques that often made them deadlier than their realm suggested. And this one, with his mastery over poison and concealment, was clearly no ordinary.

Annara’s voice echoed faintly in his mind.<Listen to me... I can help detect his presence...>

Emery, however, only smiled slightly. "No need," he said, his eyes scanning the swirling violet haze. "I got this."

Though his divine sense couldn’t detect the opponent, Emery knew his target hadn’t vanished—just cloaked in mist. Quietly, he extended his hand, and four shimmering rings materialized in the air around him.

The [Chromacle Rings].

Each one hovered with a faint hum, glowing with a shifting spectrum of color, spinning faster as they began to probe their surroundings, rippling waves of spirit energy through the fog.

A mocking laugh drifted through the mist.<Hahaha... you won’t be able to catch me!>

The man’s voice was smug, echoing like a phantom in all directions.

Emery didn’t answer. His expression stayed calm—almost bored—as his wings unfurled behind him. The Icarus Wings shone faintly even through the toxic haze. Wind gathered around him in tightening spirals, and faint arcs of lightning danced along the metallic feathers.

Then, he unleashed an ancient technique tied to the wings’ power.

[Tempest Discharge]

The air exploded.

A shockwave of lightning and wind erupted from Emery’s wings, shattering the stillness. Bolts of blue-white light tore through the fog, crackling across the frozen ground and igniting every particle of mist with electric fury.

Though the artifact had not yet been fully restored, even a fraction of its power was terrifying. The technique could not kill a Grand Magus—but it didn’t need to. The mile-wide burst of energy sent violent ripples through the area, disrupting all forms of concealment.

"There you are."

Two outlines flickered into view through the haze: the masked Grand Magus and the giant violet centipede next to him, both wrapped in arcs of crackling lightning.

"Dammit!!" the man cursed, his body convulsing as the current coiled around him like chains.

Emery didn’t waste a second.

The four Chromacle Rings moved at his command. They blazed with spectral light, shooting forward as blurs of color that split the air with sharp hums.

The masked Grand Magus tried to flee, his movements sharp and desperate. But the moment one of the Chromacle Rings coiled around his arm, it was over. The artifact’s weight crushed his speed instantly. The remaining rings followed swiftly, spiraling through the air and snapping tight around his other limbs.

A flash of spectral light surged as the rings tightened in unison—four bands of pure rainbow energy binding the Grand Magus midair.

"D-Dammit!" he roared, muscles straining. "Release me!"

Emery didn’t answer. His gaze had already shifted toward another, the centipede hovering nearby. It flailed violently, spitting clouds of venom before Emery’s power wrapped around it like a net.

The violet creature shrieked — a high, metallic sound that vibrated through the ground. Even bound, its body glowed with strange runes. Emery’s spirit sense scanned it, and the VIA database within his mind activated.

[Specimen identified: Thousand Dream Venom Centipede]

[Ancient godly-beast subspecies]

His gaze fell upon the creature—its segmented body glistening like violet glass, thin wings quivering faintly beneath its chitinous shell. It was small for its kind, perhaps only in its juvenile stage, but the sheer pressure it exuded was unmistakable.

Chututlu stirred within his consciousness, a low rumble that carried hunger and delight.<This one would make a fine meal>

Emery’s lips curved slightly. "Not this time."

He could feel the value radiating from the creature. A beast of this rarity could be worth more than a fortune. And if he could tame it... It could become an invaluable ally.

His thoughts were interrupted by the sudden shudder of his Chromacle Rings. The spectrum light that bound the Grand Magus flickered, its glow dimming under the pressure of the enemy’s struggling energy. He still hadn’t mastered the full synchronization between the four rings,

Emery clenched his fist and willed the artifact to tighten. The rings responded, colors merging into blinding brilliance before constricting all at once. The Grand Magus let out a strangled cry as the bands coiled tighter around his limbs.

"You—! You’re in the Second Cosmos, aren’t you!?" he spat, blood seeping from the corners of his mouth.

Emery’s gaze remained steady. "The loser doesn’t get to ask questions."

He didn’t act right away. Instead, he turned his gaze toward the distance, sensing the approach of a familiar presence, Annara.