Earth's Greatest Magus

Chapter 2756: Identity

"Who are you really, Barnet?"

Emery’s voice cut through the still air like a blade.

Across from him sat Grand Magus Barnet — wrists and ankles bound, shoulders slumped, yet his eyes still carried the glint of defiance. His aura flickered weakly under the seal’s constant drain. Even so, there was arrogance in the way he held his chin.

Emery waited, but the man gave no response.

"It’s easy to tell that you were the Brotherhood’s biggest client," Emery’s tone flat, measured, "Even without reading these."

With a flick of his fingers, a set of papers floated into the air, suspended by strands of spirit energy. They circled above Barnet’s head; each document was stamped with the crimson sigil of the Midnight Brotherhood.

Job orders. Mission records. Payment ledgers.

These documents were among the things Annara had recovered from the Midnight Brotherhood’s lairs—proof of their crimes, enough to expose their hidden patrons.

Still, Barnet sat in silence, his restrained form unmoving.

Emery’s voice broke the stillness, calm yet edged with contempt. "Kidnapping... extortion... murder..." He let each word hang in the air like a sentence. "These are all the proof of your crimes. No one can help you now."

For a moment, the Grand Magus didn’t react. Then, slowly, his lips twisted into a smirk. A deep, humorless chuckle rumbled from his throat."Hahaha... I doubt that," he sneered. His gaze, burning with quiet fury, met Emery’s. "You don’t know what you’re dealing with. I suggest you release me now... before you regret it."

Emery studied him for a long moment, seeing not defiance, but fear carefully hidden beneath arrogance. Whatever confidence this man had came not from his own strength, but from whoever stood behind him.

"I see," Emery said softly, exhaling as his expression hardened. "You’ve chosen the hard way then."

Soul light flared in Emery’s eyes as he invoked his spirit technique [Soul walk]. In an instant, his consciousness surged outward, piercing through Barnet’s defenses like a blade of divine will. The world around him shifted—his body fading from the physical realm as his mind entered the landscape of the Grand Magus’s spirit domain.

He found himself standing amidst a mountain blanketed in pale mist. The air was thick and cold, laced with the faint echo of whispers. This was the first layer of Barnet’s mental defense—a labyrinth meant to disorient intruders. A lesser soul would have wandered endlessly here, consumed by illusion and confusion.

But Emery was not a lesser soul.

His divine sense pulsed outward, a tide of starlight scattering the mist. The fog parted, revealing his target—a stone castle perched atop a jagged hill. Its walls were black and heavy with soul energy, runes crawling like veins across its surface.

That was where Barnet’s true self was hiding.

With a breath, Emery leapt skyward, his spiritual body flickering like light through the void. When he landed before the castle, the gates loomed like mountains. He could feel the immense resistance radiating from them. It was the kind of fortress only a Grand Magus with a deep mental cultivation could forge.

However, it was not enough to stop Emery.

"Break!"

Emery gathered his soul power, and soon the castle walls began to shatter like glass. He entered the courtyard, only to be halted again by the massive main hall doors.

This time, the resistance was far stronger—unusually so. To break through, he needed to unleash his full strength. Behind him, the five-storey rainbow pagoda manifested, its radiant tiers spinning as waves of spirit energy surged forward. The massive doors began to crack under the pressure.

It took Emery hours of relentless effort before faint gaps appeared along the fractures. Through them, he finally caught sight of a young man—Barnet—his vulnerable, terrified self cowering as the door continued to crumble apart.

Emery’s divine sense flared once more. In that instant, he detected it—a seal embedded deep within Barnet’s soul, a powerful one crafted to shield the mind from intrusion. "A spirit seal," Emery muttered to himself. "And a strong one... must be the work of a Spirit Champion."

This revelation only confirmed what Emery suspected—Barnet was hiding something vital.

Taking control of the man’s mind was impossible under such protection, but Emery refused to stop there. He drew upon his Dao of Heaven and Earth, summoning a higher resonance of his soul power. Another layer of the rainbow pagoda took shape behind him, glowing with serene authority.

Minutes stretched into an hour before he began to see progress. The seal still held firm, but cracks appeared elsewhere—echoes of memories slipping through the edges of Barnet’s mind. Emery glimpsed flashes: a gathering of Grand Magus cloaked in secrecy, discussing plans to seize control of the entire sector.

"What purpose drives this?" Emery demanded, his voice echoing through the fragmented vision. "It can’t be just for land and wealth. What is your true goal?"

But the moment the question left his lips, the seal flared violently once again. The entire mental realm convulsed, hurling Emery backward. Barnet screamed, clutching his head in agony as the power protecting his mind reacted.

Emery quickly tried to pull back his spirit probes, fearing the seal might backfire onto him. But to his alarm, the seal’s power did not retreat—it spread instead, surging violently through Barnet’s soul.

It’s killing him!

Emery immediately channeled his soul energy to halt the seal’s advance, but it was too late—the entire spirit realm began to collapse. The misty castle shook apart, walls cracking and dissolving into light.

Barnet screamed in unbearable agony, clutching his head as his consciousness unraveled. His voice broke through the chaos, desperate, "Please—help me!"

"I can’t help you," Emery shouted back, struggling to hold the fragmenting space together. "But if you want revenge on whoever did this to you, then tell me what you know!"

The castle continued to crumble, chunks of its structure disintegrating into motes of light. Just as he prepared to withdraw, a sudden flash of memory burst from Barnet’s fading mind—fragments of faces, and voices whispering in the dark.

Before Emery could piece them together, the seal detonated completely. The soul realm shattered like glass, and Emery was thrown back into his body.

He gasped and opened his eyes to a horrifying sight—Barnet lay motionless, blood seeping from his eyes, nose, and ears. His soul was gone.

Emery himself staggered, blood spilling from his lips. If his spiritual defenses had been any weaker—or his reaction a second slower—he would have shared the same fate.

"Such a cruel method..." he muttered through clenched teeth.

It didn’t take a genius to see the seal’s true nature. It wasn’t just a barrier—it was a trap, a spiritual landmine designed to annihilate both the target and any intruder who dared to probe it.

Emery exhaled heavily, trying to steady himself. He had managed to recover something—fragments of crucial information—but Barnet’s death now made everything more complicated. Beyond his illicit dealings, the man had been a respected Grand Magus instructor from a reputable faction.

If Emery didn’t handle this carefully, the fallout could turn against him and his allies.

Emery left the chamber and made his way down the corridor to another compartment of the ship, where the rescued prisoners were being tended. Inside, the atmosphere was far gentler—a contrast to the chaos that had filled their escape.

Shinta stood at the center, her hands glowing with soft emerald light as she mended wounds and soothed broken minds. Her calm voice guided the flow of healing energy, while Vic assisted her by distributing potions and stabilizing the injured.

On the other side of the chamber, Kayelin and Feyanor were busy handling the captive Khadeth and his centipede creature, conducting tests connected to Annara’s situation. With her deep knowledge of exotic beasts and fey alchemy, she was undoubtedly the qualified person to deal with the poison situation—maybe not less than Emery.

Seeing that none of the rescued prisoners were in immediate danger, Emery turned his attention to their next move. Given the sensitive nature of their situation, returning to either Centauri or Utopia was risky for now.

After a moment of thought, he commanded Varrek to alter their course.

"Where are we going?" Shinta asked, her brow furrowed in concern.

Emery’s voice was steady as he replied, "We did claim to be working for the Insectoid race... so let’s pay a visit to their homeworld."