Earth's Greatest Magus

Chapter 2920: Life or Death

The situation turned critical in an instant.

Even with his unmatched speed and profound movement technique, Typhon was still a hundred meters away from the Chimera Sovereign, his form weaving through the air like shifting mist as he closed the distance. Morgana followed several meters behind him, her flaming wings cutting through the sky. At the same time, Emery remained farther back—his body still weighed down by the exhaustion of his previous attack.

And that distance—

It was enough to decide life or death.

The Chimera Sovereign, its grotesque body still burning and unstable, opened the monstrous maw on its stomach. Rows of jagged teeth spread apart as its long, fleshy tongue lashed outward with terrifying speed.

It struck without warning.

The Phantom Blade was neither strong nor fast enough to break free from the Chimera’s grasp, and could only watch as the tongue pierced cleanly through his chest, bursting out from his back in a spray of blood before coiling tightly around his body. In a single, brutal motion, the Chimera dragged him inward and swallowed him whole, the grotesque mouth snapping shut as a sickening crunch echoed across the battlefield.

A faint, twisted smile flickered across the Chimera’s face.

Then—

Its gaze shifted.

Toward Fjolnir.

By that moment, Typhon had already closed the distance to thirty meters, his figure flickering forward with relentless speed, but even for him, that final gap still required a fraction of time.

The Chimera did not wait.

Its tongue recoiled and lashed forward again, swirling through the air as it launched its next strike.

Emery moved first.

Ignoring the strain tearing through his body, Emery forced his focus to sharpen, his eyes blazing as he unleashed a long-distance attack.

[Spectral Gaze]

An invisible wave of mental force surged outward, piercing through space to strike directly at the Chimera Sovereign’s consciousness. Under normal circumstances, such an attack could freeze an opponent instantly—but against a Three Cosmos expert, its effectiveness was sharply diminished. At this distance, its potency was weakened, its influence reduced to a fleeting disruption rather than true paralysis.

Still—

That was all Emery needed.

Even a fraction of a second.

But he did not gamble everything on that alone.

Before the mental wave had even fully landed, Emery’s hands were already moving, forming intricate seals with practiced precision. A second surge of energy gathered—this time not directed at the enemy, but at his ally.

Temporal energy ignited.

For an instant—

The world seemed to stutter.

The flow of time around Typhon distorted subtly, not stopping entirely, but compressing—stretching the perception of a single moment into something longer, denser. Within that distorted frame, Typhon’s movements accelerated beyond their natural limits, his already profound technique pushed into a higher state.

To him—

Everything slowed.

To the battlefield—

He became faster.

The distance collapsed.

What should have taken a heartbeat was reduced to less than a thought as Typhon surged forward, breaking through the remaining gap in an instant.

And as he arrived—

He struck.

[Cloud Flame Palms]

A rapid series of palm strikes erupted forward, each one forming a massive rotating wheel of flame that surged through the air with explosive force. The barrage slammed into the Chimera Sovereign in quick succession, each impact sending shockwaves through its already damaged body.

A loud, cracking sound echoed as its structure distorted further under the assault.

The creature roared in pain.

Its tongue faltered.

The grip loosened—

And Fjolnir slipped free.

Without hesitation, Morgana surged forward, catching the wounded man mid-air before pulling him away from danger. Her wings flared as she retreated quickly, carrying him to safety.

Emery let out a sigh of relief, dropping to one knee as his breathing grew heavy.

Yet even then—

His eyes never left the enemy.

All gazes remained fixed on the Chimera Sovereign.

The abomination still stood, its massive body engulfed in flames while its form twisted in grotesque instability. The barrage of attacks had not simply damaged it—they had distorted it, leaving its structure uneven and fractured as though it were barely holding itself together. Cracks spread across its charred flesh, sections sinking and reforming in unnatural patterns, yet despite everything, it refused to collapse.

What made the scene even more unsettling was the movement of the grotesque mouth on its stomach, which never once ceased. It pulsed and contracted in a steady rhythm, producing a sickening grinding sound as it crushed and devoured what remained of the Phantom Blade. Each movement seemed to feed the creature, sending faint ripples through its body as newly absorbed energy spread across its damaged form.

The regeneration had begun again, slow but undeniable.

Faint crimson threads flickered under the charred exterior, attempting to stabilize the damage, weaving through the broken structure in a desperate effort to restore what had been torn apart.

Typhon narrowed his eyes as he stepped forward, flames gathering once more in his palm, the heat compressing into a dense, controlled sphere of destructive force.

His voice was steady, but carried clear intent. "Let me finish him now."

Emery exhaled slowly, his expression tightening as he watched the creature’s unnatural persistence. Even in such a broken state, the Chimera Sovereign continued to resist destruction, its body clinging to existence through methods that defied reason. Killing a Three Cosmos expert would never be simple, and this one—who had twisted its very nature—was proving harder than expected.

After a brief pause, he gave a firm nod.

No more unnecessary risks.

Raising his hand, Emery consumed a recovery pill, feeling the medicinal energy spread rapidly through his body, easing the strain in his channels and stabilizing his condition. Though it did not restore him fully, it was enough to bring him back into the fight. He straightened, forcing his body to respond as his focus sharpened.

This time, they would end it.

Across from them, the Chimera Sovereign slowly lifted its head, its eyes burning with madness as flames continued to seep from the cracks in its body. When it spoke, its voice came out hoarse and distorted, barely resembling that of a human.

"You will have your turn... I will devour all of you...."

The air trembled under the weight of its killing intent, pressing heavily against the surroundings.

Yet before either side could make the next move, something shifted.

Emery sensed it immediately.

His divine sense flared, locking onto a sudden disturbance deep within the Chimera’s body, a violent fluctuation that did not come from external pressure but from within itself. The creature’s expression changed abruptly, its gaze faltering as though something inside it had turned against its own control, and the madness in its eyes twisted into something sharper, more unstable.

Then it roared.

"You... YOU UNGRATEFUL BASTARD!!"

The sound tore through the battlefield, carrying both fury and something closer to desperation.

Its body convulsed violently, the transformation that had once been controlled now collapsing into chaos. Flesh swelled and shrank in uneven pulses, entire sections of its form distorting grotesquely as energy surged wildly within it. The runic markings embedded across its skin ignited one after another, their glow flickering erratically as if the power sustaining them had lost all stability.

The energy gathering within it grew denser with each passing moment, violent and uncontrollable, pressing outward against the limits of its already damaged body.

The Chimera screamed again, but this time it was no longer a sound of rage.

It was pain.

"What is happening...?" Morgana asked, her brows tightening as she watched the sudden breakdown.

"Get back!" Typhon responded immediately, his voice sharp with urgency.

Without hesitation, he thrust his hand forward, releasing a powerful surge of wind that swept both Emery and Morgana backward, creating distance in an instant. At the same time, layers of compressed air formed rapidly before them, shaping into barrier walls that shimmered faintly as they stacked over one another.

A fraction of a second later, the energy inside the Chimera reached its limit.

Then—

It detonated.

KABOOMMM!!!!

The explosion erupted from within its body, tearing it apart in a violent burst as flesh, bone, and burning fragments were blasted outward in all directions. The shockwave rolled across the battlefield with overwhelming force, flattening the already shattered terrain and scattering debris through the air.

The ground trembled beneath the impact, the air itself distorting under the force as the blast consumed everything in its immediate vicinity.

And then—

Silence followed.