Chapter 1099: Sudden Battle

Inside the Magus World, battles between Rank Four and above were strictly forbidden.

This was one of the supreme laws, written into the codes governing the guardians, the divine towers, the knightly orders, and the Magus Alliance itself.

Clashes of that caliber were simply too destructive—those who had grasped the power of law could unleash devastation far beyond what ordinary beings could survive. Even a small misstep could shatter the balance of the entire plane.

That was why such strict regulations existed throughout the Magus World.

And this did not just apply to the main continent.

It held across the seas, deep within the magic beast forests, down in the underground world, and even here in the chaotic Blackhaven.

No one dared challenge the guardians’ authority.

If Rank Four or higher black mages actually fought in Blackhaven, the guardians would not even have to act—Nergal himself would put a stop to it.

No one would ever question the Rank Eight black soul overmage’s loyalty to the Magus World.

As for the preferential treatment he gave Andy... maybe Nergal saw a glimpse of his younger self in him, and it stirred up some old memories.

Right now, the battle happening outside the Black Tower of Stephen was between two demigod-level mages—well within the limits of the laws.

“Huh, that looks like Harnban. Who’s he fighting?” Andy rubbed his jaundiced eyes and tried getting a clearer look.

One of the mages locked in combat was indeed Harnban, a well-known demigod-level black mage in Blackhaven.

Since Rank Four and above black mages tended to keep a low profile, most stayed hidden away in their towers, rarely showing themselves.

That made demigod-level black mages the most visible figures in the region.

The stronger they were, the more attention they drew.

They were like meteors streaking across the sky—appearing once every few hundred or thousand years, and burning especially bright.

A rare few would manage to break through to Rank Four and set off to carve out their own territory and build a black tower on the edge of Blackhaven.

But most of them burned out just as quickly as they appeared, vanishing without a trace.

With how brutal Blackhaven’s competition was, breaking through to Rank Four and beyond was even harder here than in other regions.

Blackhaven had been part of the Magus World for a long time, yet even now, the number of Rank Four or higher black mages in the region stayed steady at just over two hundred.

Among the many demigod-level black mages, Harnban had stood out in Blackhaven’s central region for the past five hundred years.

Plenty of Rank Four and above black mages had privately speculated that Harnban had a real shot at reaching the next rank.

His elemental mastery might not be anything groundbreaking, but his achievements in undead chimera synthesis definitely turned heads.

Harnban was not fighting alone right now.

He had two Rank Three stitched monsters with him, plus a giant chimera that was almost demigod-level itself.

That chimera looked a bit like a toad. It had incredible leaping power and was covered in unsettling, centipede-like stitch marks.

This was basically a four-on-one fight.

Strangely, even with such an advantage, Harnban still could not gain the upper hand.

The fight raged on with no clear winner. The force of the battle and searing flames tore up the forest like a storm.

Rank Five black mage Andy squinted into the chaos, narrowing his eyes as he finally got a good look at Harnban’s opponent.

It was a demonic-looking mage with a pair of gray, flame-like wings behind him.

***

Sein was not exactly familiar with Blackhaven and had no idea if he had just broken some unspoken rule.

𝕗𝚛𝚎𝚎𝐰𝗲𝗯𝗻𝚘𝚟𝚎𝗹.𝕔𝐨𝕞

He had simply been flying through the air when he suddenly got ambushed by a demigod-level black mage.

It would have been fine if it had just been a regular demigod-level black mage, but this guy was clearly trouble.

He looked downright sinister, covered in stitch marks from head to toe. These were clear signs that he liked performing human-modification experiments and had even worked on himself.

There were not many body-tempering mages like Sein in the Magus World, but this demgod-level black mage was clearly skilled in body modification experiments.

No one could say just how far he had gone with altering his own body, but the fact that he could still go toe-to-toe with Sein even after Sein had activated his Flame Demon form was absolutely wild!

Aside from his ridiculous physical strength, the black mage had also summoned three chimera beasts with remarkable combat prowess.

If Sein had not made the kind of progress he did in Faeloria—and if it were not for the mask on his face, the magic rod in his hand, and the robe he wore—he probably would have been taken down by now.

Still, he was frustrated.

Since the divine relics in his possession had regained their former glory after the end of the Avatar Crisis, he had been meaning to rework both his Demon Mask and his magic rod—but he just had not found the time yet.

If he had managed that, even facing a Rank Four creature would not have been a problem, let alone a demigod-level black mage like this guy.

As for the opponent’s summoned beasts...

If his Viridescent Seeds had not been mostly used up back in Faeloria, leaving him with only low-grade ones...

If Yuri’s Burning Flame Unit had not been destroyed during the melee...

Then honestly, he would not have needed anything else.

Just him and Yuri would have been more than enough to make this black mage wish he had never picked this fight.

As Sein was thinking about how difficult his opponent was turning out to be, Harnban was starting to feel the pressure too.

“Who the hell is this demon warlock? He thinks he can just waltz into my territory like this?” Harnban muttered, scratching his scalp with his sixth claw.

He had never met anyone like Sein before.

Having made a name for himself in central Blackhaven, Harnban had always believed he was the strongest below Rank Four.

After all, he had killed a demigod-level mage and two demigod-level black knights before.

In Blackhaven, clashes between unruly black mages and black knights were common, and it was not unusual for those fights to get deadly.

But most ended in someone being seriously wounded, not outright killed.

Black mages and black knights were not just skilled in combat, they were also experts at escaping.

The fact that Harnban had managed to take down multiple opponents at his level was proof enough of just how strong he really was.