Returnlight Corridor

"Whoosh—"

The stillness, so deep it seemed frozen, was broken by a sudden rush of wind. The young man standing higher on the stairs felt his robe billow as an intense green light burst from his hand. Vast, invisible power of a Domain surged out of him.

In an instant, it seemed a storm was about to break.

But before that terrifying force could spread, a thunderous impact shook the stairs.

A figure moving too fast to see clearly appeared before him like a ghost. Dazzling blue light flared, dark-blue flames bloomed, and a blue-patterned palm struck like a blade drawn from its sheath.

It tore through the layers of stormlike Domain power and energy fields around the young man as easily as brittle paper, then slammed into his forehead.

"Crack—"

Boom!

The green-robed wizard's forehead shattered. Before he could release a single spell, he flew backward like a cannonball, smashing through the underside of the spiral staircase above him, then through another level, and a third.

Boom! Boom! Boom!

He crashed through seven or eight levels before ending up embedded deep in a stairway. Blood covered his head, and his unfocused eyes stared blankly at the handsome youth walking toward him.

"You—"

Thud!

Dago punched him again in the same spot. This time, he scattered the young wizard's spiritual power completely, and the wizard passed out.

Only then did Dago calmly withdraw his right hand.

The dark-blue Iceflame wound around his hand receded. The Animated Ice Crystal coating his arm peeled away layer by layer, revealing the long, well-proportioned limb beneath.

Dark-blue markings like fine snake scales faded from his skin. All signs of the transformation vanished.

"Even without actively triggering Iceflame Blue Demon Body, my physical strength is terrifying now."

Dago studied the right hand that had done