As the purple light swallowed him, Kai felt fire tear through his veins.

  It wasn’t pain in one place—it was everywhere at once. His skin burned, his bones ached, and for a brief, terrifying moment, he felt like his body was coming apart. The cave vanished in an instant and the ground disappeared beneath his feet.

  He looked around—left, right, up and down—but darkness covered everything.

  Kai’s heart clenched. Did it fail?

  For a single breath, he thought the teleportation had gone wrong—that he had been thrown into the space between worlds, a place Mages whispered about but never survived. There was no direction, no sound, no air. Only pressure, like the world itself, was pressing against his mind.

  Then reality lurched.

  The darkness folded in on itself, and Kai felt himself fall.

  He hit the ground hard, air forced from his lungs as he groaned and rolled to one knee. The burning sensation faded slowly, leaving behind a deep ache that ran through his body. He sucked in a sharp breath and lifted his head, blinking as his eyes adjusted to the light.

  Plants and trees surrounded him. He was in the royal garden.

  Relief washed through him. The teleportation hadn't failed, and he wasn't trapped.

  Before he could fully rise, a figure dropped into a crouch in front of him. Roderic’s face came into view, tense but relieved.

  “Duke Arzan,” Roderic said, his voice low and serious. “You’re here. Does that mean His Majesty reached you safely?”

  Kai grunted, pushing himself upright. “Yes. He was badly burned, but he’s alive. The healers already took care of the worst of the injuries. He told me everything and sent me here as soon as he could.”

  Roderic let out a breath he had clearly been holding and allowed himself a small, tight smile. “I’m glad. I didn’t know if the circle would still work. It’s been hidden for too many years.”

  Kai gave a short, tired nod. “I could tell. It almost killed me.”

  From his knowledge of teleportation, it basically sent the Mage to the space between the worlds, an entirely different dimension that was everywhere around them, but no normal person could see or interact with. From there, the space would send the Mage to the closest linked circle. But normally it happened so fast that you wouldn't see this space.

  Kai guessed he saw it because while he had repaired the ritual circle on his end, the one inside the castle had remained untouched. It was a small flaw—nothing that should have caused serious harm—but teleportation rituals were unforgiving. Even a minor imbalance could force the traveler to brush against the space between worlds.

  He had not expected to see it.

  Shaking his head, Kai pushed the thought aside. He drew his awareness inward, checking his Mana heart first.

  It was still steady and full. But he made sure to check it thoroughly, to be certain that it was without any fractures of instability. Teleportation could easily harm one body, especially the organs but everything looked to be fine.

  After checking it, he looked at Roderic and spoke calmly. “Do you know where I will find Regina?”

  Roderic nodded without hesitation. “Most likely her chambers, Duke Arzan. She summoned the nobles for a meeting not long ago. With Eldric imprisoned, she has taken direct control. She is no longer pretending to rule through him.”

  Kai’s eyebrow lifted slightly. “Eldric is imprisoned?”

  “Yes,” Roderic said. “Allow me to explain.”

  As they moved through the garden, Roderic quickly recounted what had happened—the rumoured confrontation, the dead Knights, Eldric’s attempt to turn against his own mother. Kai listened in silence, surprised, but not shocked. In the history he knew, Eldric had always been remembered as the Mad King. Perhaps this was simply the beginning of that descent. This time, however, it would end differently.

  When Roderic finished, Kai stopped walking.

  “You should leave,” Kai said. “Find somewhere safe. I do not know what will happen to this castle once I act. Warn anyone loyal to you as well.”

  Roderic stiffened, then gave a firm nod. “I understand. Good luck, Duke Arzan.”

  Kai allowed himself a brief smile. “I’ll need it.”

  Without waiting another second, Kai pushed mana to create wind around his legs and burst forward. He tore through the garden in a blur, branches snapping and carefully tended plants crushed beneath his steps.

  Right now, none of that mattered.

  Regina was waiting.

  If what Kai had in mind worked, the garden would not survive anyway. Apologizing to King Sullivan could wait.

  Kai already knew that trying to sneak through the castle was pointless. Regina had eyes everywhere. Servants, guards, hidden wards—if he slowed down or tried to be careful, she would sense him sooner or later. There was no such thing as a clean ambush here.

  What he needed was speed.

  Overwhelming speed.

  As soon as he left the garden, Kai pushed more mana into his legs, mixing wind with flames. The floor beneath him cracked softly as he launched forward, covering distance in long, powerful strides.

  Each step sent him several meters ahead, his body moving like a gust slipping through the halls rather than a man running.

  The castle corridors blurred around him.

  Paintings, pillars, banners—everything passed in flashes of color as he moved. His boots barely touched the ground, and when they did, the mana carried him forward before the stone could even respond.

  Guards appeared ahead.

  They barely had time to react.

  One opened his mouth to shout, another reached for his weapon—but Kai was already upon them. The wind around his legs surged outward, sweeping their feet out from under them. They crashed hard onto the floor, weapons clattering, cries echoing behind him.

  Kai sped up.

  He crossed intersections without hesitation, turned corners without stopping, his body guided by memory. He vaulted over staircases instead of climbing them.

  More guards rushed in from side halls.

  Kai increased the pressure.

  The air thickened around him, slamming into them like an invisible wall. Bodies were thrown aside, armor denting against stone, some guards skidding across the floor until they struck pillars or walls.

  He didn't even stop for a second.

  Finally, the familiar spiral staircase came into view—the same one he had climbed before. The bottom was empty, but above, several guards waited. One of them wore Mage robes, already forming a spell.

  But before the Mage could finish his incantation, he released a focused burst of wind. The force exploded outward, smashing into the group and lifting them off their feet. They slammed into the walls, then into the double doors behind them. Wood splintered, opening the path for him.

  Kai rushed into the chamber without slowing down. The broken doors were still falling apart behind him as he crossed the threshold. He heard voices even before he reached Regina's room, confirming that he was in the right place.

  Kai drew the wand from his back in one smooth motion and pushed mana into it. He had no intention of speaking. No intention of warning anyone inside.

  [Wind Blades] burst from the wand the moment he released the spell.

  The doors shattered completely, exploding inward. Wood splintered and flew across the room, and a scream followed almost instantly.

  Kai stepped through the wreckage.

  For a brief second, time seemed to slow.

  Several nobles and Mages were inside the chamber. One body was already on the floor, cut down by the blades before they could even react. The others were scrambling to their feet, shock written across their faces.

  Two Mages reacted faster than the rest. They raised their hands, mana flaring as defensive shields began to form in front of them.

  At the head of the table stood Regina.

  Her eyes were wide, her face pale. For the first time since Kai had known of her, there was no control in her expression—only fear.

  Kai did not hesitate.

  He ignored every other person in the room and poured mana into the wand again. The imprinted spell on it activated instantly.

  A beam of flame roared out, aimed straight at Regina.

  The heat filled the chamber in a heartbeat. The air warped around the attack, and Kai knew that if it hit, there would be nothing left of her.

  But the flame never reached its target.

  A massive shield flared into existence around Regina, thicker and denser than anything the other Mages had summoned. The fire slammed into it and was forced aside.

  The redirected flames tore through the room instead.

  Nobles screamed as they were caught in the blast. One Mage barely had time to turn before the fire engulfed him, his shield shattering as his body burned. Another collapsed, the heat tearing through robes and flesh alike.

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  He stepped forward, unfazed.

  A Knight near the side of the room rushed him, sword raised. Kai lifted his left hand without even looking.

  An ice spear formed instantly and shot forward.

  It pierced the Knight’s head cleanly. The man let out a grunt and slumped on the ground.

  Kai’s eyes never left Regina. But the shield kept protecting her.

  For a moment, Kai frowned, having not expected her to have such a strong mana shield. One of the rings on her fingers glowed, being the artifact, projecting it, but he didn't give up, pushing more mana into the attack.

  The beam finally began to win.

  Thin cracks spread across Regina’s shield, light leaking through them like fractures in glass. Panic showed clearly on her face. Her lips parted as if to say something.

  Then her skin suddenly glowed red.

  The light deepened, darkened, and in the next heartbeat her flesh rippled unnaturally. Thick, dark-red tendrils tore out from beneath her clothes, ripping fabric apart as they burst into the open air. They shot forward like living whips, slamming into Kai’s own wind barrier.

  Kai reacted instantly. Wind surged around him, blades forming in an instant. The tendrils that touched the barrier were sliced apart—

  Only to grow back.

  They regenerated in seconds, writhing and twisting as if the cuts had never existed.

  Kai’s jaw tightened. “What the fuck are you?”

  Regina laughed, her voice distorted, layered with something unnatural and wrong. “It doesn’t matter,” she said. “You’re going to die.”

  “We’ll see.”

  Kai cut off the beam. He could feel how much mana it had already drained, and there was no reason to waste more. Instead, he raised his wand and released the spells he had been holding back.

  Three flame dragons burst from the wand, roaring as they tore through the room. Fire flooded the chamber.

  In the next second, tendrils burned, the remaining nobles screamed, and were engulfed in flames.

  Kai didn’t spare them a glance. He had no intention of leaving anyone alive.

  His eyes stayed locked on Regina. She dropped her mana shield entirely.

  Instead, the tendrils coiled around her, layering over one another until they formed a thick, living barrier. Kai expected his fourth-circle flames to tear through it.

  They didn’t.

  The dragons slammed into the tendrils and were swallowed, their fire smothered as if consumed. The tendrils scorched black but held, twitching as if they were alive.

  Kai’s mind raced. She was mortal. And the tendrils were certainly not created with a magic spell. Then how was Regina controlling them? Was she not a human after all?

  There was no time to think further.

  The tendrils shifted again. Sharp blades grew from their tips, hardening into curved edges, and then they lunged toward him all at once.

  Kai did not bother defending against the tendrils. Instead, he reinforced the wind armor wrapped around his body and made a decision in an instant.

  If he could not cut the tendrils down permanently, then he would end Regina herself.

  The wind around his legs thickened, compressed, and then exploded outward. In the next moment, Kai launched himself straight at her.

  The tendrils whipped toward him, blades forming along their lengths, but the violent current of wind surrounding his body shredded them as he passed. Pieces were sliced apart and scattered, unable to reform fast enough to stop him. The room offered Regina nowhere to retreat. Before she could react, Kai grabbed her and drove her into the wall with brutal force.

  The stone cracked.

  The impact carried them straight through the wall and out into open air.

  Regina screamed as Kai dragged her upward, her tendrils lashing wildly, scraping and cutting at his wind barrier. He twisted midair and hurled her downward toward the castle grounds below.

  For a moment, it looked like the fall would end her.

  But her tendrils shot out again, wrapping around the edge of a nearby building. She yanked herself sideways, slamming into the structure and barely stopping her descent.

  Kai was already prepared.

  A focused beam of energy fired downward before she could raise a shield or reform her defenses. It struck her chest instantly, punching straight through her body.

  Kai expected blood.

  Instead, a thick, black, sticky substance spilled out of the wound, writhing as her tendrils moved to seal it shut. Even from above, Kai saw it clearly.

  She was filled with dead mana. A cold warning rang through his mind.

  That was not something a human body could survive with.

  Before he could follow up with another spell, Regina screamed furiously.

  “Selenia! Where the fuck are you? Get here!”

  A second voice answered calmly, almost amused. Kai immediately tensed.

  “Just watching, Regina. Having fun.”

  Regina snarled, rage twisting her expression. “Stop that and do your job.”

  The voice answered immediately, light and mocking. “Don’t order me around. But fine, I’ll do it. Sitting here and watching you get killed is getting boring.”

  Kai felt it before he saw it.

  Something pressed against the edge of his senses. He turned, instincts screaming, and a shape peeled itself out of the air.

  A woman hovered there, suspended effortlessly above the shattered courtyard.

  She looked human at first glance—tall, slender and pretty—but the illusion broke the moment his eyes focused. Pale, leathery wings stretched wide behind her, each membrane veined with lines of dull black energy. They weren’t made of flesh alone. Dead mana clung to them like rot, thick and heavy, swallowing the light around their edges.

  Her skin was pale, almost gray. Her eyes were dark and deep, reflecting nothing, and her smile was sharp, amused, as if this were all a game. Curved claws rested where fingers should have been, already faintly glowing with the same dead mana as her wings.

  The moment she fully appeared, Kai’s attention snapped to her completely.

  Every instinct in his body screamed the same warning.

  She was dangerous.

  She tilted her head slightly, studying him like a curious child, then smiled wider.

  “I’m Selenia,” she said cheerfully. “It’s really nice to meet you. I’m sorry I’ll have to kill you, but you’ve been a very interesting Mage to watch so far.”

  Kai didn’t answer.

  He stared at her, mind racing, trying to understand what he was seeing. She wasn’t a beast. She didn’t feel like any race he knew. The only thing he could be sure of was her wings—they were made of dead mana.

  Everything else about her was a mystery.

  As he analyzed her in silence, Selenia let out a small sigh.

  “Oh. Not the talking type?” she said lightly. “Then I guess we’ll go straight to fighting.”

  She raised her hands.

  Her claws lengthened with a sharp sound, dead mana flooding over them like liquid. With a lazy flick of her wrist, she slashed the air.

  A projectile shaped like a massive claw tore forward.

  Kai reacted instantly, twisting his body and throwing himself aside. The attack missed him by a narrow margin and slammed into one of the mansions near the royal castle.

  There was no explosion.

  The building simply… vanished.

  Stone, wood, wards—everything touched by the claw disintegrated into black dust, the structure collapsing inward as if erased.

  Kai’s eyes widened.

  Selenia glanced at the ruin, then back at him, clearly pleased.

  “Like it?” she asked with a grin.

  Then she kicked off the air and charged straight at him, wings beating once as dead mana surged around her.

  ***

  A/N - You can read 30 chapters (15 Magus Reborn and 15 Dao of money) on my patreon. Annual subscription is now on too.

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