BOOOOOOM!
One side of the gigantic castle exploded as a huge ball of black fire consumed everything.
The explosion was over a kilometer wide, but the castle was nearly five kilometers high.
Even though the explosion was gigantic, it only broke the front side of the castle.
The Mages could barely see what was going on since their Spirit Senses were destroyed as soon as they came into contact with the black fire surrounding their massive Mana Shield.
But they knew one thing.
That one attack had just consumed over 90% of their Mana!
How powerful was this attack?!
This was ridiculous!
Were they actually being attacked by a Mid Archmage?!
This was the full power of Dusk.
Not only had Sword reached the middle of the Fifth Realm, but Shang had also burned so much of its mass that it directly transitioned from its Colossal Sword State into its Long Sword State.
On top of that, Shang had consumed an insane amount of Light Mana and life energy to launch that attack.
Lastly, Shang used all four Imposes with it, boosting the power even more.
The attack had been very slow and very telegraphed, but it had been beyond powerful.
Yet, the Mana Shield still survived.
SHING! SHING! SHING!
Shang immediately attacked several times with his Long Sword.
Shang's Long Sword State was already his fastest state by far, but after using all four Imposes to boost its speed even further, its speed had reached ridiculous heights.
It was like a black circular saw was trying to saw through the Mana Shield. That was how fast Shang's attacks were.
CRACK!
Just as everyone started falling, the Mana Shield broke.
WHOOOOM!
As soon as it broke, the darkness that had waited outside the castle rushed in through the gigantic hole Shang had made and consumed all the Mages.
The Darkness Mana would have quickly been used up if the High Mages had their Mana Shields active, but with their Mana Shields broken, there wasn't much resistance for the Darkness Mana.
In a matter of seconds, all the Darkness Mana consumed the High Mages.
Even though there wasn't much resistance, after consuming so many High Mages, the Darkness Mana still ran out near the end.
The darkness around the castle vanished, allowing the first rays of light to reach the surroundings of the castle again.
The barrier's oppressive purple light bathed the castle's destroyed side in an oppressive hue.
Shang landed beside the building, his Long Sword held beside him.
It was impossible to discern what Shang was feeling at the moment.
Half of his face was covered behind the white bandages, and the other half seemed like it belonged to a cold corpse.
The Patriarch appeared a kilometer away from Shang, looking at him with narrowed eyes.
For the first time, the Patriarch actually saw his enemy.
Yet, he still couldn't properly judge what kind of powers his enemy was using.
He had seen something black move back and forth, but it had been too fast for even him to see.
What kind of Magic was this?!
Even more, the attacker only gave off the mental pressure of a Peak True Mage!
How was that possible?!
There were too many unanswered questions regarding that opponent.
But one thing was clear.
The opponent was now in the open, and the Patriarch could finally attack him!
BANG! BANG!
Several bolts of lightning appeared around the Patriarch, destroying the ground around him.
His eyes turned white, and his body began to float.
WHOOOOM!
Suddenly, the rubble of the partly-destroyed castle began to levitate around the Patriarch.
This was a Spell created by the Level Two Pure Concept of Lightning: Magnetism.
As tons upon tons of stone began to rapidly orbit the Patriarch, Shang also felt his weapon being pulled to him.
As a Level Two Concept, Magnetism didn't only affect metal. It even affected one's opponent and their belongings.
The air around the Patriarch began to warp.
BOOOM!
The Patriarch's white eyes widened.
The biggest chunk of stone flying around him had just exploded with fire!
The Patriarch looked at his opponent and noticed that something had changed.
Shang's Long Sword was burning and had grown suddenly!
But that didn't matter.
The Patriarch spoke a quick incantation.
And then, lightning appeared between the rubble before everything shot forward at Shang with unreal speed.
BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG!
While the rubble flew toward Shang, more lightning came out of the Patriarch, striking the barrier and the ground around him.
The surrounding kilometer around the Patriarch had transformed into a hell filled with lightning.
Shang only faced the Patriarch with his unmoving expression.
Then, his Saber moved.
BANG! BANG! BANG!
The Patriarch's eyes widened again.
Shang had launched several attacks at the mountain of rubble the Patriarch had thrown at Shang.
But all his attacks seemed to vanish in one place and reappear somewhere else!
And in the end, they all exploded on the Patriarch's Mana Shield!
The Patriarch felt his Mana deplete at a rapid rate.
His attack hadn't even reached his opponent, while his Mana Shield had just taken five hits!
What was this speed?!
Eventually, the rubble reached Shang.
SHING! SHING! SHING!
But Shang's body seemed to split into multiple parts as they all jumped right into the oppressive mountain of rubble and lightning!
All the different Shangs jumped along the stone with ease as the bolts of lightning missed all of them.
BOOOOOOM!
The mountain of rubble exploded, and all the Shangs fused again.
BANG! BANG!
At that point, the Patriarch launched several terrifying Spells at Shang.
Yet, Shang only vanished…
And reappeared directly in front of the Patriarch.
SIIIIIII!
So many black explosions hit the Patriarch's Mana Shield that it sounded like it was being attacked by a huge circular saw.
The Patriarch's face whitened, and he used Mana Step to retreat.
But it didn't work!
How?!
The Patriarch launched another three Spells, but Shang just vanished again, reappearing behind him.
It was like this attacker could vanish and reappear whenever and wherever he wanted!
The Patriarch used three more Mana Steps, and he felt like he was getting closer to successfully pulling one off.
CRACK!
And then, his Mana Shield broke.
The Patriarch's eyes widened.
SHING!
And a sword pierced through his forehead.
Silence.
There was no more life within the barrier.
The job was done.
