Crimson Overlord

"Stop!"

Nemesis's voice command echoed with a magical force. When her voice reached the entity charging towards her, the monster stopped in his tracks.

His claws were just inches away from her chest. No matter how hard Klaus exerted himself, his claws wouldn't pierce into Nemesis's chest or move forward!

"What's going on?!"

Klaus shrieked in anger at Nemesis.

"What did you do?!"

Nemesis chuckled and he gave Klaus a curt glance. Then, she turned her head the other way.

"It's just a simple silence spell."

"..."

Klaus flinched.

"Word magic?"

Elliot and the other origin masters frowned.

Nemesis scratched her cheeks when she saw the confusion on their faces. She wasn't exactly sure how to explain the magic's concept so she continued.

"In simple terms, it's a magic that forces another to abide by the caster's command through magically-infused words. Well, it's magic as far as you guys are concerned."

"Word magic that can force others to do the caster's bidding?..."

Elliot & co exchanged looks of shock.

They've never heard of magic that can use words to force others into action.

Was there a magic like this in this world?

Won't that make the one who masters it effectively invincible?

Elliot & co couldn't help but be tempted by the magic's effect.

If the Camus clan's magicians learned this spell, in a fight supported by Ice Elementalist origin masters, then..."

Nemesis saw their elated looks and she threw cold water on them.

"This magic has its downsides too. For one, they can only affect people weaker than the caster. It can only slightly affect an enemy far stronger than the caster."

Elliot & co gasped so Nemesis took it as a sign that they heard her.

Even so, this magic could still be put to great use.

Nemesis implied that this magic can still have an effect on a stronger enemy, even while its effects are severely limited in such a case.

To put this in context, an evenly-matched fight would change depending on who makes a mistake first, a tiny mistake could decide the winner and the loser. A magic that can affect an opponent through words, could be used to lure the enemy into making a blunder.

So what if the enemy is far stronger, they would be lost whether they used the silence spell or not.

Elliot and Co are still tempted to get their hands on the spell. Of course, they were going to have to gauge their abilities if they wanted to snatch it from Nemesis.

"Argh! Release me!!!"

Klaus roared. Even while shooting off jets of dark origin, he couldn't break off his invisible bonds.

That's the gap of power between level 5 and level 4.

Nemesis's silence spell completely subjugated Klaus, it was not something he could break through with brute force.

"Release me! Release me!!!"

Klaus yelled like a beast captured in an invisible cage. No matter how hard he struggled, he couldn't break free of his jail.

"Save your strength, you can never escape my Word Magic."

Nemesis narrowed her eyes.

"Plus, you're not using your power. It would do you well if you obediently gave up the black wisp of light within you."

"Black light?"

Elliot & co gasped.

"Aha!"

Klaus struggled even harder.

"As expected, you're after the source of my power because you're jealous of me. Let me tell it straight to your face, you're never getting it!"

Nemesis was glad he turned her down.

Klaus's transformation was caused by the black light.

"If that's the case..."

She slowly replied.

"You can die now."

Nemesis's hand crackled with lightning, emitting bluish-white sparks as she slowly inched her palm toward Klaus's chest.

Elliot & co weren't gonna sit still as Nemesis looked like she was going to execute Klaus.

"Wait!"

Nemesis paused with a scowl.

"What? You want to keep a monster around?"

Elliot smiled while he shook his head. He tried to see past the monster's terrible appearance and recall his younger brother's look.

"Miss Nemesis, can you let us handle him?"

Nemesis frowned.

It was only natural the brother tried to defend his younger brother. She also couldn't be bothered with taking out the trash.

However, she was more concerned with the black light and its ability to massively power up a human while turning the human host into a monster.

She didn't think Elliot could handle something as aberrant as that.

It was something on par with her bloodline.

Her blood also continuously nudged her to not that black light go. She trusted her guts.

When Nemesis was about to reject Elliot's offer, Klaus suddenly wailed in anguish.

"Gargh! Nooo! Noooo!!!"

Klaus felt something stirring within him. Then, his scales started disappearing as his dou qi raged out of control.

"What?!"

Klaus rapidly returned to his original look, his scales, multiple eyes, and tail were gone, leaving him in his original sickly state.

When Klaus was about to make a full recovery, a jet of black light shot out from him. Instead of running away, the black light shot into Nemesis's body.

She concentrated as she turned her giant origin pool on the foreign power. She wanted to drive out the invading power before she turned into a monster like Klaus.

Then, her bloodline reacted violently like a lion who was challenged for its territory.

Her blood crashed against the black light within her.

Hiss!

The black light wanted to take over Nemesis's body, instead, it got pounded by the latter bloodline. Hissing like an alien bug, the black light quickly departed her body, revealing itself in the real world.

Nemesis immediately grabbed the black light before it could run away again.

Hiss!

The black light struggled within Nemesis's firm grasp.

"Oh, you, that was a close one."

She grinned at the black light within her palm.

"I don't know what you are or where you came from, however..."

She squeezed hard.

Clang!

Nemesis crushed the black light into bits.

'Phew!'

She sighed in relief and she chuckled. That was a close call. Thankfully, she acted fast.