Earth's Greatest Magus

When a grand magus dies, their spirit can escape from their body, but their aperture remains within the corpse. This means that even if they manage to inhabit a new body, without their aperture, they lose access to their domain and, consequently, their grand magus power. These apertures, which store all the grand magus's possessions, become the main prize for the victor—provided they can successfully enter without destroying it.

Emery had read about the challenges and intricacies of accessing an aperture. Knowing Mo Yan's many infamous criminal activities, Emery was particularly motivated. He hoped to find a substantial collection of valuables inside. Given Mo Yan's proficiency in darkness elements, Emery anticipated discovering numerous darkness-type materials that would be highly beneficial to him.

He approached the dark, swirling smoke-like energy, and reached out his hand. He could feel the pulsating energy of the aperture, a tangible representation of the late grand magus's power. The smoke seemed almost alive, responding to his presence with subtle shifts and undulations.

Emery extended his hand further, feeling the resistance of the energy barrier, and sent his will. "Open."

Unfortunately, as if it had a mind of its own, the smoky energy resisted Emery's efforts, pushing him back. This was a manifestation of Mo Yan's will, acting as a guardian of the domain. The aperture judged that Emery lacked the proper soul permission to enter. Emery had anticipated this possibility; he had hoped that weakening Mo Yan's soul would grant him access. But it seemed he would need to fully subdue the soul to gain entry.

"I guess it won't be that easy,"

The situation was more complex than dealing with a storage ring. Killing the soul owner outright wouldn't automatically unlock the aperture. It would weaken the protective will significantly, potentially making it easier to force entry without destroying everything inside. However, only those with exceptional strength or unique abilities were known to achieve this, Emery possessed neither.

One significant problem remained: without the soul owner to continuously infuse spirit energy into the domain, the aperture would slowly degrade. VIA provided a quick calculation based on the rate of degradation and estimated that it would completely break apart in approximately 13 to 14 days.

"Alright, let's continue," Emery resolved, understanding the urgency.

Returning to his Magus Domain, Emery resumed his relentless 'work' on Mo Yan's soul. He and Chututlu took turns battling the grand magus for three more days. They engaged in over 30 matches, each one chipping away at Mo Yan's resistance. The constant soul battle began to take its toll, and the once-defiant Mo Yan started to break.

On the fourth day, Mo Yan began to plead for mercy. "No more… no more…" he whimpered, his voice a mixture of desperation and resignation. "Just give me some guarantee that you will set me free after, and I will not only give you access to my aperture but also teach you some of my skills… you... you are a great spirit master, you will benefit from this."

Emery felt a twinge of temptation at Mo Yan's offers. The spectral form and the enslavement technique were both high-grade skills, likely tier 7 or tier 8. If these skills were available on the market, they would be worth tens, if not hundreds, of millions of spirit stones. Both spells required proficiency in the darkness element and high soul strength, making them perfect for Emery to learn. Having direct instruction from the master of the spells would also make it much easier for Emery to learn them.

The spectral form held a particular allure for Emery, offering not only the defensive capabilities he sorely lacked but also the intriguing potential to channel spirit energy into formidable strength. His mind raced with possibilities for modifying the spell to enhance his combat prowess in various ways.

Regarding the notion that the enslavement spell was considered an evil spell, Emery paid it little heed. His old self would have been disgusted, especially after experiencing enslavement by Lucius. But ever since his rebirth, his thoughts had shifted.

To Emery, there was no such thing as an evil spell, only evil magus.

Rather than enslavement, Emery certainly preferred relationships based on mutual respect and benefit, like the familial bond he shared with his friends and plant creatures or the exchange-based agreements with allies like Livi and Anpu, the Grand Magus hybrid he had acquired from the market.

Despite this preference, Emery couldn't ignore the undeniable advantages of enslavement.

The ability to easily control hundreds of powerful beasts on command would significantly enhance his strength. Moreover, being able to control magus or even grand magus figures would provide value far beyond their inherent strength.

In fact, Emery still harbored regret over his inability to control Magus Hecate of the Kronos faction. His influence over her gradually waned after he released her to spy for him, and he ultimately lost her completely just months after the pirate attack. Given another opportunity, Emery wouldn't hesitate to use the enslavement skill on his enemies.

"You are interested, aren't you?" Mo Yan said, sensing Emery's contemplation. "Now, let us talk... What! Wait..."

To Mo Yan's surprise, Emery's response was to continue beating him mercilessly.

Although interested in the skills, Emery had no intention of releasing a vicious and powerful grand magus criminal who could return to threaten back to him and his friends. Emery believed it was just a matter of time before he broke the man. The only regret was the limited time he had with the degrading aperture.

Emery beat Mo Yan's soul for another hour before trying his luck on the aperture, once again, he failed.

The smoke energy barrier, animated by Mo Yan's will, remained impenetrable. Emery's frustration grew, but so did his resolve. He knew that Mo Yan's defenses were weakening with each confrontation.

Emery had another idea that he wanted to try, but for now, he decided to leave the subterranean realm. He left Cthulhu in the cave and accessed one of the artificially made waypoints on Earth.

It had been more than a week since he left the Magus academy. Not wanting to worry Klea, he sent her a message about his condition, informing her of his extended absence for another week or two. With that settled, Emery activated the waypoint, swiftly traveling to Terra City.

His friends in Terra City welcomed him warmly, but he didn't linger. Instead, he made his way directly to the portal and emerged in Golden City, his destination being the Magus Alliance outpost.

Approaching one of the officers in charge, he stated, "I am here to claim a criminal bounty."