Legendary Architect of Apocalypse

After the merger was completed, only a small gem remained. The gem contained the complete essence of a high-tier fable. Even amongst high-tier fables, it was of the peak grade that could be found within the Land of Fables.

With this, Elias had collected two gems containing the essence of high-grade fables, including Rey's Soul Beast.

He tossed the gem back into his class storage and didn't use it immediately. Once finished, he walked closer to the window of the palace which was starting to break apart with the death of its master.

It wasn't just the palace that was being destroyed, but the entire city itself. One half of the city had already been destroyed in Echless's attack, and the other half was also being destroyed, with no one to maintain it.

Elias jumped out of the window and landed outside the palace, the ground cracking under his weight as he landed.

He swiftly left the city, hearing the constant rumblings of its destruction. Once the entire city was destroyed, a dark beam shot out from its core, going straight into the sky.

Unlike the bright beams that appeared when a high-tier beast was contracting, this pillar of darkness was completely dark, mourning the loss of a high-tier beast. The pillar of darkness was visible across the entire Land of Fables.

Many Domain Owners paid attention to the pillar, even more so than they did to the unknown storm. This was something that they understood perfectly well.

"Is it coming from the Shadow Domain? Are the Domain Lords fighting each other?" the Painter wondered, seeing that as the only possibility of a high-rank soul beast's death.

Just like him, the other Domain Owners thought the same thing. The only people who knew the reality were the remaining four Domain Owners of the Domain in question.

Almost all of them knew that there was no way for that to happen. Moreover, the Domain Lord who had died was no ordinary Domain Lord. He was the one who was the hardest to kill.

Even information about that person was scarce since he didn't allow any other fable to enter his City, turning it into a ghost town instead.

"Instead the defences of the city. And send more scouts!" The Domain Lords of the Shadow Domain commanded their subordinates in complete seriousness.

None of them left their own cities to check things personally, worried about their own safety. If there was someone that could kill the Colourless Domain Lord, then they were also at risks. None of them wanted to be the next target after leaving their cities.

The only remaining Domain Lord that didn't send any scouts was someone that was completely unaware about what was happening on the surface in the first place.

Zesten was in a secret chamber under his palace, standing before a blood formation. "If I had any choice, I wouldn't have done this. But enough is enough. I am willing to sacrifice you all for my freedom!"

He picked up a dagger, used for the ceremony.

"Become the key to my freedom!" he exclaimed as he stabbed the dagger in the middle of the formation. "Devour everything if that's what it takes! Just grant me freedom!"

The blood formation started shining, craving for more blood. But it didn't crave the blood of the person that had carved this formation. It craved for the blood of everyone else in this domain, including the other Domain Lords.

"You have all looked down on me! You have all called me an illegitimate Domain Lord! Still, I didn't want to take this route. I wanted to use you against the academy. But I am forced to do this!"

At the same time, a similar formation started becoming more prominent around the cities of the other Domain Lords, including the area where the City of Echless used to be.

The blood formation was large enough to cover the city, and it only grew brighter with each passing second.

"When did it appear here?" The other three domain lords saw the formation appear under their feet as well. Their expressions darkened at the strange phenomenon but even they couldn't understand what this formation was.

Just to be safe, they tried to quickly leave the city before trying to understand this formation. But a barrier as powerful as the domain barrier appeared around the city, imprisoning them within.

"It's devouring us!" The Domain Lords failed to leave the city, but they also started to realize what this formation actually was.

They could feel that strength was leaving their bodies. With each passing second, they were getting weaker and their soul essence was being devoured by the formation.

They weren't the only ones either. Almost all the fables within their city were going through the same suffering, with the weaker fables getting devoured within a few seconds.

"Break the formation!" the Domain Lords commanded their men. They also prepared their strongest attacks, not worrying about the fate of their cities.

Even if they couldn't leave the city, they could at least destroy the formation. At least, that's what they thought until they actually tried it.

Their attacks killed many fables that were caught in the range, but even their fleeting essence of the dead fables was devoured by the formation.

The attacks failed to leave even a slight scratch on the formation, which had gathered enough strength through the devoured fables. Not only did the attacks not harm it, but the attacks themselves were devoured by the formation, making it stronger.

The devouring effect of the formation became even stronger, with all gathered essence slowly being transformed at the master formation in Zesten's palace.

The only city that seemed to be unaffected, despite the appearance of the formation, was the city that didn't have any life left anymore.

Even then, Zesten's formation was on the verge of collecting enough essence while the other Domain Lords were almost completely devoured, unable to resist.

One after another, three more pillars shot straight into the sky, this time frightening almost everyone who saw them. Within half an hour, four Domain Lords had died. Everyone could feel that something really big was happening.

Even the Painter couldn't stay calm anymore. The High-Tier Fables were only comparable to a human with three evolutions, which was quite weak compared to a Professor.

Still, he felt quite uneasy as many students were still inside the land of fables, and neither the Dean nor Rey had returned.