The battle began in a blink of an eye, but as if he was expecting it, Silas laughed, pieces of his flaking skin falling from his face as his laughter stretched the healing scars, “My master always said the best defense is a good offense. Don’t die, Jonathan, before I have my fun!”

Silas brought out a cracked pink crystal that was as small as an apple and he pointed it at the incoming lightning. A shard of crystal shaped like a spear surged from the pink crystal he was holding and struck the incoming lightning bolt scattering the energy without losing any momentum and jetted towards the Alchemist.

The Alchemist pointed with his left finger and Scripts began appearing in mid-air, in the blink of an eye he had already assembled hundreds of Rank 1 and Rank 2 Scripts. He had already prepared them before and was just releasing them from his sleeves.

The crystal spear impacted against the gathered scripts with a loud booming sound that sent shockwaves that destroyed the hill the Alchemist stood upon, he grunted and retreated, before his Robe seemed to develop a mind of its own and dragged the Alchemist to the left.

That move happened just in the nick of time for the crystal spear silently passed by the Alchemist, almost brushing his shoulders. When the spear penetrated the ground, the earth groaned, and for thousands of feet everything below turned to a pink crystal that resembled fine glass.

The crustal suddenly contacted itself with a loud crash and the affected area that was thousands of feet in size was squeezed into a crystal the size of a bean before it vanished leaving a massive crater behind with depths that were impossible to easily fathom.

If the Alchemist was panicking at such a devastating power he did not show it, he only pointed again, and a massive formation lit up below Silas and another simultaneously lit up above him and they began to rotate, forming a vortex of lightning that trapped Silas inside.

The force generated inside that vortex would grind diamonds to dust in mere moments, as numerous Spatial cracks began to appear inside the vortex.

Silas became serious, as all the defenses he placed on his body were being used up faster than he had anticipated, dozens of charms and amulets were turning to dust, and he shouted in anger and pointed the pink crystal above him and pushed a third of the Aether in his body inside it.

The pink crystal in his hands made a metallic whine and dozens of spears shot out from it that tore the vortex into pieces and impacted the formation above and below him. The formation froze and the purple lightning that the formation was created with began to transform into pink crystals, and they all collapsed into sparkling shards that were lit up by the sunset.

Silas spread his hand wide and began to laugh, he was enjoying himself, all the pressure in his heart was being released, “Do you know what I’m holding in my hands? This is an Artifact from an Archmage! Yet you still stand against me? Stop this pathetic attempt and kneel for mercy.”

“Artifact?” The Alchemist sneered, “That is a broken tile that should have been discarded like trash, still you hold it like a treasure. A pitiful dog who has forgotten the meaning of being a Mage.”

Silas’ face changed and blood rushed up into his head, he looked at the crystal in his hand and indeed it looked like a broken tile, in fact, he could even smell the faint scent of floral soap.

He recalled how he had suffered for close to three decades and paid thousands of Origin Crystal in bribes and payments before his master had agreed to grant him an Archmage Artifact he no longer needed.

Silas recollected that the other personal disciples of the Archmage had been laughing when he had left with his prize, his eyes were star-struck and his body shaking in excitement, but he did not care about their mockery, for he was holding a Divine Artifact that would protect him for centuries.

For a moment he began to wonder if he was a dog with bad eyesight, the truth about his “treasure” was before him all this while, yet he was now just opening himself to it.

“I will pull out your eyes!” Silas screamed in rage.

“If you can, then it will serve you a thousand times better than yours ever did. Be quiet and fight little dog, for before your ancestors had life, I was already roaming the world.”

The Alchemist pointed his staff to the skies, and he began to write. The four flowers on top of the staff began releasing lightning that began to etch itself in the air, as he began making Scripts with the lightning element.

In a dexterous manner beyond any mortal, he was controlling the four flowers to write four different complex Rank 4 Scripts at the same time.

Such a shocking display began to attract all the Aether for miles, as formation after formation began to appear around the Alchemist. From Mind Whip Formation, Wind chasing Formation, Divine Strength, to Quick Mind and Many other Complex Script until the Alchemist surroundings began to shine as bright as the sun.

Silas’ features went solemn, and he stopped looking down at the Alchemist, this display of power was shocking in the sheer complexity of the Scripts that the Alchemist was weaving so effortlessly.

Silas had tried his hands at learning how to create Scripts, but he gave up after a while, this was a discipline that needed many centuries of devotion combined with talent. Silas acknowledged that even a hundred of him was not the Alchemist match, but he had a Divine Artifact damnit.

He pointed the pink crystal towards the Alchemist and imbued it with all the Aether he could spare, harshly rotating his Spirit Matrix to draw any single bit of Aether in his surroundings while drinking several potions to boost his Aether capacity.

The crystal spears that erupted from the crystal shard in his hand were hundreds of feet long and they tore the air with their passage, ripping holes in reality.