A layer of white light shrouded Yvraine's eyes, her gaze firmly fixed on the Ancient One's clone who was wreaking havoc in the arena, wielding magic with ease, distorting the surrounding space, toying with Hrud beasts, Kroot warriors, Drukhari, and even those mercenaries as if they were nothing.
Through her connection with the Black Library, she meticulously recorded vast amounts of magical data into the repository and began cross-referencing it with the textual samples Kei had previously sent her, conducting a round of rigorous deduction and inference.
This was the highest tier of Kamar-Taj's magical inheritance, a Transdimensional Mystic Mage, a God of Chaos Magic!
One who had mastered the essence of magic, perceived its origins, and ultimately transcended magic itself. They toyed with time and space, traveled freely across dimensions, and communed with the very source of all magic.
Even a clone of such a being, even if it only displayed 1% of the original's power, its profound mastery of magic would be far beyond that of any Eldar.
Recording just one of its attacks, yielded more than ten thousand simulations in the Black Library ever could.
That was a demonstration of how to directly channel power at the very core of magical truth.
"How much of the original's power does this clone possess?"
Taldeer leaned her chin on her hand as the Infinity Circuit rapidly analyzed the Ancient One clone's exhibited power, linking the results with the knowledge stored in Yvraine's Black Library.
"Roughly 70%, give or take."
"Hm? 70% is just that level?"
"You clearly haven't played any online games."
Kei turned to look at Taldeer, the corners of his lips curling into a faint smile.
"...Staged burst mode?"
Taldeer paused briefly, then searched the term in Terran civilization's online game culture, and instantly understood.
"Phase One: Basic Tutorial Mode. Triggered if HP drops below 70% or if the battle lasts more than 10 minutes. Then comes Serious Teaching Mode. At 30% HP or after one hour, Enemy Combat Mode initiates."
"You call that a tutorial?"
Lelith turned to Kei with an expression like she was looking at livestock.
Let's not even talk about how Vect, Cegorach, and the others, under various restrictions, had their soul-blades turned into giant slabs of metal after losing warp energy support.
Without the warp propulsion engines, their bodies were only slightly stronger, slightly more durable.
Even in their prime state, against that bald woman below with her bizarre magical tricks, they'd probably get beaten until they lost all sense of direction!
And this... was just the tutorial mode?
And there were phased bursts?
She was already mowing down enemies like grass, what would the "Serious Teaching" or "Enemy Combat" modes look like?!
"Emperor's light... are we on the same side as this Mage God? We won't have to fight her later, right...?"
Celestine looked nervously at Kei.
Without using warp energy, her strength wasn't even on par with many enhanced Astartes.
If she had to face that woman below, she'd end up worse than Vect and Cegorach.
"You're on the same team as the boss."
Kei waved his hand with a smile. He had considered this when setting the scenario. So he casually assigned the Steel Legion, Eldar, and Drukhari to the Boss Faction.
Of course, aside from Eldar like Yvraine and Taldeer who had grasped some magical power, the rest were basically just minions summoned by the boss.
"Praise the Emperor for that mercy!"
Celestine clutched her holy symbol, her face showing a look of deep relief.
The Eldar, Drukhari, and Imperial soldiers who had overheard Kei's words also collectively let out a breath of relief.
You couldn't blame them for being so tense. Because this Chaos Magic God was simply not someone they could deal with.
Now that they could relax, the younger Aspect Warriors began excitedly chattering about the various magical spells used by the Ancient One's clone.
Several of the more talented ones...
Even mimicked the spell patterns at the edge of the arena, using magical energy to sketch out simple magical sigils.
Seeing this scene, Lelith's pupils shrank slightly.
Just moments ago, she'd wondered, despite having power equal to Yvraine, why Yvraine didn't show even a hint of wariness or concern.
So this was the reason?
That damn man!
He promised her a fair fight with Yvraine, but it turned out he had sided with Yvraine all along!
Lelith was mentally cursing up a storm.
She turned to glance at Yvraine, only to see her lift her eyes slightly and cast her a look that clearly said, "You're still not there yet."
Damn it! Bitch!
Her chest heaved violently, she nearly exploded on the spot from sheer anger. Not being able to beat Kei was understandable, that was a matter of dimensional difference, not something strength alone could overcome.
But not being able to beat Yvraine?
What the hell had that woman done behind the scenes to get Kei to boost her power?
A string of guesses flashed through her mind, but she couldn't arrive at a definite conclusion. Frustrated, she just crossed her arms and sulked, watching the arena below in a huff.
She made up her mind: when she got back, she'd find a young Aspect Warrior to extract some psychic data.
She refused to believe that, if all Eldar could learn this so-called "magic," then there was no reason she couldn't figure out how to use the same techniques as Yvraine.
As for asking Kei for help?
What a joke. Last time she got enhanced by him, it scared her half to death. She was afraid that if she slipped up even a little, she'd end up flat on her back and at his mercy.
Do that again? She'd almost certainly get dragged into something she couldn't escape from!
"Ten minutes. It's time."
As Kei's voice fell, everyone set aside their personal thoughts and looked intently toward the arena.
The Ancient One's clone, who had previously been casting various spells casually, now stood motionless.
With hands dancing like butterflies whispering secrets, she drew golden runes in the air.
A massive magic circle, glowing with golden-red brilliance, instantly spread across the entire sky above the arena, covering all remaining thousands of opponents!
Bolts of Balthakk, Plus Edition!
Crack... crack... BOOM!
Crimson magical lightning poured from the magic circle like a torrential downpour.
After striking one person, it immediately jumped to the next without pause. Countless crimson bolts of lightning crisscrossed the arena, forming a terrifying electric net as dense as a spiderweb.
The old-era Drukhari, whose souls remained stagnant for millennia... Just a single strike of that magical lightning, and before the chain lightning could even hit again, they were already reduced to charcoal.
Somewhat stronger enhanced warriors could maybe survive five strikes, before being completely annihilated like those outdated Drukhari.
When the 30-second duration of the Bolts of Balthakk Plus Edition ended, the thousands-strong army, only a dozen or so survivors remained, looking like cooked grox, with steam rising from their bodies. They were obviously completely incapacitated, even though they were peak enhanced warriors.
And then there were the special cases: Cegorach, in his warp-entity form, and Vect and Malys, with their enhanced Drukhari bodies.
"Spare me, and I'll kill Cegorach for you right now! Swear loyalty! With my reputation in Commorragh, I could easily raise an army of a million in your name!"
Vect, completely scorched, leaned on his now-useless soul-blade and shouted loudly. He was genuinely terrified that if he didn't speak up now, he'd miss his last chance!
"With that bloated ego of yours, that used to terrorize half the Drukhari in Commorragh, who'd want to recruit you?"
Lelith, seeing that Kei wasn't going to say anything, coldly exposed Vect's embarrassing past exploits.
It's not like she didn't understand Kei's tastes. In fact, she knew them quite well.
Vect? Not even a slave would want him!
Back in the arena, the Ancient One's clone had now entered "Serious Teaching" mode, and her movements hadn't stopped for even a moment.
With a light wave of her hand, a palm-sized magical portal opened in front of her.
Using the Images of Ikonn, three additional arms sprouted from her body. At the same time, three identical magical portals appeared in front of Cegorach, Vect, and Malys.
Time around the three slowed down by several times.
The Ancient One's palms struck all three of them simultaneously.
BOOM.
Vect and Malys were instantly struck so hard their souls left their bodies.
Their physical forms collapsed powerlessly to the ground, while their terrified souls floated midair.
Next to them, Cegorach, whose form was already glitched like a cosmic anomaly, had his essence punched out, and his original manifestation burst open like a loot chest, spilling out a pile of warp artifacts with loud clattering sounds.
Warp Aperture, Reality Anchor, Anti-Psychic Device, Soul Strike Module, Temporal Interface, Dimensional Connector, Warp Matter Controller...
Then came: The Crimson Tome of Cyttorak!
The Ancient One raised her hand and drew a magic sigil brimming with blood and darkness.
It was a piece of black magic from the "Book of the Vishanti", which instantly locked onto the three souls, summoning the fires of the Dark Dimension that began to swirl around them.
Whether Cegorach, Vect, or Malys, all three let out blood-curdling screams at the same time.
Under the scorching torment of dimensional fire, their souls began to emit streams of black smoke, and within just a few seconds, they were completely obliterated.