There was a reason why he did not want to go out much during those two years while Enrico was trapped inside the barrier. He only went out to devour Nartheis in his Panther form when Enrico was sleeping; by doing that, he managed to gather magic and accumulate it to the maximum. The amount of mana he possessed surpassed what this body could withstand, so he had to release it little by little.
"I gathered the maximum amount of magic I had over two years, so certainly when this ends I will be unconscious for a long time."
Clenching his hand, he made the black hole grow while the Basilisk held on, digging its tail into several floors of the castle. But even managing to keep itself anchored, its mana was being sucked into the portal along with stones, pillars, and items that were inside the castle.
Nartheis that were far away were also being pulled in. Gideon, who was at some distance, had his mana drained even while flying away; the walls behind him shattered into pieces before being swallowed by the ever-growing black hole.
"Who is this boy? No, what matters now is that I get the syringes."
Gideon flew toward the room where he kept the syringe, while above, where Renzou and Sayaka were, Sayaka had followed Enrico but had to help her emperor look for them faster, since he too had felt the Basilisk's presence.
"Emperor, are you feeling this?"
"I am not just feeling it, I recognize this magic."
"You recognize it?"
Sayaka, who kicked a clone away, looked at Renzou, who took advantage of the moment and created a portal around his clone. When he closed his hand, the portal shut, splitting the clone in half. He had already eliminated the second clone, so Sayaka's arrival only sped up the elimination of the last one.
"Yes, I would never forget it, especially because all that power came from a Nartheis that helped us."
"You're talking about that irregular?"
That was the title the mages had given him after he disappeared. The reason for that was that, besides being a newborn with an absurd level, he acted in a completely different way from other Nartheis.
"I hope Enrico is fine."
She had seen Enrico move toward that place faster than when he was fighting Serteria. That made everything seem strange to her, so she followed him, but he simply passed near where the emperor had gone and entered the castle.
"I hope he has nothing to do with this."
Down on the ground, Karyu felt that Nartheis power with a great tremor. She grabbed herself and fell to her knees. Lisa, seeing that, crouched down to help her with slight concern in her eyes.
"Karyu—"
"This level… it can only be what the ancients spoke of. This can only be an almost Kairom-level."
Karyu's words shocked everyone there. A Kairom level appearing now was something far too terrible for them. The only one who could fight it was Renzou, and honestly, with the emperor in that state, it would be difficult.
"Sister Rina, let's look for our master."
"You don't even need to say it."
The two moved, but were grabbed by Aina by the collars of their clothes. Both seemed to try to break free, but Takeshi's falcon, which had tried to follow Enrico, returned to regroup with them. Takeshi sighed when he saw that his future lord had vanished from his sight.
"You can relax, I will go after Lord Enrico. Stay here with your siblings—"
Before he could finish, the ceiling above was swallowed by a black hole. Immediately, all the seventh-circle users took the girls behind the cage, which had a resistance that was undoubtedly ninth-circle level.
"Damn it, what is that?"
"Brother, I think this magic is the same as the Nartheis that helped years ago in the rune battle."
"Is that serious, Rina?"
"Yes, I'm sure I recognize this mana."
Holding his sisters tightly by the arm, Raizen looked up, seeing that the black hole seemed not to want to advance any further for some reason. With his eyes wide open, he realized that this magic had stopped growing by its owner's command.
"Could it be that the irregular knows we are here?"
In the middle of the castle, Serteria, who had tried to follow Enrico, was being sucked in at great speed. She did not stop screaming as she felt her body being torn apart inside that black hole.
"Aaaaahhhhh!"
She could not believe she would be killed in such a ridiculous way. She had not even finished her fight with that human. As she disappeared, she could not stop thinking that she wanted to have a proper fight against him, but now it would not be possible.
"That human— I think his name was Enrico… right?"
She disappeared completely, while the only one who could withstand that black hole was another Nartheis at the level of an almost Kairom rank: the Basilisk itself. Even with nothing to hold onto, it was coiled around itself while at the center of the black hole.
"Hrrrr—ssss"
"Calm down, Basilisk. As I already said, from now on you will be my pet, so I will take good care of you."
In front of the Basilisk, Enrico, in his Nartheis form, wearing armor with black claws on his right arm, had his eyes closed. That was a good thing, since he was avoiding one of the Basilisk's abilities, which dragged anyone who looked into its eyes into an abyss.
"You lasted a long time, but now it's time to complete the magic."
Raising his arm, he placed his hand on the Basilisk's nose. A second later, that giant serpent was pulled into the armor on his arm. The armor in that area took on a different form, like serpent scales.
"Well, I did the right thing preparing for two years for this."
With a sigh, his armor shattered, returning to its normal appearance. With a snap of his fingers, the black hole shrank to a more humanoid appearance.
"Go to the left."
With a gesture, he moved away in an instant, making everyone feel the mana of the irregular Nartheis recede. Enrico's eyes returned to normal as he looked at the disaster wrought upon the castle and placed his hand on his forehead with a tired expression.
"That guy really managed it… I guess this is good for me."
[I hate it when that bastard shows up. I can't see anything when he does this. How annoying.]
Looking down, Enrico saw the castle begin to regenerate as if nothing had happened before, and the barrier reappeared around it.