Adam's eyes blazed with uncontrollable cruelty as he walked toward the nearest Magi. He emanated a palpable bloodlust and killing intent, causing the man in front of him to suffocate.

However, this Magus from the Gracie Family was also a veteran in his own right. He was only frozen for a split moment before calming the turbulent emotions raging inside his heart.

He felt like he was in the presence of a demon from the abyss!

The man gritted his teeth and hurriedly cast hand signs despite his body trembling in horror. However, Adam had already arrived before him with his insane speed.

Although the youth couldn't cast spells, nothing was stopping him from using magic combat techniques.

The Stellar Steps was a set of mobility techniques from the Astral Tyrant Manual that gave Adam superior speed compared to his peers.

Not only could this footwork technique be used in tandem with the Phantom Dance, but it could also be used independently, like what Adam had done just now.

His moves were unpredictable and made him look like a specter that had suddenly arrived in front of the Gracie Family Magus.

Adam coldly glanced at the man before him, his eyes flashing with indifference.

He viciously grabbed the man's palms with his left hand, preventing him from completing the physical component of the spell.

"W-W-Wait!" The man panicked, seeing Adam appear in front of him like a ghost.

However, the youth didn't give him a moment of respite. With a resounding crack, he shattered the bones in the man's hands with his raw strength alone.

Then, he raised his right palm, coated it with a layer of his pristine white mana, and mercilessly thrust it into the man's chest.

"Kuackk!" The Magus coughed out a mouthful of blood straight onto Adam's face, but the latter did not care.

Adam indifferently stared at the man until the light in his eyes slowly dimmed and he lifelessly leaned against him.

Right at that moment, the other Magus had already finished making preparations for his spell. He glanced at Adam with fearful eyes and screamed, "Die!"

Rank 1 Spell: Hail of Thorns!

A dozen thorns, no bigger than a human's hand, materialized out of the magic circle and rained down on the youth.

Adam, however, didn't panic in the least. His gaze was calm as he stared at the thorns coming toward him.

He didn't run. He simply moved the corpse of the Magus he had just killed and placed it in front of him.

Since he couldn't use defensive magic spells, he might as well use the corpse of his enemy to barricade himself from danger.

One by one, the thorns lodged themselves deep inside the corpse. Only a few managed to brush past the corpse, however, all they did was slightly graze Adam. He wasn't injured in the slightest.

Well, of course, from the physical and mental injury that he already had before he started fighting.

"Damn it!" The Magus who had just cast the spell, nervously cursed under his breath after seeing that he hadn't managed to damage the youth.

Subconsciously, he started to retreat and began preparing for his next spell.

The next moment, however, his hand movements abruptly stopped when he saw the corpse of his comrade in front of him suddenly fall to the ground.

What was shocking was that Adam who was supposed to be hiding behind the corpse was nowhere to be seen.

"W-Where Where is he?!" He blurted out in fear and panic.

"Here."

A cold voice suddenly drifted into his ear.

It came from behind him.

The Magus' body shuddered when he felt a warm hand grab his neck from behind, tightly gripping it.

"No, no, no, wait" His words were cut short when Adam savagely separated his head from his body, yanking it out along with the entirety of his spine.

The scene was so gruesome and blood-curdling that Kevin who saw this take place instantly fell to the ground, his eyes widening in fear and disbelief.

He had never expected Adam to be so ruthless!

"M-Monster" Only a single word escaped his lips as he glanced at the raven-haired youth grab the body of the Magus in one hand, and the head that was attached to the spine in the other.

Adam slowly turned his bloodied face toward Kevin, his lips curling up into a smile.

However, this smile was countless times terrifying for Kevin. When he saw that smile on Adam's face, he hurriedly crawled backward.

"S-Stay away from me, you demon!" He screamed in absolute terror. "I said stay away from me!"

"Stay away?" Adam slowly walked toward Kevin, the smile on his face widening. "You came all the way here to meet me, and now you want me to leave?"

He then shook his head in disappointment. "As I thought" He glanced at Kevin and deviously smirked, "You're a spineless trash, after all."

When Kevin heard that term coming straight from Adam's mouth, something inside him snapped.

For the past few weeks, these words from Adam continued to ring inside his head. It was to such a point that he couldn't even sleep most nights.

Now that he directly heard it from Adam, he gnashed his teeth in rage. His eyes turned bloodshot. "What did you just say?!"

This was the true horror of the School of Enchantment.

Even after the spell had been cast, it would leave a deep psychological scar on the target, making them act irrationally when they saw or heard certain signals.

Adam's lips parted and he muttered every word clearly enough for Kevin to hear.

"Cripple.

"Spineless.

"Trash."

"You!" Kevin got to his feet in a hurry and lunged toward the youth. "I'll kill you!"

Because of a few cognitive cues that Adam had implanted deep inside Kevin's subconscious through the help of enchantment spells, all the fear that the latter was feeling was suddenly replaced by unbridled fury.

Kevin couldn't help but feel compelled to attack Adam after listening to those words.

"Heh," seeing Kevin rush toward him, Adam sneered.

The next moment, he raised his hand and delivered a tight slap to the brown-haired youth, causing him to miserably fall to the ground.

Kevin spat a few teeth away, then glared at Adam. Before he could hurl insults at him or get to his feet and attack him, he felt agonizing pain radiating from his knees.

CRACK! CRACK!

Adam had already appeared before him and brutally destroyed his kneecaps.

"Aaaarrggghhhhhh!!" Kevin opened his mouth wide and screamed in excruciating pain. But his screams were soon cut short.

CRACK! CRACK!

This time Adam had stomped on his elbows, thoroughly decimating them.

"Gaaahhhh" Kevin roared again, however, he was interrupted once more.

Adam had gently stabbed with his finger at a certain point at Kevin's neck, causing the latter to be unable to use his vocal cords.

"That's much better." Adam nodded.

Seeing Kevin's eyes trembling in fear, Adam felt very satisfied. "You sent those assassins after me in Hannes City. Then, you tried to kill me inside the secret plane. All for what? Just because you were an insecure little shit!"

He slapped Kevin a couple of times and taunted, "Why don't you reply? Cat got your tongue?"

Tears started to stream down Kevin's eyes. He knew his death was near. He couldn't help but be overcome by deep regret.

But a few moments later, he thought of something, and the regret in his eyes was instantly replaced by a crazed glint.

"What's that unhinged look on your stupid face?" Adam asked with raised eyebrows.

His lips then curled up into a smirk, "You think I don't know about the Soulmark Retribution?"

Kevin's eyes widened in shock!

Adam coldly chuckled, "Don't worry. After I'm done with you, I'll deal with your whole family as well. I'll make sure you're not alone on your journey to hell."

Kevin's shock, however, was once again replaced by a deranged look as he glared at Adam. The latter frowned slightly but didn't think much of it.

The following moment, he slowly weaved hand signs and gathered whatever spiritual power he could muster to create the magic circle with great cost to his injuries.

Blood dripped from his eyes, ears, and nose as he prepared the spell. Although this was unnecessary, he would rather see Kevin die like this than any other way.

After finishing all the spell components, the youth pointed his finger at Kevin.

Rank 1 Spell: Summon Hellish Flames!

The next moment, plumes of black flames were conjured beneath Kevin, drowning every inch of his body.

Kevin writhed in agony as the flames swallowed him whole. He wanted to scream, but no voice came out of his mouth.

In the end, he could only hatefully glare at Adam while his flesh continued to melt. Soon, his muscles were scorched, followed by his bones and organs.

Adam's lips curled up into a satisfied smile as he watched Kevin burn to death by his family's own spell.

The black flames were reflected in his eyes for a long time as he continued to enjoy the scene of Kevin dying a slow and gruesome death.

He felt no remorse whatsoever. Instead, he felt incredibly content.

Right after Kevin died, a white light shot out from his body and burrowed inside Adam with unimaginable speed. The latter could only helplessly stare at it. He knew he couldn't avoid it.

This was the magical mechanism that he was so vigilant about. Seeing it enter his body, he couldn't help but sigh.

The black flames burnt for a long time until nothing remained of Kevin's corpse.

Except

Adam frowned when his gaze fell on the metallic arm that Kevin had been using in place of his missing arm.

"This thing managed to survive those black flames?" The youth muttered in astonishment.

He took a step forward, wanting to examine this object, but suddenly his pupils constricted, and intense warning bells started ringing inside his chaotic mind.

He had never felt such a threat to his life before!

On the metallic arm, strange runes started to glow with an ominous red. And soon, before Adam knew it, the red light had completely drowned him.

BOOOMM!!!