Minutes later, the pace of the 4th-grade beast confrontation had changed entirely from the beginning of the battle.

Torne was no longer mentally harassing the 4t-stage beast, while Vicente had switched from offensive to defensive mode.

He and Torne were close to their limit, now having enough mana to fight for just over a minute.

After a dozen attacks from the 4t-stage Hawk, Vicente had dents and cuts all over his armor and body, his own blood staining parts of his clothing.

His face was a bit pale, and his hair was sweaty.

His breathing was ragged as he flew around on his sword, trying to dodge the swift attacks of the winged creature.

Amid the feathered and clawed attacks, the Hawk occasionally used its extremely high-pitched scream to confuse its opponents.

This Sovereign beast was no fool. It knew it wasn't fighting a single opponent and used all of its power at the end of the battle.

"You will pay with your body for getting involved in what you shouldn't have, human!" It yelled at Vicente.

Beasts didn't usually talk to humans of their own free will. They only did so when those humans meant a lot to them or when they really wanted to remind them of something.

In this case, that Hawk wanted Vicente to remember its voice before he died!

It moved to try again to catch Vicente with its claws, passing by the objects in the area that such a Mage used to prevent it from reaching him.

As he weakened, Vicente's metallic creations weakened as well, and his spells lost much of their power.

At this point in the battle, the Hawk didn't even bother to dodge the many items Vicente controlled nearby. It went for the young man's neck, intending to end the fight with its next move.

It had considered leaving these two alive until the woman nearby had finished what she was doing. But since they had shown signs of exhaustion earlier, it went ahead with its plans!

Vicente felt the bad feeling of fighting an opponent with the power to kill him, which became more and more severe as his whole body ached.

He had already used almost every defensive device he had with him, from formations to shields and armor, things he had recently purchased after the auction. But his opponent had destroyed most of his defenses to the point where there wasn't much left for him to do.

'I'm sorry, master, I can't help you anymore...' Torne said in Vicente's mind as he returned to his previous place, where his being was already returning to its cocoon-like state. 'I will use the last of what I have to give you another boost. I hope you survive...'

Torne's voice disappeared in the middle of his speech, and Vicente realized he wouldn't see this guy again for a while.

'Old Torne...' He felt his strength improve, realizing this was the same thing Torne had used to help him when such a ghost lost his 4th-stage magic cultivation.

He clenched his fists and moved forward angrily, attacking the enemy while ignoring its claws.

As the two fiercely attacked each other, Nova succeeded in absorbing her third essence and opened her eyes to perceive her surroundings in a completely different way.

She soon ignored the completely destroyed part of the forest to focus on the only two beings fighting there: a Tempest Hawk, no longer as strong but without serious injuries, and a badly wounded magician, who was attacking his opponent practically hand-to-hand.

'Cesar...' She looked at the man and couldn't help but admire his courage.

However, as she watched Vicente attack the bird's large chest with a sword more than three meters long, she saw one of the creature's claws slash Cesar's face.

The claw sliced Vicente's mask in half, slowly revealing a face she hadn't expected to see there!

Her eyes widened as her mouth fell open, and she felt her whole world shake.

"Vicente..." She realized who the opponent she had been thinking about for so long really was, feeling a mixture of emotions all at once.

Her heart beat faster, and she felt like she was suffocating, not knowing whether to be angry or happy to see that man.

"Vicente!" She shouted at him, momentarily catching the man's eye. He didn't realize he was without his mask.

Given his desperate situation, Vicente didn't think the obvious, that he had been discovered. He was so used to being called Vicente and Cesar by Nova that he didn't find it strange.

"Don't waste time! Come with me, or we'll die!" He shouted at her.

She felt like she had been slapped back to reality and promptly looked at the 4th-stage Hawk.

"Tsk! That's right! This bastard wants to kill us!" She didn't hesitate to move her mana through her Magic Gem, quickly showing off her new set of pentagrams with a red essence, an orange one, and finally, her newest addition, a yellow one.

Her magic weapon formed in her right hand as she moved to launch a full attack with her three pentagrams simultaneously.

Cross Cut!

She made a vertical cut towards that creature while lightning and strong winds formed where this attack passed.

"Huh! Courting death!" The creature glared in Nova's direction, seeing the audacity of this Low-level Mage to attack it.

The Hawk flipped in the air, escaping Vicente's grasp. Looking at Nova and remembering that all of this had happened because of this woman, this beast decided to eliminate the problem before it.

Seeing the creature moving towards Nova and not having much energy left, Vicente clenched his fists. He was determined about his following move!

'No one who matters to me will die in front of me again!' He transferred the last of his energy from Torne to his second Magic Gem, no longer hesitating to use the Throne of Darkness.

In Vicente's space of consciousness, an eye opened as the young man's expression changed from its current excitement to a look devoid of any emotion.

Darkness escaped from his body as a magnificent yellow pentagram emerged from the depths of his being, turning day into night in that area.

"This again? I'll help you this time. But don't count on the next one." His lips moved, but only Vice heard the words as a huge throne of darkness formed behind him.

"Learn the next move, young magician. I'll give you this pentagram with the Supreme Suppression!" As Vicente's lips moved, the consciousness of his second Magic Gem made hand seals, causing strange lights to appear on the throne of darkness.

As he felt a cloak and crown of darkness form over him, Vicente felt the absolute power sealed within his body take shape.