Guzznad sat on his chair, a terrifying calmness emanating from his body. He suffered too much in this war. After losing so many of his followers, his strength had drastically decreased.
If not for the Sagittarius Plane and another plane he conquered, he would have fallen to Tier 8 after losing so many worshippers.
'The Path of Faith God is too restrictive,' thought Guzznad. He had long figured this truth out, so he wanted to acquire more legacies of the Magus Race so he could walk the path of the Elder Gods.
If he succeeded, he could keep his [Death Authority], Divine Status, without the limitations of Faith. The only downside is it takes too long to reach a higher Tier. Furthermore, it's extremely difficult for Elder Gods to leave their maternal plane since their [Authority] is directly linked to the Plane Will.
'As I get my hands on the Divine Sparks, everything will be fine,' thought Guzznad. 'If my calculations are correct, the Arcane Empire should possess them.'
He heard of the department of the Empire in charge of reverting his undead back to normal. He knew only a deep power of [Death Authority] could do such a thing, and the only way for such a young Empire to have such authority is through the Death Divine Sparks.
The Magus Race inheritance he acquired left hints that the Divine Sparks should be in this galaxy, hence why he invaded using all means necessary. However, he did not expect to suffer such a blow while conquering a small-sized galaxy.
Guzznad suddenly sensed something and raised his head. His eyes saw the floating city outside his last remaining five Star Systems.
'He's here,' thought Guzznad, extremely calm despite his current situation. 'Arcane Emperor, if you think victory is already yours, you will be in for a great surprise.'
Without hesitation, he took a step and appeared outside of the protective shield of his territory. Soon, Edward appeared before him.
"It seems you have not given up," said Edward, who saw the brilliance in his opponent's eyes.
"The final victor has not been decided yet."
"Is that so?" uttered Edward, who immediately raised his guard. His opponent showed no signs of admitting defeat, panic, or any negative emotions. This could only mean two things: he is a master at controlling his emotions, or he has an unknown trump card that could reverse the situation.
As such, he immediately gave up the idea of convincing Guzznad.
"Let's fight in the Mirror Dimension. Unless you don't want your last remaining territory to vanish."
"That's fine by me."
'So, his trump card is not something from these territories?'
Edward theorized that Guzznad might have some hidden artifacts in these territories. However, the latter immediately gave up the home advantage and chose to fight inside the Mirror Dimension.
'There is also another possibility. Whatever method he has can ignore the limitations of space and reach the Mirror Dimension.'
While these thoughts flashed in his mind, Edward activated the spell to transmit them to their battle location.
[Divine Spell: Death Requiem]
Guzznad raised his pale hand, generating a terrifying sound that directly affected the body and soul. Anyone who hears would have their bodies aged or become ill in a swift manner before dying.
[Arcane Spell: Death Absorption]
A white light enveloped Edward, swallowing the death power from the attack. The light then converted the death energy into life energy stored in his body; he can use it to heal later in this battle.
Sadly, the conversion was abysmal.
'Is it because he controls [Death Authority] and I do not?'
Guzznad never expected his attack to do any real damage. His real objective was to buy him enough time to approach his opponent, forcing the Emperor into closed combat.
He knew the Emperor–like all Arcanists–must have a powerful body. However, it did not change the fact he was Tier 8. The only reason he could fight with him was due to the mana from the Floating City.
As such, his physical body will still be his weakness.
But, as a Divine Being, Guzznad was powerful in all aspects–his soul, spell casting, and body.
Swish!
Guzznad's scythe cut Edward's body into two. However, his Divine Eyes soon detected it was an afterimage.
'So fast?' he thought before feeling a terrifying flame rushing for him.[
Arcane Spell; Divine Flame]
Guzznad calmly watched the golden flame approaching him and raised his hand. The power of death began to quell the flame. However, to his surprise, this thing resisted, even birding his power of death.
'[Flame Authority]? How is that possible?' His hood hid the shock in his expression, but his trembling body exposed him.
'No, this is not the power of [Authority], it's too weak,' contemplated Guzznad, who constantly reminded himself to calm down. 'This power resembled [Authority].'
He took a moment to ponder, and his eyes lit up, "Dragon Chant Magic, and it's even the advanced version."
He was shocked by this conclusion since such a fact was almost as shocking as if the Emperor had controlled an Authority. Dragons have passed on their language to other races before, but they've always kept the advanced version to themselves.
"It's nothing but a copy," said Edward. He spent a few months studying Albion Thunder's Character. Based on his analysis, he created the [Flame Character] and a few others.
Unfortunately, he did not acquire Thunder Authority, so his copy of the character was flawed. Regardless, Edward has created the foundation for these characters, leaving the rest to a team he personally selected.
So, it's only a matter of time for the Empire to have many Character Magic that are based on certain [Authority]. In the future, when an Arcanist meets the Willpower requirements, they can exchange for these Characters that can resonate with the laws to study in order to become Legends.
Guzznad immediately raised the Emperor's danger level to a higher level after knowing he controlled magic on par with the Dragon Race. Then, three new versions of Guzznad appeared before him, each with their own distinct aura that was hard to distinguish.
'Clones? No, it should not be those ones.'
The Empire knew of Guzznad's unique ability, where he could create clones with the same power as the main body. However, according to former analysis, these clones took time to create, and the Empire had already destroyed the previous batch.
Edward was on the verge of acquiring many laws, which include Soul, Thunder, Water, and finally, death. Among these laws, the closest is not Thunder, despite the knowledge he received from Albion.
The closest to turning into law is Death. After all, he had the Death Staff for many years. If not for the fact the staff was in constant use during the war and he was distracted by many other things, he would have acquired the Death Law or Authority by now.
So, with his knowledge, he swiftly saw the essence of Guzznad's spell. The latter separated three aspects of life from his body, turning them into clones or projections: young, middle-aged, and old.
The three clones raised their hands to cast a spell. Edward discovered a line connected to his body appeared before these two. Then, Guzznad's main body raised his scythe to cut off the line.
Edward's danger sense activated, and he reacted swiftly. He cast a spell called [Death Substitute]. This spell is both a death spell and a curse spell.
As such, after the line was cut, a doll in his interdimensional space exploded into a thousand pieces.
"My assumptions were correct," uttered Guzznad. "Such a deep understanding of Death Magic. You must have acquired the Death Divine Spark."