Standing amid the shattered remains of seven demons, Sebastian flicked his wand, inspecting it with a satisfied nod.

Years of wand-making expertise had honed his repair skills. The wand’s restoration exceeded his expectations, nearly matching its original state.

It could handle light and neutral magic flawlessly, but powerful dark spells, like Fiendfyre, remained too risky. Even a masterfully repaired wand couldn’t endure dark magic’s clash with its light-aligned core.

Sebastian approached the subspace’s edge, pressing his hand against the shimmering water curtain. He sensed its magical strength and flow, analyzing it carefully.

After a moment, he shook his head—no clear way out.

A brute-force attack wouldn’t breach this subspace. The only solution was neutralizing the water, its magical medium, through evaporation or freezing.

But the sheer volume was beyond Sebastian’s current spells—except for Fiendfyre.

Casting Fiendfyre could work, but it would likely destroy his wand, slashing his combat strength and leaving him vulnerable. Worse, the spell’s altered form in this world summoned hellfire he couldn’t fully control.

Without a wand, the unleashed flames might endanger even him.

To escape, he’d need to target the Water Demon directly.

Waiting passively for the battle outside to end wasn’t an option. It might be safer, but it risked the Witch Heart Demon or a demon army ambushing him.

Sebastian hated being at the mercy of chance.

Gurgle…

In the subspace’s eerie silence, a sudden ripple of water echoed sharply.

Sebastian turned, spotting a grotesque demonic face formed from liquid—the Water Demon. It glanced at the demon corpses littering the ground, then roared at him.

The surrounding water curtains erupted in ripples, and a massive claw of water lunged toward him.

Boom!

Sebastian’s body dissolved into black smoke via Apparition, darting through the air. While Apparition couldn’t free him from the subspace, it let him evade the claw’s grasp with swift, fluid flight.

Dodging the Water Demon’s watery claws, Sebastian kept his eyes on its snarling face formed in the water curtain.

From the start, he’d theorized that this subspace, woven from the Water Demon’s essence and liquid, might mean the water curtains were part of its body.

If true, that gave him a way to strike at the demon directly.

Certain spells, when hitting any part of a target’s body, could affect the whole.

Facing the Water Demon’s roaring visage, Sebastian made his choice. Fiendfyre’s raw power could destroy the subspace but would shatter his wand, leaving him vulnerable. The risk wasn’t worth it yet. He’d save the wand and fight smart.

Halting mid-air, black smoke swirling from his Apparition, Sebastian raised his wand, aiming at the Water Demon’s face above.

“Crucio!”

The Unforgivable Curses from his past life were infamous for their cruelty, not raw power. Among them, Crucio—the Torture Curse—was the least destructive, far weaker than Fiendfyre, making it ideal for his damaged wand.

It targeted the soul, perfect for a demon’s diffuse form.

He’d considered the Patronus Charm, but his talent leaned toward dark magic. While he could cast it, his Patronus lacked the mastery needed for full effect, requiring practice to unleash its true strength against demons.

Besides, Expecto Patronum needed a direct hit, whereas Crucio could spread its pain from any contact point.

A dark green beam shot from his wand. To Sebastian’s surprise, it didn’t immediately affect the Water Demon’s face. Instead, it dissolved into dark green ripples, racing across the water curtains. In a blink, the curse’s effect spread through the demon’s liquid body, enveloping the entire subspace.

Before the Water Demon could react, soul-deep agony surged through it—pain beyond physical limits, a torment so intense it felt eternal, like drowning in despair.

“Argh!”

A scream of soul-shattering pain echoed, and the water curtains forming the subspaces quaked violently. Demons teleporting through the ripples were sliced in half as the curtains destabilized, their bodies collapsing in bloody heaps.

The water curtains shuddered, collapsing into ordinary liquid that splashed across the ground.

Kamar-Taj mages and surviving demons reappeared in San Venganza’s ruins, the subspaces gone, reality restored.

As the massive flood collapsed, the Kamar-Taj mages and demons witnessed a chilling, unforgettable sight.

Sebastian stood firm, wand raised toward the Water Demon, now in a humanoid form. A dark green beam—Crucio—poured from the wand’s tip, striking the demon.

A gut-wrenching scream, raw and soul-deep, tore from the Water Demon’s throat. Paralyzed by relentless agony, it couldn’t move, its cries echoing with desperate pleas for Sebastian to end its torment and grant release from the soul-searing pain.

The scene felt strangely inverted. Sebastian, unwavering as the green light streamed from his wand, seemed almost demonic in his focus, while the Water Demon, writhing and pleading, appeared pitiful, like a victim caught in a cruel twist of fate.

The Water Demon’s desperate pleas for Sebastian to end its torment echoed relentlessly, its soul-deep wails chilling the air.

Not only the Kamar-Taj mages but even the demons shuddered, gripped by primal fear. The dark green glow of Crucio cast Sebastian as a figure of dread, his power undeniable.

Click…

A faint, crisp sound came from his wand. Sebastian flicked his wrist, lifting the Crucio spell. The Water Demon’s eyes, filled with gratitude and relief, met his. With a silent wave of his wand, Sebastian cast Sectumsempra.

The Water Demon’s head severed cleanly, tumbling to the ground as its body collapsed into murky water, dissipating.

Sebastian’s expression returned to its usual calm, but to those watching, he was transformed—a mage of fearsome capability.

The Ancient One approached, her demeanor composed as if the harrowing scene had never occurred. She nodded warmly, a gesture of respect. “Master Sebastian, thank you for shattering the Water Demon’s subspace. Leave the rest to me.”

Sebastian inclined his head. “I trust you, Master Ancient One. My wand’s taken a beating—I’m not fit for more fighting right now.”

With that, he dissolved into black smoke via Apparition, reappearing atop a nearby boulder. He sat, observing the battle’s continuation.

Running his fingers along his wand, Sebastian felt a new, hairline crack splitting from the previously repaired fracture. The Crucio spell had strained it further.

The damage was minor, not yet crippling, but he’d need a new wand crafted soon after this fight.

As he pondered, the Ghost Rider, locked in combat with the Witch Heart Demon, took a brutal hit.

The demon’s claw sent him crashing into a collapsed stone slab, striking his neck with a sickening crack. His skull twisted unnaturally, the hellfire flickering weakly as black smoke poured from his body, signaling severe damage.

The Witch Heart Demon wasn’t unscathed. Half his face was scorched to bone, unhealing under hellfire’s curse. A fist-sized hole gaped in his abdomen, its edges seared, resisting regeneration.

When the Water Demon had woven its subspaces, the Witch Heart Demon had ordered it to trap him and the Ghost Rider together, aiming to eliminate the Rider first.

He hadn’t anticipated the Rider’s enhanced strength—far greater than before—or the Water Demon’s swift defeat, which shattered the subspace.

Spotting the Ancient One approaching, the Witch Heart Demon flashed a cruel grin.

“I’ve dealt with the Rider. You’re next, Supreme Mage. After you, I’ll slaughter your human mages, wiping Kamar-Taj from existence. Or maybe my demons will finish them off before I need to bother.”

“Thank you for the reminder,” the Ancient One replied calmly. “I nearly forgot to deal with your demons first.”

With a gentle wave of her hand, cracks spiderwebbed from her feet, racing toward every demon except the Witch Heart Demon.

Purple arcs of energy erupted, coiling around the demons like chains. Amid their agonized howls, they were dragged into the earth, vanishing completely.

In one spell, she’d eradicated the demon horde. Sebastian inhaled sharply.

This was the power of the Supreme Mage.

Sebastian knew such powerful magic came at a cost—otherwise, the Ancient One could have obliterated the demons instantly. Yet, with a single wave, she’d banished dozens of demons, a display that left him awestruck.

Not just Sebastian, but the Kamar-Taj mages and even the Witch Heart Demon stood stunned by her unmatched power.

Before the Witch Heart Demon could react, the Ancient One raised her hand, enveloping San Venganza in the Mirror Dimension with a flick of her wrist. As she waved her arm, the ground fractured like puzzle pieces, reassembling and shifting as if alive. The terrain whisked the Kamar-Taj mages to safety, clearing a battlefield for her and the Witch Heart Demon alone.

The Witch Heart Demon, though silent, recognized her strength far exceeded his expectations. Without hesitation, he charged, a victor’s smirk on his face. In close quarters, he believed he could still kill her.

But as he lunged, the ground around the Ancient One erupted into fist-sized stone cubes. They swirled chaotically, merging into a towering earth-rock giant. With a thunderous slap, it smashed the Witch Heart Demon into the earth, his body sinking into the soil. The cubes adhered to him, binding him tightly.

Roaring in fury, the Witch Heart Demon’s tentacle-like hair thrashed, shattering the stone restraints and lashing toward the Ancient One.

She thrust her right hand forward, summoning a dense web of crimson light. The net sliced through the tentacles, reducing them to fragments that crumbled to the ground. Stepping forward, she formed intricate hand seals, pointing one hand skyward. White lightning cracked through the Mirror Dimension, striking the Witch Heart Demon and coiling around him.

Her other hand gestured to the ground, summoning dark purple thunder that burst upward, further ensnaring him.

Clasping her hands, she drove them downward. The white and purple lightning merged in a blinding surge, unleashing devastating force. The Witch Heart Demon’s roar turned to anguish as his body disintegrated into black ash, sinking into the earth and vanishing completely.

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep