Chapter 83.
"Uhhhh... this staff isn't bad," Felix murmured, inspecting the fallen enemy from a distance. "A bit creepy-looking, though. The robes are decent too... just too dark. And now they're ruined."
He gave the corpse another glance with his x-ray vision. The man's chest was utterly destroyed—his heart completely incinerated by the heat vision. Dead as hell, dead as anyone can be, Felix concluded.
But still…
"That's true for regular people," he muttered warily.
"But dark magicians are anything but regular. Better safe than sorry."
He narrowed his eyes again. "Could be faking it. Guys like this don't die that easy."
Then, without hesitation, his eyes glowed red once more—and two sharp beams of heat vision shot out, slicing into the already limp body.
Puff!
A thin plume of smoke hissed up.
"Okay now he should really be dead," Felix said, finally relaxing a bit. But just as he took a step forward—
Whoosh!
Suddenly, thick black smoke erupted from the body and began swirling into the air. It twisted and morphed into a humanoid shape—dark and formless, like a shadow trying to walk.
"What the hail!? Is that his soul?"
Felix instinctively jumped back. He had been half-joking about a sneak attack, but this was actually happening.
He squinted. "So he really did die—but his soul still lingered? Creepy bastard..."
The dark mass stood motionless at first, as if disoriented or trying to remember what had just happened. It didn't speak, didn't move—just floated there.
Felix studied it closely.
"Wait... yeah. That's definitely a soul. Just jet-black and smoky. Disgusting. Why is it floating like that though?"
In contrast, Felix knew his own soul—if he were ever forced into soul form—would be radiant, golden, and semi-transparent. A sign of purity and balance in his cultivation.
"This must be what happens when you practice too much black magic," he muttered. "Your soul starts looking like a chimney explosion. No wonder these guys always smell like death."
He snorted. 'Yeah... no thanks. I'll stick to clean power.'
As Felix mused to himself, the soul finally seemed to regain awareness.
It turned slowly, locking eyes with Felix, burning with hatred.
Its mouth opened in a silent scream. It flailed its arms, lips moving rapidly—clearly trying to curse Felix—but no sound came out.
"Huh," Felix tilted his head, amused. "Guess ghosts can't talk."
The soul, enraged by Felix's calm indifference, lunged toward him—mouth open, fangs bared, arms clawing forward like a banshee.
"Oh, now you're mad?" Felix smirked. "Try me."
He readied himself again—this time to deal with the soul itself.
The soul's monstrous rage darkened it even further. Its ghostly face twisted with hatred, as if it wanted to rip Felix to pieces.
"Oh, you're really something," Felix said with a smirk, standing his ground. "You couldn't beat me while you were alive. Now you're just a pitiful remnant, and you still think you can touch me?"
As the dark soul lunged closer—less than a meter from Felix's body—a sudden burst of golden light exploded outward from Felix, forming a barrier of mental energy cultivated through his spiritual training.
WHAM!
The soul seemed to get smashed in the chest by an invisible sledgehammer. It flew backward violently, its dark misty form unraveling at the edges. The soul was visibly weaker now, dim and trembling like smoke ready to be scattered by a breeze.
As fate would have it, it was flung directly over its original staff—the eerie one with the white jade skull at the top.
Screeeeeee!!!
A piercing shriek echoed through the training grounds as the soul passed overhead. In an instant, the faint blue ghost-fire inside the skull flared up—burning brighter, colder, and more violently than before.
The flames reached out like a predator and engulfed the soul –entirely. The screaming intensified, filled with agony and despair, but it quickly began to fade as the soul was consumed.
Felix watched in stunned silence, unsure of what exactly was happening.
The fire was odd. Though it burned fiercely, it wasn't hot—instead, it emanated a chilling coldness that crept into the bones. The scene reminded Felix of a strange flame he'd once read about in a novel—"Cold Flame," a ghostly fire owned by a protagonist's grandfather. Except, this one wasn't white it was blue.
For a full minute, Felix stood frozen, eyes locked on the spectacle. Then, just as suddenly as it had flared up, the ghostly blue flame began to die down. Within seconds, it vanished completely—leaving no trace of the soul behind.
Only the skull atop the staff remained and it had changed.
The bone was now even more lifelike, with ghost-flames burning brighter and fiercer inside its eye sockets, nose, and mouth. They flickered with a wicked gleam, almost as if the soul it had consumed had added to its power.
"Huh... What is this thing?" Felix murmured, intrigued and a bit unsettled. "It just... devoured a soul. Completely."
He stepped forward and picked up the staff, examining it closely. Despite his sharp senses, he couldn't determine the material it was made of—or what enchantments had been cast on it.
Still, creepy as it was, this was his first magical trophy. It had value. Maybe it would prove useful one day.
"Whatever this is... I'll keep it. Could come in handy."
With that, Felix tucked the staff under his arm and turned back toward the courtyard, the eerie blue flames flickering softly in the skull behind him.
"What a pathetic sight," Felix muttered as he examined the fallen dark magician. "You possessed two exceptional artifacts, and now one lies shattered along with several magical instruments."
Being naturally drawn to valuable items, Felix searched the corpse thoroughly but found nothing else of worth. He couldn't help but shake his head in disappointment.
The man before him had died without revealing his name or purpose. Felix had already committed the act of killing, and he felt no need to dwell on the mystery of why this intruder had sought him out at Kamar-Taj.
"Such a waste," Felix said softly. "A dark magician, dead for the meaningless title of Sorceror Supreme."
"I hope you find peace in your next life..." Felix paused, catching himself. "Damn it, there I go again! Why can't I stop myself from blessing the dead?"
A chill ran through Felix's heart as he realized he had unconsciously offered another death blessing. He quickly pushed the thought away, disturbed by his own involuntary habit.
Crack! Whoosh!
Fearing he might fall into this pattern again, Felix raised his hand toward the black magician's body. The sound of shattering glass echoed through the air as he manipulated the mirror dimension. Immediately, the corpse was pulled into the dimensional space.
Within the mirrored realm, a pitch-black crack split the ground directly beneath the body. The corpse tumbled into the fissure, and the earth slowly sealed itself, leaving no trace of what had transpired.
"As expected," Felix observed with grim satisfaction, "mirror dimension magic truly is indispensable for disposing of bodies."
Standing outside of the mirrored space, Felix demonstrated his exceptional control by manipulating the environment within, commanding the very earth to consume the evidence. If other mages witnessed such mastery, they would undoubtedly be left speechless with shock.
Since the dark magician's attack, virtually no one dared approach Kamar-Taj. Even white magic practitioners rarely came to visit Felix anymore. Perhaps his reputation now served as sufficient deterrent.
Word had spread quickly after the black magician's breach of Kamar-Taj. Many mages who had been secretly monitoring the ancient sanctuary learned of the incident, including curious onlookers and those with more sinister intentions. Despite their varying motives, all eyes remained fixed on Kamar-Taj—the sacred stronghold of the mystic arts—eager to witness how this new Supreme Master would handle such challenges.
However, as time passed, the magical community grew increasingly puzzled. The notorious black magician had vanished without a trace, and no dramatic magical energy fluctuations had emanated from Kamar-Taj. This absence of magical warfare was perplexing to the observers.
The black magician had brazenly broken into the sanctuary, clearly seeking trouble, yet there had been no signs of struggle or conflict. This contradiction left everyone wondering: had the dark sorcerer truly been defeated?
The idea seemed impossible to many. This particular black magician was no ordinary adversary—he had spent nearly a century mastering various forms of magic. Initially, he had been a student of the previous Sorceror Supreme, learning under her guidance for twenty years. But for unknown reasons, he had suddenly betrayed Kamar-Taj and turned to studying forbidden black magic.
Since his corruption, his temperament had changed drastically. He became cruel and murderous, killing countless mages and innocent people in his quest for magical knowledge and life-extending methods. After nearly a hundred years of practice, his control over various magical arts had reached an unbelievable level. Some in the wizarding world even speculated that he would eventually seek revenge against the Ancient One herself.
Many righteous mages had attempted to stop his evil deeds, but most were counter-killed due to insufficient strength. In the end, it was the Ancient One who personally confronted him, seriously wounding the dark magician before he somehow managed to escape. He had disappeared for decades afterward.
His sudden reappearance might have been triggered by news of the Ancient One's death—perhaps he had emerged to take revenge on Kamar-Taj itself.
This history made the magical community even more skeptical about the outcome. Although the dark magician had been wounded decades ago, he should have recovered from his injuries by now. Even if he hadn't advanced his magical practice in recent years, he surely wouldn't be defeated by this new, unknown Supreme Master.
After all, as the saying goes, "a starved camel is still bigger than a horse." This new Supreme Master had no reputation in the wizarding world and had only been learning magic for about ten years. How could there be no signs of fighting if such a battle had truly occurred?
Yet the magical community could find no other explanation. Why else would there be no massive magical energy fluctuations, no sounds of battle? And why hadn't the black magician reappeared after so long?
It seemed the dark magician must have been more aggressive than expected, but how the new Sorceror Supreme had dealt with him remained a complete mystery.
The outside world continued to speculate about these events, but few people dared to threaten Kamar-Taj anymore. Even fewer disturbed the sanctuary's peace, leaving Felix considerably more tranquil.
These –details about the dark magician's history were only revealed to Felix after the temple's reconstruction. He had merely listened to rumors from the wizarding world, as he otherwise would never have known about the grudge between the dark magician and the Ancient One.
However, Felix didn't take the matter too seriously. He had already killed the man, and considering the sorcerer's past evil deeds, Felix felt he had acted as an agent of heavenly justice.
Moreover, after this incident, fewer people bothered him at home, and Felix found himself with much more freedom. He rather enjoyed the cleaner, quieter life.
Every weekend, he made time to go to date with Louise. Of course, the details of their romantic encounters were better left unmentioned.
The rest of his time was often spent visiting Tony, Annie, and the others. Recently, Dr. Tony Stark and Banner had been practically living in the laboratory, researching the medicine Felix had brought back and working on Tony's nano-armor technology.
Whenever Felix visited, they would only take brief moments to greet him before returning to their research, working through the day and night. Felix didn't mind this dedication—after all, Tony's efforts would ultimately benefit everyone.
He was particularly interested in waiting for the pharmaceutical research to be completed so he could test whether it might enhance his own abilities.
Most unexpectedly, Annie had grown closer to Prince T'Challa, whom they had brought back from Wakanda. She had resumed her old profession and once again became the superhero "Starlight," protecting the city and saving innocent people. For reasons known only to himself, T'Challa had also donned a black panther suit and become the superhero Black Panther.
The most surprising development for Felix was Annie's choice of city to protect: Queens. Given her limitations in speed, she could only effectively operate within a relatively small area, making this decision quite practical.
The emergence of the superhero Starlight had generated tremendous excitement among Queens residents. Their city finally had a guardian superhero of its own! While some police officers and citizens remained concerned about this mysterious hero who refused to reveal her name or face, claiming only to be "Starlight," the majority of people supported Annie wholeheartedly.
Media coverage proved mixed, with both supporters and detractors voicing their opinions. None of this particularly mattered to Felix, but when he first heard that Annie had chosen this specific city for her heroic endeavors, he fell silent for a long time.
"Queens..." Felix mused to himself. "Isn't that where the Spiderman will operate in the future? Now Annie has claimed it first. I wonder what will happen to the Spiderman now?"
Felix couldn't help but think of the young boy who had helped him understand magic when he first arrived in this world—Peter Parker. He wondered how the child was doing now and whether Queens would ever see another figure swinging through the streets in red tights.
"But his fate remains in his own hands," Felix concluded. "It's better not to interfere with him now. After all, he's only about ten years old right now."
Felix's contemplation was interrupted by a familiar voice.
"Sorceror Supreme Felix, someone has arrived at Kamar-Taj! Please trouble yourself to come out and meet them!"
Mordo had approached Felix with this announcement, breaking through his wandering thoughts.
"Oh? It's been several months since anyone visited! Why would someone come to Kamar-Taj today?" Felix asked with curiosity. He had grown accustomed to the peaceful solitude of recent months and wondered what had brought a sudden visitor to their doorstep.
"Come on, let's go meet this guest together," Felix said, setting down his teacup and rising from his seat. He gestured for Mordo to accompany him.
During this period, Felix had developed quite a fondness for tea. The Ancient One had left behind an extensive collection of tea leaves, which Felix had taken for his own enjoyment. He felt certain that the Ancient One wouldn't begrudge him this small pleasure—after all, he had been faithfully guarding Kamar-Taj for so long. What harm could there be in drinking her tea?
"By the way, Mordo, do you know who's visiting?" Felix asked, too lazy to extend his mental powers to investigate. He preferred the direct approach.
"A monk from Kunlun," Mordo replied without hesitation, getting straight to the point.
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