Tritus's objective right from the start was the subjugation of the bluish-white sea serpent. By doing this, he could advance his magic weapon, inadvertently boosting his own firepower.
Osric's conjecture about Tritus's trident was not that far off. The trident was indeed an ancient weapon from the Chaos Era. However, its wielder was not a human but an unknown 'demon.' As a matter of fact, the trident's soul was a demon that refused to become the Soul Emperor's puppet after dying. It chose to fuse with its trident's awakening sentient to avoid such fate.
Because of the special circumstance of which the trident's soul came to be, its thirst for blood was far stronger than any magic weapons. With its strong personality, it also had problems bowing down to its owner. It did not even considered Tritus its owner.
The only reason it was willing to let Tritus wield it was because the latter agreed to provide it with 'nourishment.' And at the moment, it saw the bluish-white sea serpent as its target.
Frankly, the trident had somehow mellowed after Tritus became Kyran's Sigil. It seemed to have realized Kyran's real identity even before Tritus. It also appeared to believe that only by following Kyran would it realize its dream to enact its revenge on what the Soul Emperor did to its people.
"You--!"
Osric realized Tritus's real goal too late. Even when he tried to unsummon his magic weapon's soul, the blue and gold light that shot off from the trident and enveloped the bluish-white sea serpent already bound it in place.
RAWRGH!
The bluish-green sea serpent roared, seemingly delighted upon successfully subjugating the bluish-white sea serpent. The bluish-green sea serpent jaw opened wide and bit down on the latter's neck.
RAWRGH!
Unlike their earlier clashes, the bluish-green sea serpent's fangs had pierced through the bluish-white sea serpent's neck. After that, a suction-like force came from the former's mouth and pulled in the latter's body.
Osric felt the connection of his magic weapon to its soul started to weaken. His eyes turned blood-red in anger, and in an instant, his magic pressure surged again.
'Ngh..!' Tritus was instantly forced to kneel. However, he released his own magic pressure to resist, and barely succeeded in preventing his knee from touching the ground.
"To dare touch my magic weapon's soul...!" Osric roared in anger. The hatred in his heart deepened as he recalled Kyran's treatment. Now, Tritus dared to take his magic weapon's soul right under his nose.
He had never suffered such insul in his life!
"Did you think I will allow such insolence happen on my watch?" Osric continued as his magic pressure continued to increase.
The magic fluctuation in the surroundings intensified as the oxygen around them thinned.
'This...!' Tritus's eyes widened as he realized that Osric had finally unleashed his domain.
In an instant, the suction-like force from the bluish-green sea serpent's stopped and the bluish gold light that bound the bluish-white sea serpent shattered.
Tritus gritted his teeth as he realized that the oxygen in the surroundings was growing thinner every second. His expression turned grim as he realized that Osric's domain was like a manifestation of the sea's abyssal zone.
Truth be told, Tritus had wanted his domain to manifest in a similar way. However, his knowledge of the sea's abyssal zone was superficial. In the end, his domain was only able to manifest the deep blue sea. It amplified his Water magic output, and also slowed down his opponent's movement because it gave them the feeling as if they were moving underwater.
However, Osric's domain was different. Since it was a manifestation of the abyssal zone, the output of his Water magic was far colder than before, making it easy for him to mold more solid Water attacks. Apart from this, the movements of his opponents would not only slow down, but would be restrained because of the absence of oxygen. Their bodies would also soon turn to ice, because of the low temperature from the abyssal zone.
Of course, Osric's domain was only a manifestation. It did not exactly mean that the abyssal zone would appear above ground. Nevertheless, it was enough to weaken and kill his enemies as long as the weakening effects of his domain kicks in.
A few meters away, Kyran sensed Tritus's predicament. Unfortunately, he could not provide any immediate help because he was keeping an eye on the hole in the sky. He was also maintaining the Void barrier above.
Kyran frowned slightly as he looked at the Sovereign's Cradle that covered the sky.
When the red light with lightning descended, the cradle glowed, meaning it took effect and restrained the red light's strength. However, the fact that Kyran's purple sphere exploded upon contact with the red light meant the latter's strength was still superior.
'Does that mean even with the cradle's suppression, Ruin's magic output still possess such firepower?' Kyran wondered.
He rejected the thought at once. In the first place, if Ruin's magic output was that potent even with the suppression of the Sovereign's Cradle, then one move would have destroyed the barrier protecting the Regis Estate. But that had not been the case.
In that case, Ruin's magic output was not the problem but the Sovereign's cradle.
'Even a mere projection of power from the fiery ball burned the ground to this state,' Kyran thought while looking at the barren ground. 'Does it mean... the cradle's effect is weakening?'
The idea immediately made Kyran's heart turn cold.
There were only two causes for the Sovereign Cradle's effect to weaken. One, the magic energy sustaining the cradle had dropped to a level it could no longer maintain 100% effectivity. Two, something bad happened to the Sovereign.
Kyran was leaning towards the former reason. After all, the cradle had been in effect for days now.
However, Kyran had a bad feeling, especially when his father was currently undergoing Azaloth's Inheritance.
The thought made Kyran want to check on Mannick. If something did happen to Azaloth's real body, his essence would somehow manifest it.
Kyran clenched his fist as he stared at the hole in the middle of the fiery ball. He was tempted to rush outside and see how Nolan was doing. But he also felt that everything might also be a trap.
As much as Kyran wanted to know how Nolan was, he could not leave the Human plane. One of the main reasons was definitely Ruin.
Without the suppression of the Sovereign's Cradle, Kyran was not confident about fighting Ruin head on. Besides, Deception was also there.
Though the two had a falling out, they might have also agreed to a truce.
Kyran shook his head at once while recalling Ruin's character. As far as Kyran was concerned, Ruin hated to compromise with someone who betrayed him. Deception also called for reinforcements, meaning if a battle was really happening outside, then Ruin would definitely take that as a declaration of war.
An idea crossed Kyran's mind and his expression turned somewhat hopeful.
No matter how powerful Ruin was, fighting two or more Sovereigns would definitely be hard. Not to mention, Nolan was there. He might only be a Sage but his Elements magic was too perverse, he could practically create anything as long as he knew that item's composition. If this was the case, Ruin might have proposed a truce with Nolan!
Kyran looked at the pierced fiery ball again and felt that his idea was possible. Ruin appeared unruly, but when he works with someone, he was a real team player. If he had reconciled with Deception, then he would not have pierced the fiery ball with his magic. As a matter of fact, he managed to avoid destroying the flimsy veil that prevented the hole from expanding.
As for whether Ruin and Nolan was working together, Kyran felt that if Nolan was really at a disadvantage, he would have already retreated back to the Human plane. He might have also used the opportunity Ruin did to the fiery ball to return.
Of course, there was a possibility that Nolan could not do that because he might already be dead. But for some reasons, Kyran knew Nolan was still alive.
With this in mind, Kyran somehow felt more at ease. He took a deep breath and cleared his thoughts before looking back at the Sovereign's Cradle. Now, he was more worried about the possibility of the cradle losing its effect.
'Can I reinforce the cradle with my Void magic?' Kyran wondered. Frankly, he had no idea how the Sovereign's Cradle was created. All he knew was that it was made of the Human plane's magic energy.
'But won't my Void magic corrupt it if I reinforced it?'
Kyran felt an incoming headache. While Void magic's true nature was not to destroy, he had not fully grasp the meaning behind its nature of 'turning nothing, into something.' He could easily revert any damaged item as long as they had a physical form, but magic energies were nonphysical. Besides, they were composed of different types of magic energies and Void was only one of them.
'Does turning nothing to something mean, my Void magic has adaptability nature? If this is true, can I make my Void magic adapt into the Sovereign cradle's nature?'
Kyran rejected the idea at once. If Void magic could adapt the nature of other magic, he would not have problems coming up with a way of mixing his Void and Draconic magic to create a similar effect like the Strengthening magic...
'Wait... mixing Void and Draconic magic...?'
Kyran's eyes slowly widened as he realized something.