Chapter 824

Chapter 824: Divine Rank, Supra-Divine Rank! 4k

Regarding the specific information about [Demon King Alastor], it goes without saying that it cannot be hidden under the current circumstances.

Dark took the Mana Spirit Card and examined it closely.

[Demon King Alastor] is a very standard dark attribute demon race, as a twelve-star Mana Spirit, its mana, attack, and defense are quite terrifying.

Unfortunately, there is no divine aura within this Mana Spirit Card.

However, with the precedent set by [Demon King Arminster], Dark speculates that it should have a passive ultimate skill similar to that of a Demon King.

After a moment of thought, Dark injected mana into the Mana Spirit Card in front of everyone.

Subsequently, although there was a slight delay, some information still came back.

[Card Name: Demon King Alastor]

[Type: Elemental Card]

[Level: ★★★★★★★★★★★]

[Race: Demon Race]

[Attribute: Dark]

[Mana: 9000]

[Attack: 7500]

[Defense: 7000]

[Ultimate Skills: Demon King, Fusion Magic, Fusion Grimoire, Immortal Crown]

After obtaining the information, Dark wrote down each data point.

As a named Mana Spirit, [Demon King Alastor] inevitably possesses a unique ability or exclusive feature strongly associated with itself.

The most prominent feature of the [Undying Demon King] is undoubtedly its [Immortality].

Thus, when he sensed its information, Dark had some expectations.

However, before that, he first needed to look at the three main attributes of [Demon King Alastor].

“Demon race, dark attribute, mana… 9000!”

He wrote it on paper.

“Nine thousand mana points in total?”

Professor Kazel whispered.

Diana leaned in curiously, “For a twelve-star Mana Spirit, are the standard maximum values for the three attributes 6000 points?”

Professor Kazel explained, “In theory, yes, but practically speaking, Mana Spirits that break through to the fourth tier usually have a fixed increase of around 1000 points in their three attributes.”

Diana nodded and said, “I see, so the standard maximum is actually 7000 points?”

Professor Kazel said, “Yes. However, this [Demon King]’s mana value exceeds the maximum by 2000 points, which is quite extraordinary among twelve-star Mana Spirits. It’s only fitting for a Demon King.”

While these two were talking, Dark had already written down the attack and defense values of [Demon King Alastor] on paper.

Compared to the exorbitant mana value, the attack and defense values of [Demon King Alastor] were relatively “modest,” with the attack only slightly higher than the standard maximum by 500 points, and the defense just reaching parity.

Dark said, “Judging from the distribution of the three attributes, [Demon King Alastor] seems to lean towards being a spell-type?”

Professor Kazel said, “Perhaps. Judging from the three attributes, it has no obvious weaknesses. We mainly need to look at the ultimate skills. You check first.”

Dark nodded and injected more mana into the Mana Spirit Card to seek further information.

A moment later, he narrowed his eyes and said, “As expected, it has four ultimate skills, and the first one is a passive skill called [Demon King].”

Professor Kazel nodded and said, “Write it out and let me see.”

Dark immediately began copying it down.

[Demon King: Alastor is the king of demons, his naturally vast mana endowing him with unparalleled power surpassing all demons. Mana +1000, Attack +1000, Defense +1000, Rank +1, immune to certain types of change-based ultimate skills. Under his aura, all demons will become stronger, gaining Mana +500, Attack +500, Defense +500.]

“Rank +1?”

Professor Kazel’s eyes lit up, somewhat amazed.

“I didn’t expect this summoning to be so successful. Congratulations, you’ve obtained a fifth-tier Mana Spirit Card.”

Dark gladly accepted the congratulations, smiling, “My luck in summoning Mana Spirits is always good.”

The so-called fifth tier is built upon the fourth tier, relying on the characteristic of [Rank +1] to reach this level.

Magus typically refer to this as the [Divine Rank]!

Mana Spirits that have reached the [Divine Rank] and those that haven’t create an extremely thick barrier between them.

This barrier covers damage reduction, status effect immunity, mana effect reduction… and inversely, increased damage, enhanced status effects, enhanced mana effects, and so on.

Although the degree of these reduction effects varies significantly depending on individual Mana Spirits,

in general, Mana Spirits that haven’t reached the [Divine Rank] find it difficult to cause substantial effective damage to Mana Spirits that have reached the [Divine Rank].

In other words, in regular Mana Duels, if one can summon a Mana Spirit that has stepped into the [Divine Rank], it’s essentially equivalent to winning easily.

In the face of such an exaggerated gap caused by different ranks, that victory is almost crushing.

Ordinary duelists facing a fifth-tier Mana Spirit would feel an overwhelming sense of helplessness and despair.

Moreover, excluding the [Rank +1], the effect of the ultimate skill named [Demon King] is also quite prominent.

Firstly, the base three attributes increase by 1000 points each, which is basically the same as the passive effect of [Divine Rank Armed].

But after that, it has a [Demon Overlord] aura similar to that of [Asta Beast], making the demons under its aura receive全面提升.

Based on the experience of [Asta Beast], Dark deduced that the passive bonus of the [Demon King Aura] would also be effective for [Demon King Alastor].

That means, under the passive bonus of the [Demon King] ultimate skill, the three attributes of [Demon King Alastor] could be comprehensively increased by 1500 points!

However, the additional 500 points from the aura are not “base attributes.”

“10500/9000/8500!”

Dark wrote down the final three attributes of [Demon King Alastor] on paper.

“This kind of stats, even a basic attack can deal considerable damage.”

“But without corresponding output-type ultimate skills, in battles against other Mana Spirits that have also crossed into the [Divine Rank], disadvantages will still arise.”

After exchanging with the professors, Dark continued to examine the second ultimate skill of [Demon King Alastor]—[Fusion Magic]!

In the game [Yu-Gi-Oh!], there is a monster card [Summoner Alastor] with a card named [Summon Magic] that has extremely strong effects.

But this [Demon King Alastor] is ultimately not [Summoner Alastor]; instead, it possesses its own exclusive ability transformed into [Fusion Magic]!

[Fusion Magic: Demon King Alastor can use fusion magic to absorb any demon race and fuse with it, transforming into a terrifying demonic creature with corresponding strength.]

“Alastor Aldridge is a devouring demon; its special ability to absorb other demons’ powers through containers is evolved from the racial talent of devouring demons.”

“This [Fusion Magic] is clearly closely related.”

“However, within the Mana Spirit system, it is essentially a universal fusion material limited to demons.”

“The scope of ‘demons’ is quite broad and vague; it’s not limited to just demon races… well, specifically, with the book [Into the Abyss], one can refine some rare demons with special powers, and the Demon King blood required for refining can be extracted from Number Two’s body.”

“Thinking this way, before starting the refining experiment on Number Two, it would be best to extract and preserve his blood, or keep his body active in another way afterward.”

“In short, regarding the specific experiments with this [Fusion Magic], we’ll look at them later.”

“Next ultimate skill.”

Dark then looked at the third ultimate skill of [Demon King Alastor]—[Fusion Grimoire]!

[Fusion Grimoire: Sacrifice a demon on your field to summon. According to the demon’s rank, summon a different level of Fusion Grimoire. Fusion Grimoire can be used as a substitute for [Fusion]. Different levels of Fusion Grimoire have different usage counts and can summon at different levels. Mana Spirits summoned via Fusion Grimoire can persist for up to three minutes.]

“[Fusion] Mana Card’s sustainable alternative, like [Fusion Gate]?”

Dark thought, instinctively saying.

“What is [Fusion Gate]?” Professor Kazel suddenly asked.

Dark paused momentarily, then realized that this world might not have [Fusion Gate]!

He thus pondered, “It’s a field magic card that continuously performs the effect of [Fusion], currently only in the conceptual stage.”

Professor Kazel couldn’t help but frown, “Is this possible?”

Dark smiled, “That’s what needs research.”

“Indeed.” Professor Kazel said, “To know

“Have you ever considered the effects of the different levels of the [Fusion Scripture]?”

“I should be able to.” Dark responded, then focused on injecting more mana to gain more information.

[Fusion Scripture lv1: Summon with first tier demons as sacrifices, usable 9 times, highest fusion summon golem is second tier.]

[Fusion Scripture lv2: Summon with second tier demons as sacrifices, usable 6 times, highest fusion summon golem is third tier.]

[Fusion Scripture lv3: Summon with third tier demons as sacrifices, usable 3 times, highest fusion summon golem is fourth tier.]

[Fusion Scripture lv4: Summon with fourth tier demons as sacrifices, usable once, highest fusion summon golem is fifth tier.]

[Fusion Scripture lv5: Summon with fifth tier demons as sacrifices, usable once, highest fusion summon golem is sixth tier.]

“Professor, what is the sixth tier?”

Dark asked abruptly.

Professor Kazel also suddenly froze, then slowly shook his head, struggling to utter three words: “I don’t know.”

Mana technology has developed rapidly, but its history is still far shorter than that of magic and alchemy. There remain numerous issues yet to be thoroughly explored.

One of the most pressing concerns for magi is the upper limit of this technology!

Previously, the upper limit for mana spirits was the fourth tier.

After someone created a mana spirit with a ‘Rank +1’ at the fourth tier, they found an insurmountable barrier between it and other fourth-tier mana spirits, categorizing it as the fifth tier.

But now, Dark DiMont discovered a sixth tier existence beyond the fifth tier from a mana spirit card created with a ‘Demon King’ as material!

When Professor Kazel said “I don’t know,” it meant that before today, the sixth tier had not existed in this world.

The group exchanged glances, then began whispering among themselves. Even the professors were astonished, their expressions filled with surprise.

At the same time, a restless atmosphere gradually emerged.

Clearly, for them who were already at the peak of mana technology, the discovery of the sixth tier opened a door to higher realms, rekindling their long-dormant desire for the pinnacle of mana technology.

Dark DiMont quickly calculated within his mind.

“Considering digital beasts, mature stage is second tier, complete stage is third tier, ultimate stage is fourth tier, and those with ‘Rank +1′ above ultimate stage are fifth tier. Then the sixth tier would be… super-ultimate stage?”

As he thought, Dark realized he had found some answers regarding the sixth tier.

He suddenly stared at the text on the paper, muttering: “Does it require a fifth tier demon as a sacrifice? The fifth tier demon… the Demon King Alastor himself? It can’t be him, right? He still needs to execute the step of summoning the [Fusion Scripture]. So he must be the caster… then he needs a second [Demon King Alastor]?”

Dark understood, looking up sharply at the [Demon King Number Two], still sealed within the [Ball of Truth].

In this era of demon extinction, materials to create a second [Divine Rank] mana spirit card are scarce.

The soul consciousness of [Demon King Number Two] might be the last material he could obtain.

If he successfully creates it, he will have the foundation to summon [Fusion Scripture lv5].

And the matching fusion materials are already in his possession.

For example, [Moon Beast] evolving into [Diana Beast], and [Flame Lion Beast] evolving into [Apollo Beast]!

These two ultimate-stage beings with divinity, once evolved, will surely cross the fourth tier and enter the fifth tier.

Using these two fifth-tier mana spirits as materials, he can fuse summon a sixth-tier — [Elegant Nova Beast]!

“I never expected to get a ticket to the super-ultimate stage before researching the ultimate stage!”

[Greedy +1]

Dark quickly regained his composure, but his eyes still shone.

…

Today, I slept all day, feeling physically and mentally exhausted.

This book sets [Elegant Nova Beast] as a super-ultimate stage.

Chapter 825

“不得不说，[融合]确实是一条通往更高层次的捷径。”

Amidst the professors’ discussions, Dark looked at the final ultimate skill of [Demon King Alastor] — [Undying Crown]!

From the name alone, one can tell that it is likely a manifestation of the Demon King’s “undying nature.”

But how exactly does this “undying nature” manifest and whether it provides a research point requires specific analysis.

He wrote down the information he gathered.

[Undying Crown: When Demon King Alastor falls, his crown will decompose, allowing him to be reborn from death. Enemies within the vicinity will be intimidated by the soul shock. After resurrection, Alastor temporarily loses his Demon King status. When Demon King Alastor wears the crown, any demon under his command killed will become an undead soul, delaying death by 7 seconds.]

“This ultimate skill…”

Dark couldn’t help but furrow his brow.

This [Undying Crown] is undoubtedly extremely powerful and clearly related to the Demon King’s “undying nature.”

But how should it be researched?

Should they remove and decompose the Demon King’s crown?

But in practical terms, the crown is merely a representation of mana. Can they really study it to such depth?

Moreover, [Demon King Alastor] doesn’t even have a crown on the card.

Dark examined repeatedly but couldn’t find where the “Undying Crown” was hidden.

Ultimately, he could only conclude that it is a virtual concept rather than a physical object.

He put down his pen and began pondering the various data of [Demon King Alastor].

Although regretfully, [Demon King Alastor]’s combat capabilities are quite limited.

He has a lot of mana, but he doesn’t follow a magical burst route.

As for non-magical output skills, he completely lacks them.

To forcefully attack, he can only rely on the extremely high attributes accumulated passively by the [Demon King] and the necessary knowledge granted by his own intelligence.

Among his other ultimate skills, although the [Fusion Scripture] is significant, it is essentially a degraded version of the [Fusion Gate].

The use of [Undying Crown] is immense since it grants a second life and pairs well with the [Demon King Aura], making him a powerful ruler.

However, after resurrection, [Alastor] will lose his Demon King status, dropping from the fifth tier to the fourth tier.

This is an extremely severe weakening.

Of course, logically speaking, after [Demon King Alastor] is resurrected by the [Undying Crown], he should refresh the cooldown for [Fusion Scripture] and [Fusion Magic]!

This is a significant role.

After all, the essence of the strength of the [Demon King Alastor] mana card lies in the [Fusion Magic]!

Using [Fusion Magic] to fuse transform [Demon King Alastor] will possess various different abilities.

If he uses [Demon King Alastor] as the core to build a [Demons + Fusion] deck, he should be able to go further in the [Golden Cup].

Unfortunately, Dark doesn’t have many mana spirits classified as [Demons].

Unless he uses the [Into the Abyss] to cultivate demon materials for creation, he can obtain a large number of demon mana cards in a short time.

Upon reflection, this is actually a path that Wit Gold could take.

…

Dark looked up and suddenly noticed that the professors were still discussing the [sixth tier], seemingly having forgotten about [Demon King Alastor].

He shook his head and stood up, organizing his notes.

Next, he needed to summon [Demon King Alastor] and issue several pre-set mandatory commands, ensuring it could never act on its own to seek death.

Considering [Demon King Alastor] has full self-awareness, he also needed to give an order to “seal his mouth.”

Preventing him from escaping through speech or magic after being summoned.

Furthermore, with the authority of a mandatory command, he could retrieve all the memories possessed by [Demon King Alastor].

Thus, the significance of [Into the Abyss] to him has diminished.

However, his interest in demon decks and the memories of the Demon King is not great at present.

…

Only after Dark stood up did Professor Kazel clap his hands and say, “Regarding the [sixth tier] matter,”

After studying, let’s take a look at No. 1 first.”

Everyone then stopped their discussion and refocused their attention on the [Demon King].

Dark handed over the data to Professor Kazel, saying, “All the basic data is here. Where should we summon?”

Professor Kazel took the data and passed it to Professor Shylph, saying, “Outside should be fine.”

“Hmm.” Dark nodded and led everyone out of the laboratory.

Not long after, he arrived outside the laboratory and stood in the snow-white, blank space.

The professors each took up positions, ready to suppress.

For the first summoning of a twelve-star golem, Dark was not nervous but felt a little excited instead.

He first took out an unintelligent [Magical Beast: Ditto], then activated [Bliss IV], elevating its star level to eight stars, before summoning two more two-star golems, preparing for the sacrificial summoning.

The golems designated as sacrifices were consecutively transformed into light by the effects of the sacrificial summoning spell, merging with the black light shooting out from the card face of [Demon King Alastor]. This formed a huge, dark summoning array in the air.

A vast aura of demonic power descended abruptly before the Demon King had even been summoned.

Dark’s heart jolted as he suddenly sensed a terrifying suction force emanating from the magic card, with mana surging out like a flood.

Sacrifically summoning [Demon King Alastor] required additional mana input, and the amount needed was quite horrifying.

The time taken to channel the mana extended the duration of the summoning spell considerably.

But the summoning was not affected.

As the black light illuminated, [Demon King Alastor] appeared for the first time in its golem form.

The professors instantly focused, raising their vigilance.

The moment [Demon King Alastor] materialized, it indeed launched an attack!

But the instant its body lifted off the ground, Dark’s voice resounded sharply, “Stop!”

That single word seemed to pierce through [Demon King Alastor]’s soul and consciousness like an arrow.

It felt that both its mind and body were instantly solidified under the command.

“This… is impossible!”

Sharp fangs pierced through its lips.

[Demon King Alastor] roared, “How could I possibly be suppressed by you!”

Golems that have ascended to the [Divine Tier] have transcended. They possess strong personas that can resist the suppression of magi.

—[Demon King Alastor] had known this fact since it awakened as a golem.

Therefore, it had started gathering strength before being summoned, aiming to kill the weak mage the instant it was summoned—or at least destroy its own magic card.

Before [Demon King Alastor], no one had ever successfully created a golem that reached the [Divine Tier], and none of them had awakened with intellect simultaneously.

[Demon King Alastor], at this moment, was a unique existence!

It possessed a self capable of resistance and a persona that provided the power to resist.

Its ambush should have been unforeseeable and unpreventable.

However, that single word “Stop” struck it like a bolt from the blue, making it understand the concept of “hierarchy.”

After its furious roar, it suddenly realized something, its entire body stiffening as it stared fixedly at its “master.”

Dark was looking at him too, expressionless, eyes cold.

A chill arose from deep within, causing [Demon King Alastor] to tremble violently.

At this moment, he seemed to have suddenly understood something.

But he couldn’t speak, nor did he dare to.

Why did the summoning of the [Demon King] succeed?

Why was its resistance futile?

Why was it unable to move despite being suppressed?

It lacked complete memories of a [Demon King], unable to articulate this feeling clearly.

But the trembling from its soul and the recurring fear rooted in instinct were undeniable.

Its mouth twitched uncontrollably.

Then.

“Shut up.”

Dark softly ordered, causing [Demon King Alastor] to completely close its mouth.

He did not notice anything unusual, not even the resistance capability bestowed upon it by its persona.

After all, he only said the word “stop,” and [Demon King Alastor] was completely immobilized just like other golems!

So, he began listing the predetermined commands one by one, shackling [Demon King Alastor]’s actions and words.

Ten minutes later, Dark finally stopped after his lengthy speech. Aurora kindly handed him a bottle of water.

He took a sip and turned to Professor Kazel, asking, “Professor, is this sufficient?”

Professor Kazel replied, “It should be enough. But we must remain vigilant. It may not act, but others might. Someone might divine its existence or accidentally discover it, leading to problems.”

Dark nodded, understanding.

On the other side, they sighed again about not having managed to turn it into a small animal.

[Demon King Alastor]’s appearance was too eye-catching to be taken out.

“Don’t worry too much,” Professor Metia suddenly interjected with a smile. “Given such a significant success, shouldn’t we have a celebratory feast tonight?”

“Yes, yes, definitely!” Professor Kazel laughed after hearing this.

Today’s experiment was a great success; there were hardly any flaws to be found.

As for the experiment on [No. 2], they would set it aside for now.

Let’s celebrate first!

…

They called it a celebratory feast, but during the banquet, the professors continued discussing topics like the [Sixth Tier] and [Demon King]. However, the atmosphere was lively, and some people enjoyed themselves thoroughly.

After the feast, Dark returned to the tower of the Noble Academy with Diana, Rose, and Aurora.

He would take a break for a while to recover from the physical strain caused by the [Phoenix Blood Elixir].

Once recovered, his constitution might improve, becoming stronger.

Additionally, based on the experience gained from the creation of [Demon King No. 1], he knew that at least two bottles of 60 points of [Paradise Bliss] were needed for a single summon. He would need some time to accumulate these.

The difficulty of creating [Demon King No. 2] was certainly higher than that of [Demon King No. 1], with almost no room for error. Once the fusion began, it had to succeed.

Therefore, extensive preparations were necessary.

Including [Paradise Bliss], he planned to start the experiment once he had gathered three bottles.

In the following days, besides returning to class, Dark spent his time researching [Demon King Alastor] with the professors, including experiments with [Fusion Magic], which yielded surprising results.

Using different demons as fusion materials resulted in varied transformation outcomes, but all of them were strengthened.

Although it failed to reach the unknown [Sixth Tier], its star level improved—it surpassed twelve stars!

After reaching the fourth tier, star levels were no longer the standard for classification.

However, high-star golems remained symbols of greater power.

“Pity, it, like [Paradise], can only be sealed in the forbidden card list, otherwise it would have become a trump card in the Golden Cup.”

And whenever the [Golden Cup] was mentioned, Dark felt wide awake… he really couldn’t fall asleep anymore!

On Friday after the successful creation of [Demon King No. 1], he accepted a match from the Dueling Club as usual and won after a hard-fought battle.

Then, with a leisurely mindset, he watched a bit more… and saw a group of rolling up their sleeves!

March, the final month before the end of the [Golden Cup] qualifying rounds, saw the senior students suddenly getting competitive.

Dark even saw the same senior student appear three times in half an hour and slash three matches of points!

That senior student’s ranking shot up several places.

At that moment, he suddenly realized that everyone was just practicing until the last month, when it became a true battle!