“It’s a matured elemental sprite lord!” Alvin exclaimed.

  “Damn it! How could we run into something like this now… This path was supposed to be clear!”

  “Should we fight it? Casualties can’t be avoided if it attacks us head-on.”

  The elders were all slightly flustered, uncertain of what course to take. None of them had expected to encounter a being of this caliber mid-journey.

  Victor narrowed his eyes in thought. A matured elemental sprite lord was no trivial opponent. Even one could demand the efforts of several powerful Elemental Adept Magi to bring down. The more evolved variants—those with unique affinities or domains—were known to challenge even Nexus Temporal Magi under the right circumstances.

  “First, activate the ship’s defensive spell formations,” Victor ordered sharply. “If we don’t, the servants — especially the mortals — will surely die!”

  After a series of incantations, a soft layer of milky-white light enveloped the walls of each dirigible. Every crack and seam in the vessels was sealed by invisible force, relieving the pressure on the mortals and acolytes onboard as the storm outside howled in fury.

  “Humans, this is my domain — the Storm Lord of the Sky’s territory. You must pay the price for your folly!” the elemental sprite lord, Kuhuk, bellowed.

  As his voice rippled through the air and struck the defensive spell formation, the protective white barrier trembled faintly.

  “Patriarch, let’s join forces with the other elders and chase this elemental sprite lord away,” Alvin suggested.

  Victor didn’t respond at once. Instead, he stepped out onto the open deck, letting the wind whip violently around his Magus robe. Across the sky, Kuhuk’s colossal, crackling gaze settled on him with a look of disdain.

  “Mighty being of nature! Appease your fury and state your terms,” Victor said, his voice amplified with mana. “If your demand is within reason, we shall honor it.”

  The elemental tilted its head slightly, arcs of lightning crawling across its storm-born frame. “Very well. I’m feeling… generous today. Three thousand intermediate-grade mana crystals… and one Elemental Adept Magus as tribute.”

  Immediately, the people inside Victor’s dirigible began murmuring as they reacted to the outrageous demand.

  Victor’s expression, however, turned into something far colder.

  “I see. So, this is how you welcome guests in your sky.” Victor snickered and began chanting. The wind around him thickened with rising mana pressure, and the sky itself seemed to dim further in response.

  “Perish!” he said coldly. “{Gap Hole}!”

  The moment the words left his mouth, space twisted violently before him. A swirling black vortex tore open in midair, aimed directly at the colossal form of Kuhuk.

  The elemental sprite lord howled in surprise. “What?! You dare—!”

  But it was too late.

  The spell {Gap Hole} consumed space itself, and Kuhuk’s massive body began to vanish into the void, devoured without resistance. A tremor of pain and fury echoed across the clouds. Thunderstorms erupted in a frenzy, and the sky roared with unrestrained rage.

  “No! No! I, the great Kuhuk, Lord of the Sky, will not fall here!” the elemental sprite lord roared, expanding his storm-wreathed form to envelop Victor’s dirigible. For a brief moment, it seemed the vortex had lost momentum, and it was able to recover faster.

  Not letting it recover, Victor channeled a surge of infused mana into the sigil in the back of his right hand, and it lit up in response. In an instant, the swirling black vortex from the spell {Gap Hole} grew exponentially in size. Its pull intensified, ripping through the thunderclouds and devouring Kuhuk at a terrifying pace.

  “Nooo!! Stop! I yield! I will leave this place!” Kuhuk’s voice shifted from fury to desperation, but Victor’s expression didn’t waver.

  “Too late,” he said coldly. “Be sealed in another dimension — {Spatial Fold}.”

  As the final words rang out, space warped violently around what remained of Kuhuk. A spatial rift appeared and dragged the elemental sprite lord’s essence into a sealed dimensional fracture. With a final scream, Kuhuk vanished completely.

  Then, the storm dissipated, and silence returned.

  Inside the dirigible, all the elders stared at Victor in stunned disbelief. Even Alvin, the Asteriscus family’s reclusive ancestor, lifted his eyes with visible surprise.

  This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience.

  “Patriarch… Your strength is extraordinary,” Alvin praised with a tinge of genuine awe. “You’ve surpassed the limits of a peak Elemental Adept Magus.”

  “This is the proof! The proof that our Patriarch will ascend to become a Nexus Temporal Magus!”

  “There’s hope for us now — hope for the future of the Asteriscus family!”

  “That’s right! Even a matured elemental sprite lord — something that could terrify a high-rank Magus — was nothing but an insect before his might!”

  “Amazing!”

  “Long live the Patriarch!”

  “Long live Victor Asteriscus!”

  All the elders and family members praised Victor, their voices merging into a rising chorus that echoed throughout the airship. What had begun as awe quickly turned into celebration. The acolytes who had trembled in fear moments ago now looked on with reverence and pride. Some of the younger ones stared at Victor as if he were no longer merely a man, but a living legend.

  Indeed, in this world, nothing commanded more loyalty than power. If you had power, everyone would follow you willingly. Still, their excitement reminded him slightly of the players… His meticulous effort in crafting the image of an almighty headmaster had paid off here as well.

  Anyway, Victor had a specific reason for capturing the elemental sprite lord. This being of nature had many potential uses, but above all, he intended to make it one of the guardians of his academy. With such a force under his command, any skyborne threat would think twice before attempting to approach. But first, he needed to make the creature obedient to him.

  Speaking of the academy, he had already informed Lizbeth a few days prior that he was arriving with the entirety of the Asteriscus Magus family, allowing her time to prepare in advance. Victor’s plan for the family was to establish an estate to the north of Thornwood Village. He recalled that there was a lake in that area that was discovered by a player not too long ago.

  Two days passed by quickly as the Asteriscus family’s fleet drew ever closer to the Thornwood Forest. It shouldn’t take more than a day before they arrive at their destination.

  During this time, Victor meditated in his room, refining his magic knowledge while simultaneously attempting to force Kuhuk’s submission through the {Mind Programming} spell.

  Taking a crystal bottle enchanted with sealing runes that contained the elemental sprite lord, Victor asked, “Do you submit?”

  “N-No! I… will not submit,” Kuhuk stammered, its voice trembling within the glass prison.

  Unfortunately, he hadn’t made much progress. After all, it was merely an Aleph-tier spell, insufficient to subdue a being of Kuhuk’s caliber. He likely wouldn’t see any real results until he returned to the academy and upgraded the spell model to a higher tier.

  Accepting that, Victor put his focus toward the more pressing matter, which was on how to break through to the Nexus Temporal rank.

  In order to advance to the Nexus Temporal rank, Victor had to be able to forge a connection to the elusive Primordial Nexus and discover a method of harnessing the immense power that flowed within it. Progressing beyond that required even deeper understanding, which was completely different than progressing through the Elemental Adept rank, which required accumulation instead. That was why owning a magic artifact was extremely important because it could act as a medium that guided and stabilized the connection.

  “But where can I even obtain a magic artifact?” Victor murmured to himself.

  The only realistic answer he could think of was the System gacha. The Nexus Temporal lootbox held a small chance of yielding a magic artifact. However, each pull cost 4,000 academy points — and worse, the results were never guaranteed.

  As Victor brooded over his options, his expression abruptly hardened. His senses caught the faintest ripple of mana stirring in the northeastern skies. It was minuscule, almost imperceptible, but to a Magus who mastered the Cosmo element like him, it was glaringly obvious.

  A group of enemies was approaching fast…

  Victor cast {Eyes of Space-Time}, and a spectral vision appeared before him, revealing ghostly outlines far off in the distance — three approaching dirigibles, gliding through the cloud cover with unnerving speed at Victor’s fleet. But what caught Victor’s attention wasn’t their formation or their impressive vessels. It was the oppressive, pulsating mana signature radiating from the lead dirigible.

  “A Nexus Temporal Magus…” he muttered.

  His lips tightened into a thin line as his gaze sharpened. Even at this distance, he could feel the other party’s presence as they were making no effort to mask their power. It was a show of dominance, and Victor was sure that it was the Merlin family’s patriarch, Alphonse Merlin.

  Without hesitation, Victor notified the whole fleet through a magic transmission so every elder would know of this.

  Alarms echoed across the fleet as Victor’s warning reached every vessel. Decks burst into motion. Asteriscus elders moved swiftly to their designated positions, while crew members scrambled to activate the defensive formations. Shields shimmered faintly into view around the dirigibles as layers of magic circles spun to life along the hulls and zeppelins.

  Victor soared to the ship’s deck, his robe billowing in the high-altitude wind as he landed on the observation platform of his flagship. Though the enemies were still several kilometers out, the oppressive tension in the air could be felt by everyone as if storm clouds were gathering.

  A Nexus Temporal Magus. Victor hadn’t expected to face one this soon.

  But so be it.

  He would show the enemy that the Asteriscus family was no longer the small Magus family of the past. In fact, he could feel his blood boiling at the thrill of being tested against a formidable foe unlike any he had encountered before.

  Still, even though Victor was confident, it would be beyond foolish to face the Merlin advance unit without any sort of strategy — especially against a Nexus Temporal Magus — despite having a numerical advantage.

  Victor’s mind raced as he calculated the odds. Brute force was clearly not an option — not when the enemy leader was most likely Alphonse Merlin himself. Charging headfirst would only provide the other party with the perfect opportunity to dismantle the fleet piece by piece.

  Instead, he sent magic transmissions to the key elders, ordering them to assemble an elite strike unit consisting of official Magi and prepare for an ambush. His plan was simple yet precise: the dirigibles carrying the Asteriscus family members and servants would continue fleeing to lull the enemy into a false sense of superiority. Meanwhile, Victor would act as bait, drawing the enemy’s attention toward himself.

  Then, when the enemy least expected it, the elite unit would strike from an unexpected vector, catching them off guard and crippling their formation in one decisive blow.

  “Yeah, this should do it.” Victor grinned with satisfaction as the plan fully crystallized in his mind.

  If you are looking for more to read, consider checking out my new series or join my server