"Magus, hand over that artifact!"
"You have nowhere to run. We've completely sealed this area."
"Who would have thought! The mighty Magus Stockholm reduced to such a miserable state?"
"The greatest genius of the universe? How laughable! Look at you now!"
Magus Julian Stockholm was armored in black, but it had been heavily damaged. His body was covered in ghastly wounds, and he was missing an arm. Blood gushed out endlessly from his injuries, forming a crimson puddle underneath his feet.
Hundreds of corpses lay strewn around him, dyeing the once-green plain a scarlet color. He coldly stared at the remaining Magi, still numbering in the thousands. There was no way out for him. It was unfortunate, but it was a foregone conclusion that his end was near.
Powerful Magi had surrounded him. Some taunted him, some cursed him, but none dared to step closer. Fear was evident in their eyes. None of them moved, for they were afraid of Stockholm's desperate, final attack.
Suddenly, Stockholm stretched his arm, causing the surrounding Magi to go on high alert. The next moment, a pristine white lotus materialized on his palm. When the Magi lay their eyes upon it, they were overcome by greed.
Stockholm looked at the white lotus and smiled bitterly, thinking to himself, The weight of this artifact is too much for me to bear. Perhaps, this is not my destiny…
The following moment, his eyes shone with firm resolve, and he turned to look at the thousands of hostile Magi.
"All my life, I have pursued the peak of magic," he said. "And although I will perish here today, I have no regrets. One day, someone will inherit my will and carry on my dream. I know it."
Stockholm's lips slowly curled into a cold smile, and he continued:
"But since all of you have shown me such great courtesy, you might as well accompany me to the afterlife."
The thousands of Magi surrounding him felt an intense foreboding grip their hearts. All of them were overcome by terror, but before any of them could react, a terrifying otherworldly pressure descended on them, making them shudder.
The source of this pressure was the white lotus!
Space within thousands of miles froze abruptly as the white lotus bloomed in all its glory. Stockholm's expression was solemn as he injected all his mana into the artifact.
A giant energy vortex began forming with the white lotus at the center, and cracks, both big and small, started to appear in the space all around.
The divine might of the lotus had caused the void to collapse!
The Magi tried to escape, but it was futile. One by one, their eyes turned dull and listless as their souls were sundered and absorbed by the lotus.
Stockholm gritted his teeth as his consciousness slowly began to fade. But he persisted. He swore he would take all these Magi with him. Within a few moments, his enemies started to die one after another, their bodies utterly devoid of souls.
At last, Stockholm could not endure any longer. His soul was annihilated and absorbed by the white lotus as well.
The greatest genius of the Magus Universe had perished.
As for the other Magi who had died, all of them were powerful enough to rule planets. Their dominance awed trillions of people in this vast universe. But in front of the legendary white lotus, they were nothing but mere ants.
The strange thing was... none of them suffered any physical injuries from the attack of this artifact. Instead, it was their soul that had been directly destroyed and devoured.
After devouring thousands of powerful souls, the white lotus majestically hovered in the air. Before long, it entered one of the cracks in the void and vanished.
The legendary artifact silently travelled through the boundless universe, waiting to be inherited by the one with great destiny.