Everyone watching the battle had their hearts lodged in their throats, their bodies frozen in place as they bore witness to the unimaginable horror that had just unfolded before their eyes.
What… What was that?!
A suffocating stillness permeated the air as if the world itself was trying to comprehend the sheer devastation it had just witnessed.
Not even the wind dared to stir.
A moment ago, the mercenary leader had been a force of absolute dominance—his staff raised high, his presence suffocating, his aura shaking the heavens.
Yet now…
He was gone.
Vanished.
No trace of his existence remained—no body, no blood, not even the tattered remains of his robes.
The only thing left behind was a faint afterimage of his aura, lingering like a ghostly imprint in the air, and a strange, acrid scent that burned the noses of those nearby.
It was the scent of something that should not exist, something erased from reality itself.
Where did that blue beam come from?!
