The Annihilator: Killer Of Gods

The voice sounded eerie, like thousands of trapped souls screaming in unison. Karsha felt a chill creep down his spine but kept his composure. Instantly, he was on high alert. The being staring at him wasn't ordinary. Karsha couldn't gauge his cultivation level, and even with his third eye active, he couldn't discern anything about the man—no weaknesses, no intentions, nothing.

It was like staring into a vast, empty void. Karsha could tell this guy was way out of his league, so he didn't even think about acting hostile. "Indeed, I find it fascinating," Karsha replied, trying to answer the question, making the figure in glasses smile.

"I can see you have what it takes to learn it. After all, you managed to see through my creation. Not many could do that," the man said. Karsha smiled. "Thanks for the compliment," he responded. The man nodded and gestured for him to sit down.

Karsha took a seat on a chair carved from an unknown wood. It felt solid, unlike the makeshift one in the room where he woke up a few hours ago.

"I can tell you're curious about why you're here. I'll explain everything in due time. But for now, why don't I take you through the art of Rune Sorcerer since it seems to fascinate you?" Even if Karsha had any objections, he kept them to himself. He couldn't even tell when the man moved to a cabinet and retrieved three items. The guy moved like a ghost—definitely out of his league.

Karsha's gaze remained on the man, but deep down, he felt his soul on the verge of abandoning him. The man looked at him, amusement clear on his face. "Don't be alarmed. If I wanted you dead, you'd have been gone a long time ago." Karsha studied him for a moment before smiling.

Indeed, considering how the man moved and the fact that Karsha couldn't even sense him, it was clear that if he wanted him dead, it would have happened already. There was no need to be on guard, as he wouldn't even know when it happened. The old man before him was far beyond his ability to fight back.

"Much better," the man mused, seeing Karsha come to terms with his situation. "Like I was saying, why don't we have a lesson on Rune sorcery? Under normal circumstances, I would have asked you to kowtow three times and become my disciple, but since this is a special situation, I will make an exception."

The man laid out three items on the table: a piece of purple paper, a rectangular-shaped stone, and a flag about a foot long. There was no aura coming from any of the items, but Karsha felt a strong energy emanating from them, especially the stone and the flag. An ordinary person wouldn't sense or see anything, but Karsha's third eye allowed him to perceive the hidden energy within.

"What is your name, young man?" the man asked, adjusting his eyeglasses to look directly at Karsha. Karsha hesitated before answering, "I am Karsha... Karsha Damon."

"Well, Karsha, this Senior is called Teye. I am a Mage Rank Rune Master, or as many call it, a Rank 8 Array Master." Karsha, having no idea what the man was talking about, remained still, just staring at him. Old Man Teye smiled and began to explain.

"In the world of Rune Magic, there are different fields. It's so broad that over the years, people started forming branches and naming them as they liked. Array Masters were the first to appear. These people specialize in creating huge arrays using different rune-casting methods. They create things like Elemental talismans spells, seals, prohibitions, and restrictions.

"Later, they evolved and managed to incorporate runes into alchemy, forming a new branch called Array-Alchemy. They used both arrays and alchemy to create more powerful pills beyond mere imagination.n/ô/vel/b//jn dot c//om

"Then, years later, those specialized in formations also appeared, calling themselves Formation Masters or Formation Experts. These people specialize in using runes to create formation techniques. These techniques are so advanced that they can only be deployed by meeting specific requirements. They also came up with different ways of creating prohibitions and restrictions."

Teye reached into his space ring and brought out a small scroll. It looked ordinary, but Karsha could sense a dense bloodthirstiness emanating from within it.

"This is a scroll," Teye explained, holding it up. "It's a variant of Talisman paper and stores formations. The stored formation only activates when specific conditions are met. This particular scroll is called the 'Circle of Thousand Dead.' As the name suggests, it activates by sacrificing a thousand dead bodies. Once activated, it can be used."

He continued, "There are automated formations that perform their functions on their own, and there are manual ones where the owner controls the functions. These formations can also be imbued or crafted into walls, pillars, mountains, and towers. Some people even create entire mansions that are essentially large formations, turning them into powerful weapons.

"It's a great branch of Rune Magic that should be exploited. However, all these branches fall under the umbrella of Rune Magic, so someone like me can perform these tasks. Still, a Rank 8 Array Master will have more experience in that specific field than I do. But all the same, it's advisable to follow the path of Rune Magic since it covers all fields."

Karsha was stunned. At first, he wanted to learn runes for simple things like empowering his swords and armor. Mainly, he just wanted to know some runes to strengthen himself. He never knew there was a whole world out there just waiting for him to explore.

The man named Teye retrieved another item from his storage ring. It was purple in color and shaped like a person, resembling a paper cutout. He then picked up the purple paper from the table and began to speak. "This is Talisman paper. This paper is used to store arrays that can be used once. Spells ranging from elemental to law can be stored in this paper and activated using spiritual energy.

Once activated, it can't be used again."

Karsha looked at the child-like figure standing beside him and sighed.

"Yes, Karsha, they are all Talismans in one way or another. The only difference is that they are active because of the spiritual energy sustaining them. Once it runs out, they will disappear," Teye clarified, noticing Karsha's expression.

"Hold on," Karsha interjected, "there are thousands of these Paper People out there. Does that mean they are all under your spiritual energy?"

Teye laughed. "Of course not. There are 1,700,000 Paper Men currently active, each performing tasks. Do you really think I have that much spiritual energy to sustain them all? My Spiritual Qi is not enough for them all."

Karsha was puzzled. Seeing his confusion, Teye smiled and began to explain.

"Tell me, why do people absorb Monster Cores?" he asked.

"Because it contains energy that can push their cultivation forward," Karsha replied.

Teye nodded and continued, "Exactly. The core contains energy that can be absorbed to elevate one's cultivation.

"But aside from that, people use cores for a variety of things. Some use them for alchemy, others for blacksmithing, artisanship, and many more. The energy inside the core is more than it appears to be.

You're still a Grandmaster, so you wouldn't know this yet, but aside from Mana, there are other energies. In fact, once you reach the Sage stage, your Mana will be converted to spiritual Qi. This new form of energy is far more powerful than Mana—many times more powerful."

"So what does that have to do with Arrays?" Karsha asked.

"Well, for someone to break into the Sage stage, they have to fully saturate their Mana Core so that it can finally become a Spiritual Core. The cores you gain from monsters or humans after killing them contain spiritual energy. Once you absorb them, they are converted into energy that will be absorbed by your Mana Core.

"What this means is, even though a Grandmaster stage cultivator like you doesn't have spiritual Qi yet, you can still use Monster Cores to activate your runes. You just have to use high-quality cores, like Tier 4 and above."

"So all these Papermen are being powered by Monster Cores?" Karsha asked, and Teye nodded.

"They are all running on Tier 7 Monster Cores," Teye said. Karsha nodded at first, but then his face turned pale. "T...Tier 7?" he asked, his voice shaky.

"Why do you sound shocked? Tier 7 monster cores are a waste to someone like me, you know. We, the children of Zalgorath, aren't poor," Teye spoke with a smug look on his face. He adjusted his eyeglasses and repositioned himself in his chair. Karsha still looked shocked.

"As I was saying, Talisman papers can be used only once. However, they come in different qualities: Low Tier, Medium Tier, and High Tier. The Low Tier can hold just a few runes, up to 1,000. The Medium Tier can hold up to 100,000 runes, and the High Tier can hold over 100,000,000 runes.

"The higher the number of runes inside a Talisman, the higher its grade. These grades apply to all three items. Like weapons that have grades such as Common, Rare, and Epic, Runes (arrays and formations) also have grades. I've only seen up to grade 13, so I won't go beyond that. The grades start from 1 to 13.

"Each grade is determined by the number of runes placed in them. For example, this Paperman standing beside you is a Grade 4 Talisman. It has about 12,000 runes in it. The more runes a Talisman holds, the more powerful it becomes. I'll explain the dynamics later, but you get the idea.

"The grade of a Talisman is determined by the number of runes placed in it. However, two more items don't follow the one-time use rule of the Talisman. These two items are also hard to come by since creating them is extremely difficult."