<h4>Chapter 650: Samuel Barstool</h4>


    Samuel Barstool was a genius. Since he was a child, he was the most outstanding among his peers.


    He was the bastard son of a minor noble, so normally, his life should have been filled with misfortune. But fortunately, he was blessed with an unheard-of talent in magic.


    His talent was so overwhelming that at the age of three he had already reached the firstyer of mana by himself.


    When one of the teachers from the Imperial Institute noticed his talent, he excitedly told Samuel’s father that the institute would adopt the child and raise him.


    His father did not hesitate to agree, and like that, Samuel Barstool met his master, who back then was the Headmaster of the Imperial Institute.


    From there onwards, Samuel’s talent blossomed spectacrly.


    With the perfect environment to practice magic and a very knowledgeable teacher, Samuel’s magical abilities grew nonstop.


    At five, he had reached the fourthyer of mana, and at ten, he had reached the seventhyer.


    When he turned fifteen, he was already a ninthyer practitioner, and when he turned twenty-two, he was already at the eleventhyer.


    Finally, when he turned twenty-five, Samuel reached the twelfthyer of magic, the peak that only the most talented attained in their lives.


    The entire academy praised him as an unrivaled prodigy, his master was very proud of his aplishments, and his father expressed regret for not treating him and his mother better.


    Nobody doubted that the Imperial Institute would be safe on Samuel’s hands.


    But when Samuel turned thirty, he faced the first bottleneck of his life.


    The peak of the twelfthyer.


    No matter how much he attempted to ovee it, he could not reach the legendary thirteenthyer.


    His master consoled him, telling him that reaching the thirteenthyer was very hard, but someone so young and talented like him would be able to do it eventually.


    He was just thirty, and even if he took twenty years to break through to the nextyer, he would be a thirteenthyer mage at just fifty. A fifty-year-old thirteenthyer practitioner was extremely astonishing.


    But for Samuel, who had never faced a bottleneck in his entire life, the difficulty to break through to the thirteenthyer was despairing.


    Five years passed, and then ten, followed by fifteen years.


    Even when he turned fifty, Samuel had not managed to reach the thirteenthyer.


    Eventually, his master died, leaving the academy in his hands. But Samuel did not manage to cross that hurdle.


    Some of his acquittances, who had been inferior to him for their entire lives, managed to break through to the thirteenthyer, and even his student, Evelyn, eventually achieved what he tried to do for almost sixty years.


    But no matter how hard he tried, the thirteenthyer continued being out of his reach.


    Finally, when Samuel turned ny, he gave up.


    He could feel his life force decaying, and his magical abilities started to regress. It seemed that the twelfthyer would be his limit.


    But then, when he was almost one hundred years old and had given all hope, he heard a voice.


    [Do you want power?] It whispered to him.


    Samuel’s body trembled.


    He knew that the voice did not have good intentions. He knew that listening to it was wrong. But seeing the goal which he had chased for more than half of his life in front of him, he found it hard to resist the temptation.


    And when he felt a sliver of the power of that existence coursing through his veins, repairing his aged body, and returning to him the power that had been leaving him, he could not resist anymore.


    "I’ll do it." He answered to him.


    He sold his soul to the devil.


    Soon, he started to do what the devil asked him to do. He started to repair the portal between the two worlds that us had destroyed, making preparations for ’his’ arrival.


    The portal that the Imperial Institute had been guarding for generations to prevent the other world from invading them.


    Repairing the portal was hard, but the devil helped him. He taught him what he needed to know, and gave him the power to follow his orders.


    Eventually, the portal was almostplete, and Samuel finally reached the thirteenthyer.


    That day, Samuel cried.


    But then, he asked himself something.


    Can I be stronger?


    If I follow him, can I advance further?


    Just the idea of that made him grin in anticipation and madness.


    Therefore, when the devil asked him to open the portal, he did not hesitate anymore.


    But when he was about to activate it, someone appeared.


    "What have you done, master?" When Evelyn, his disciple and the current headmistress of the Institute, realized what he had done, she put on a disappointed and grave expression. "Do you know the consequences of opening that portal!?"


    "Are you here to stop me?" Samuel asked.


    Evelyn narrowed her eyes.


    "I don’t know why you are doing this, but I can’t allow you to open the portal."


    Samuel sighed shook his head.


    "... Sorry, but I can’t stop now, Evelyn. This is the only way I can be stronger."


    "Strength!? Is that the reason you put the entire world at risk!? Wake up, master! You are not like this!"


    "Right, you won’t understand." Samuel chuckled bitterly. "After all, you have never felt the despair of being unable to advance."


    Then, mana surged out of his body and activated the portal.


    Evelyn reacted instantly. She unleashed her mana and released a spell, creating an enormous ball of sma powerful enough to level the entire capital!


    But Samuel was prepared. He had already considered the possibility of Evelyn stopping him and had erected a barrier beforehand.


    Evelyn was stronger than him, and this barrier could not stop her for long. But even so, it was enough to dy her for a few seconds.


    And a few seconds were more than enough.


    Because at the next instant, the portal opened.


    "He is here." Samuel’s eyes opened wide in anticipation. He looked towards the portal excitedly, like a religious zealot waiting for his god.


    Then–


    *Rumble!!!*


    With a thunderous sound, two hands exited the portal.


    The two hands were human-sized, but they emitted a terrifying feeling. They grabbed both sides of the portal and then, under Evelyn’s terrified gaze, they tore the portal open!


    [How troublesome... That wench again messed with my ns.] An annoyed voice sounded came from the portal, and a figure calmly walked through it. [Well, this is better than nothing.]


    He was a muscr man with blood-red eyes, gray hair, and two small horns on his forehead. His skin was slightly tan, and for some reason, he exuded a feeling of chaos, death, and destruction.


    The figure smiled and looked at Evelyn and Samuel. Then, he looked at the distance, his sight breaking through space and reaching the blue-haired young man ring at him with a grave expression.


    [Hahahaha, I’m back, Immortal Soul.]


    He was the Bringer of End and Eternal Destruction.


    And he was here to bring an end to this world.


    ...


    Remember to support me on P4TRE0N, I appreciate it a lot...


    P4TRE0N: patr-eon/aidnovels