In the endless silver moonlight, a thin sliver of darkness appeared, growing wider and wider until it was clearly visible.
It was a long sword wreathed in pitch-black flames, the dark fire flickering as though it could incinerate and annihilate everything.
From a distance, Francis felt as though that patch of darkness could absorb all light, producing a sluggish delay in time, creating an absolute freeze.
But he quickly realized it was merely his own illusion—within the darkness, faint hints of ghostly green and ashen white seeped through, cold and austere light.
The darkness engulfed everything once more, then vanished swiftly. Lucian hovered in midair. The Pale Justice clutched in his right hand had already crossed to the far bank of the Sonal River, embedding itself in the ground before Natasha—nearly striking her. His left arm hung truly limp at his side, his face ashen as a blank sheet of paper. That single strike had not only consumed all the power Aitena had accumulated, but had also drained the bloodline power Lucian had gained from his transformation.
The Temple of War, along with the mountain peak it stood upon, had been utterly obliterated. Congers hovered motionless above the ruins, while Rudolph II, who had descended through the false body of the Sun God Bero, had fallen to the ground. The black-and-white Scale of Order before him had vanished, as though it too had merely been a projected manifestation.
A slightly cool night breeze drifted past, and Congers's black cloak and arcane robes trembled, shattering into countless fragments that revealed the smooth, white skeleton beneath. Then the skeleton seemed to melt, transforming into droplets of ashen liquid that dripped onto the ground, robbing the cracked earth of its last trace of vitality.
Congers's entire skeleton was destroyed, his skull quietly crumbling away. The two needle-thin points of light flickered out like candles in a gale. But beneath the white skull, a delicate golden skull was revealed, containing power of truly terrifying magnitude. Within its golden eye sockets, needle-like red light reignited.
"You won't escape!" Only the golden skull remained of Congers, its upper and lower rows of teeth clicking open and shut as it spoke to Lucian in a frigid tone.
With that, horrific cracks spread across the golden skull as well, and then it vanished along with a single ancient, weathered ring.
"Crap—he must have left revival items hidden nearby." Lucian's heart sank. He had long understood that even after Aitena had absorbed death divinity twice, her full-power attacks were only on par with Congers or Rudolph II's remotely projected avatar—possessing suppression only at an essential level. He had never harbored hopes of destroying the demigod lich, who possessed numerous life-saving measures with his phylactery still hidden somewhere unknown, nor Rudolph II, whose true body had yet to truly arrive. But he had genuinely hoped to completely destroy Congers's current body, forcing him to revive from a phylactery undoubtedly located in the Material Plane. That round trip would buy him enough time to be safe. Reality, however, ruthlessly shattered his expectations.
But this did not fill Lucian with fear. He possessed the unique qualities of the Destiny Enigma, and he had already reunited with Natasha. All he needed to do was hide carefully and make his way to the Arcane Magic Council's headquarters—then he need not worry about Congers's pursuit. The lich would need at least half an hour or so to revive. And most importantly...
At this thought, Lucian's gaze shifted to the black, white, and grey frozen fragments floating in the air. If only he could absorb them and restore Aitena's power—would Congers still dare to give chase? He'd be running straight to his doom! At the quasi-deity level, Aitena could surely sever all his traces, just like the Sword of Truth!
Standing on the dead earth, the "Sun God Bero" wore a cryptic smile, and then his entire body crumbled into powder, collapsing inward.
Eir, Natasha, Camille, Francis, Daniel, and the others remained where they were, either unconscious or utterly spent. None could muster the strength for any extra movement. Ashin, who had been turned into an undead, still retained his sanity but dared not approach Lucian.
"So hungry!" Lucian's left hand shot forward again, carrying his body upward as he pressed it against one of the frozen black, white, and grey fragments. Several surrounding pieces were drawn in, slowly merging toward him.
In an instant, the sound of wind vanished from Lucian's ears, colors faded from his vision, leaving only pure black, white, and grey. Everything beyond a meter away blurred completely, then dissolved into chaos—as though he had been severed from the world entirely, even his thoughts beginning to solidify.
Francis struggled to raise his head and stare at the motionless Lucian. His left hand flickered between silver-white and the black-white-grey tableau, as though a violent battle were being waged within. His eyes were utterly vacant, devoid of focus—as though he had lost his soul.
At that moment, "Purifying Fire" Daniel twisted his neck, a cryptic smile crossing his face. Then he slowly rose to his feet, gripping his longsword, and flew toward Lucian.
"You clearly know that this kind of projected incarnation is nearly impossible to destroy, yet you recklessly absorb these 'essence' fragments. Should I say you've underestimated the process, or have you simply grown arrogant and careless?" The voice from Daniel's mouth was filled with majesty—it was unmistakably Rudolph II!
However, his aura still had not reached the legendary tier. Without a divine body as a vessel for incarnation, it seemed he could not achieve a higher level of descent—he was limited by the strength of his host.
"Hm? Why would Father say that about Lucian? Does Evans know his projections are difficult to destroy?" In the Nobility District on the other side of Husum City, Sophia sat upright on her bed, a small black-and-white scale floating before her. She was using the power of this "divine artifact" and the "communion of projections" to observe the battle near the Temple of War, feeling quite puzzled by Rudolph II's words.
More than three years ago, the incident in the Sun King's underground palace had left her with a hatred she would never forget, and she had tried desperately to track down that mysterious mage. Unfortunately, there had been no leads, so she had gradually let it go and focused on raising her warlock level. Meanwhile, the two spells Lucian had recently submitted were based on simple principles, and many mages had imitated and created similar spells, splitting the intelligence personnel's attention. Without any special designation, Sophia had not yet come across the relevant reports and still did not know that her bitterest enemy was Lucian Evans.
Rudolph II, on the other hand, was a legendary powerhouse at the Grand Archanist level. His projection, descended through a divine body, wielded legendary-tier strength. Combined with the fact that Lucian had made no effort to conceal his aura and spiritual signature, Rudolph II had naturally recognized him at a single glance.