Dressed in a black formal suit, Ketonia seemed like a traveler through time, drifting between different worlds. With nothing more than a casual stroll, he passed straight through Lucian's solidified space, as though a spatial barrier of this caliber meant nothing to him at all.
Looking every bit the old-school gentleman, he held a shimmering longsword. A single stride carried him across the vast distance forged of monotonous black, white, and grey, materializing at the edge of Lucian's mental force field. Against the backdrop of absolute silence, he evoked the sensation of time rushing past — impossible to hold, impossible to stop.
A mere sword strike had gained the power to affect the mind and soul. Such was the might of an Epic Knight!
As the blade descended, Lucian felt everything around him slow to a crawl, like a slow-motion sequence in a film. Only the water-like sword light moved with the speed of lightning, washing over and burying everything in the world.
Under the flow of time, even planets would reach the end of their lives!
Ketonia was deeply satisfied with this strike. Ever since his body began to age, he hadn't unleashed such a thrilling, uninhibited blow in a very long time. But facing Hathaway's coercion, facing the imminent rescue by Fernando,
The reason he hadn't been able to overcome Winston in a short time last year was twofold. First, the power gap between Legendary tiers wasn't as large as the gap between lower, middle, and upper tiers — unless there was a full two-rank difference. Second, due to his body's decay and spiritual wavering, he could only exert power close to the third tier. But now, he was once again the "Heart of Time" who had slain two Legendary Mages, a Demon Lord's projection, a Legendary sea monster, and a Dark Epic Knight!
During the period from the Dawn War to the Arcane Council's expansion of power, on this side of the Tempest Strait, the "Heart of Time" Ketonia was synonymous with myth and legend!
Carrying this satisfaction, the power of his sword seemed to increase even further. The soil on the black earth transformed into grey sand grain by grain.
Tick, tick, tick — Ketonia suddenly heard a sound unaffected by the power of time. The mechanical, silver-white pocket watch clutched in Lucian's right hand, despite being immersed in the monochrome grey and the drag of temporal slowdown, still faithfully recorded the passage of every moment.
Black tailcoat, matching bow tie, silver-white pocket watch... In Ketonia's eyes, Lucian didn't look like he was engaged in a battle between Legends. He looked as though he were attending a noble's banquet — having been asked the time by a beautiful lady, he casually produced his pocket watch, snapped the cover open with a click, and pressed gently with his middle finger.
Click!
A crushing pressure erupted without warning. The surrounding darkness deepened. The sword light that had been sweeping toward Lucian, just before it could land, was pulled off course by the tremendous gravitational collapse — its straight path bending into a curve that veered to the side.
"Hmph!"
The color drained from Ketonia's eyes, leaving them hollow and void, as though a great river of time surged through them. He drove sudden power into his longsword, briefly breaking free of the gravitational collapse's pull and tracing a beautiful arc back toward Lucian.
"Elemental Aegis!" Within the time gap created by the gravitational collapse, Lucian had already finished chanting his spell. The Grand Archanist's Robe blazed with countless elemental motes — gold, silver, white, black — all converging into a semi-transparent barrier of light that stood against the "Heart of Time."
With a rushing sound like flowing water, the various components of Elemental Aegis — this Legendary defensive spell — began to change at different rates under the influence of time, contradicting one another and rapidly crumbling under the sword's assault.
But it had fulfilled its historical duty, blocking Ketonia's strike — one delivered at near-peak strength. Lucian used the opening to teleport a safe distance away and lock onto his target.
"Vengeance Gaze!" Lucian's voice came out rough and jagged, dragging out a trailing syllable that made the incantation seem drawn-out and protracted — this was the addition of "Uncertain Hand"!
Although he had managed to scheme against the Primordial Flame by concealing his Legendary strength and using the Lunar Chronometer, the collaboration between his enemies and the Undead Realm had affected him too. His teacher and the Chairman's rescue would arrive several dozen seconds later than normal, and during that time, he would find it very difficult to stop Ketonia from escaping — spatial-temporal magic below Legendary rank, such as the Labyrinth spell, Ketonia was completely immune to. That was precisely why Lucian had chosen to target the Primordial Hand rather than him.
Furthermore, based on his fighting experience against Winston and various intelligence reports, Lucian had estimated that due to Ketonia's aging, his strength had long since fallen below the third Legendary tier. Keeping him occupied for a few dozen seconds shouldn't have been too dangerous. But it was clear now that Ketonia was still vigorous and ferocious in his old age.
Lucian's right eye suddenly turned a crystalline crimson, like the most exquisite red gemstone imaginable. Then a beam of solid scarlet light shot from it — so fast that it gave no one time to react.
But when the scarlet ray struck Ketonia, it seemed to "pass through" to another world, bending slightly within the watery flow of time to bypass him entirely. It tore a massive hole through the jumbled black-and-white-grey mountain peaks behind him and shot off toward the horizon!
How utterly inconceivable!
A cold smile crept across Ketonia's lips. Breaking through his defenses — as if it were that easy! If it were truly so simple, he would have fallen long ago in one of his past Legendary battles.
And you've only just advanced to Legendary — the power of your magic is far from sufficient!
He didn't step forward to teleport. Instead, he began to transform into light, merging with his longsword.
In the cold, silent monochrome, a shifting, luminous brilliance ignited — like the first ray of morning sunlight illuminating the world, dispelling the monotony. It seemed to cut toward Lucian regardless of spatial distance.
"Barrier of the Dead!" With the Grand Archanist's Robe still recharging, Lucian activated Congers' Ring.
Whoosh — within the Undead Realm, this spell seemed to receive a powerful boost. Countless spirits and ghosts converged from all directions, countless chunks of flesh and corpse flew up from the earth, solidifying into a wall of tangled limbs. Soul-faces within wore expressions of agony.
But the sword light bent again, tracing a beautiful arc and redirecting toward Natasha on the other side!
Even with the power of time, killing a mage with numerous life-saving measures would still take time. But dealing with a Golden Knight who could only use Legendary artifacts two or three times was far easier!
Even if the
Having deceived Lucian about his casting time, Ketonia's gaze turned icy cold. His hands were steady, without the slightest tremor, as his longsword crashed down upon Natasha, whose movements were hampered by the Shield of Truth.
Natasha bowed her body slightly, raising the small black Shield of Truth to an angle above her. Her expression was resolute, her eyes brimming with fierce fighting spirit. The white lace of her wedding dress swayed gently.
Clang!
In the muffled impact, Natasha — beneath the Shield of Truth's coverage — took on an ethereal hue, as though she existed in another world. Untouchable. Unharmable!
This shield was said to represent the pinnacle of spatial-temporal defense. From Lucian's observations, it seemed to share the same lineage as the Divine Guardian.
After blocking Ketonia's attack, beads of cold sweat appeared on Natasha's forehead. Her teeth were clenched tight, and a trickle of blood with a faint silver-purple sheen lent her lips an eerily alluring beauty. Looking closely, one could see her legs and hands trembling slightly — it was clearly a tremendous strain.
Two more attacks like that, and she wouldn't be able to hold!
To prevent Lucian from locking onto him, Ketonia immediately executed a Time Walk after his strike, changing direction to continue pressing his assault on Natasha.
And then, he heard that tick, tick, tick sound once more in his ears.
Within the intricate silver-white pocket watch, the black second hand swung merrily along, pointing to mysterious symbols crafted from gemstones of every color. Lucian pressed lightly with his thumb — click — and the second hand froze in place, as though the watch had broken.
Grey-white once again drove out the black. This area seemed to have slipped into another space-time altogether. Everything was so quiet that nothing had any color — except for Hathaway's pale blue and silver-grey.
The grey-white Ketonia did not stop. Instead, in slow motion, he brought his longsword down — a deliberate movement that would help him effectively dodge the counterattack once the Time Stop's effect ended.