Lucian surveyed his surroundings and found himself inside a circular grand hall, with tiered seating rising in concentric rings around him — like an enlarged version of a noble assembly chamber, a parliament big enough to fill half a city. The vaulted ceiling shimmered with a pallid glow, casting eerie, iridescent colors across the deep-black, frigid stone bricks.
"The passage to the left leads outside. It should pass through the palace where the Lich King and the Northern Church's five Saints were stationed. The passage to the right leads deeper inside — it shouldn't be far from the Soul Hearth." After confirming the environmental parameters, Lucian used the patterns of his coordinate shifts to roughly determine his current position and the directions of the two exits.
As for which way to choose, Lucian didn't hesitate for a moment. Of course he would head back. If he could run into His Excellency the Speaker or his teacher, his safety would be guaranteed. If not, he could still retreat from the Necromantic Sanctum.
Ever since the Northern Church's first Pope, "Saint Ivan," and the other four Saints had "revived," the balance of power between the two sides had shifted enormously — dozens or even hundreds of times more dangerous than originally anticipated. His Excellency the Speaker and his teacher, both at the peak of the Legendary realm, could fight even if injured, with no real risk of falling. But he himself, Klaus, and Erika could die at the slightest lapse in attention. With a bit of luck, they might end up sealed away like the Sphinx King Fenkes, waiting for the Parliament to organize a stronger force to mount a rescue. With bad luck, they would truly become historical footnotes in the annals of Arcane Magic.
"This must be the hidden danger Begner foretold..." Lucian thought to himself, layering himself with numerous magical defenses. "If it comes to a life-or-death moment, I'd rather self-destruct and destroy all five Legendary artifacts than hesitate for even a second. After all, there's still a backup clone safe at home!"
Shielded by Elemental Skin, a Mental Barrier, and other protections, Lucian pushed open the left door. Instantly, horrifying, piercing wails filled his ears.
Any being that could produce sound in the Necromantic Realm was, without question, Legendary!
"There are at least seven Legendary undead in the area ahead! And more in the distance!"
Outside the palace, a dense mass of the Undead Catastrophe surged forward in waves — ghouls, wraiths, mummies, bone dragons, and dracoliches flooding in like a tide, blanketing the sky, engulfing corridors and tunnels, swallowing lakes and gardens. Among them, seven powerful auras rose into the air, radiating a chill that cut to the bone.
From the distant palaces, howls and roars echoed back and forth in answer, as though some grand "New Year's concert" was underway.
Lucian watched the scene with his scalp tingling, feeling the sheer shockwave of it even from a considerable distance.
"I could use 'Advanced Time Stop' — freeze them in place and fly straight through this zone..." Lucian analyzed the options in his mind. "But the range of 'Advanced Time Stop' only extends to a few dozen kilometers at best. It would cover most of them, but not all, unless I used it twice in succession. And there are at least ten more Legendary undead closing in from the distance — I'd meet them head-on halfway..."
For the first time, Lucian deeply resented the sheer immensity of the Necromantic Sanctum. If only the Legendary undead were clustered together, 'Advanced Time Stop' would let him sail right past them to the battlefield where His Excellency the Speaker and his teacher were fighting. Unfortunately, they were scattered across such a wide area, surging in waves — a textbook three-stage attack formation. And his 'Advanced Time Stop,' even with the Moon Chronometer elevated to the second tier, could only be used three times.
Against these unthinking Legendary undead — one-on-one, two-on-one, even five-on-one — Lucian wasn't afraid. But more than five, and the quantitative shift would become a qualitative one. That was without even considering the possibility of ancient mummies or Servants of the Death God lurking among them.
"Press deeper? Use hit-and-run tactics to scatter them, then break through in the opposite direction?" The Necromantic Sanctum was vast enough that Lucian believed it would offer opportunities for guerrilla warfare.
At that moment, the words of the prophet Begner surfaced in Lucian's mind: "If you encounter extreme danger, remember — do not rush to retreat. Only by pressing forward can you see hope."
Combining the premonition from his Destiny Star and his astrological arts, Lucian quickly made his decision. Watching the Undead Catastrophe surge toward him like a tidal wave, he pushed up his monocle with his left hand, extended his right hand forward, and spoke in a low, dark voice:
"Atomic Fission!"
Simultaneously, the "Uncertain Hand" within his soul activated!
BOOM!
An enormous fireball erupted amidst the Undead Catastrophe. A colossal shockwave rippled outward in every direction, and a towering grey-white mushroom cloud wreathed in flames rose into the sky.
ROAR — Countless undead screams were abruptly severed mid-cry. The Undead Catastrophe within Lucian's field of vision was instantly obliterated across a vast swathe, like a field of wheat freshly mown, or like a whirlpool suddenly appearing in the middle of the ocean — a gap that could not be easily filled.
Two of the seven Legendary undead roars went silent!
The earth rumbled and shuddered. The shockwave and radiation surged toward Lucian, but he had already been far from the epicenter of the explosion. After casting 'Atomic Fission,' he had immediately accelerated into flight, and with the numerous defensive spells layered upon his body, he had taken virtually no damage.
"The Atomic Fission plus Uncertain Hand combo really does have a fantastic clearing effect. Pity those Legendary undead were too far away — I could only lock one or two of them in the blast core." Lucian sighed with admiration even as he flew toward the right door of the circular hall. "If the spiritual energy drain weren't so enormous, I really could just carpet-bomb the whole place and send every last undead straight to hell."
Had it been the "Eternal Blazing Sun," Lucian was certain the effect would have been many times more devastating. After all, it was based on the principle of the sun itself, and the one thing undead feared most was sunlight.
After passing through the right door, he found himself in a single sealed corridor. Following it, he entered an ancient, majestic black hall that resembled a temple, its vaulted ceiling supported by thick, towering columns of black stone.
Lucian had no time for sightseeing. He still needed to lure the Undead Catastrophe behind him and scatter it, so he sprinted directly into the only hallway available.
This corridor stretched on seemingly without end, utterly unlike any palace Lucian had passed through before. Not a single undead in sight — dead silent, cold as stone, as though the world itself had been frozen.
In this eerily quiet, chilling corridor, Lucian simultaneously cast Greater Flight and Greater Haste, swooping through the air one moment and dashing along the ground the next, weaving around hidden magical traps at every turn.
*Click-click.*
Suddenly, an unsettling peal of laughter drifted from somewhere unknown, echoing through the empty corridor from afar. It sent chills crawling up the spine and dizziness spinning through the head — mercifully, Lucian still had his Mental Barrier to hold it at bay.