Within the Hall of the Dead, there were countless ancient mummies, but only one wore a golden crown.
That was the Ancient Mummy King — immune to all magic below the legendary tier, partially immune to certain legendary spells, one of the rulers of the Hall of the Dead's outer region, an existence of the third rank of the legendary tier.
Without magic or bloodline abilities specifically suited to counter it, facing it would be even more agonizing than facing a peak legendary opponent, because no matter what you threw at it, there was simply no reaction.
Countless pieces of information flashed through Lucian's mind: "The Ancient Mummy King fears holy light, sunlight-type supernatural forces, and super-high-temperature flames. It is not immune to Grand Disjunction. It is not immune to advanced Time Stop. It possesses extreme resistance to slashing attacks from longswords…"
Tick, tick, tick. Inside the mechanically-styled silver pocket watch, the black second hand jumped in its monotonous rhythm. Lucian gave the Ancient Mummy King no chance to speak or launch an attack. His white shirt collar swayed slightly as his right thumb pressed down gently.
Click. The black second hand stopped. The dark yellow and deep black beyond the ashen grey vanished. The Ancient Mummy King stood frozen with its right arm extended mid-strike, seemingly trapped in a different space-time.
Immune to all magic below the legendary tier — meaning Grand Disjunction could not be used. Even if "Hand of Uncertainty" could be added, the probability would be negligible, practically nonexistent. This was mainly because there was a two-rank gap between Lucian and the Ancient Mummy King.
Extreme resistance to slashing attacks from longswords — meaning the Sword of Truth would likely only cleave through one layer of defense and fail to truly wound it. The Sword of Truth, though terrifyingly powerful, would also lose its strength after cutting through layer after layer of defenses, making it difficult to finish off the enemy.
Immune to the vast majority of legendary-tier necromantic spells — meaning the Ring of Congers, aside from its defensive and passive effects, was nearly useless.
Immune to instant-death and destruction-type magic — meaning the Grand Annihilation Spell would also struggle to have any effect.
…
The comparison between the Ancient Mummy King's characteristics and his own spells flowed through Lucian's mind. The instant he pressed the "Moon Chronometer," he had already calculated what combination of spells he should use during the brief duration of the Time Stop effect.
"Elemental Order."
The lengthy, complex incantation rang out. Over the past few months, Lucian had elevated his "Elemental Order" to the legendary tier based on "Elemental Decomposition." However, since only four legendary spells could be constructed within his soul at present, he had to recite the full incantation and assist it with elaborate casting gestures. Were it not for the Time Stop effect, the Ancient Mummy King would have had ample time to kill him twice over.
After casting "Elemental Order" with "Hand of Uncertainty" attached, the Time Stop was nearing its end. Lucian only had time to cast "Baler's Transformation" — which required no casting interval — and then draw the Sword of Truth, unleashing a cold, majestic beam of silver-grey sword light at the Ancient Mummy King.
Black reappeared, painting the surrounding walls once more. The Ancient Mummy King's ashen "bandages" gradually turned yellow.
Suddenly, countless motes of light burst from its body — black, white, silver, green — a kaleidoscope of color. The sinister yellowish-brown "bandages" on its chest rapidly disintegrated, but layer after layer revealed nothing beneath — still no sight of the iron-black decayed flesh underneath.
The silver-grey sword light flashed, and the Ancient Mummy King let out a heaven-shaking, earth-shattering roar: "ROOOAR!"
The terrifying sound forcibly shattered most of Lucian's protective spells, making his head buzz and ring.
This was the terror of a third-rank legendary monster!
On the Ancient Mummy King's chest, a portion of the eerie, evil bandages had been split completely in two. A deep sword mark appeared on the iron-black rotting flesh, while a twisted, illusory rift prevented the surrounding tissue from writhing and healing. Drops of foul-smelling, yellowish-brown liquid resembling corpse oil fell to the ground, corroding through the stone floor tiles — the same tiles that would take two or three strikes from Lucian's "Retributive Gaze" to break — burning gaping holes right through them.
Unfortunately, the sword light had not penetrated deeply enough. It had only inflicted a moderate wound on the Ancient Mummy King, supplemented by a continuous damage effect. Lucian estimated that he would need to strike the wound five or six more times with the Sword of Truth before he could truly finish it off.
But after his transformation, he was only a first-rank Epic Knight — how could he possibly match the Ancient Mummy King's speed and agility to land those hits?
Unless he continued using "advanced Time Stop," but doing so would mean waiting a full day for the Moon Chronometer to recover that ability. Losing his most useful tool while deep in the danger-riddled Hall of the Dead was not a viable option.
"ROOOAR!"
Deep black gas surged from the Ancient Mummy King's body, shrouding the wound and restoring layer upon layer of defense.
Lucian felt a twinge of frustration. He had not been decisive enough. He couldn't even guarantee the present situation, so why had he been thinking about what to do next? He should have continued the advanced Time Stop and used the Sword of Truth to deliver seven or eight strikes directly into the wound within the frozen time. Now, the Sword of Truth's attacks would first need to break through those layered defenses, making it nearly impossible to achieve a killing blow.
This thing's defense was absolutely perverse!
The Ancient Mummy King's arms suddenly elongated, striking at Lucian in the blink of an eye — an attack that came without warning.
Fortunately, Lucian was still in his Epic Knight state. He raised his left hand, and a small, exquisitely crafted black shield appeared before him.
BOOM. In the muted explosion, illusory ripples of force rippled outward around Lucian, but they could not extend to his actual body — as though he existed in another world, another space-time!
The Ancient Mummy King abruptly accelerated, splitting into countless afterimages that attacked Lucian from every direction. Faint black gas emanated from the crown, engulfing the surrounding area and corroding everything it touched.
BOOM BOOM BOOM. Successive impacts erupted. Lucian retreated slowly, dispersing the force. If not for the Shield of Truth — if he had been using any other third-rank shield instead — the impacts would have sent it flying from his grip. As it was, the illusory ripples merely grew more violent, and hairline cracks had begun to appear on the Shield of Truth.
"This is genuine third-rank legendary combat power. The will domain converted from the spiritual force field simply can't keep up with its movements." Lucian's thoughts raced as he analyzed the current situation.
"Baler's Transformation" was only a sixth-rank spell. Using it within the legendary domain came with numerous problems — for instance, the will domain converted from the spiritual force field could not reach the standard of a normal Epic Knight. And even a normal Epic Knight would face a two-rank gap against the Ancient Mummy King, resulting in complete suppression.
ROAR!