A mushroom cloud wreathed in flames rose steadily into the air as wisps of black qi dispersed the smoke, revealing a cyan-black giant whose head had vanished and whose body was riddled with holes.
At that moment, the various races of sentient beings composing the giant's body suddenly came alive, surging toward the head like a tide — packed tight, jostling for position. In less than a few seconds, they had fused together to reform a head.
"What tenacious 'vitality' — worthy of the famous masterpiece of the Necromancy school." Lucian tapped forward with the "Scepter of Space-Time" condensing brilliant light in his hand, and the corpses of humans, elves, and dragons slowed dramatically, their movements becoming puppet-like, their rate of recovery grinding to a crawl.
Then, a sliver of cool moonlight appeared in Lucian's black pupils as he transformed into an Epic Knight. He drew his silver-gray sword and became a streak of sword-light plummeting from the sky, slashing down upon the cyan-black giant like a meteor.
This wasn't because Lucian didn't want to use Arcane Magic — it was because the monster could catch up at any moment. There was no time to waste; when the Sword of Truth could crush something outright, there was no reason to choose anything else.
The silver-gray sword-light flashed, and a faint, illusory rift appeared silently across the giant's body, slicing cleanly through its defensive layer, black qi, and flesh. The rift then split into countless smaller branches, spreading toward every part of the giant's frame.
Crack, crack, crack — amid crisp, shattering sounds, the corpses of those sentient beings crumbled into bits of rotting flesh and fell like a sudden downpour.
And within that rain of blood, flesh, and pus, silver-white moonlight coiled around Lucian, evaporating the "rain" that landed on him as he casually caught the damaged heart.
The heart was entirely cyan-black. Its powerful, steady beats gradually slowed until they stopped. Then, layer by layer, the flesh on its surface peeled away, revealing a thumb-sized pool of pale green liquid within, radiating an intense aura of life.
Lucian produced a silver teapot-shaped object covered in arcane inscriptions, opened the lid, poured the "Fountain of Youth" inside, and sealed it shut again.
"Let's keep moving — we're not far from where Maskelyn marked the location." Rhein, having recovered a little, walked over on his own and urged Lucian forward. For him, the "Fountain of Youth" was utterly useless — in fact, it was practically poison.
Lucian stored the silver arcane teapot and was about to dismiss his transformation when a wailing, weeping sound suddenly echoed from all around. The temperature seemed to drop another several dozen degrees.
Wooooo — amid that spine-tingling weeping, tombstones toppled one after another, coffin lids were flung open, and garments of black, grey, and white rose as though possessed of their own life, swaying upright and twisting their way toward the center.
Their movements appeared grotesque, yet they were astonishingly fast. Before long, they had fused together into an enormous rag doll — a rag doll dressed in a colorful coat, wearing a mysterious smile on its face. It made Lucian's sharp Epic Knight instincts prickle with a hint of danger.
"What kind of custom is this?" Lucian asked instinctively.
Rhein shook his head. "I'm not sure either. Of all the bizarre customs out there, I know perhaps a third at most."
The rag doll radiated an aura approaching the third tier of Legendary power as it slowly took shape amid laughter that sounded like weeping.
"Move!"
Lucian had no intention of fighting. Even if he deployed every ounce of his strength and every item at his disposal, along with Rhein's vast collection, they might still have a chance of defeating this eerie rag doll. But doing so would waste far too much time — if the real monster caught up, things would get truly troublesome. And after killing this doll, other undead would very likely appear. The battle could stretch on endlessly.
There was no time to dismiss his transformation. Lucian seized Rhein's arm, transformed into moonlight, and took off at tremendous speed, illuminating the grey wasteland.
Before long, a large black door appeared among the tombstones.
"Wooooo!"
The weeping, eerie laughter suddenly materialized right beside Lucian's ear, causing the "Wall of Space" generated by his Scepter of Space-Time to collapse inexplicably. His moonlight transformation dissolved.
Lucian shuddered violently, feeling gusts of cold wind pouring into his neck. His "Epic Knight's physical body" showed signs of dissolving — only the "Grand Archanist's Robe" and similar garments seemed unaffected, though of course they were powerless to help in their own right.
Facing this rag doll that defied all conventional reasoning, Lucian didn't look back. He flew straight toward the black door while the Sword of Truth in his right hand slashed behind him without a glance.
"Uuuu!"
The silver-gray sword-light flashed, and a wail a hundred times more piercing than before erupted. The bone-chilling wind pouring into his neck cut off abruptly.
Lucian didn't bother verifying the result, nor did he pause to examine the black door — he simply crashed through it.
"Wooooo!"
After plunging into the grey hall, an even more exaggerated sound, half weeping half laughter, reached Lucian's ears. With a surge of his aura, moonlight blazed across his body and blew the black door shut with a thunderous slam.
Boom, boom, boom!
The sound of fists hammering against the door rang out. The black door bowed outward, on the verge of being smashed open at any moment.
Scalp tingling, Lucian calculated coordinates while opening and passing through different black doors in rapid succession.
After several grey halls, Lucian and Rhein finally shook off that mysterious rag doll.
"The location Mr. Maskelyn left behind is right nearby..." As he calculated, Lucian's pupils contracted sharply. The emotions that Arcane Magic had so carefully steadied could no longer be contained, and his heart began pounding uncontrollably.
What would he see when he got there?