Liches! You could say they were the ultimate version of all necromancers—having completely abandoned their physical form and severed their souls, they thereby achieved a form of existence approaching eternity!
Some extremely powerful liches even possessed strength rivaling that of gods!
And that skeletal lich Illyrio—Leilin had heard of his reputation. According to rumors, during a soul experiment, he had accidentally caused a leakage, and the resulting contamination had killed half the population of an entire kingdom!
It was precisely because of this incident that he had long since been placed on the Paladins' wanted list—an existence of extreme evil that had to be destroyed at any cost!
"A legendary necromancer isn't necessarily a lich, but a lich is always at least a legendary-level necromancer… Judging from his tracks, he's at least level twenty-five or above—a high-tier legendary powerhouse…"
Leilin instantly identified him as the greatest obstacle to this operation.
"…According to the Dead Sea Scrolls passed down in our church, the location where the
Aivita's eyes swept across the group as she suddenly asked.
The accompanying party fell silent. Even if any of them had more precise information, they wouldn't hand it over so readily. In the end, it was Rogolo who stepped forward: "Our organization came based on the prophecy of the continent's famous prophet—Mr. Fedorko. The intelligence we received is probably even more vague…"
"That's troublesome… Illyrio directly obtained part of the ancient Arcanists' legacy. His knowledge of the Floating City is probably greater than ours—he may have already entered the Dimensional Fortress…"
Aivita bit her lip.
"Hm?!"
Seeing this, Leilin silently nodded to himself: "So they don't have particularly clear information either. It looks like I actually know a bit more…"
He couldn't help but recall the time and location obtained from his last decryption—the month when dark crows cry, during the Blood Moon! Western Desert, Frostfall Canyon, the eastern angle of the Northern Cross!
"The time is almost up…"
Leilin raised his head to gaze at the horizon. The setting sun was slowly descending, the light gradually dimming, and even the temperature was plunging rapidly—the temperature difference between day and night in the depths of the Western Desert was terrifyingly extreme. At night, it could freeze you to death; during the day, it could roast you alive.
Aside from a few special species, such as the Sand People, very few creatures could survive here.
As the sun sank lower, the surrounding atmosphere grew increasingly eerie and terrifying. Wisps of blood-colored light gathered at the horizon.
"The month and time are exactly right. Now it's just the specific location… the eastern angle of the Northern Cross? From an astrological perspective, it should be…"
Fluorescent light flickered in his eyes as Leilin instantly calculated the exact location where the Floating City would appear.
"If that skeletal lich also obtained the Arcanists' legacy, then he must be waiting in the same spot…"
"Since we've confirmed the general area is deep within Frostfall Canyon, why don't we split up to search?"
At that moment, Aivita happened to voice this very proposal.
"Fine! Works for me!"
Rogolo's group of good-aligned powerhouses certainly didn't want to be mixed up with Leilin's lot of evil ones, and agreed immediately. That legendary ascetic monk made his choice even faster through his actions.
Whoosh!
A large number of figures scattered in every direction. Various detection spells and methods came out one after another, dazzling Leilin.
"What is it? Are you heading in that direction as well?"
Just as Leilin was moving toward a certain direction, a pleasant scent of perfume wafted over, and Aivita closely followed behind him.
"Mm! Just looking around. The Floating City will cause a huge commotion when it appears. As long as you're somewhere in the canyon, you'll be able to spot it…"
Leilin had always politely declined the company of this woman who was very likely connected to some deity.
"Even so, whoever enters first will always have a better chance than the others, wouldn't you say?"
Aivita's beautiful eyes fixed on Leilin, her words carrying hidden meaning.
"You've got your eye on this direction too? I can yield it to you if you want…" Leilin shrugged, his tone entirely nonchalant.
This attitude, however, only made Aivita more uncertain.
"Hehe… Why would I deliberately snatch your choice? I was just joking before…"
With that, Aivita swayed away with her snake-like grace, leading her subordinates off in another direction. This made Leilin's eyes flicker: "This woman… did she discover something?"
—BOOM!
Suddenly, in that instant, an extraordinary change erupted! Brilliant white holy light surged from one direction, flooding the entire sky with an overwhelming sense of sanctity and justice.
"Illyrio! Accept the judgment of justice!"
A deep, resonant voice echoed across the surroundings, carrying an incomparable steel-like will.
"A Paladin—and a legendary-level Paladin at that!!!"
Leilin and the other evil powerhouses looked up at the platinum-gold radiance in the sky as if they had encountered their natural predator, wariness filling their eyes.
"It's the Archon!" "Quick, over there! He's found the lich!" The other Paladins cheered, gripping their radiant longswords. They even cast provocative glances toward Leilin's group—like children whose parent had arrived to back them up.
Clearly, once their legendary Archon finished off Illyrio, they wouldn't hesitate to sweep away Leilin's side of evil as well.
"Hehehe… Fibolde, you're not dead yet, I see…" A cold, eerie laugh echoed as a dense cloud of death energy blotted out the sky, so thick that even the holy light couldn't penetrate.
"ROAR!" With fierce dragon roars and terrifying dragon pressure, a massive two-headed bone dragon emerged from the dark clouds, revealing just a glimpse of its form.
"Die!" The legendary Paladin bellowed. Sacred flames ignited all over his body, and the longsword in his hand formed a pillar of light that tore through the death clouds.
The death energy parted on both sides, revealing a crystal skeleton wrapped entirely in black robes. The lich stood atop the ancient dragon's head, waving one hand as countless bones materialized and assembled into a white bone shield adorned with skull motifs, blocking the Paladin's thrust.
"It's really him! Illyrio! That must be where the Floating City is about to appear… Hurry!"
The massive energy fluctuations instantly alerted all the powerhouses, who rushed together toward the battle.
"Annoying… not even professional about hiding. I was hoping to lure a few of them away…"
Leilin sighed inwardly, then also headed toward Illyrio's location—exactly the opposite direction from where he'd been going!
Clearly, Leilin had deliberately made the wrong choice earlier, hoping to secretly trap a few powerhouses, but the suddenly appeared legendary Paladin had ruined his plan.
"Today… no one can stop me!!!"
After letting out this grand declaration, the ghostly fire in Illyrio's eye sockets surged several-fold. He extended his skeletal hand and placed it on the bone dragon's head.
—[Legendary Bone Reinforcement!]—[Legendary Familiar Amplification!]
Frenzied magical radiance erupted from the bone dragon. "ROAR!!!" The bone dragon unleashed a heaven-shaking roar, spraying out terrifying dragon breath that corroded even the void as it surged forward.
"Legendary-level dragon breath?" Seeing the attack, the legendary Paladin's expression turned grave as a layer of milky-white armor enveloped his body.
—[Holy Light Body Shield!]
—[Holy Light Cross Slash!!!]
A cross-shaped pillar of light soared upward and collided violently with the legendary bone dragon's breath, the two forces viciously consuming each other.
The terrifying storm generated by two high-tier legendary fighters clashing finally evoked a glimmer of fear in the surrounding powerhouses.
Only then did they remember the fearsome reputations of the skeletal lich and the legendary Paladin.
Of course, some showed no fear and advanced—clearly powerhouses of equal standing.
"Even his familiar is at the legendary level? Truly befitting a high-tier powerhouse!"
Leilin strode forward, getting closer and closer to the center of the battle. The terrifying shockwaves swept across the area, yet not even a corner of his robe was stirred.
"You're truly powerful, sir! I may need your help soon!"
Aivita's face wore a grave expression. Behind her, the black-robed figures took turns stepping forward to block the residual shockwaves of the great battle. After seeing Leilin handle it so effortlessly, they immediately gathered around him, fawning smiles on their faces.
"My goal is also the Floating City. I don't think there's much worth cooperating over—otherwise, dividing the spoils would be troublesome…"
Leilin shook his head and refused, his tone indifferent.
"That's not necessarily true. My goal doesn't require obtaining the entire Floating City. Besides, the people on that side might need us to deal with them together…"
Aivita pointed with her serpent-headed whip toward the Paladins and the ascetic monk on the opposing side, her expression far from relaxed.
"Hm? Something's wrong!"
But at that very moment, Leilin's expression changed abruptly, and he instantly retreated a great distance.
"What happened?"
Aivita looked confused, but then she felt a tremendous wave of spatial force slam into her body, sending her flying backward with blood spraying from her mouth.
The several black-robed figures ahead of her were completely annihilated under this tremendous force, not even ashes remaining.
BOOM!
In midair, the lich and the Paladin who had been battling moments ago simultaneously broke off and retreated a great distance in an instant.
The fierce spatial storm formed into tornadoes, rampaging wildly.
Leilin looked up at the moon overhead, now covered in a layer of blood-red.
"The month when dark crows cry, during the Blood Moon… The time has come. The Floating City is about to teleport back. Who would have thought… that the preliminary storm alone would be this violent…"