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Chapter 607: A Swarm of Spells

Translator: Henyee Translations Editor: Henyee Translations

Crack!

As the crisp sound echoed, the blackness around quickly faded away. The colors on every legend vanished, leaving the lackluster greyness. The pure Fire of Soul was frozen, and the Original Fire endured the posture of performing magic.

As for the rest of them, Kritonia was slashing much more slowly, but he was still moving, and Hathaway was struggling to approach Natasha, with blue and grey colors lingering on his body.

The experts who were immune to Time Stop were very rare, and still fewer were those who could resist Advanced Time Stop!

That was why Time Stop had always been the most difficult ninth-circle to learn. Those who grasped 'Advanced Time Stop' had to be legends in time and space. In the entire Congress of Magic, Brook was the only one who could perform it until Douglas understood the relationship between gravity and space-time. Oliver had a good chance to pick it up later, too.

Looking at the Original Fire who was covered in greyness, Lucien suddenly summoned his spiritual power.

The enemy would be in a different time and space when they were under 'Time Stop', and he couldn't directly affect them, but the duration was enough for him to cast multiple spells. When the Time Stop was over, the Original Fire would embrace a storm!

In case that the Original Fire was immune to the spells below the ninth circle, Luxury Cracking did not choose them but simply performed 'Cracking (Advanced)', time and time again!

After five times of 'Cracking (Advanced)', the frozen black second hand of the Moon Timer began to tick. However, it was not moving regularly but jumping forward, pointing at the mysterious symbols made of gems.

As a result, Lucien activated eight ninth-circle spells that had been stored inside before much faster than usual. There were Cracking (Advanced) as well as spells among them!

In the end, as a precaution that the Original Fire might have equipment that provided immunity to some of the ninth-circle spells, Lucien chanted:

"Space Staff!"

Unpredictable light rippled and gathered in Lucien's hands, like the scepter of a king. After he nodded, the space around the Original Fire was frozen. He waited for the effect of 'Time Stop' to be over.

He had hardly performed the legendary spell when the fading blackness came back. The eternal black, white and grey covered the World of Souls again.

The colors on the Original Fire were refreshed. The red, green, white and purple flames bouncing on his magic robe were particularly eye-catching.

He didn't expect that Lucien had already advanced into legendary and would boast a pocket watch that could cast 'Advanced Time Stop'. His eyes constricting, he was braced for a salvo of spells.

"Three legendary spells are not enough to kill you!"

"The spells below the ninth circle cannot affect me!"

"I am immune to Confinement, too!"

His mind sparkled. The Original Fire was hit by a tide of spells before he had the chance to cast any spell. He could only resist them with the spells that he enhanced himself with in advance. As the final security measure, he still had three life-preserving, innate spells!

Crack! Crack! Crack!

Light glowed on the Original Fire like fireworks, only to be torn into shreds by the swarm of 'Cracking (Advanced)'.

"He has indeed advanced into legendary!"

If it weren't cast by a legendary sorcerer, most magic effects on his body couldn't be destroyed at all!

Crack! Crack! Crack!

The level-eight and level-nine items broke apart into grey powder under 'Cracking (Advanced)'.

"Why is he casting so many times of 'Cracking (Advanced)'?"

Although the spells came at the same time, the Original Fire had thought of a lot of things. He suddenly had a bad feeling, but after Time Stop, the spells that Lucien cast earlier overwhelmed him. He couldn't perform any magic at all!

The magic effects were nullified, and the alchemical items were broken. Suddenly, the Original Fire discovered that the space around him was twisting into a maze, but his last alchemical item blinked and offset the space-time change.

"A Maze attached with magic deferment?"

"He has been trying to trap me in a maze so that he can wait for reinforcements to come?"

"Is his Maze a ninth-circle special skill?"

Hardly had he thought of that when the space around him was twisted again. Lucien had prepared more than one Maze with magic delay!

This time, the Original Fire, having lost all his magic effects and alchemical items, couldn't resist it anymore, and found himself in a spacious temple.

The Original Fire snorted angrily. Maze and Confinement were always most troublesome in a battle. By the time he got out of the maze, it was possible that a bunch of legendary sorcerers would be waiting for him outside.

Creating a time gap was the best effect of such spells!

"I've seen too many special mazes. Even the mazes that His Excellency Thanos created himself didn't take me more than twenty seconds. Let's see what you've got!"

The legendary staff in his hands, that was as red as fire, glimmered as he blasted the framework of the maze trying to set himself free as soon as possible so that he could help Kritonia purge Lucien!

It was a shame that Lucien was already a legendary sorcerer. While the special maze was only a ninth-circle spell, it was as steady as a legendary spell. He couldn't break through it for the time being.

At this moment, he had captured the whole look of the maze. It was an empty palace, and the exit was the gate. There were no disguises or a second way out.

"Is it a puzzle?" The Original Fire tried to break the structure while he walked to the gate, only to discover that a few lines of words were written on the water screen on the gate.

"Welcome to Evans' Maze of Quizzes. You can walk out of this place as long as you answer five quizzes correctly. Before you answer any of them, note that you have three ways of asking for help. Firstly, you can ask for another quiz. Secondly, you can consult the mysterious existence with magic. Thirdly, you can ask the audience… Well, sorry, there is no audience here…"

The Original Fire's veins bulged. It was a humiliation. Was Lucien Evans so confident of his maze?

Having no time to read the long introduction, he began to solve the puzzles.

"The first question. A barber in a town once said that 'I shave those and only those who do not shave themselves'. So should he shave himself?"

The Original Fire was immediately stunned. He thought quickly but couldn't find an appropriate answer. His brain almost exploded because of the logical contradiction.

"Change the question." He said gloomily, while he tried hard to break the maze.

"The second question. Please prove that every even number that is greater than 2 can be written as the summation of two prime numbers."

…

Not having the slightest clue, the Original Fire hurried to consult the mysterious existences with prophecy, only to be answered with nothing. It made him curse in a low voice. "Change the question!"

"I'm sorry, but you can only change the question once."

"…" The Original Fire burst into fury. His eyes bloodshot, he destroyed the maze with magic and spared some of his attention to the question.

As time went by, a miserable and angry roar suddenly exploded inside the maze:

"Ass*ole!"

His voice seemed to be containing certain doubts about his intellectual faculties.

…

On the rail between Rentato and Allyn, the magic steam train pressed forward as if nothing had happened. Grand Duke of Orvarit and Camil, who were transferred by Hathaway earlier, did not understand what had happened. They could only contact the Lord of Storm as per Lucien's instruction before the wedding.

After the line was connected, before Grand Duke of Orvarit said anything, the other side of the line spoke fast. "I got it."

On the thirty-third floor of the Allyn, Fernando, in his red magic robe, chanted the spell, with a storm surfacing in his eyes:

"Regather!"

Sensing the waves of the magic, Douglas also chanted on the thirty-fourth floor:

"Regather!"

'Regather', aside from being triggered passively, could also be cast voluntarily to regather around the target that was set earlier!

However, if the distance was too far, it might not be as fast as a direct space jump. It was only suitable for the scenario where the target's coordinates were unclear!

Fernando and Douglas were surrounded by swirls of air currents before they vanished.

…

After 'Advanced Time Stop' was over, Hathaway recovered first, but the Primordial Mummy and the Lich King weren't any slower.

One of them was a melee undead creature that was immune to plenty of spells, and the other was a spectral sorcerer that had a myriad of weird spells. They were the dominators of the area outside of the Temple of Spirits.

The Lich King's spells, in particular, were different from the current arcana system but close to what the ancient sorcerers were capable of. It was a pity that he was faced with a grand arcanist who had profound magic knowledge. She had cracked all his spells easily.

Therefore, Hathaway had suppressed both of them, though she had only become top legendary two years ago.

Also, Hathaway did not seem interested in assisting Natasha, or maybe it was because she was too busy suppressing the two legendary specters. She stopped approaching Natasha.

Kritonia's longsword slashed Natasha after Time Stop, but it merely passed through her as if she were a shadow.

Countless cracks appeared on Natasha, before she broke apart like a mirror. She then appeared far away, with an additional small and delicate shield in her hands. There was also a weirdly-shaped crown that seemed to be made of starlight above her veil.

"A real illusion!"

It triggered the effect of the Thorny Crown!

Lucien felt that it was somewhat similar to the gravitational lens. The moment Natasha was consumed by the crack, she immediately activated the Thorny Crown according to the plan.

She was only a gold knight and could take two legendary items at most, so she did not bring out the Sword of Truth.

After the first attack failed, Kritonia noticed that the Original Fire had been trapped by Lucien's Maze and that Lucien had advanced into legendary. Greatly shocked, the very first idea he had was to flee immediately!

But his battle experience calmed him down. Although the Original Fire was trapped and Lucien had become legendary, the experts of the World of Souls had stalled Hathaway, too. Under such circumstances, should he, a level-three legendary knight, be scared of a newly-advanced legend and a gold knight, even though they both had powerful items?

"I'll leave if I cannot finish Lucien and Natasha in thirty seconds!"

He set a time limit for himself in case he was surrounded by reinforcements and Hathaway after she got rid of her enemies. Also, he was very confident about his power of time and believed that it could disrupt most of the life-preserving spells.

"Space Staff!" Lucien's low voice echoed again, as he took action to help Natasha.

The space around Kritonia was immediately frozen as if it were about to cage him inside.

You are dealing with me with the power of time of such a level? In a mocking smile, Kritonia, wearing a black tuxedo, seemed to be wandering in a different time and space and directly walked out of the frozen space, before he slashed at Lucien with his glistening longsword!

Chapter 608: Bloody Rose

Translator: Henyee Translations Editor: Henyee Translations

Wearing the black tuxedo, Kritonia seemed to be a traveler of time that was roaming in different worlds. He ambled through Lucien's frozen space as if the space barrier of such a level was nothing at all for him.

Holding the glistening longsword, he passed the long-distance forged by the monotonous black, white and grey after only one step and blinked at the edge of Lucien's spiritual field, giving the feeling that time was fleeting unstoppably under the silence.

A pure slash was also affecting the mind. That was the strength of a legendary knight!

After he slashed, Lucien felt that everything around him had been slowed down, like slow motion in the movies, except for the sword that was washing and burying the world like a lightning.

Over time, even a planet would walk to the end of its life one day!

Kritonia was very satisfied with the attack. It had been a long time since he launched such a gratifying attack. However, the deterrence of Hathaway, the unexpected advancement of Lucien, and the upcoming reinforcement gave him such enormous pressure that he forgot his body conditions, his family and his remaining longevity. He burnt his life and soul again and resumed his peak status.

He could finish Winston last year partly because the strength gaps between the different levels of legendary were not huge, and partly because he couldn't carry out his full ability due to the aging of his body and his mind. However, he was 'Heart of Time', who executed two legendary sorcerers, one projection of Demon Lord, one legendary sea monster, and one dark legendary knight!

Until the Congress of Magic expanded, 'Heart of Time' Kritonia had been a synonym of legends and epics on this side of the Storm Strait!

The attack seemed to be even more powerful with his gratification. The mud on the dark ground turned into grey dust.

Tick, tock. Kritonia suddenly heard a sound that was not affected by his power of time. The silver pocket watch in Lucien's hand was still recording time accurately despite his influence.

The black tailcoat, the black bow-tie, the silver pocket watch… Lucien did not seem to be in a battle of legends but in a party of nobles, where he opened his pocket watch casually when a beautiful lady asked the time.

Crack!

Heavy pressure emerged out of nowhere, and the blackness around intensified. The sword that buried everything was attracted by the gravity when it almost hit Lucien, distorted and leaning sideways.

"Hehe!"

The colors in Kritonia's eyes were gone as if a river of time was surging forward inside. He exerted his strength and got free from the collapse of gravity, allowing the sword to slash Lucien again after a curve.

"Elemental Protection!" In the time gap created by gravity collapse, Lucien cast the spell. Countless spots of elements glowed on the Robe of Grand Arcanists, gathering into a translucent shield of light that blocked 'Heart of Time'.

Hualala. The sound of flowing water echoed. The different parts of 'Elemental Protection' suddenly changed, conflicting with each other due to the different speeds and were dissolving quickly under the sword.

However, it fulfilled its destiny to block one of Kritonia's best attacks. Lucien took the opportunity to blink far away and lock onto him.

'Vengeful Gaze!" Lucien's voice sounded difficult and prolonged. It was because the spell was attached with 'Hand of Uncertainties'!

Although he tricked the Original Fire by hiding his abilities and with his 'Moon Timer', the reinforcement of the Congress would be delayed because of the enemy's cooperation with the World of Souls. It was difficult for him to stop Kritonia from running. Kritonia was immune to the space-time spells below legendary. That was why he chose to trick the Original Fire instead of him earlier.

Also, based on various sources of intelligence, he previously concluded that Kritonia was not as strong as level three of legendary, and it wouldn't be too dangerous for him to stall the enemy. However, it turned out that the guy was as dangerous as when he was young.

Lucien's right hand suddenly turned red like the most beautiful ruby. Then, a bloody, frozen ray of light darted out so fast that there was no time for reaction.

However, the red ray seemed to be reaching a different world after hitting Kritonia. Deviating in the watery time, it bypassed Kritonia and left a huge hole on the mountain behind him!

How incredible was that?

Kritonia sneered, it wouldn't be so easy to break his defense. Were it that simple, he would've perished in the battles of legends in the past!

Also, you have just advanced into legendary, and the power of your magic is still far from enough!

He did not blink again but started to melt with his longsword.

In the gloomy, silent black, white and grey; an unpredictable, clear light rose like the first beam of sunlight in the morning, illuminating the world and slashing at Lucien, not restricted by the distance in between at all.

"Undead Rampart!" Since the Robe of Grand Arcanists was still cooling down, Lucien used the Congus Ring.

Wu! Wu! Wu! The spell seemed to have been enhanced in the World of Souls. Countless ghosts and specters gathered into a wall of limbs, where the faces of the soul showed miserable expressions.

The light of the sword, however, turned into an elegant curve and slashed at Natasha who was on the other side!

Even though he had the power of time, it would take him a lot of time to kill a sorcerer, but killing a gold knight was much more simple!

Even though the Shield of Truth could be used passively, she could not raise it more than three times!

Kritonia, who had tricked Lucien into casting a spell, slashed Natasha who could barely move with the Shield of Truth, his hands steady and not shivering at all.

Natasha slightly bowed and raised the tiny, black shield above. Her face was solemn, mixed with the intense will of fighting.

Clang!

In a dull noise, Natasha seemed to be in a different world under the cover of the Shield of Truth. She was intangible and undamageable!

The shield was known as the best defense. According to Lucien's observation, it seemed to be associated with 'God's Guard'.

After blocking Kritonia's attack, Natasha gritted her teeth, with cold sweat pouring out. It could be seen that both of her legs and her hands were shivering. It was obvious very burdensome for her.

She wouldn't be able to resist it if similar attacks came another two times!

Not giving Lucien a chance to lock onto him, Kritonia changed his direction and continued to attack Natasha after the first slash.

Right then, he heard the tick-tock again.

Inside the complicated silver watch, the black second hand was moving joyfully, pointing at the mysterious symbols made of gems of different colors. Lucien pressed it with his finger, and then the second hand was frozen as if the watch had been broken.

The greyness drove the blackness away again, and the area seemed to have entered a different time and space. Everything was so quiet and colorless, save the bright blue and silver clothes on Hathaway.

The grey Kritonia did not stop but slashed his longsword slowly. It could help him resist the attacks when the effect of Time Stop was over.

His eyes gloomy and dark, Lucien chanted:

"Vengeful Gaze!"

Same as before, 'Hand of Uncertainties' was attached to it, and his eye shot out the red ray again like a ruby. However, the ray could not affect Kritonia who was in a different time and space right now.

After he cooled down, Lucien cast his spell once again:

"Vengeful Gaze!"

It was another Hand of Uncertainties and another red ray. Because it took him longer to cast the spells, the effect of Time Stop did not give Lucien enough time to cast a third spell.

Hardly had Kritonia seen the 'reappearance' of the monochrome World of Souls when two red rays darted at him at the same time!

However, having slightly dodged it, there was still a chance for him to react. The space around him rippled like water. Then, the two 'Vengeful Gazes' traveled to a different world just like before and did not return until they passed Kritonia's body, leaving holes in the mountains far away.

There's a gap between two levels. You only just advanced and learned the magic. Why do you think you can break my defense?

You might as well transfer your wife when you have the time to attack!

Kritonia snorted and continued to attack Natasha. He sensed that Natasha should be reaching her limits after the attack!

However, he also felt deeply fatigued. His physical strength was fading away, making it impossible for him to remain the three of level-three legendary anymore.

Although he mastered the power of time, he still couldn't outlive time.

"Elemental Protection!"

Suddenly, Hathaway's cold and clear voice came out.

She took the attacks of the Primordial Mummy and the Lich King the hard way in order to cast defense on Natasha.

The light fluttered, and the two legendary specters took the opportunity to suppress Hathaway. However, the two of them had been heavily wounded, too. Except for the gold crown and the 'gems' around the head, all the other magic items had been broken. Even the cloth on the mummy had been damaged, revealing the rotten flesh that was as dark as iron.

Such a battle was more than painstaking.

Smiling, Kritonia was much more reassured. He had been worried that Hathaway was tricking him to stay, but right now, after his attack towards Natasha, Hathaway had been finally stalled by the enemy for real!

The slowly flowing time turned sharp all of a sudden, showing that it could destroy everything. Taking advantage of Lucien's cooldown, Kritonia continued attacking Natasha.

The sword caused different speeds and changes, and the different spots of light inside the light shield were twisting. It was about to be broken under one more attack.

"Vengeful Gaze!"

The cold voice entered Kritonia's ears and confused him. Was Lucien out of his mind? Why was he still attacking when he had a chance to transfer Natasha?

Lucien's right hand turned crimson, like Silver Moon Alterna's ruby eye in the tales. A ray was shot at Kritonia instantly.

The space around Kritonia rippled like water unpredictably. The familiar feeling of defense made him curl his lips.

But all of a sudden, the smile on his lips was frozen because the red ray was not twisted but had hit his chest precisely!

Zi. After a feeble noise, Kritonia's chest was pierced through by the ray, replaced by a shocking hole, irrecoverable hollow.

How is it possible?

He's only a level-one legend. How can he break my defense?

Even if I have fallen to level two of legendary, I couldn't have been pierced through so easily!

I would have to be 'washed' by Luxury Cracking first because 'Vengeful Gaze' can work on me!

The paralysis effect brought by 'Vengeful Gaze' rigidified Kritonia in midair, his eyes full of shock.

At this moment, Hathaway, who had realized the new situation, abandoned her defense and simply allowed the Primordial Mummy and the Lich King to attack her. Although she was unaware of the effect of Lucien's magic beforehand, she cast a spell calmly:

"Luxury Cracking!"

Crack, crack, crack. The light on Kritonia collapsed, and the longsword had tiny dents, too.

After being hit by three level-three legendary specters, the passive spells on Hathaway such as Magic Order, Spell Trigger and Spell Sequencer were activated, allowing her to disappear and reappear in a different direction.

Because of the influence of 'Luxury Cracking', the paralysis inside Kritonia was gone, but a tall shadow was suddenly reflected in his eyes.

In the white wedding dress, the sacred and beautiful Natasha, with intense fighting will power, abandoned the Shield of Truth, the Thorny Crown, and all the defense, and dedicated all her attention to the silver longsword in her hands.

After the attack, I will have no more defense!

After the attack, one of us will die!

The determination and courage cast Kritonia into a trance, he felt that he had seen himself years ago.

Yes. He was once so tough, stubborn and full of knighthood, but when did he turn into a rotten old man who was scared of death?

The silver sword flashed, and Kritonia had no time to resist it at all. Then, he saw Natasha's pure wedding dress was stained with red traces that looked like a bloody rose.

"Is this my blood?" Kritonia suddenly had a weird feeling of relief, before he fell into the deepest darkness.

Chapter 609: Resolution

Translator: Henyee Translations Editor: Henyee Translations

After the silver sword flashed, Natasha appeared behind Kritonia's back, with a long wound on her right abdomen. The blood with certain silver purple colors flowed out. The counterattack of the power of 'Heart of Time' had already hurt her badly.

The wound recovered particularly slowly as if it were corrupted by time. Together with the fatigue after using a legendary item, Natasha found it impossible to stand where she was. She fell on one of her knees and supported herself with her longsword. Her hands that were wearing the transparent silk gloves trembled violently like an old man.

Kritonia, who floated in midair, seemed undamaged, except that his face was frozen, and the previous shock was still lingering there.

Suddenly, an illusionary wound that did not seem to belong to this world appeared and expanded into countless tiny cracks. In the next, blood splashed and left crimson spots on Natasha's white wedding dress, like roses that were blossoming on snow.

As the stink of blood spread out, Kritonia heaved a sigh, and his body fell apart into countless pieces of flesh, furthering dying Natasha's wedding dress red.

A badge hit the ground. At the center of the badge was a long river of time that surrounded a heart. It represented the glory of the Kritonia family.

The badge was enshrouded by blood, as if it were Kritonia's last concern.

The blood glistened and dripped from the badge like flowing water, but it did not seem to be stopping anytime soon.

After another crack, the longsword, 'Heart of Time', fell on the grey sand. The storage bag, having lost the support of the legendary power, dropped before Natasha in monotonous black and grey.

Natasha was exhausted, and all her wounds were hurting. However, she was so excited that her soul seemed to have been melted into her blood.

"I've finally killed Kritonia and avenged my uncle!"

The attack seemed simple, but it weren't for the paralysis from Lucien's 'Vengeful Gaze' and Granny Hathaway's 'Luxury Cracking', it wouldn't have been possible for her to hit the enemy. If they attacked each other, she would've been killed for sure.

Of course, as a gold knight, Natasha also keenly recognized that she overpowered Kritonia towards the end, which slowed him down when he defended himself. Otherwise, she would've suffered much heavier wounds, and since she had lost all her life-preserving methods, she would die for real if she were killed!

What the attack needed to overcome was the fear of death. She had to create a path of survival by confronting it.

Lucien was relieved and did not cast his 'Elemental Protection' after all. It was meant to add another layer of defense to Natasha at the critical moment. He certainly wouldn't watch his wife die.

The Lich King and the Primordial Mummy foresaw Kritonia's ending when they saw Natasha's attack. Therefore, instead of pursuing Hathaway who had blinked away, the Lich King chanted a weird spell.

The gems around his head were suddenly gone, and the intense greyness of death spread out, enshrouding the environment.

Then, the greyness was gone, and so were the two legendary spectres.

If they did not flee before Hathaway caught her breath, they would never be able to flee!

They could certainly make such a conclusion!

Lucien had only half of his spiritual power left after casting Vengeful Gaze four times with Hand of Uncertainties. However, he did not waste time in having drugs to recover himself, because Hathaway was no longer occupied. The Original Fire was not a big deal anymore.

In the realm of legends, a gap of two levels was already too huge to be neglected, not to mention three levels!

If Kritonia hadn't been too old, and he had powerful assistants such as the Robe of Grand Arcanists, the Moon Timer and the Hand of Uncertainties, he would have been suppressed by Kritonia even if he attacked with Natasha.

The silence in the World of Souls was restored. The monotonous colors and the chaotic mountains were just like before. Lucien flew to Natasha, helping her get back on her feet and stopped her bleeding.

Hathaway, on the other hand, looked at the spot of Maze, waiting for it to run out.

"Deal with the Original Fire first. I'm fine." Natasha picked up Kritonia's storage bag and badge. Pointing at the Sword of Truth, the Heart of Time and the Shield of Truth not far away, she said, "You turn into a legendary knight and kill him with Granny Hathaway first."

She was no longer capable of picking up any legendary item.

Lucien nodded his head and transformed. His face was now even paler. Then, with the Shield of Truth in his left hand and the Sword of Truth in his right hand, he waited for the Original Fire to break the maze.

If he were to cancel the maze himself, the Original Fire would've realized the new situation and escaped as fast as possible. If the guy were caged too long, he wouldn't stay much longer after concluding that reinforcements had arrived.

Inside the maze, the Original Fire had abandoned answering the questions. He counted the time in silence while he tried to break the maze with violence.

BOOM. The maze began to shake intensely.

The Original Fire was delighted at first, but he became grim again. Almost one minute had passed. What would he be faced with?

Would he be surrounded by a bunch of legends, or would Kritonia succeed in killing Lucien and Natasha with his help?

"No, Lucien kept the secret that he became legendary. So, they must've been prepared. Also, Kritonia is too old to kill Lucien, unless he tricks Lucien by pretending to kill Natasha."

"In any case, I cannot take the risk. If I were killed by the Sword of Truth, I'll be really dead."

Seeing that he had been caged much longer than he anticipated, he looked at the legendary staff, the legendary robe and the legendary ring he had and looked creepy. "I have to sacrifice them now!"

The excruciating pain in his heart made the Original Fire had the urge of killing himself.

Yes, he began to kill himself. A flower of pure white flames rose from his soul and burnt his body. Holding back the unimaginable pain, he controlled the progress of burning and waited for the maze to be over. In the meantime, he activated the marks in three legendary items.

The more painful it was, the more determined he was in killing!

BOOM. Cracks appeared inside the maze as it began to collapse.

The moment, the frozen black, white and grey appeared in the Original Fire's eyes, he roared and accelerated the burning, making the three legendary items hum and shiver.

After the maze collapsed, Lucien did not see the Original Fire; he only saw a cluster of pure white fire and the expanding staff, ring and robe.

Dangerous!

Lucien blocked Natasha behind his back and extended the Shield of Truth in his left hand. The illusionary colors surfaced, as if the two of them were in a different world.

"Elemental Protection!"

Hathaway's clear voice echoed, and countless elemental spots of light gathered.

In the next, the legendary robe, staff and ring exploded abruptly. Red, purple and yellow, three clusters of fire swept out and razed everything to the ground. Destruction, death, curse, poison, corruption and immolation destroyed all the things on the way.

Despite the Shield of Truth, Lucien could only keep Natasha safe under such a terrible storm and could not press forward. He was unable to slash the Original Fire who was at the center of explosions.

The white fire that was vaguely in the shape of a human howled painfully and angrily:

"I won't let go of you!"

"I'll stuff the quizzes into your mouth!"

Then, an illusionary sound that seemed to be from a different world echoed: "Advanced Time Stop."

Black, red, purple, green and all the colors were gone. Lucien saw nothing but a frozen world. Only Natasha and him who were behind the Shield of Truth could move slowly, but they could not interact with the outside world.

After the consolidation was gone, a brilliant shooting star hit the center of the explosions brutally.

"NO!"

The Original Fire cried miserably. Then, his voice came to an abrupt halt with the boom.

The sweeping explosion attacked with the air that could tear apart time and space, but Lucien held the Shield of Truth steadily, preventing himself and Natasha from being hurt. There were only minor cracks on the shield, which could be repaired easily.

It was indeed the best space-time defense!

"Mr. President, has the Original Fire died?" After the explosion, Lucien asked Douglas and Fernando who had blinked to him.

He did not expect the Original Fire to be so decisive. The guy almost escaped.

Douglas nodded his head, but he was still somewhat confused. "His soul should've been completely destroyed after it was hit by my 'Fateful Meteor', but he seemed to be connected to the World of Souls in a certain way. I'm afraid that he may have other backup plans. However, there's no way that he can resume his strength as a legend any time soon."

"The World of Souls has intervened, too… We need to accelerate the exploration in this place in case the scheme worked out." Fernando feared that part of the members of the Church would collude with the World of Souls.

Hathaway flew over from the other side. She wasn't really hurt. Looking at Lucien in confusion, she asked, "The questions in the maze?"

The Original Fire recited the questions at the end. It seemed that he had been traumatized.

His lips twitching, Lucien spoke of the few unproven speculations.

Douglas frowned. "Those questions…" He couldn't think of an answer, either.

"Do you have answers? How can you construct the maze if you don't have answers?" Asked Fernando in a loud voice.

Lucien smiled. "The answers to part of the questions are that they can't be proven for now. That the questions can be changed was meant to be misleading."

If the questions were too complicated or ambiguous, he could've got the answers from asking the mysterious existence with magic.

Natasha chuckled. "If he heard the answer, the Original Fire would be infuriated back to life again."

At this moment, she was holding Kritonia's storage bag and skimming through the journal inside.

Hathaway, Douglas and Fernando did not say anything, but they were apparently thinking the same thing.

Suddenly, Natasha smiled as she read the journal. "The Original Fire was studying arcana and looking for a way to reshape his cognitive world."

Lucien was briefly stunned. "Huh? He was studying arcana? I should've put the experiment of electron diffraction inside the maze. In that case, his legendary items would be mine, and he would have no chance of resurrection…" Any other disruptive experiments could've worked. He felt extremely pitiful that he obtained none of the three legendary items!

"Haha. Evans' Head-Blowing Maze?" Natasha was greatly amused by the creative idea.

Hathaway looked at Lucien, her eyes flashing. They were obviously saying:

"How insane!"

Chapter 610: Married Couple

Translator: Henyee Translations Editor: Henyee Translations

Douglas was not as straightforward as Hathaway, but his chuckle expressed all he wanted to say.

"This Heart of Time is your trophy. Keep it for yourself." Fernando reminded them.

Since it was partly protected by the Shield of Truth, and it was a level-three legendary item itself, the rippling longsword, 'Heart of Time', was not ruined in the final explosions. Although the cracks were deepened, it still gave the profound feeling of the passage of time.

Natasha looked at it and said to Lucien with a smile, "I already have a Sword of Truth. Heart of Time is of no use to me. You can trade it for other things."

"There's no need to exchange it. You can improve the Moon Timer using its parts." Said Hathaway calmly.

Since he kept his state as a legendary knight, Lucien picked up the longsword and nodded after checking it. "After my abilities in time and space grow, I should be able to upgrade the Moon Timer to level two with this."

The materials of time and space were always rare. With 'Heart of Time', Lucien was spared of the worries to search for materials to upgrade his unique legendary item.

Douglas looked around. "Let's go back to Allyn. The guests are still waiting for you at the wedding. We'll talk about the World of Souls tomorrow."

Hearing that, Lucien looked at Natasha and asked, "Do you want to treat your wedding dress and your wounds first?"

Putting back Kritonia's storage bag, Natasha held the bleeding badge and chuckled. "No. Blood and wounds are the best wedding decorations for a knight! Nobody has ever worn such a wedding dress before!"

...

In the depths of the World of Souls, the stretch of black temples rose magnificently like a kingdom. The steeples pierced into the infinite sky.

Inside the palace, the black wall and floor made everything cold and silent. Moving forward along a straight avenue, and passing through the lifeless corridors and gardens, one would reach the largest building. At the center of the building was a borderless grey curtain that did not have an upper bound, in which countless astounding souls were embedded.

Some of the faces in the Furnace of Souls were twisted, and some hideous; some were peaceful, and some were angry. But there was absolutely no sound.

Click, click, click. Weird footsteps echoed behind the curtain and broke the silence.

A ghost moved forward heavily, as if it had weight and a physical body.

When it passed the Furnace of Souls from the back, the ghost suddenly raised its head, revealing a pale face that belonged to 'Original Fire' Banham!

A meteor seemed to be lingering in his eyes, making his transparent soul ripple nonstop, as if he would collapse any moment.

The Original Fire extended his right hand and pressed the Furnace of Souls. The ripples were suppressed, and his soul was much more concrete. Then, he gnashed his teeth, "Douglas! Hathaway! Lucien! Natasha!"

He cursed every name angrily.

"My legendary items!"

"Those goddamn questions!"

It was not until a long time later that he turned around to the other side of the temple. His footsteps were still slow, and his feet were still leaving weird sounds on the floor.

Click, click, click. The Original Fire disappeared into the temple.

...

In the garden behind Allyn, the flowers were all blossoming.

Giant flowers that looked like tulips shook their bodies and sang delightful songs like the best musicians, and the tall trees waved their branches and whipped their trunks, making noise that sounded like timpani. There were also bushes that were playing flutes… The 'natives' of the magic garden treated the guests with pleasant songs.

"Oh, this is so dreamy!"

"This is unimaginable!"

"Are they magic plans?"

At the center of the garden was a broad lawn with a red carpet and many pure tables and chairs. All the nobles who attended the wedding were astounded. They all had seen magic plants before, but those plants were all creepy and terrifying. None of them were as joyful as the plants here.

Even the low-rank sorcerers were quite shocked. Those plants could've established an orchestra!

As if sensing their surprise and delight, the magic plants worked even harder, spreading the melody of happiness to every corner.

"Fantastic! Magic is so fantastic!" Said Elvin excitedly. He had been admitted by the magic school last year, but he had been more or less frustrated because of his poor performance. What he saw today greatly cheered him. After all, he would grow one step after another!

It was the first time that Joel, Alisa and John had been through this. The contemporary arcanists and the ancient arcanists were indeed different! Their last grudge and shadow against sorcerers faded.

"Why have I never heard of the music before?" Louise appreciated the cheerful melodies with a few noble ladies who were into music.

Julie, granddaughter of Marquis Henson (his title had been promoted by Natasha because of his previous contribution), said reverentially, "His Excellency Evans is one of the greatest musicians, and the queen is talented in music, too. They must've composed specifically for their wedding. This feels great. I'm going to play the same songs at my wedding!"

When the girls discussed music lightheartedly, Winston, James and Grand Duke of Orvarit waited anxiously.

"They were swallowed by the World of Souls. Somebody legendary must be behind it…" Said Winston gloomily, regretting that he failed to react sooner.

His conclusion made Grand Duke of Orvarit look even worse. He was unable to speak anything.

Duke James consoled the Grand Duke. "With Her Excellency the Lord of Elements, the queen and His Excellency Evans will be fine."

"They seem to have taken Granny Hathaway into consideration." Despite his old age, Grand Duke of Orvarit still called Hathaway as granny. He looked worried.

"I suspect that Kritonia is involved." Said Winston in a low voice. It was his intuition.

Duke James took a soft breath. "He's really a problem. However, a level-three legendary knight can barely be killed. Are we really going to wait for him to die of old age?"

They were enshrouded in intense depression despite the joyful music.

Suddenly, two people descended from the sky, with the vague scent of blood.

"Your Majesty!"

"Your Excellency Evans!"

Exclamations rose nonstop, because Natasha's white wedding dress had been saturated with blood, and silver-and-purple blood was dripping to the carpet from her abdomen. In the meantime, blood was dripping from her hand, too, but it seemed to be holding something.

Because he embraced Natasha and cooperated with her, Lucien's black tailcoat was also stained with glistening spots of blood.

"Were they attacked?"

"Are they heavily wounded?"

The sorcerers and nobles whispered to each other concernedly.

Grand Duke of Orvarit, Winston and James, however, were relieved. Everything was good as long as they were back! Also, they noticed Hathaway, Douglas and Fernando on the other side. It seemed that nobody died.

Natasha smiled at her father and nodded. Then, she struggled to walk forward with Lucien towards the end of the red carpet, where there was an arch that represented marriage in the tradition of the sorcerers.

Because of her heavy wounds, Natasha's every step would make her drip even more blood. She couldn't help but bite her lips hard to hold back the agony. Redness flowed out of her lips, like a weird gloss. Lucien, on the other hand, was only holding her left hand without supporting her, as per her own wish to finish the symbolic carpet.

The drops of blood blossomed on the carpet, but Natasha's back was as straight as ever.

The exciting melodies suddenly changed, turning solemn and sacred.

The scene stunned the guests into silence as they watched them reach the end of the red carpet.

Natasha suddenly turned around and raised her right hand, revealing a bloodstained badge, before she announced:

"I once swore that I would execute Kritonia in person and avenge my uncle."

"Today, I have received the best wedding gift. With my husband's help, I killed him in person!"

Blood was still dripping from the badge, and it seemed to be landing on everybody's heart.

"What? A ninth-circle archmage and a gold knight killed Heart of Time?"

"That's a legend! A level-three legend!"

The eyes of disbelief were gathered in Natasha's hands. Many people recognized that it was Kritonia's unique badge!

"That's impossible…"

"Did the Congress of Magic helped them?"

Winston looked at Hathaway in surprise. Did she kill the guy?

At this moment, Lucien did not say anything. He raised his left hand and pointed at the sky with a rippling longsword. Then, the environment changed, and a dark, profound cosmos surfaced. However, every planet in the cosmos was made of two different colors according to different ratios, like different elements. They were surrounded by a certain number of illusionary satellites.

It was the tiniest and the greatest. It was one and it was everything. It was exactly the Atomic Universe!

"Is this the longsword, 'Heart of Time'?"

"His Excellency Evans has already advanced into legendary?"

"What… What kind of speed is this?"

"If they caught the enemy unprepared, together with the Sword of Truth, it's possible that they could've killed him!"

Everybody was shocked. Nobody could foresee that Lucien could advance into legendary so quickly!

Winston, James and Gaston felt that they were going through a dream that was full of the most unbelievable twists and turns.

Natasha waved her right hand again and crumbled the badge into pieces, before she declared solemnly: "The honor and glory of the Hoffenberg family must not be tarnished!"

Nobody questioned her declaration this time. Instead, the bloodstained wedding dress and the tall shadow left a deep impression on everyone. The hideous dress at the beginning had a weird sense of beauty to it now, attracting a lot of ladies.

Sensing that Natasha was running out of strength, Lucien held her hand and walked through the arch, reaching Douglas.

"You've been through many dangers, difficulties and unimaginable tests before you finally came to this place. I hereby proclaim that you are a married couple!" Douglas said solemnly and gently.

The marriage in the Congress of Magic was very simple. Now that it was over, the solemn music became exciting and delightful again.

After Lucien and Natasha exchanged their rings again, Douglas smiled and was about to say 'you may kiss the bride'.

However, Natasha suddenly hugged Lucien at this moment and gave him a deep kiss.

Briefly stunned, Douglas shook his head with a smile.

The vague scent of blood, mixed with the familiar air, came at his face. Lucien was dazed at first, but then he hugged Natasha back and kissed her, forgetting the guests and everything else around.

They were finally a married couple now, a couple who would help and support each other for the rest of their life!

The beautiful scene made a lot of sorcerers raise their hands and close their thumb and their index finger into a square. Pressing it, they kept the scene of the kiss.

Although the photographic magic hadn't been simplified into any alchemical item yet, it was not a difficult task for them.

Chapter 611: Plan of Exploration

Translator: Henyee Translations Editor: Henyee Translations

On April 11, in the conference room of the Highest Council…

The sixteen members, including seven grand arcanists, had already been seated, when Lucien just came in wearing his double-breasted suit. He apologized, "Sorry that I'm late."

"It doesn't matter. Last night was your wedding night. It's perfectly normal to be late." Klaus, the Alchemy Master, said jokingly, "We all understand it."

Hearing his joke, the other people either smiled kindly or showed no emotional change, except for Hathaway who stared at Lucien coldly as if she were blaming him.

Scratching his chin in embarrassment, Lucien specifically explained it for his 'mother-in-law'. "The wound on Natasha's abdomen was corrupted by the power of time. It will take her at least half a month even if she treats herself well. However, she couldn't forget her last attack to execute Kritonia and try to grasp the feeling of burning and melting her will, belief, spirits and bloodline. Fearing that her wounds worsened, I could only try to cooperate with her while stopping her from making drastic movements. She didn't fall asleep from exhaustion until a few minutes ago."

So, I'm definitely not late for the reason you imagine. However, when we were excited discussing and simulating the attack, she expressed her 'gratitude' in other ways.

Hathaway's eyes became gentle. Douglas simply chuckled and said, "There's no need to explain your personal business to us. We are having an emergency meeting today mainly to discuss what happened yesterday. The Original Fire, a night watcher of the Church, was able to invite the legendary spectres of the World of Souls. It makes me wonder whether or not the Church is asking for the cooperation of the World of Souls."

"The South Church, which is determined to purge the undead creatures, is cooperating with the World of Souls? Was it the Original Fire's personal action? He's a legendary sorcerer from the Magic Empire. Perhaps he had a deep understanding about the World of Souls." Hathaway analyzed another possibility.

Solemnly and loudly, Fernando said, "Whatever it is, we have to accelerate the exploration in the World of Souls! Those skeletons and bodies don't seem satisfied with the World of Souls and intend to touch the main material world, instead of calming down after the mysterious existence of the World of Souls fell asleep like we imagined in the past. Therefore, we cannot react effectively without figuring out their details."

When they discussed, Vicente, the Lord of the Undead, remained silent. Dark red fire bounced in his eyes, as if he did not care about the things in the World of Souls.

Brook said in a low voice, "It's true that we need to accelerate our exploration, but we have no idea what dangers are hiding behind the Furnace of Souls. We have to press forward prudently. It must be noted that almost ten ancient legendary sorcerers went missing there. Although none of them were peak, most of them were level three. They were the pillars of the Magic Empire and not weak at all."

After the Congus incident, Lucien wrote the issues about Maskelyne into a report and submitted it to the Congress, allowing them to know the reason why the legendary sorcerers went missing and how the Grand Cross really collapsed.

"Yes. The goal that I set for now is to explore until the Furnace of Souls without pressing any deeper. After we investigate the Furnace of Souls and the peripheral area, we will return. Then, we will clear the unintelligent undead creatures and make a plan for our second adventure to press deeper." Douglas said rationally and calmly, but he was so confident as if the strong spectres were mere common skeletons.

"But there are almost ten legendary spectres like the Lich King apart from the unintelligent legendary spectres. They are not so easy to deal with. It will be a total war." After a long silence, Vicente began to talk.

Hearing them discuss quietly, Lucien thought for a moment and suddenly raised his hands. "There's something that I'd like to say."

"What is it?" Fernando looked at him with his red eyes. What other secrets was he hiding?

Lucien brought out the Sun's Corona that he didn't submit earlier. "I found an item of divine power left by Maskelyne in the Grand Cross."

"An item of divine power?" Asked Oliver and Erica in surprise. The Saint Truth hadn't surfaced yet when Maskelyne went missing. Where on earth did he get the item?

Not wasting time to say what he had already said, Lucien went to the topic. "Mr. Maskelyne called it a magic item."

"What?" This time, even Douglas, Brook, Hathaway, Hellen and Davey were shocked.

"I have reason to believe that it is related to the rise of the Saint Truth." After so many things, and after witnessing the pope's improvement on the divine powers, Lucien was finally able to talk about his suspicion honestly and confidently. "Perhaps it has something to do with the speculation I mentioned in the report of the changes of Ell's godhood."

It came from the adjusted amalgamation of many people's feeble spiritual power!

"Well…" After a brief silence, Brook took out a white handkerchief to wipe his forehead. "But the projection of Mountain Paradise is real, and so are the angels. The king of angels is in the Holy City right now. Also, we cannot find a way to perform divine powers. We can't even create a divine item without godhood."

"That's why further exploration is needed. At the bottom level of 'Sun's Corona', Mr. Maskelyne has hidden the patterns of the coordinate changes of a certain place in the deepest part of the World of Souls. That's probably the area where they went missing in the end. There's perhaps an answer to everything." Said Lucien solemnly before he shared the pattern of the changing coordinates.

The World of Souls was too dangerous for him to explore on his own. He had to count on the Congress. In that case, hiding important intelligence would only increase the risk of the adventure that could've been avoided.

After reading the pattern of the coordinates, all the members of the Highest Council fell silent, deep in thought.

Lucien, on the other hand, went on. "There's something else I also need to say."

"What is it?" Fernando glared at Lucien. How many more secrets did the guy have?

"In the beginning, Rhine was not trapped by Prince Dracula; rather, he conspired with Sard to deal with Tiphotidis, the Master of Argent and the Ice Duke, because he wanted to explore the secrets of the World of Souls, only to be betrayed by Sard during the exploration. That was why he was trapped there." Lucien corrected certain false intelligence that he had given to protect himself earlier.

Fernando snorted, as if he had guessed it. Hathaway slightly nodded, finally understanding why Sard chose to cooperate with them at the beginning. "What secret is it?"

The fire bouncing in the eye sockets of the Lord of the Undead suddenly grew intense.

"According to the Silver-eyed Count, the secrets to real immortality lie in the deepest part of the World of Souls, secrets that even the God of Silver Moon seek after!" Lucien finally told the secret that he had concealed for a long time. Now that he was a legendary sorcerer himself with a comprehensive combat ability in the level two, he was no longer a weakling at the mercy of any random enemy. He was now capable of sharing the secret!

The news was so shocking that, except for the Lord of the Undead who was even grimmer, the members of the Highest Council barely showed any response. They evaluated the accuracy of the message first.

"…The Lord of Hell's actions indirectly proved the importance of the secret in the World of Souls." Lucien mentioned the plan that the Lord of Hell had previously. "I am not certain of this piece of information, either. I'm only reminding you that anything may happen after we surpass the Furnace of Souls. Perhaps, we will be faced with the God of Silver Moon and the Lord of Hell in person."

"If that's true, they will be happy to see our exploration and even offer help. If they were willing to take the risk, they would have entered it a long time ago." After he was back to himself, Douglas smiled, not as excited about the mysteries of immortality as when he saw the general theory of relativity for the first time.

As for the other people, even the sorcerers like Hathaway and Hellen who barely had any facial expression revealed certain excitement. They were also breathing fast.

As he spoke, Douglas looked at the Lord of the Undead. "Vicente, did you know the secret?"

His eyes were clear and gentle, but Vicente was silent for a long time before he finally said, "I inferred that there was such a secret from Adol's memories. Then, I discovered a relic in Viken based many other memories and clues and confirmed the deduction."

The moment he said that, Fernando gazed at him with his red eyes.

"That's all the more reason why we should explore the place. It's possible that the 'truth' of this world is hidden there." Douglas tapped the table, not blaming Vicente for keeping the information to himself early. "Based on the intelligence from the advance base in the World of Souls earlier, we have learnt that there are approximately ten real legendary spectres and forty unintelligent legendary spectres in the area outside of the Furnace of Souls. It means that we have to mobilize more than eight legends in order to press deeper."

Brook nodded his head. "If two top legends lead the team every time, another four helpers will be enough. That's within what we can bear."

If too many legendary sorcerers were mobilized, the alternate dimensions and the kingdoms would be too weakly defended, which would give the enemies an opportunity to attack.

"Alright. Fernando and I will lead the first adventure, assisted by another four legendary sorcerers. The second adventure will be led by Brook and Hathaway, also followed by four legendary sorcerers. We will explore deeper in turns but do not surpass the limit each time, so that we can press forward steadily until we reach the destination that Lucien described earlier." Douglas expressed his opinion and turned to Lucien. "Lucien, although it has been less than one year since you advanced, you are now already a grand arcanist and a legendary sorcerer, and you need to shoulder your responsibilities. Of course, you have the right to refuse it."

Lucien took a long breath. "I would like to join the first adventure."

The destination of the first adventure was the Furnace of Souls. As could be confirmed by the exploration of Maskelyne and his partners as well as Adol's memories, the dangers of the journey were still under control. It wouldn't be as mysterious and dangerous as the rest of the quest. Also, his primary target right now was to take a look at the Furnace of Souls and to touch the enigmas of the soul in order to unveil the differences between the two worlds he lived in.

Also, in such a way, there would be no need for him to participate in the second, the third and the fourth adventure. By the time the fifth adventure began, he would probably in level two or level three of legendary, considering that it would already be super effective if such adventures could be carried out once every year, not to mention that the trophies of every adventure had to be digested before the next adventure began.

When that moment came, his plan was to explore the area far behind the Furnace of Souls and find Maskelyne.

Lucien vaguely had the feeling that the answers to everything would be revealed there.

Chapter 612: New Changes Every Day

Translator: Henyee Translations Editor: Henyee Translations

"Great." Douglas nodded in great comfort. "Who else wants to join the first adventure?"

"Since it involves the mysteries of the soul, I have to pay a visit in any case." Klaus, the Alchemy Master, smiled. Of the two crowns in the field of creation, the mysteries of material changes had been partly unveiled by Lucien, but the secrets about the soul were still hidden in the intense smoke. As a legendary sorcerer who was determined to create an intelligent life, he had long been yearning after the Furnace of Souls.

After Lucien and he talked, Vicente, the Lord of the Undead, also said in a low voice, "The realm of the soul is always my interest. I hope to see the Furnace of Souls as soon as possible."

Hearing that Vicente intended to join, Fernando chuckled and said loudly, "You purposefully deleted Adol's memories about Maskelyne and Viken, and you hid the secrets about immortality. How can I entrust my back to you without concerns?"

He had always been bad-tempered and straightforward, not fearing that anybody would be infuriated by him.

The Lord of the Undead snorted. "Your good student also kept it a secret for a long time, didn't he?"

The guy must've known that the secrets of immortality were hidden inside the World of Souls earlier than he did.

"He was only a middle-rank sorcerer at that time, and you were already a grand arcanist when you learnt the secret. How could you compare yourself to him? Why don't you compete with the magic apprentices to see which of you cast spells faster?" Fernando roared in a low voice, with thunder rumbling around him.

Douglas shook his head in a smile. Fernando had always been biased, and only he could yell at his student. "Alright, Vicente, because of your trick with Adol's memories, you need to make a magic oath to join the adventure, and you need to pay a fine with an equally valuable legendary spell or ritual."

"The complete memories of Adol must be submitted, too." Fernando was not willing to let it go.

Vicente took a deep breath, and the dark red fire bounced in his eyes. "Alright!"

Supposedly, it was not a big deal that he kept the secret to himself. Nobody could've guessed it, and he would be able to reap more in the World of Souls later. Who could've foreseen that Lucien knew about it and would even speak about it?

Did he not know what the secrets of immortality meant? That was the highest achievement in the field of soul and matter. Any wish could be fulfilled!

"I would like to participate, too. Sometimes, transformation and illusions can help everybody avoid danger." Erica, Master of Transformation, said.

Douglas nodded softly. "I'm very glad that you offered to join the adventure, but since a lot of preparation need to be done, we will leave in two months. Lucien, I have deeper understanding about time and space. Let's work hard together to upgrade your Moon Timer into a level-two legendary item."

"Thank you, Mr. President." Lucien did not refuse. It would take him years if he wanted to upgrade the Moon Timer on his own. At this moment, the stronger he was, the safer he would be. For both himself and his family that had just been established, there was no need to hide the legendary class of 'Observer of Time and Space' from the president.

"Alright, those who are to join the first adventure can go back and make preparations." Douglas announced the end of the meeting.

…

In a Portal to Alternate Realm inside the Allyn magic tower…

As the light was on, Nika, in a black robe, walked out. His messy hair was much neater than two years ago, and he was no longer like a weirdo or psycho. The boy, Aki, followed him and observed the empty hall with great interest.

"Welcome to Allyn. I am Thompson, a member of the Affair Committee." Thompson greeted them with a smile on the opposite side of the Portal to Alternate Realm.

It was said that the sorcerer was unusually talented with remarkable spiritual power. He had become a fifth-circle sorcerer after only two years of learning. Also, Lucien provided guidance to him before. That was why Thompson had come to greet him.

Nika's countenance was also different from the past. Most of the daze and craziness were gone. He asked with a smile, "Mr. Thompson, is this Allyn, the City in the Sky?"

He reached the oasis after more than a month of journey and then spent half a year passing the ocean before he arrived at the Congress of Magic's branch in the alternate dimension. Because of his amazing spiritual power, he was appreciated by a senior-rank sorcerer in the magic tower, who kept him and taught him elementary knowledge. After his arcana expertise grew, he was sent to Allyn for further studies.

"The view of the City in the Sky is best from the outside." Thompson pointed at the door. "I'll lead you to the Sorcerer Administrative Department."

"I wonder, is Grand Arcanist Mr. Lucien Evans here?" Nika asked expectantly. He had already known that the title for the Philosopher was grand arcanist.

Thompson shook his head. "His Excellency 'Atom Controller' is in Allyn, but he is too busy to meet any outsiders right now. You'll see him in the future."

"What a shame." Nika was rather disappointed. He wanted to thank Mr. Evans for his guidance, which showed him dawn in the overwhelming darkness. "Mr. Thompson, when can I enter the Holt Magic College?"

Thompson clicked his tongue. "You can only enter the college after you pass the College Entrance Exam of Advanced Magic. That is to say, you have to wait for the exam to be held on June 7 next year. You'd better find something else to do during the year. However, there are plenty of books on arcana and magic here. You can pick up knowledge everywhere."

"Well, Mr. Thompson, do you have tasks that have more spare time and are suitable for arcana studies and magic analysis?" Nika intended to pay for his life and his studies on his own.

Thompson also chuckled. "The Congress will offer you certain arcana points according to your magic and arcana level. As for missions, you can be a teacher. Teachers are much needed since there are a lot of schools. They have a lot of spare time, too."

"Alright." Nika looked at Aki and felt that working as a teacher would be relatively easy.

Led by Thompson, Nika and Aki stepped into the magic lift and went to the Sorcerer Administrative Department on the first floor.

"Mr. Thompson, is every floor for a special purpose?" Asked Aki curiously. He had already been used to lifts in the Congress of Magic's branch, no longer the screamer when he took the lift for the first time.

Thompson pointed at the floor on their opposite side. "That happens to be one of the floors that belong to the Affair Committee…"

"Mr. Gaston's 'Life Synthesis Laboratory' is on this floor…"

"Wow, Life Synthesis Laboratory?" The boy Aki was rather excited. Nika also looked at the place with great curiosity.

"Mr. Gaston made groundbreaking contributions to the field of life. He proposed that concept of element structure, maintaining that the nature of an object is not only concerned with the number and quality of atoms but also their structure." Thompson had benefited a lot from the theory and elaborated on it.

"Structure…" Nika, who had just picked up the basics, was still confused about the cutting-edge concepts.

Thompson pointed at the opposite side again. "The famous Atom Institution is on this floor."

"The Atom Institution?" Nika had learnt about the Atom Institution that Mr. Evans created in person had been pulling the whole Congress forward like a locomotive even though he was only in a branch in the alternate dimension.

Plus his fondness for Lucien in the first place, Nika was full of admiration and excitement. Aki even ran to the rail and observed the floor against the light shield.

"In fact, there are also laboratories on hormones and psychology on this floor." Thompson then introduced the next floor. "The 'Heredity Laboratory', recently established by Mr. Felipe and a few sorcerers of the school of necromancy, is on this floor. It's said that they are hugely sponsored by the nobles, but there are no achievements yet."

Since the alternate dimension had yet to begin the studies on blood power, Nika was even more confused about that. He could only glance at it in curiosity.

…

"Wow!"

As the magic steam train rode out of Allyn and rushed downwards amidst the clouds in the blue sky, the boy Aki finally couldn't control himself anymore and screamed hard. His legs trembling, he didn't dare not watch the small mountains, rivers, forests and manors down below.

It was simply too terrifying and exciting!

Smiling, Nika cast a spell on him to relieve his fear. As for Nika himself, he had been used to the situation after he learnt how to fly.

After they reached the train station, Aki held on to his teacher with a pale face and shaking legs, gagging nonstop.

Nika shook his head and searched for the signs around. "Lanxiang…" His task was to work as a teacher in the first 'Lanxiang' school.

Although he was already a fifth-circle sorcerer, his arcana level hadn't even reached one yet. By teaching students, it would be easy for him to increase his arcana expertise, so he was quite satisfied about the task. The most satisfying thing of all was that the school provided a magic laboratory for him.

Very soon, he found the wagon that the Lanxiang school sent to pick him up. It brought him to the east of the town.

This Lanxiang school was quiet but not gloomy. The bright buildings, the silver rails and the flourishing gardens built up a cheerful atmosphere.

The wagon was about to ride into the gate, when Nika suddenly hear rumbling noises. He turned around, only to see a gigantic blue box running at him. In the perception of his spiritual power, the box seemed to be entirely made of iron. It was neither pulled by a Dragon Scale horse nor spurting out steam, and it looked like a terrible iron monster.

"Mr. Nika, this is one of the first vehicles for public transportation that the city hall has introduced. They are developed by Mr. Evans and Mr. Klaus together, who modified and simplified the magic steam train, making it able to move without a railway. However, the two experts still think that it is too clumsy and noisy." As a member of the Lanxiang school, the coachman was rather well-informed.

Watching the blue box park on the other side, and the young, vigorous teenagers and adolescents get off, Nika complimented sincerely, "This is truly a heaven of magic…"

After he walked into the campus, Nika saw red banners before anything else came into his eyes: "Our Sincerest Welcome to Prime Minister Russell!"

"The First Contest of Alchemical Gears Controlling is about to begin!"

...

Nika, who felt that the banners were rather an eye-sore, found many stone statues in the garden, with certain words engraved on the pedestal.

"They are the great sorcerers who made major contributions to arcana and magic. Below are the quotations that they once said." The coachman introduced.

Nika walked over curiously and examined the statues one by one.

"Derrick Douglas: Our future lies in the infinite cosmos."

…

"Lucien Evans: Your eyes will deceive you, your ears will deceive you, your experience will deceive you, and so will your imagination, but math won't."

…

"Yaroran Hathaway Hoffenberg: Achievements speak louder than words."

Chapter 613: The Small Folk in the Great Age

Translator: Henyee Translations Editor: Henyee Translations

Ding. The crisp sound found its way into Andy's ears, waking him up from his wonderful dream about the future. He saw a minuscule magic steam train arriving by him.

It was lead grey in general and more than three meters tall. It had only one long carriage that moved between two tails on the ground. However, there was no steam popping up from the locomotive, but only two thick antennas that rose up and connected the black wires established in midair. It couldn't have looked more bizarre.

"A trolley car…" Andy looked at the monstrosity, so amazed that he almost forgot to get aboard.

It was said that the trolley car did not require spiritual power or willpower. All one needed to do was to press or lever certain switches, so even ordinary people could drive them easily. However, since there were not many streets in Rentato that were broad enough to set up the trails, the vehicle was limited to a few lines. For most of the streets, the buildings on two sides had to back off by one meter to give enough room. The work was unimaginable for the cabinet and the city hall right now. Therefore, they would rather promote the buses despite their heaviness, clumsiness and noise.

Ding. Hearing that the trolley car was about to close, Andy shivered and stepped on it. Today was the day that the Lanxiang school began. If he were late, he would lose his bright future.

Pa. The door of the trolley car closed. Andy patted his chest in relief. The daydreaming smile appeared on his face again.

Before he became an adult, he had been working for the alchemical workshops, but his salary every month could only make ends meet. The gap between his dream of magic radios and lamps and the reality was as huge as that between Mountain Paradise and abyss. It seemed that he would live in a slum, eat lousy food, and get married with somebody he barely knew, dying to live just like his parents.

The moment he thought of the hopeless future where there were no changes, Andy often felt depressed. If he had never known how wonderful the world was, he could've accepted such a life in numbness, but now that he had gotten in touch with the outside world through the magic radios, his horizons had been broadened, and he had many more dreams. How could he live such a poor life forever?

A month ago, Martin, William and he went to test their spiritual power talent, only to discover that it was extremely feeble. If they had enormous wealth, there would still be hope for them to become magic apprentices, but it was naturally impossible for them. So, they entered the alchemical workshops in misery and desperation, doing the same labor every day without seeing any hope to change.

The painful days lasted until a few months ago, when he learnt the news that the generic schools and the Lanxiang schools were about to be established. He dropped his numbness and was full of momentum again. Between the two kinds of schools, the generic school required the support of certain wealth. Unwilling to ask for more money from his parents, he did not consider it.

The Lanxiang school, on the other hand, met his demands perfectly. If he graduated from there, he wouldn't need to worry about jobs at all. Every alchemical workshop would want him.

After he became a real alchemical worker, he would be like the dwarfs he met before. His salary would be so high that he could buy a magic radio in a couple of years. Also, he would be respected and have the chance to be promoted into an alchemical manager. As for the alchemical consultant, that was a job only for the real sorcerers and arcanists.

After the setback, Andy's dream to become a sorcerer was shattered by the cruel reality, but he let go of his illusions and had a new dream that better suited himself, and he tried his best to achieve it.

"If you dare not dream about the future, living is no different from death, right?" Thinking about that, Andy clenched his fists, feeling proud of himself for the hard work in the past months. He had finally passed the exams and became a member of the Lanxiang school!

In a rising society and an age of great transformation, even the civilians were full of passion and vigor.

"…Prime Minister Russell has announced that a special police department will be established in replacement of the sheriff system in the past. He indicated that it will better control crime and give the citizens of Holm a safer life. Also, he said that, as a precaution against the potentially threatening criminals such as the dark nights who cannot control their lust for killing, part of the Verdict Knights and the Saint Cross Knights will be appointed as officers of the police department, and the regular policemen will also be equipped with burst guns that the dwarves invented."

The news broadcast of 'Holm Radio Station' came from the front of the trolley car. Similar magic radios had been installed into every trolley car and every bus, so that the passengers could hear the news while they were on their way. Because of the changed life style, the channels such as Arcana Voice had also added a rebroadcast in the morning.

"Burst gun?" Inside the trolley car, many passengers repeated what they heard in confusion. They had never heard of such a thing before. What was it about?

Andy smiled. He knew it very well, because it was manufactured by the alchemical workshop he previously worked in. It was invented by the dwarves there and received Mr. Evans' attention!

Based on the high-pressure steam rifles, and together with the advance alchemical dynamites and simplified magic circles, they had finally created a burst gun that could launch bullets with alchemical dynamite after years of experiments. As long as there were enough bullets, even the ordinary people could use them. Every bullet was as powerful as the ability of a regular knight.

Of course, such weapons were not good enough to deal with the knights, because the shooters could not keep up with their speed. Also, the weapons needed to be reloaded after the bullets were shot out. They could only expect to injure the regular knights if they shot in a row.

However, they were more than enough to deal with the squires of the knights.

Andy also knew that there were advanced burst guns. They were made with better barrels and magic patterns. As alchemical items that were equal to magic bows, they could only be used by magic apprentices and knights, and they would be exhausted after a few shoots. So, until they were simplified, they were only given to the middle-rank and low-rank knights.

Also, Andy was told that Mr. Evans had invented an electromagnetic gun that could launch bullets with electromagnetic power with a terrifying speed and damage. He had named the electromagnetic gun as 'Gauss Rifle'. It was a pity that the weapon was a senior-rank alchemical item that only the sorcerers whose cognitive world had half-solidified and the level-grand knights could use.

According to Mr. Evans, 'Gauss Rifle' could possibly be used by low-rank knights in the future, provided that the research on superconductivity materials made groundbreaking progress, which probably wouldn't happen in the next fifty years.

"By then, the kingdom would be able to organize an enormous group of knights. The regular knights will use Gauss Rifle, and the ordinary soldiers will use the middle-rank burst gun. Only the senior-rank sorcerers or radiant knights can resist their salvo…" Andy shivered in excitement as he imagined that.

He had to work in the workshops that manufactured such weapons in the future!

"…The proposal about mailmen and mail service is being debated in the Parliament of Nobles. Some members believe that it is useless because common citizens do not have many friends far away, and the nobles, who have their own servants, do not need such a thing, either…"

Andy did not know much about the mail service, but Arcana Voice had repeatedly announced that it would shorten the distance among people and help connect families and friends far away. Also, it would be an amazing experience to get to know more friends through mail. So, he was a supporter of the idea. He mumbled, "Those nobles never consider the civilians, well, except for the few kind nobles."

Ding. "The Lanxiang school is up ahead."

Hearing the conductor's voice, Andy felt that his body tightened and all his hairs were rising. Then, he left the trolley car. When he passed the conductor, he tossed five new copper coins into the iron box before her.

Although the five new copper coins were one fifth of Andy's daily wage, he felt that the trolley car was worth it.

Also, he had no time to consider the cost, because he was too excited watching the beautiful buildings ahead of him on the cement road.

Basking in the sunlight, the Lanxiang school was dyed gold, giving a sacred and wondrous feeling. Feeling that he would never be able to forget the picture, Andy moaned: "Lanxiang, my dream, I'm here!"

Starting from today, he would step into a new episode of his life, where there was hope and light!

...

Inside the 'Atomic Universe', Lucien and Natasha stood face to face.

"Bring the Shield of Truth. I'm not worried about your attack; I'm only worried about your defense." Natasha said in a rarely solemn way. "In fact, it will be better if you bring the Sword of Truth."

Knowing Natasha's concerns, Lucien nodded. "What about you?"

"I'm looked after by Granny Hathaway, the defense in the Nekso Palace, your demiplane, and Pale Justice. What's there to be scared of?" Natasha smiled, not as sorrowful as a common lady would be.

Lucien chuckled and brought out a crown that seemed to be forged with starlight. "I've borrowed the Thorny Crown for you."

"When did you borrow it?" Her eyes widened, Natasha asked in amusement.

"When I guessed that you will give me both the Shield of Truth and the Sword of Truth. It is not of much use for me." Lucien put the crown on Natasha's head with a smile.

The other two legendary items had been borrowed by Klaus and Erica.

Natasha smiled brilliantly, but then she heaved a sigh. "It's a shame that I still haven't advanced into legendary, or I'd be able to go with you."

She was sensible enough to know that she would only be a burden for Lucien if she joined the adventure when she was not legendary yet.

"It had been only one year since you became a gold knight. You can't be hasty. Even if you grasp the attack with which you executed Kritonia, it would take years before you have a chance of advancement. That's perfectly normal." Lucien rubbed Natasha's hair.

Natasha nodded her head. "The cruel reality that I cannot partake in an adventure with you has filled me with momentum. I'll keep on trying."

Then, she hugged Lucien and kissed him deeply for quite a few minutes. In the end, she spoke in a coarse voice half jokingly, "If you are trapped, just wait for me to save you after I become a legend."

"However, I believe that you will definitely make it back smoothly."

After that, Lucien embarked on the adventure with an unprecedented assortment of five legendary items.

Chapter 614: Familiarity

Translator: Henyee Translations Editor: Henyee Translations

Heidler city was dim, gloomy and grey, as monotonous and frozen as the World of Souls.

Before the entrance, Douglas, Fernando, Vicente, Klaus and Erica had all arrived. They were waiting for Lucien.

"You've brought the Shield of Truth, too?" Looking at Lucien who had finally come, Klaus speculated with a smile, "Together with the Thorny Crown that you borrowed, you have five legendary items with you in total. That's quite unprecedented. Even I, a sorcerer who specializes in alchemy, cannot compare to you. Even Mr. President only has four."

"Mr. President's items are either top legendary or level-three legendary. Mine are not worth mentioning at all." Lucien said 'modestly'.

The number of legendary items were rare partly because the main ingredients needed were too precious and partly because the demand on the crafter was very high. Apart from the legendary sorcerers and the saint cardinals, vampires and primordial dragons could only craft items with their racial talents with a high failure rate. The legendary knights had to count on other people's help. Therefore, few similar objects had been passed on from the Magic Empire, although the number of legendary items had doubled since the last years of the empire.

That was the reason why Hathaway, who was adept at 'Luxury Cracking' and 'Elements Resolve', was so terrifying. She could ruin somebody's life collection easily.

Vicente interrupted their conversation. "Now that we are all here, it's time to go."

"Yes, it's time to go." Said Douglas with a vague smile. He was solemn but not nervous.

After receiving the intelligence about the World of Souls, the Congress of Magic had resolved the problem that the gap was invisible. At this moment, enshrouded in the special magic circle, the twisted gap could be seen clearly. It emitted the intense stink of death and dullness.

Passing through the gap and the curtains of shadows, Lucien entered the World of Souls. Around him was the messy reflection of Heidler city, where the high magic towers leaned on each other like children's toys. Vague greyness was everywhere.

They could find no additional colors in the whole world except from each other.

"It's been ten years since I first entered the World of Souls, obtained the Sun's Corona, and learnt that Maskelyne was trapped. I've finally begun my quest to explore the World of Souls." Lucien felt complicated. He had just become an official sorcerer back then.

Because teleportation was suppressed in the World of Souls, they jumped through the seven advance bases and approached the frontier, where they saw Bergner, the Prophet.

He was still wearing a grey hat, and his white eyebrows seemed to be longer now.

"My astrology tells me that the mysterious existence of the World of Souls shows no sign of waking, but there are other dangers in the Temple of Spirits. You must not be careless. Remember, if you encounter great danger, don't hurry to retreat, and you will only see hope if you press forward." Bergner spoke of the result of his prophecy that he prepared for two months.

Fernando asked in confusion. "Forward? But our destination is only the Furnace of Souls. We will return after preliminary exploration. I don't think the legendary undead creatures are an actual threat to us."

According to Adol's memories and Viken's files, there were only four level-three legendary spectres in the area: the Lich King, the Servant of Death, the Primordial Mummy and the Wraith Lord. Douglas would be able to suppress three of them on his own. It was needless to say that there were the Lord of the Undead and 'Millionaire' Lucien. It shouldn't be a problem even if they were surrounded by forty unintelligent legendary spectres.

"Adol was only a senior-rank spectre. He barely knew the area outside of the Temple of Spirits. Also, the rooms, houses and corridors inside the Temple of Spirits are changing all the time. It's like a living maze. There are possibly dangerous rooms and pathways he did not know." Vicente argued cautiously.

After he publicized Adol's memories and Viken's files, Lucien finally understood why Maskelynes pattern of coordinates changed. That was because the buildings inside the Temple of Spirits were in constant changes. Even a senior-rank spectre like Adol only knew the changes at the periphery. He had to be led by the legendary spectres when he visited the Furnace of Souls.

Bergner said solemnly, "I don't know where the danger comes from. Perhaps you won't run into any, but you need to be careful."

Douglas nodded and spoke to the team. "Our exploration is divided into two parts. The first part is to reach the Furnace of Souls without causing much noise, like Maskelyne did, and check if the Church is cooperating with the World of Souls. The second part is to return to the edge and clear the unintelligent spectres."

They had discussed the plan before. The reason why they did not clear the enemies before their investigation was that the noise might terrify the intelligent legendary spectres, who would then turn on the defenses in the Temple of Spirits or ask for the help of other forces. In such a way, they wouldn't be able to finish the exploration.

After confirming the plan, the six legendary sorcerers left the advance base and flew deeper stealthily.

About an hour later, Lucien finally saw a gigantic area of blackness. It was a group of magnificent palaces that were countless times larger than Allyn. Their height was inestimable, because their tops stuck deep into the grey sky.

The battle of legends might destroy a regular city, but for this group of palaces, it would be nothing more than the collapse of a palace or a garden.

"The deeper we go in, the harder the materials of the palace will be. Perhaps, the rooms in the deepest part are all made of 'Wall of Sighs'." The Lord of the Undead was unusually talkative, apparently eager to explore the Furnace of Souls.

'Wall of Sighs' was one of the strongest defensive spells of the school of necromancy. It could not be broken by any attack except for real sunlight. He was only using it as a metaphor.

Lucien was not very keen about that spell, because 'Eternal Blaze' was its bane.

In the wilderness outside of the Temple of Spirits, corpses of humans, elves, dragons and sphinxes were everywhere. Their skin had decayed, revealing the muscles and the white nerves. Weird maggots were wriggling in and out nonstop.

Those corpses moved slowly and aimlessly. Since there were no sound or colors, it was like a black-and-white silent film.

"They are all excellent bodies." As they lowered their height, the Lord of the Undead observed the corpses in great delight, like a child who saw his favorite toys.

Erica cast a spell of collective illusion. In such a way, every undead creature would feel that Lucien and his team were spectres.

After they approached the Temple of Spirits, the six of them landed and walked among the undead creatures in the stink.

In this area, the wandering undead creatures had senior-rank leaders. Some were intelligent, and some were merely acting with instinct.

Suddenly, a cerberus looked at them, as if it had smelled the disgusting scent of life.

It opened its mouth and was about to roar a soundless roar.

At this moment, Vicente glared at it, the crimson fire in his eyes bouncing. Then, the cerberus suddenly crouched and wagged its tail that was made of white bones, obviously terrified.

Around the cerberus, the other undead creatures stopped their movement, too, and made all kinds of weird gestures, as if they were welcoming the return of their master.

"This is truly as expected of 'Lord of the Undead'." Lucien truly understood the meaning of the legendary class.

Thanks to the invisible deterrence and the cover of the illusion, it did not take them long before they saw the infinite wall that was shimmering in coldness.

"Six kilometers to the left after the entrance." Douglas calculated according to Adol's memories. This group of palaces seemed highly immune to reconnaissance spells.

Therefore, the six of them changed their direction and moved along the city wall. Then, they found a swarm of mummies on their way. Some of them were humans, and some were sphinxes. Their grey cloths had stinky stains.

The two parties approached each other. Because of the illusion spell, those mummies did not sense anything but kept wandering ignorantly.

They were about to pass by each other, when a sphinx in the mummies suddenly halted. With weird and cold brilliance beaming out of its eyes, it suddenly expanded to almost three times its peers. A gold crown that was full of Sun Stones and Moonlight Stones appeared on its head, too, making it look terrifying.

"The Primordial Mummy?"

There were many primordial mummies, but only one of them was intelligent. This sphinx was clearly not it, because its eyes soon became brutal and bloodthirsty in a demonic haze. However, it was still a legendary creature!

The mummy widened its mouth and was about to send the signal of alarm.

Suddenly, a low voice echoed: "Advanced Time Stop."

There was nothing but greyness before Lucien's eyes, as if the whole world was frozen. By the time it became normal, he saw quite a few beams of light bouncing on the ancient mummy, before it was destroyed by a brilliant meteor.

Hualala. The sphinx turned to countless pieces. From the broken body, black beetles crawled out.

"Is this the ability of a top legendary? A legendary undead creature has been eliminated instantly, even though it's only level one." Lucien thought with mixed feelings, but then he sensed that the mummy was familiar. "Huh. Did I see it from somewhere before?"

"Move on." Said Douglas peacefully.

Lucien was about to step forward, when he suddenly recalled a few pictures, so he spoke through the telepathic bond. "Mr. President, wait a moment."

"Is there a problem?" Asked Fernando.

Lucien pointed at the broken body on the ground. "I think I saw it before. I would like to observe it for a while longer."

No legendary sorcerers would let go of the tiniest clues. So, they waited for Lucien.

After a moment, when Lucien almost remembered the pictures, the black beetles crawled back into the decayed corpse, and the pieces of the corpse began to wriggle and gather towards the center!

"It's not dead?" Erica was well aware of the destructiveness of the president's 'Fateful Meteor'. That was a legendary spell which could destroy someone together with their phylactery!

What was exceptional about the mummy?

Douglas also frowned, wondering why 'Fateful Meteor' lost effect. If Lucien hadn't asked them to stay and observe, he would've probably been deceived by the creature in the World of Souls.

Lucien was briefly stunned. Then, he transformed into a legendary knight and drew the silver longsword, slashing the decayed body that had been regathered.

"Ahhhhhhhh!"

Miserable cries were transmitted into Lucien's soul along the sword, which made Lucien see a peculiar illusion: Inside a monochrome, gloomy mausoleum, countess red and brown 'spider threads' were tying a grey coffin. Above the coffin was a rusty ball of light that was stained with blood. After he slashed his sword, the spider threads were cut apart, and the light ball broke into half after violent trembles, vanishing into thin air. The cover of the coffin was knocked open, and a sphinx mummy sat up, howling in pain. Then, it fell apart, disintegrated into a pool of stinky, yellow mucus.

Was it Finks, the King of Sphinxes?