Volume 8, Chapter 60 – One Strike

A troublesome opponent.

Lucitine immediately gained a general understanding of the intruder’s strength.

Whether it was the way they held their lance or the aura enveloping their entire body, not a single opening was revealed. It seemed that no matter which angle she attacked from, she would be perfectly defended. This was something only someone with considerable combat experience could possess. It even gave her a faint sense of familiarity, as if this was a combat technique belonging to some Venex in her memories.

She quietly used the undead’s scanning magic. The magic power reaction of the black armor in her field of vision appeared crimson red. Lucitine’s eyebrows lifted slightly. The opponent’s strength was similar to her own.

Someone of this caliber existed on the World Tree Continent?

More importantly, how had it silently infiltrated the gray hall? That in itself was highly suspicious. With the Wall of Sighs blocking the way, outsiders had no way of getting here.

No, rather than thinking about how it got in, I should focus on defeating it first.

Abandoning the attempt to summon the scales sword, Lucitine rose from the throne, undaunted by the crisis. With composure, she drew from the void a gorgeous golden cruciform sword. Lucitine didn’t know the name of this weapon, only that it was a collectible confiscated by a past Venex, of no ordinary quality.

“So, you’ve dealt with the people outside… daring to challenge the dignity of the Queen of Death, I commend your courage.”

“Stop putting on airs. Get out of my way!”

Without any ceremony for announcing names or explaining the purpose of their visit, the figure in black armor shouted and, accompanied by an earth-shaking explosion, lunged straight at Lucitine’s chest with its hideous black lance. An overwhelming, unparalleled momentum locked down the space, making Lucitine feel her body uncontrollable. The hideous black lance, like a black dragon opening its mouth to devour, rapidly enlarged in her field of vision.

Not good.

CLANG!

A piercing clash of metal exploded, sparks flying, illuminating the gray hall.

In a flash, Lucitine raised the cruciform sword and deflected the black lance. Although she successfully parried the thrust, her legs uncontrollably stepped back one pace. Especially her left leg, the rear supporting point, sank into the platform’s floor.

Tense sweat appeared on her forehead.

If just moments ago she had only felt uneasy, now she was uneasy to the extreme.

She had indeed inherited a considerable amount of combat skills from past Venexes, but those were all premised on having an undead body. The undead possessed immortal bodies; even if pierced through the chest by a lance, they wouldn’t die. So they could boldly trade attacks, exchanging losses. But now she was a living person, affected by pain, her hearing and vision influenced by the chaotic environment. The black armor’s powerful, heavy strike numbed her arms, to the point where she couldn’t launch the counterattack she should have.

What’s more fatal was that the opponent’s magic felt quite familiar to her.

The attack that just now seemed to lock down space wasn’t truly spatial locking—space magic was high-level magic; none of it could be used without chanting. The reason she felt space was locked was because her body had become sluggish, making it feel subjectively like space was frozen. This was the demon language magic inherited from the first Venex: [Soul Whisper].

Could it be that Claire?

Lucitine quickly sorted through the possibilities. Perhaps asking Fia to leave had angered Claire, and now she was here for revenge.

She grinned fiercely through gritted teeth.

“Hmph, seeing your fiancée expelled, so you’ve come specifically to retaliate? If you want revenge, come at me fair and square! Hiding your identity, what kind of ability is that?!”

“I’ve come to take back what is mine.”

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Unprovoked by Lucitine’s words, the person under the black armor said in a low voice. It continued exerting force on the lance. Lucitine, holding the cruciform sword horizontally to block the lance, heard a series of cracking sounds as the stone bricks beneath her feet exploded.

Lucitine didn’t just wait to die. Combat memories inherited over ten thousand years allowed her to quickly complete a chant in her mind. The temperature in the hall instantly plummeted to freezing point. The explosive ice clusters that had appeared when dealing with the beast Chaos erupted from Lucitine’s chest, shooting straight at the black armor ahead.

“—[Frost Star]!”

However, as if mirrored, the pitch-black armor opposite also manifested explosive ice clusters of comparable scale from its chest. The ice clusters on both sides collided violently. Accompanied by a series of popping ice explosions, vast white ice fog obscured her vision. The extreme cold, enough to freeze blood, slowed even thinking.

The recoil from the explosion forced the two apart.

But this didn’t mean the battle was over.

Following the white ice fog came more ice shards and pitch-black orbs scattering within the mist. They seemed unremarkable, but being hit by them would slow movement. When enough of these low-tier magics accumulated, they could become the key to deciding victory. This too was combat experience accumulated by Venexes over ten thousand years.

What made her frown was that the same magic also appeared from the black armor. Not only were the spells identical, but even their trajectories matched perfectly.

Ice shard met ice shard, pitch-black orb met pitch-black orb. Ice shards turned to powder, pitch-black orbs melted into water and fell straight down.

The fog obscuring her vision grew thicker. Sensing danger, Lucitine didn’t think twice and swung her sword directly to the right. Simultaneously, ice crystals covered the blade. She couldn’t be sure if the cruciform sword in her hand would snap under the high-intensity battle, so she reinforced it with [Enchanted Blade].

In response, before her sword strike even reached its peak power, it collided with the powerfully heavy black lance. Both she and the figure in black armor were blasted apart by the recoil. The only difference was that Lucitine was sent further back, to the edge of the platform, nearly falling.

A living body was too troublesome.

Only now did Lucitine recall the advantages of being undead. The plummeting air temperature made her body sluggish, unable to react in time. The pain from her split palm, caused by the recoil, constantly stimulated her. The blood flowing from the wound soaked the sword hilt, the discomfort of it sticking to her skin made her frown repeatedly.

Fatigue and muscle soreness were gradually accumulating.

These were things the undead never had.

She narrowed her eyes, staring at the enemy hidden within the ice fog.

“Even your magic is the same as mine. Who are you?”

“You don’t need to know the answer.”

Although the voice sounded in front of her, Lucitine clearly sensed cold air flowing rapidly behind her. Combat instinct told her the enemy had used an unknown method to get behind her. Without thinking, she swung her sword backwards. But the cruciform sword gave her no sensation of hitting anything.

A trap!

Swinging at empty air, her heart lurched. She realized she had exposed her back to the enemy. And the enemy didn’t miss Lucitine’s opening. Following that came a powerful whistling sound from below the platform.

The cold air and the crisis sensation that made her nerves tremble wildly caused her eyelids to twitch frantically, goosebumps spreading across her skin. Even though she couldn’t see what the whistling attack was, she could clearly feel that if she didn’t defend against this strike, she would be severely wounded.

The strength of a Ninth-Tier powerhouse wasn’t in solo combat, but in group warfare. When both sides were Ninth-Tier, one-on-one combat often left no opportunity for prolonged chanting. Chanting meant exposing an opening. And at this level, where even an instant wouldn’t be let slip, an opening meant death.

In the Venexes’ ten-thousand-year memory, one-on-one combat always favored faster, more mana-efficient spells. She only used high-tier magic in one scenario: when the Thirteen Attendants were nearby acting as guards, ensuring her safety. The reason the Thirteen Attendants always stood guard around the throne wasn’t just to display status, but had another purpose.

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“Tch!”

[Exchange of the Dead]

Clicking her tongue heavily, with no time to escape, Lucitine was forced to use [Exchange of the Dead]. As two white magic circles, one above and one below, enveloped her, Lucitine instantly disappeared from the throne. In her place appeared one of the Thirteen Attendants—a skeleton.

The black lance, stirring up a whirlwind, flew unerringly, piercing the skeleton’s chest and slamming straight into the throne. The entire throne, along with the platform, shattered. The deafening explosion rattled brains. Within the already mist-filled hall, more debris and smoke burst forth, obscuring visibility further. Coupled with the buzzing vibration in her eardrums, an ordinary person would have been stunned by now.

Thanks to the exchange, Lucitine finally had a moment to breathe. Hidden among the Thirteen Attendants, she gasped for air. She was now convinced it would be very difficult to defeat the black armor. Her chances of victory were only thirty percent. The opponent was too familiar with her fighting style, and she still wasn’t accustomed to fighting with a living body.

If she had the scales sword, she could summon undead to assist her in battle at any time. But for some reason, she couldn’t even summon it. The entire battle felt designed from the start.

Wait, designed…?

Connecting this to the opponent using the same magic as her and being very familiar with her, the alarm bells in Lucitine’s heart, which had just calmed, instantly blared.

If the opponent was very familiar with her, then even [Exchange of the Dead] might be within its calculations.

Not daring to stay put, Lucitine used the smoke to maneuver behind other Thirteen Attendants while chanting the incantations quickly and quietly. Relying only on low-tier magic, she was no match for the black armor. If the opponent completely grasped her fighting style, then she needed to attack in a way that exceeded its expectations. That meant abandoning the combat experience accumulated by past Venexes and reversing the outcome with methods that defied convention.

Even if she had to flee pitifully and hide, as long as she bought time to use an Eighth-Tier spell, the opponent would have absolutely no chance of victory!

Using the smoke screen for cover, Lucitine moved rapidly. She could hear debris clattering down in the hall, along with the slow footsteps of the black armor walking within the smoke. Clearly, the black armor had overlooked one thing: the armor indeed hid its identity, but its heaviness also betrayed its position. As long as she stayed as far from the sound source as possible, she could buy enough time.

Carefully stepping over debris, Lucitine hid her body within the rubble beneath the throne, chanting magic with nerves taut. The black armor seemed to have sensed her and cautiously approached step by step. Lucitine felt her heart pounding at an unprecedented speed. The Eighth-Tier incantation was nearing its end, and now was also the time she could activate [Exchange of the Dead] again. Hearing that the black armor was less than five meters away, she unhesitatingly chose one of the Thirteen Attendants farthest from the throne and activated the spell.

This would be the end!

Her current position was over thirty meters from her previous spot. Even if the black armor ran over now, it would be too late!

However—

The moment [Exchange of the Dead] concluded, Lucitine saw a javelin, completely composed of ice crystals, right before her eyes. She had no time to react. The tip, sharp enough to reflect a silvery gleam, was already at her chest.

When?!

Like seeing a heavy truck speeding towards her in the middle of the road, Lucitine’s mind went blank. The fear of death choked her throat, unable to utter a sound. Her chanting was forcibly interrupted. She broke out in a sweat all over, her body rigid. It was only when the sharp lance tip was about to pierce her heart that her combat instincts suddenly awakened her from the fear.

She screamed hoarsely in her heart, frantically squeezing every cell in her body, concentrating all her strength into this single moment, doing her utmost to shift her body. She had never pushed herself so desperately before; the power outburst at this moment even surprised herself.

She successfully avoided a fatal wound. The ice condensed javelin only pierced her right shoulder.

As if hit by a boulder, Lucitine uncontrollably lurched backward towards the wall. She forced herself to stay standing, to avoid falling. Only after several seconds did the unbearable, intense pain spread from her right shoulder throughout her entire body. It felt as if her right shoulder was being ripped off her body. The agony was almost enough to make her faint—Lucitine had only possessed a living body for less than half a month; she had never endured any real pain before. This current agony was already intense enough to nearly make her lose consciousness. Even as she clenched her teeth, cold sweat dripped like raindrops down her delicate chin.

If she gave up now, it was over.

Forcing the sounds of pain deep into her throat, Lucitine’s nerves were taut. She observed her surroundings and got the answer she wanted.

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The black armor hadn’t actually pinpointed Lucitine’s location; it had simply used ice javelins on each of the Thirteen Attendants. In other words, it knew about the magic [Exchange of the Dead] and thus fundamentally eliminated the possibility of her using it again.

It even knew the spell’s recast time perfectly. It was like another version of herself.

Then, Lucitine heard the rapid footsteps of the black armor approaching her. Clearly, it had found her.

Damn it.

Lucitine tried to move, but each step, each pull on her wound, twisted her features in pain. The blood flowing down her clothes left a stark trail on the ground. Even if she moved, she could no longer hide her tracks.

Lucitine simply gave up moving. As the Queen of Death, she had another way of fighting.

She reached her right hand into her storage magic and grabbed three or four colored crystals, each the size of an eyeball.

These were collectibles that had high-tier magic sealed within them.

She crushed the first one, and an eggshell-like emerald barrier enveloped her. Then she crushed the remaining two magic crystals one after another. Instantly, the entire palace became pitch black, and then a muscular centaur, entirely black and over ten meters tall, emerged from the ground before Lucitine. The first was a mental interference spell, [Vision Block]; the latter was a spell called [Summon Ancestral Hunter]. Both were Sixth-Tier spells, requiring some time to break.

From within the darkness came the black armor’s mockery.

“Using such cheap tricks. No growth in ten thousand years. I am ashamed for you.”

Lucitine didn’t answer. Instead, she commanded the centaur to intercept the black armor. She knew the black armor wouldn’t be able to find her for a while, which was why it was trying to lure her into revealing her position.

Take this chance to chant again.

She had to use a large-scale magic to reverse the outcome.

While sounds of fighting came from her left front, Lucitine took a deep breath, ignoring the cold sweat dripping into her mouth. She chanted with the most rapid, urgent tone of her life. The air around her rippled like waves. The elements in the air sensed the vast magical power, converging into an invisible magical vortex within the completely dark hall. The sounds of fighting in the distance instantly grew more intense. In just a few seconds, the centaur let out a miserable scream. Lucitine again heard the rapid footsteps of the black armor. It hadn’t dispelled the [Vision Block] magic—this was within Lucitine’s expectations, as she also had no quick means to dispel it.

Finally, sweating profusely, Lucitine completed the magic. She raised the golden cruciform sword high and, with all her strength, swung it down heavily towards the distant enemy.

“—[Excommunication of the Arbiter]!”

In an instant, a dark blade interwoven with gray and black flew forth from the sword’s edge. Although the dark blade was less than two meters short and its flight speed could be described as slow, its condensed, terrifying magical power made it the center of the palace.

No one could tear their gaze away from it. The moment it appeared, the black armor sensed it was locked on. It didn’t panic, but instead tried to evade using various magics. However, just as Lucitine needed time to chant an Eighth-Tier spell, breaking an Eighth-Tier spell’s lock-on also required chanting to escape. There was no time left for it.

“Tch!”

It clicked its tongue heavily, plunged its dragon lance into the ground before it, then lowered its center of gravity. Its arms, covered by the pitch-black armor, crossed in front of its body, assuming a defensive posture. It clearly intended to endure the attack with its body.

The dark blade finally collided with the black armor.

Skreeeeeeee—

There was no sound of the armor being split in two, but rather a screeching wail like fingernails scraping against a blackboard. The piercing noise forced Lucitine to cover her ears. At the other end of the [Vision Block], the attacker’s armor seemed to age at an accelerated pace, weathering visibly before her eyes. Along with it came countless dents and cracks deeply etched into the armor’s surface. Unfortunately, by the time the dark blade, interwoven with gray and black, had passed through the black armor, it had neither been cut open nor fallen to the ground. It stood there still, supporting itself with one hand on its hideous black lance.

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“I don’t remember the Queen of Death being this cunning and despicable.”

The voice betrayed no weakness, as if that strike had caused little trouble for the attacker.

Lucitine’s heart tightened. As time passed, the effect of [Vision Block] gradually faded. The hall returned from pitch black to dim. Although the black armor was exceptionally battered, its step-by-step advance was exceptionally steady.

Was the figure under the armor an undead? No one could escape that strike unscathed. Only an undead, feeling no pain, could be injured and still act as if nothing had happened.

Lucitine straightened her back, sternly, gripping the cruciform sword with both hands.

“As long as I win, it’s a good method.”

“Hmph.” The pitch-black armor’s voice was full of disdain. “Shameless disgrace.”

The battle horn was about to sound again.

Then it was interrupted by someone bursting through the door.

The tightly closed anti-magic stone door was blasted open with a massive gap by an external force, its power making the very earth tremble. The person appearing at the entrance made Lucitine’s pink eyes suddenly widen. She couldn’t believe this black-haired elf, like a night sprite, was here. But her body was quite honest; an indescribable, wild ecstasy surged in her heart. Her taut nerves also relaxed considerably. The joy of a savior descending, which she had felt when surrounded by Chaos and falling into despair, filled her entire being, making her heart beat even more powerfully.

Fia didn’t let her gaze linger on Lucitine. She said nothing, just clenched her fists. Then, accompanied by an earth-shattering blast, her entire body shot towards the black armor like a cannonball. The latter naturally crossed its arms again, using the absolute defense that had withstood [Excommunication of the Arbiter] to block Fia’s attack.

However, Fia’s attack was obviously not so weak.

[Strength Boost I]

[Strength Boost II]

[Strength Boost III]

Her fist, glowing with three successive golden lights, contained enough power to pierce through a mountain range. With an unstoppable force, it slammed heavily into the black armor’s chest.

The fist struck hard, squarely against the black armor’s crossed arms. Amidst a faint, barely perceptible cracking sound, the black armor’s arms shattered on the spot. Before Lucitine could react, Fia’s fist had already punched through from the black armor’s back.

Even the defense that had withstood an Eighth-Tier forbidden spell couldn’t withstand such immense power.

Using the momentum from her strike, Fia grabbed the black armor with one hand and slammed it violently towards the far end of the gray hall. Like a sandbag, the black armor offered no resistance. In an instant, accompanied by an explosion, it smashed through the wall and plummeted heavily into the lake of death, stirring up a towering wave hundreds of meters high.

Using my fists was indeed more satisfying.

Feeling the pain feedback from her fist, Fia flexed her right hand. In the past, when she smashed the Despair Demon General, she had suffered some flesh wounds. This time, not even a red mark was visible, indicating her strength had improved considerably since she first arrived on the World Tree Continent.

Fia glanced at Lucitine, who stood dumbfounded in the ruined palace. The latter opened her mouth as if to say something, but Fia paid her no mind. She straightforwardly followed the path she had just blasted, chasing after the black armor.

—She knew the opponent wasn’t dead yet.