WHOSH!!!

SLEEKKK!!!

The golden slash of Lucien vertically cut through the ray of death in the middle, at the very last moment, right before it was about to blast him to smithereens. The air sizzled for a moment, and two deep dark craters formed on his two sides as the dark ray hit the bloody ground.

The ground wilted as if rotten, sinking deeper, and a putrid stench rose from the craters, making Lucien feel nauseated.

The cloaked figure of the mid-3rd-phase Lich glided across the skies in imposing grandeur; only his skull face could be seen as the long cloak fluttered in the waves of destruction all around, flaring blue flames that resembled the eyes of a dreaded monster, locked onto Lucien with a curious glint.

A black magic staff was in the creature’s hands, a large white Mana crystal embedded on its top, that flickered between white and gray.

The hovering figure of the lich blocked the sun’s light, his shadow falling across the Golden prince, whose cold eyes gazed at the lich with chilling calm. His red eyes blazed with a murderous desire, but his face remained expressionless.

The Lich did not come to the ground, but kept looking down on him. The rest of the Death Knights who were getting pounded by Lucien just moments ago stepped backward the moment Belthrax entered the fray.

The Lich stared towards the Death knights, "I shall take care of him. Go eliminate the others..."

The disturbing voice of the Lich reached Lucien’s ears, making his mind slightly rattle. He understood the Lich’s words even though the creature spoke in ghost tongue.

Lucien chuckled, sensing the overwhelming strength from the Lich, "You’re different from these dregs, even though they were also mid-third phase. They are not much compared to you, are they?"

The Lich tilted his head, he said in amusement, in the same bone-grinding voice, but in a language that was more easily understandable by the prince, "You have my respect, Prince Lucien, despite being a mere human, and at such a young age, you are quite different yourself. I am Belthrax, by the way."

He added after a moment of pause, a shadow of a vicious smile crossing on the skull of the undead Lich, "You are strong, Lucien Suncrest, but.... not as strong as me, of course."

A subtle smile also formed on the lip of the Golden Prince. The gold aura surrounding him exploded, and a few hundred meters all around him lit up in a piercing golden light.

He had been holding back slightly all this while, but now that someone who was actually strong enough to kill him appeared. There was no reason to hold back.

Similarly, the dark death energy of the Lich also exploded, both grinning like madmen; the same thought crossed their minds,

"I have to kill him."

The Lich had already started chanting his spell in advance and started to float higher and higher, creating a distance between them, but Lucien did not let the Lich do as he pleased. The rune-engraved boots he was wearing were an artifact that helped him keep afloat in the skies.

The Lich finally declared, as his ghostly chant finished,

"Core ability activation."

"Halo of Thousand Skulls,

"Cry of the vengeful deceased...."

Lucien started to move his sword in a strange pattern amid the skies, his boots giving him a steady foothold to properly stand even in the skies, since, as a 2nd phase seeker, he still could not yet float with his own powers.

The smile on the prince’s face vanished, replaced by a deadly serious look, his focus fixed on the complex move he was about to unleash.

He finally stated, his voice almost a serene whisper, "Imperial Sword Technique, 2nd form, Piercing Sword Star."

An extremely large and wide halo of darkness manifested above the head of the Cloaked lich.

Upon that halo, one by one, white skulls began to manifest, until the number was exactly one thousand, gnashing their teeth, as if the darkest regrets right before the death of those remnant spirits still lingered, trapped between the horrid stasis of life and death.

Not able to live or able to die.

Lucien, at the same time, made a perfectly semi-circular motion above his head, then pulled his hand slightly backward, without any fancy movements.

All the golden aura he could muster focused on the very tiny tip of the rune sword, combined with all the energy that was being provided to him by the rune network, as well as the boosts of the rune sword in his hand.

Coupled with his immense physical strength, for possessing the bloodline of the Gold Dragon.

His body blurred, appearing just 20 meters away from the Lich so fast that it seemed like space itself curved to his will, but it was actually part of the sword technique itself, the moment Lucien thrust his sword towards the very core of the undead Lich.

The monstrous smile on the Lich’s face widened to an extreme, the blue flames in his hollow eyes flared, spreading across the entire skull. At the same time, all the gnashing skulls upon the halo opened their mouths wide like monsters; from their collective mouths, a swirling darkness shone.

Malevolent, vengeful scream of a thousand wrathful spirits combined into a deathly chorus meeting head-on against the golden, converging sword strike that blazed like a blinding star.

And when the energies of Death and Gold met...

It was like the meeting of matter and antimatter...

Purest forms of opposition coalesce into the most fundamental forms of destruction, and....

BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOMMMM!!!!

An explosion unlike any other shook the very skies above all third-phase existences battling beneath, for a moment, everything halted at the display of such devastating might.

A part of the battlefield overhead was painted in a chaotic mixture of black and gold.

Enrick from the bottom watched this scene in utter disbelief. He spoke, his voice trembling, "How can this be? Just how?"

"HOW CAN HE BE SO STRONG???" he almost screamed at himself, but his voice was long drowned by the melodies of the resounding clash.

Thorian gnashed his teeth; his usually hidden emotions had come out, and his gaze was filled with open hatred towards the Golden Prince.

Even the ever-so calm Jaden had his composure cracked; not even in his wildest predictions did he think that Lucien Suncrest would be this strong. This was not just any power; this was a strength that almost reached the peak of the third phase.

Jaden mumbled, his expression utterly sour, "He was not lying, it seems. Whatever he faced in the academy, it must have truly been horrid."

But then he closed his eyes, forcefully calming down, his mind going into hyperdrive. When his eyelids opened again, it was the same cold, emotionless gaze of the genius strategist.

He spoke to his two companions, his voice restrained, "No, this changes nothing...In fact, this might even be better. If it weren’t for that strong Lich, we would not have even known this cunning bastard was hiding such strength under that snake-like face."

Jaden glanced backward for a moment...

Looking at the red-haired beauty with a ponytail, who was wreaking havoc on the battlefield with her destructive arrows, wielding a mighty rune-engraved bow in blood red color.

Each of her arrows had the power of a magic cannonball behind it. Then there were the profane poisons on her every arrow that could permanently kill even those unkillable undead roaches, like swatting a mosquito.

Despite her petite figure and frail arms, the strength she displayed was nothing less than terrifying.

Jaden could only grimace, as expected of the Poison Lord’s daughter. For a fraction of a moment, her gaze shifted towards the three of them, but it was barely a glance.

And Jaden immediately caught it; the redhead was indeed keeping an eye on the three of them, and his gaze then turned towards Ken Dusker.

Shockingly, that guy was handling an entire section of the battlefield alone. He was also terrifyingly strong. Fighting like a mad dog with no regard for his own life.

Thankfully, that arrogant fool was not paying any attention to them.

Jaden turned to Enrick and Thorian, "She is indeed keeping an eye on us. We keep fighting, you two slip past when the time is right. I will keep her attention on me and cover your tracks."

But before the two princes could reply, a chilling bell rang in their minds, rattling their spirits for a moment, putting the Dark Trio into a trance of sorts.

Yet Thorian, who possessed the ability of Energy Adaptation, through the use of his Arcane aspect, broke free from the frozen mental state within just a few seconds.

He also immediately helped his two companions snap out of the trance, but many other powerhouses remained hypnotized, just as Thorian was about to help them...

A monstrous laughter of a ghostly female reached the trio, chilling their blood. The voice was utterly inhumane and fundamentally wrong, like an amalgamation of their worst nightmares given form.

An ethereal woman of ghostly figure appeared in the skies; the creature was hideous and horrifying in every way imaginable.

To the point that all three of them felt an indescribable fear drowning their fighting spirit.