Translator: Henyee Translations Editor: Henyee Translations
“No bait is needed. He’s already out.” Natasha was smiling in the telepathic bond, obviously making fun of Lucien’s ‘prophecy.’
Ell was still wearing a crown of olive flowers and a white robe, but he appeared more hallow and tranquil. Holy light was vaguely flowing on his skin, and seven floors of Mountain Paradise were reflected in his eyes, making him even more sacred and solemn.
Holding a longsword as dark as ink, he lunged at the two of them. Stinky, decayed fluids were dropping from the sword, only to be absorbed again by a mysterious force in circulation.
“He had been seeking to absorb the godhood in the fields of death and moon. It is possible that he was tempted by the pieces of the mysterious existence of the World of Souls and decided to check it. Such fake gods are susceptible to the attraction of clergy and godhood, to the point that they may lose their sanity.” Although Lucien said that, he still found it odd. Ell was almost killed by him last time and was barely able to put up any resistance. Why was he charging at Lucien so confidently when he saw them again?
Lucien hurried to cast spells such as Bull’s Strength and Bear’s Endurance on to Natasha.
By the time Ell entered the range, Natasha wielded her sword and sprinted at him, and Lucien simply performed ‘Advanced Dispel Magic’.
Ell, who was about to use Command, immediately saw the light on his body fading away, like blossoming fireworks. The two spells that he cast on himself in advance were immediately broken. In the meantime, Natasha had already flown to his front. Pale Justice was slashed down, raising an illusionary slash that could cut any material.
In haste, Ell raised his sword and blocked Pale Justice, only to be blown back by Natasha, losing his balance. He was too overwhelmed by the violent attacks to perform divine powers.
Lucien, on the other hand, activated the magic model unhurriedly. As his greenish eyes flashed, Ell immediately felt that his magic resistance plummeted. Therefore, the seven floors of Mountain Paradise in his eyes suddenly radiated, as if it were arriving at the real world. Bathed in the holy light, Ell grew significantly stronger, which led to the changes in the environment. The darkness ebbed, and the light surfaced again. Holiness and solemnity spread out, suppressing all the evil forces.
“Semi-illusory willpower frontier? Ell has advanced into a gold knight?” Lucien and Natasha exclaimed through the telepathic bond at the same time.
After three consecutive clashes, Natasha was forced to step back in midair. Then, Ell looked at Lucien with his sacred and pure eyes. “I command you to die…”
Before he finished the spell, Ell vanished into nothingness, because Lucien raised his right hand, which grabbed a scepter where a huge gem was embedded.
The bright, holy willpower frontier around was gone. Darkness embraced everything again.
“He is stronger than before, but he hasn’t reached the level of a real gold knight. I can resist him.” Natasha hurried to inform Lucien of her discovery.”
Lucien slightly nodded. “He should be able to borrow the power of the divine domain within a certain range. No wonder he was bold enough to come out. However, the ability to use the power of the divine domain beyond the divine domain in itself suggests that Ell’s capabilities are close to a gold knight. It seems that he has received abundant ‘power of faith’ after combining the God of Sun, the Mother God of the Earth, and other churches.”
While talking, Lucien set up magic traps in specific locations according to Maze. At this moment, another shadow flew out of Death Valley, with six wings on its back. Surrounded by lightning, he had come to aid the ‘Great God Ell’.
“The God of Thunder and Lightning, and now the Angel of Thunder and Lightning?” As the distance between them was shortened, Lucien recognized the bald, muscular male.
Solemnly, the Angel of Thunder and Lightning waved his wings and tried to stop Lucien’s operation, but out of the blue, he vanished into thin air, too.
Observing Lucien perform Maze consecutively, Natasha remarked in amazement, “How marvelous magic is! You will never be scared of being outnumbered.”
After setting up the magic trap, Lucien did not wait for the weird maze to end on its own but raised the Sun Staff to release Ell.
Ell seemed to have given up the idea of cracking the Maze. He was focused on enhancing himself with divine powers, but out of his expectation, Lucien canceled the maze after deploying only one trap. He was rather lost for a moment.
Black tentacles suddenly rose from the ground to the sky, entangling Ell. The elemental magic seemed to be from nature and was not under the suppression of Ell’s divine willpower frontier. Also, the tentacles seemed immune to the damage of many different types.
In the meantime, Natasha lunged forward and stalled Ell whose activity had been limited, not giving him any chance to react.
Lucien’s black eyes became fuzzy, and Ell was stunned where he was. In the next moment, Lucien stepped forward, and the light of intelligence in Ell’s eyes was weakened to the minimum. He was like a beast that lost the ability to think.
Due to the Congus Ring and the substantiation of his cognitive world, the time cost for Lucien to cast spells had been reduced again. When he performed magic below the sixth circle, it was almost close to when he was wearing the fake Davey’s Robe.
“It works really well to deal with fake gods who are prone to godhood through Distraction and Retardation.” Lucien flew to the front of Ell, who had been controlled by Natasha. His eyes became deep and dark. At a closer look, one would also notice stars spinning in sophisticated, captivating traces.
Ell grunted, and his eyes gradually became clear. However, he looked more respectful than ever. He said in a low voice, “At your service.”
“Very good.” Lucien nodded his head and gave ‘instructions’.
“I feel that fake gods are rather easy to deal with. If it were a level-eight radiant knight who had a semi-illusionary willpower frontier, your Distraction and Retardation would’ve been weathered through by their willpower.” Said Natasha half in confusion and half in amusement.
Lucien nodded and replied, “fake gods are terribly formidable in certain aspects, but their weaknesses are just as significant. For example, I cannot deal with Ell with magic in terms of Necromancy, Earth or Hypnotization. Those aspects are the focus of his clergy. So, most of the effects will be diminished, if not nullified. Also, since the battlefield is in Death Valley, the illusionary magics will also be suppressed by the divine powers, and it is not so easy to make them work.”
Pausing for a moment, Lucien whispered to Natasha through the telepathic bond, “It is rather strange that we have taken him down without running into any danger, particularly when we expected that something was wrong with Ell beforehand.”
“Wasn’t it caused by the divine domain that’s a duplication of Mountain Paradise? Perhaps, your astrology just now was inclined to the Lord. That’s why you found nothing.” Natasha offered her opinion, but she was not certain about it, because Lucien was the expert in this regard.
Lucien decided to try again. He took out the crystal ball and performed astrology again. This time, when the sky of fate was displayed inside the crystal ball, Ell’s Host Star of Destiny was clearly revealed.
“Did I really foretell the God of Truth just now?” Lucien shook his head in confusion. Looking at Ell who showed no anomaly under his control, he said to Natasha, “Perhaps what you said is true, but why did Ell’s fate overlap with the God of Truth’s inside the divine domain?”
“It was not an overlap but a deviation of your prophecy.” Natasha disapproved it quickly. If she acknowledged the overlap, wouldn’t she be acknowledging that Ell was the God of Truth or His incarnation? That would’ve been a heartless satire and blow to her belief.
Lucien stopped wondering. “Let’s go to the divine domain and try again. We can also kill Francis by the way and make arrangements to deal with Demigod-lich.”
…
Inside Ell’s divine domain, the Soul Catcher had already been killed, but Francis was already gone.
“So vigilant? No wonder he could be a spy in the North Church, and his name could be found both on the rank of night watchers and the Cleansing List.” Natasha gnashed her teeth. Then, she found a secret spot with Lucien, where they performed astrology behind Ell.
“His Host Star of Destiny becomes fuzzy. Is it really because of the divine domain?” Frowning, Lucien looked at the fuzzy light spots inside the crystal ball. Then, he began to consider how to deal with Demigod-lich. “This divine domain that duplicates Mountain Paradise suppresses spectres badly. Demigod-lich will be greatly weakened here, and Ell will be boosted to the peak of a gold knight. Therefore, this will be the best battlefield to deal with Demigod-lich.”
“Okay. We will attract Demigod-lich in the front, and Ell will ‘ambush’ him from the back. When Demigod-lich is distracted, you will deal with him through legendary magic.” Natasha proposed a rough plan.
Lucien said solemnly, “We have to control the timing accurately. Otherwise, there will be no way for us to resist Demigod-lich’s magic except for ‘Barrier of the Dead’. In such a way, everything will be exposed. Therefore, we have to rehearse repetitively.”
“Also, Demigod-lich has Magic Trigger, Magic Order, and other magics on him. It will be highly unlikely to kill him with one legendary magic. We have to set up traps or magic circles that can disrupt the effects of Chaos Teleport, Shadow Jump, Blink, Shadow Well and other magics. Then, we will hide them with the power of the divine domain.”
Since he did not know which of those magics Demigod-lich had selected for life-saving purposes, Lucien could only take random guesses according to the magic book based on his level. As a result, the preparation work was too tedious to be completed in one day. Therefore, Lucien chose a few most likely magics according to his prophecy and his experience.
Looking at Lucien preparing the magic traps wholeheartedly, Natasha rubbed her chin and said, “I finally understood what my teacher meant by saying, ‘don’t ever fight a prepared sorcerer’.”
“This can only slightly increase our chances. The legendary are too strong to be taken down just by preparations in advance. Besides, we still have to lure him to come to the divine domain without getting killed.” Lucien heaved a sigh.
Natasha raised her eyebrow in confusion. “I thought we were going to wait for him to come to this place.”
Lucien shook his head and said, “he’ll be alarmed if so. We’ll circle the Death Valley according to this route. The moment our zone of activity is suppressed, we will return to the valley.”
While talking, Lucien squatted down and drew a map on the ground, illustrating the importance of positioning.
After he was done, Lucien rose and said, “Now, let’s rehearse with Ell first in case we are caught unprepared.”
The wind blew over and wiped the arrangements on the ground. Lucien sighed, “I hope none of them are used in the end, because it will mean that we did not run into Demigod-lich and successfully hid ourselves for the last day and a half. That’s what I’m hoping for most.”
“So am I. However, only by making full preparations can we ever be greeted by such luck.” Natasha patted Lucien’s shoulder in a smile. Then she asked in the telepathic bond, “Right, why did you secretly control the Angel of Lightning and Thunder through Command just now?”
Looking at the holy light and listening to the hymns ahead, Lucien replied in a smile, “In case of accidents.”
…
A day later, when it was almost midnight, the ever-rising howls in the dark forest came to an abrupt halt, as if the place had become a hell of death and silence.
