“Damn it!” Adrien cursed under his breath, glaring at the towering tree giant approaching him, his face twisted with frustration as he gritted his teeth.
Just as Luca had guessed, Adrien was stalling for time.
His body was halfway through the process of demonic transformation, and the ritual was at its most critical stage.
As long as the ritual succeeded, he could discard his frail, decaying body and, through the power of the Undead Coffin, be reborn.
At that point, even if Luna herself showed up, she would be doomed.
But Adrien never could have imagined that, at such a crucial moment, a strange young man would somehow break into the Demon-Sealing Formation.
He still didn’t understand how Luca had gotten inside…
But that no longer mattered.
“If you’re so eager to die, I’ll gladly help you with that!” Adrien raised his staff, the hollow eyes of the skull at its tip glowing red as a thick, deathly fog erupted from his withered body.
Countless monsters in the square received his command, and as one, their crimson eyes turned towards Luca, filled with madness and bloodlust.
“A high-ranking necromancer, huh…” Luca narrowed his eyes, recognizing that Adrien was on par with Franklin in power.
Although this guy’s life was like a flickering candle that could be snuffed out at any moment, dealing with a professional like him was far more difficult than fighting mindless monsters. Killing him wouldn’t be easy…
“Roar!!!” A large horde of monsters roared as they charged forward, eager to tear Luca apart.
The tree giant stepped in front of Luca, its roots and branches writhing until they formed a massive hammer, which it swung down fiercely at the leading monster.
Dirt exploded in all directions as a deafening crash echoed across the square. When the hammer lifted, all that remained was a pool of black blood.
Seizing the opportunity, Luca focused his mind, and the magic runes of the Heavenly Star Crystal Tree began to glow brightly.
Rich, vibrant life energy surged forth, and behind him, a towering tree seemed to form out of thin air!
He swung his spear in a wide arc before plunging it into the ground. freewёbnoνel.com
Green energy spread out from the Wind and Thunder Spell Spear, expanding across a hundred-meter radius.
“Boom, boom, boom!!!”
Snakelike vines burst from the ground, some wrapping around the monsters and squeezing them to death, while others burrowed into their bodies, ripping them apart from the inside.
Mid-tier Wood Element Spell – Serpent of Chaos!
Powered by the Heavenly Star Awakening, the monster horde found itself unable to get anywhere near Luca.
Adrien’s frustration grew. He hadn’t expected this boy to be so difficult to deal with.
He couldn’t afford to drag this out any longer. If Luna arrived, there would be no escape for him in his current state.
Clenching his teeth, Adrien decided to stop holding back. He poured every last ounce of his death energy into his next move.
Instantly, a surge of gray, deathly energy erupted from Adrien, shooting into the sky.
In moments, a massive magic circle formed in the dark, fog-filled sky above.
“ROAR!!!”
The overwhelming death energy engulfed the entire square, and a thunderous roar echoed from within the formation.
A massive, bone-white claw, as large as a house, tore through the magic formation and slammed down toward Luca with terrifying force!
Feeling the imminent danger, Luca reacted instinctively. Without a second thought, he used Air Step to quickly distance himself from the area.
BOOM!!!
The ground shook violently as dirt and debris exploded into the air. The tree giant and dozens of monsters were crushed instantly!
As the dust began to settle, long cracks appeared across the square.
Where Luca had stood moments ago, there was now a massive claw mark nearly a meter deep.
Luca glanced up at the sky and saw something new—an enormous skeletal dragon, its rotting body covered in black flames, flapping its bone wings.
Its size spanned over a hundred meters, and with its wings spread wide, it cast a shadow over the entire area.
High-level Necromancy Skill – Skeletal Dragon!
Feeling the oppressive force radiating from the creature above, Luca instinctively tightened his grip on his spear.
Had he not reacted in time, even with the power of the Heavenly Star Awakening, he would have been obliterated in an instant!
He hadn’t expected the old man, who was barely clinging to life, to still be capable of summoning such powerful strength.
BZZZ!!
Suddenly, the web-like formation began to glow with an intense crimson light.
At the center of the formation, the black coffin was now covered in countless blood-red runes.
The lid of the coffin slowly creaked open, and a dense surge of dark energy burst through the Demon-Sealing Formation, shooting straight into the sky!
“Hahaha! The ritual is finally complete!” Adrien’s skeletal face twisted with glee as he let out a crazed laugh.
“You foolish brat! How dare you interrupt my grand design? Today, I’ll use your life to celebrate my rebirth!”
Luca sighed inwardly, feeling the weight of the situation. It truly was one disaster after another—now, of all times, the ritual had to succeed.
There was no way Luna could make it here in time.
In the end, it was all up to him…
“Troublesome…” he muttered, exhaling a long breath of cold air.
When he opened his eyes again, a sharp, icy-blue glow flickered in his pupils.
Ice Pattern Awakening—activated!
…
Meanwhile, outside the Demon-Sealing Formation, the massive array trembled violently, and the occasional roar of monsters could be heard within.
Pierce stood in front of the formation, surrounded by swirling, complex runes that were difficult to comprehend.
Sweat poured down his forehead like rain, and his agile fingers, which seemed completely out of place on his large frame, danced through the air, leaving afterimages as they moved.
Luna paced nearby, her patience wearing thin. “How much longer?” she asked irritably.
Wiping the sweat from his brow, Pierce gave a strained smile. “At least half an hour. This Demon-Sealing Formation has been lost to history for so long—I’ve never even seen it before…”
Luna’s frown deepened. If half an hour passed, that boy’s body would probably be picked clean by monsters.
Her voice turned cold as she said, “Ten minutes. If you can’t break through this formation in ten minutes, I’ll make sure you regret it when we get back.”
“Ten minutes?!” Pierce’s eyes widened in disbelief.
This lady must be out of her mind! This was a legitimate high-tier arcane formation, lost to history for years.
Breaking it in ten minutes? She might as well be asking him to squeeze the fat off his own body.
Pierce was just about to explain the impossibility of her demand when he glanced up and saw Luna’s cold, expressionless face.
His mouth twitched. In the end, he swallowed his words, knowing better than to argue, though a strange thought crept into his mind.
After knowing her for so many years, Luna had never cared about anyone’s life or death.
Why was she so fixated on this one boy all of a sudden?
Pierce’s thoughts wandered to the image of that young man, and a sudden realization struck him.
Could it be… this woman had a thing for younger men?
…
Inside the Demon-Sealing Formation, a bitter cold swept through the air as snowflakes began to fall.
Within a hundred-meter radius around Luca, the ground was covered in frost, and every monster was frozen in place, transformed into glittering ice sculptures.
Chilling energy radiated from Luca’s body, and silver magic runes spread across his skin.
Seeing Adrien’s shocked expression, Luca chuckled softly, “Is this all you’ve got, old man?”
Adrien gritted his teeth. “Boy, I admit I underestimated you. But if you dare to stand in the way of my plans, it doesn’t matter who’s backing you—you die today!”
In all his years of life, Adrien had never seen someone at Luca’s level—a mid-tier Demonic Rune Mage—wielding such high-level magic runes.
This boy couldn’t be allowed to live!
With that thought, Adrien summoned all his death energy, and the skeletal dragon in the sky let out a deafening roar, its massive bone wings beating violently.
Countless bone spikes formed in the air, condensing into a storm of arrows that shot toward Luca at incredible speed.
The sheer volume of the spikes covered nearly half the square, leaving no room for escape.
Yet Luca remained calm. With a wave of his hand, the cold air thickened, and a massive ice wall erupted from the ground in front of him.
The bone spikes slammed into the ice wall one after another, shattering with a series of explosive cracks.
But the ice wall remained unscathed.
After activating Frostborn, all of Luca’s attributes surged, doubling his power.
An attack of this magnitude could no longer harm him.
Seeing his assault fail, the skeletal dragon flapped its bone wings and flew above Luca. It opened its decaying maw, and deathly energy began to gather rapidly within, radiating a force so wild that even the elemental particles in the air trembled in response.
Luca didn’t take any chances. He summoned all his magic power, his body thrumming with energy.
A shimmering ice-blue magic circle appeared, aimed directly at the skeletal dragon in the sky.
The next moment, both of their attacks were unleashed simultaneously.
The death energy condensed into a beam, plummeting from the heavens, while a frosty white dragon formed from ice and soared upwards.
The two forces collided midair with an earth-shattering explosion. The sheer power of the impact distorted space itself, and the shockwave spread across the entire square like a violent storm, obliterating hundreds of monsters in the blink of an eye.
When the dust finally settled, the once-flat town square was now riddled with craters, a scene of utter devastation.
Where Luca had stood was now a deep pit, and his figure had vanished.
The skeletal dragon disintegrated into shards of ice, crashing to the ground and shattering into pieces.
Adrien let out a long, relieved breath.
For a brief moment, he had felt a sense of mortal danger.
Luckily, the boy hadn’t fully matured in strength. Otherwise, he might have been in real trouble…
Just as Adrien was thinking this, something felt off.
He whipped around suddenly.
A spear coated in frost tore through the air, and before Adrien could react, it pierced directly through his chest.
Splat!
Black blood splattered everywhere!
A nauseating stench, no different from that of the monsters, seeped from Adrien’s body.
His heart was skewered by Luca’s spear.
“You… you’re still alive?!” Adrien gasped in disbelief, black blood dribbling from his mouth as he stared at Luca, who had somehow appeared behind him. read first on m v _l,e m _p _y _r
How was it possible that the boy had not only survived such a devastating attack but emerged completely unscathed?
“Surprised?” Luca asked with a smirk, pulling the Wind and Thunder Spell Spear from Adrien’s chest and stepping aside to avoid the splatter of foul blood.
Then, to Adrien’s utter shock, Luca reached into his cloak and pulled out three spell scrolls. With a sly grin, he said, “My mentor once told me: ‘When you’re out in the world, it’s not about who’s stronger; it’s about who’s got better connections and more money.'”
“I think she made a solid point. That’s why I always carry plenty of defensive scrolls. Looks like they worked pretty well.”