Eric’s heart sank when he saw Judy’s expression.
He turned his head to look.
At this moment, his eyes no longer hurt, his head no longer ached, and his mind was free of his preconceptions about Judy.
The skeleton merely looked at Eric quietly, reaching behind its back to pull out a chillingly sharp arrow.
I’m going to die.
I’m going to die, I’m going to die, I’m going to die, I’m going to die—
“Run!” Judy exclaimed in alarm.
Eric hoisted Judy onto his shoulder, injecting all his magic into his Wind Wolf Boots.
The Wind Wolf Boots had never received so much magic; the silver patterns on them flared, and Wind Elements swirled around Eric, making him run like a bullet.
After about 5 minutes of running, Judy suddenly began to pound on Eric’s back.
“Wait, I can’t take it anymore.”
“Eric, wait, it didn’t catch up.”
Judy’s head was upside down, and she clutched her witch hat to prevent it from falling off.
She disliked this posture; Eric’s shoulder pressed against Judy’s abdomen, making Judy feel like she was about to vomit.
“Let me down quickly.”
Eric quickly lowered Judy, and as soon as she landed, she began to dry-heave to the side.
Eric looked behind him.
He saw that the skeleton had already retrieved its arrow, standing in place with only an empty bow.
It stood there blankly, still looking at Eric and Judy.
But it seemed very confused, as if it didn’t understand why Eric and Judy were running.
However, Eric didn’t notice the skeleton’s movements.
His gaze was entirely fixed on that bow.
It was a somewhat slender recurve bow, engraved with moon patterns, and whenever it was illuminated by moonlight, it would emit a cold white glow.
Eric remembered that bow.
“That’s father’s bow—”
Eric reached for the dagger at his waist; he wanted to retrieve that longbow.
“Don’t rush, wait for Uncle Atai’er. We should destroy the last crystal first.”
Judy stepped forward and pulled Eric back.
She didn’t think she and Eric could survive in front of that skeleton.
That skeleton, when alive, had at least the strength of a fifth-tier Ranger; in front of a nimble Ranger, the two of them might not even survive half a second.
Eric nodded; his father had been gone for three years, and he wouldn’t lose his mind over it.
“Let’s wait for teacher.”
Snowflakes slowly fell from the sky, and Eric sighed, reaching out to catch one, then said to Judy:
“Let’s go, we’ll head to the magic crystal.”
Judy, however, asked in confusion:
“Isn’t it summer now? How can there be snowflakes?”
Eric frowned; he felt the air growing colder, and the surrounding magic suddenly exuded a dead, silent aura.
“I have a bad feeling.”
—
Snowflakes…
Atai’er looked up.
Snowflakes couldn’t appear this season.
So these things were either made of magic, or there was immense magic influencing the weather in this area.
The surrounding skeletons no longer surrounded him.
They seemed afraid, stopping not far from Atai’er.
After all, beneath Atai’er’s feet were the withered bones of Wyverns, giant magical beasts, and centaur Legendary Knights.
But Atai’er knew that these undead had no emotion like fear.
The reason they stopped was because a great figure had arrived; he was their creator, and if he told them to stop, they had to stop.
If he told them to attack, they had no choice.
Atai’er looked towards the sky; a figure drifted down, the master of this entire ruined city.
“Count Sachsen.”
Count Sachsen stopped in front of Atai’er, wearing a noble trench coat, breeches, long boots, and lace at the tie.
He bowed slightly in the air.
Even as a skull, he looked graceful.
Atai’er looked up at the sky.
The sky was full of stars.
The magic of a ninth-tier Lich, a demigod-level power; the cold air it released caused all the water droplets in the entire Count’s territory to condense into snowflakes.
It started to get cold.
And the cooling speed was very fast.
Count Sachsen landed in front of Atai’er, looked up, blue flames burning in his eye sockets, and a cold, silent voice came from all directions:
“Esteemed Atai’er Fairchild, Dragonslayer, Godslayer, King of Assassins, Pendulum of Judgment.”
“It is such an honor to meet you.”
Atai’er frowned and looked at his hand.
Three rings, one already used.
Of his weapons and items, only two Sun-tier weapons remained.
Slowly exhaling, Atai’er calmed his rapid breathing and slowly spoke:
“I didn’t expect there would be a ninth-tier Lich here.”
“It seems that a long period of peace has made your nerves a bit relaxed.”
Count Sachsen said.
He didn’t rush to act, instead, like an old friend, he scrutinized Atai’er from head to toe, as if checking if he had lost weight.
“The barrier here was specially set up for you. How does it feel?”
Atai’er’s gaze deepened slightly.
No stealth, no archenemy lock, no traceless steps, no beast senses, no slow immunity, no intuitive dodge, no beast companion…
Most importantly—no spatial items.
There were more than 50 forbidden items here.
It covered multiple professions such as Ranger, Berserker, Assassin, Beastmaster, Spellcaster, Druid.
Among them were targeted skill prohibitions.
This place was custom-made for Atai’er.
The moment Atai’er entered, he felt an immense restraint, and he even had a certain guess before entering.
“You’ve investigated me very thoroughly. Was it made by my old opponent?”
Count Sachsen shook his head:
“Alas, no, this is the result of 500 years of my own thought. I personally investigated every battle you experienced.”
He seemed to sigh, the bones of his jaw slowly opening and closing, and he even lowered his head slightly.
But for a Lich, there was no such action as sighing.
Because they inherently had no respiratory organs.
Atai’er narrowed his eyes slightly.
If Count Sachsen had completed the barrier himself, then it meant the enemy he had defeated earlier had not returned.
Was this a new problem?
“I remember the Harpers who assassinated you back then; they should have extinguished your soul.”
“Heh heh.”
Count Sachsen sneered, waving his finger in the air, and magic instantly condensed into a white light.
“They did strike me, and I know you want to pry for information, but that will only happen after you feel pain!”
“Life Disruption.”
A gray ripple instantly erupted from the Lich’s fingertip.
The ripple spread throughout the entire Count’s territory; in the skeletons’ eye sockets, the blue flames instantly surged, and the coldness of death intensified a few points.
Atai’er, however, fell to his knees.
He gaped, blood flowing from his eyes, his limbs flailing wildly and irregularly.
Count Sachsen flew in front of Atai’er, grabbed Atai’er’s hair, and lifted Atai’er up.
“You still have trump cards, don’t pretend.”
Atai’er’s second ring lit up, and a Lich instantly appeared behind him.
A short sword thrust directly at the Lich’s head.
“These are all old tricks. Why play such petty games?”
The Lich sneered, its body directly separating from its head. It grabbed the newly laid lightning trap on the ground with one hand, while the other pointed at Atai’er.
A red light condensed at its fingertip.
“Death Command.”