761 Medium of Cast 2 in 1 (2/2)
That ”nature” was gathered into an illusionary long arrow with a strength that contained the whole cycle of nature. Then, after Aglaea's hands that did not seem to belong to a hunter at all released it, the greenish long arrow was shot out and disappeared into the void.
The air before the altar trembled hard, and a prolonged hum began. Then, the void was shattered, and the greenish arrow that represented fertilization, growth, maturity, decay, and burial pierced out. It was shot out late but arrived early, hitting the thick black film before Snow Goddess' Forgiveness did.
The shallow greenness blossomed, as if a forest were growing out. Any unnatural things were broken without a sound. They vanished, or rather, they entered into the ”cycle of nature”.
It was exactly one of the thirteen level-four legendary items—Nature's Punishment!
Although there were many top legends in history, it did not mean that the legendary items they used were necessarily level-four legendary. The dragons and demons who counted on their talents clearly couldn't create such advanced items. Even the sorcerers could not upgrade their unique legendary items without appropriate legendary materials. For example, up until so far, Fernando's and Hathaway's legendary items hadn't been upgraded yet. Subtracting the items that had disappeared or were destroyed for various reasons, there were only thirteen top legendary items that people were familiar with.
It meant that Douglas, who boasted two level-four legendary items, was the minority of the minorities. The underdogs such as the Prince of Demons, the master of the first floor of hell, the Lord of Storm, and the Lord of Elements were all coveting the items. The master of the first floor of hell, whose ”Book of Warlocks” was stolen by him, hated him in particular. But of course, as long as there was any chance, Fernando and Hathaway both had great hope to increase the number of level-four legendary items to fifteen.
Under Nature's Punishment, the external defense of the Lord of Hell was dissolved, and the transparent, colorless pillar of light from Snow Goddess' Forgiveness hit him precisely.
The whole world fell quiet. Not any noise could be heard anymore. The wind was frozen, the water was frozen, and so was the light.
Harex stood at the center of the frozen world, and his body was still holding the gold trident high. Confusion and desperation were frozen on his face.
As a top legend, even though he could've taken ”Snow Goddess' Forgiveness” from Lucien the hard way without being hurt, that would only happen when his defense was intact. However, his defense had been broken by Maltimus, Aglaea, Lucien, and Natasha. Even his original soul had been heavily wounded and was on the verge of collapse. He could not control his body to resist the attack. Therefore, he had been directly frozen by ”Snow Goddess' Forgiveness”.
The amalgamation of primeval devils where the Lord of Hell was residing, on the other hand, hadn't reached level four of legendary yet, and it was not famous for its defense. Therefore, it was also frozen in the extremely low temperature, like a cluster of black glue.
Water splashed out, and the unnatural coldness quickly thawed. Harex's body and the black glue melted and vaporized with it.
Pa.
Emperor's Grasp, one of the thirteen top legendary items, fell next to the Blue Gate. It was a weapon that could attack a longsword with its strong defense in the first place. Therefore, it was only slightly damaged.
The gold trident emanated enticing light under the ripples. Even Lucien felt that his heart was beating faster. However, that was not the focus of his attention. He vibrated the air and asked his question, ”Is that all?”
They were a top legend and an arriving demigod after all. Also, it was not a ”flawed arrival” like the last time but almost a perfect integration that could accommodate most of the strength.
”… The melting was not completed. Maltimus could only carry out limited strength, and Harex had been in a weak state after the consecutive strikes.” Aglaea hesitated and proposed her opinion from the other direction.
Lucien nodded his head. That was rather reasonable. The moment the idea popped up, another idea occurred to him. ”Aglaea must've come a long time ago. She did not attack because she was waiting for the best opportunity. If she had attacked sooner, Harex, her nemesis, would've gotten away from the danger and would only be wounded. If she attacked late, she would have to face a demigod who understood the mysteries of the primeval devils very well. There would've been nothing she could do except to defend herself and look for a chance to escape.
”Therefore, she needed to wait for an opportunity to destroy both Harex and the amalgamation of primeval devils. She had to wait even though something went wrong.”
Although he knew very well that it was Aglaea's most rational choice based on her interests, Lucien still burst into fury when he thought that it had significantly increased the odds of the Lord of Hell's arrival at the main material world. ”Also, she found the Blue Gate. I'm afraid that she planned this a long time ago and knew Harex would come here. In order to get the Blue Gate, she let those sea elves become the offerings in the blood sacrifice.
”Emperor's Grasp must not be given to those ambitious schemers who don't have boundaries.”
The fury was so intense that Lucien could barely control himself. Suddenly, he was alarmed. He couldn't control himself?
Without any hesitation, Lucien pressed his chest and cast a legendary spell to himself.
”Mental Fulmination!”
BOOM!
The noise that sounded from the deepest part of his heart echoed, like the bell knock in a church or the sound when the grass deep below the ground was finding its way to the surface.
Lucien's whole soul was shaken, and his mind was in such a storm that he could barely control his body. At this moment, together with the soul-stirring fulmination, a black shadow appeared on Lucien's body.
Then, having experienced the extreme circumstances such as spread and collapse, Lucien managed to get his soul back under control. Then, the Arcana Light was on. In the pure and warm brilliant, the flickering shadow quickly dissolved.
Lucien's mind was immediately cleared. His unreasonable fury just now was completely soothed. Aglaea could have come to save her people by following the enemy and happened to run into them. She might not be as vicious as he thought.
He had been possessed by the primeval devils despite his Mental Barrier. The Lord of Hell's control over negative feelings and the status of primeval devils were truly terrifying. If he hadn't been through status transformation before and had a deep understanding of primeval devils, he probably couldn't have escaped just now!
It was true that the Lord of Hell plus the primeval devils were not so easy to destroy!
Right when Lucien cast Mental Fulmination, where the damage had been lowered to himself, Natasha also changed her face color and slashed herself with the Sword of Truth without any hesitation!
When the silver sword hit her body, her body twisted and turned into the same sword. Then, the sword was separated, and a shadow inside was burnt into ashes in miserable screams.
In the next second, the sword that Natasha's body turned into melted with the light of the Sword of Truth, avoiding the tearing of the illusionary gaps.
After she resumed the shape of a human, her face was much paler. Among the three of them, she was the weakest, and she did not bring out the Shield of Truth. She had only managed to get rid of the shadow by his familiarity with the Sword of Truth and her own blood power.
Seeing that, Lucien secretly sighed. He was too careless and emotional just now. Otherwise, it wouldn't have been as easy for the primeval devils to possess the legendary experts such as himself and Natasha.
Emperor's Grasp was clearly a medium that the Lord of Hell intentionally left to cast his spell!
Aglaea was much easier than Lucien and Natasha. Her body turned blurry into an illusionary shadow of nature. It seemed that she was in every place where nature was adored. In the hazy greenness, a black spot was very obvious.
Green brightness rose on Aglaea's body, quickly melting the dark shadow. She said solemnly, ”Let's go. We were a bit late. He has already completed the integration!”
”Haha. If you hadn't been waiting for an opportunity, would I have the time to melt him at all?” The laughter of mockery seemed to be coming from all directions.
Magma started to erupt from the ground, and the intense stench of sulfur spread out.
Aglaea had come to rescue her people who had been captured. On her way here, she luckily encountered a bunch of Kuo-toans who were escorting the captives. She learned the situation of the Blue Gate and came here as soon as possible.
When she arrived, it was exactly the time when Harex burst out of the Blue Torrent. After balancing the pros and cons, she decided to wait based on her experience. It was a shame that her choice of timing had a tiny error since Maltimus sensed her arrival in advance.
Despite her regrets, Aglaea, who had been in the status of primeval devils herself, managed to suppress her feelings. She raised her right hand, untouched, allowing new trees to grow inside the magma and slowing down its flow.
Lucien and Natasha, blinking and flying backward, approached the edge of the hollow at the same time.