Chapter 53 Part5 (2/2)

What the h.e.l.l happened? No, he had no time to be thinking! If Leofield was suspicious of him, then he'd bring it up to the Emperor as well. He had to stop him!

[You're already stupid enough, but if you keep saying the same thing over and over again, you'll become even stupider. Tell me, what's so strange? The actions of the heroes? The Anti-Skull led by the d.a.m.n Seagald? If not, then the Heavenly Commanders that came from the surface?]

[I'm talking about you, Archmage. You're strange. My intuition... is telling me that.]

[Your intuition? You really like that, huh. I was always fed up with that intuition of yours. I hate how you do things without any logic or evidence.]

[You're right. I've always trusted my intuition.]

Even if he were to bring up their shared memories, it wouldn't work. The Heaven Sundering General took out his spear and gripped it. And once he gripped his long, gray spear, the atmosphere inside changed completely.

When one reaches level 8, they gain an authority: the ability to treat the ambient mana as their own and absorb it. However, the way they go about doing so differed depending on the individual. The Heaven Sundering General seemed to be able to absorb the surrounding mana with his spirit alone.

[If I'm wrong, I'm truly sorry. But I feel like something will go wrong if I don't do this. I have to do this no matter what. If His Majesty questions me, then I'll accept it without question, but I don't have any choice right now!]

Heaven Flash. It was sometimes used to describe lightning cascading through the air. If so, then why was it used as the name for Leofield's attack when he used the air element? The answer was exceedingly simple.

[Hate me if you must!]

The moment he'd thrust his spear, it had already reached its target. All you would see was a lightning bolt shooting towards you.

The shock was akin to getting struck by a lightning bolt. The Heaven Flash would kill anyone equally. And that's where his t.i.tle of Heaven Sundering had come from.

[Critical Hit!]

Even the Archmage couldn't dodge this. It was impossible for Lee s.h.i.+n Woo too.

Even if he tried to teleport away the moment Leofield went to grip his spear, preemptively attacked him, used the Annihilation Flame to erase his presence and confuse Leofield, or used all of his innate elements combined, the best he could do was turn the spear's trajectory.

He wasn't 100% confident that he could dodge Leofield's strike even with all that. That was the Heaven Flash. And that was the Heaven Sundering General, a level 8 that had surpa.s.sed the limits of a level 8.

Thus...

[...You really are the Archmage.]

[Are you satisfied now, you blockhead?]

Lee s.h.i.+n Woo didn't move at all and let himself get hit by the Heaven Sundering General's attack. Leofield's strike had pierced through his armor and bone. Even Lee s.h.i.+n Woo found it a bit laughable that there was a spear dangling in his forehead.

[I'm really sorry. This is the first time my intuition's been wrong.]

The Heaven Sundering General calmly removed the spear and apologized. To be honest, Leofield hadn't attacked with the intention to kill. He had just wanted to see if the Archmage was the real deal or not.

Why? Because the Archmage didn't need to dodge his attack, as his soul was stored someplace else.

Even so, it would take a considerable amount of time and mana to restore his (the Lich's) body, so Leofield had held back so that he didn't destroy the Lich's entire body. This was only possible because he was the Heaven Sundering General.

[The first time? Duke Tariman, this is your second time.]

[The second time... Ah, that's right. That was the first time.]

Lee s.h.i.+n Woo had wisely brought up one of their shared memories. This was an elaborate ploy to ensure his opponent's trust! Despite the situation, the Heaven Sundering General smiled lightly and said.

[The first time I saw you, I was sure that you could cause harm to the Emperor... So I attacked you back then.]

[Back then, I wasn't a Lich. I really would've died.]

[I can say this now, but you're the only person in this world that could counter my attack that way. It's hilarious that I'm saying this now, but I've always been amazed by that magic of yours.]

[Hmph. I'll find a way for you to repay me later, so just get back to what you were doing. The battle where we wipe out those dirty invaders is nigh. We have to mobilize all of the capital's troops.]

[Of course... For the Emperor!]

[For the Emperor.]

The two exchanged hot glances and pa.s.sed by each other. Leofield hurried, as he needed to gather the troops in time, but Lee s.h.i.+n Woo needed some time to treat his wound. He naturally slowed his pace.

[The High Rank Regeneration skill has become Lv7, and Health and Magic have increased by 20.]

[That a.s.shole. He's so strong that my Regeneration skill went up by two in one go. A skill that refused to level up at that.]

[You're cursing him out even though your skill leveled up.]

[Your acting was perfect, Father.]

[...Anyway, that guy's really scary. The Heaven Sundering General.]

Lee s.h.i.+n Woo recollected the Heaven Sunder General's attack, as well as his 'intuition' that was close to busting him, and trembled. But he couldn't help but laugh. It was only natural.

[The Emperor would come to harm due to the Lich, huh... Ha, that guy's prediction is right on the mark.]

[I can't tell whether you're making an evil expression or not since you're a skeleton. Remember that.]

[Ah, I can change my expressions as a skeleton now, you know? Want to see? This looks really evil.]

[Hey, stop. I said stop.]

The party joked around and then refocused themselves. They went towards the final battle.

The Undead Emperor, Jissehanu, was waiting for them.

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