Legacy of the Dark Sage

HOOOOOONG!

The night sky crackled followed by a deafening cry of a horn. Rays of blinding light pierced from the sky, turning the night sky into day in the blink of an eye.

The clouds, which had been hidden because of the darkness a moment ago, became visible.

HOOOOOONG!

Another round of booming horn resounded in the air, making what was left of the Crepuscule Auction House shook violently.

HOOOOOONG!

When the horn sounded for the third time, the clouds parted and something akin to a Divinity descended from the now clear blue sky.

A winged being, reminiscent of an angel, descended. It had long flowing blonde hair, with eyes and body covered by a flimsy silk material. In its hand was a glowing golden spear, its blades pointed upward.

As the winged being descended, the flimsy silk that covered its sky slowly unveiled, revealing two closed eyes. Scars that looked like jagged asterisks could be seen from its eyelids, making it a jarring feat to its divine-like appearance. One would think that with those painful looking scars, it would not be able to open its eyes. However, as if to prove its superiority, it slowly opened its eyes, revealings two eyes like magma. Following this, it raised its arm, and whirled the spear in its hand above head.

One.

Two.

Three.

After that it braced its arms and pulled back the spear, its blade pointing downward. The winged being's target, reflected in its magma-like eyes, was none other than Estrid.

The appearance of the winged being seemed to have gone for a few minutes. But in reality, it only happened in a short few seconds.

Estrid, who already had an idea of what The Emperor was about to do, brought out a chipped gold medallion with nine faces drawn on its surface. Six of the faces were glowing, while the remaining three were dimmed. The faces lacked any aesthetic and looked plain.

This medallion was a legendary relic discovered in one of the remnant patches of land of what used to be the Spirits plane. After testing it once, Estrid discovered its use and immediately considered it one of her trump cards. This was because, the medallion had a life-saving effect.

Several golden magic arrays in varying sizes crackled around Estrid, her magic energy exploding at a frightening level.

"EMPEROR!"

WHOOOSH!

The winged being released the golden spear and went straight at Estrid. It cut through space, leaving a trail of fissures behind.

The golden medallion in front of Estrid suddenly grew, and one of the glowing faces emerged. The face's eyes remained closed, however its mouth suddenly opened and an inaudible cry flowed out from its lips.

Strings of golden runes spiraled out of the face's mouth and formed a round barrier.

WOOONG!

The tip of the spear collided with the round barrier made of runes and instead of an explosive collision, a dull sound echoed. Nonetheless, aftershocks spread out, further distorting the space all around.

The remaining intact parts of the Crepuscule Auction House could no longer withstand the onslaught of these aftershocks and finally crumbled into dust.

Unfazed, Lucian remained inside the pentagram barrier of light and watched Estrid's last struggle against one of his absolute cards.

The Spear of Retribution.

A few minutes ago, Lucian unleashed the same move albeit a portion of it to stun the Void Master. Alas, it appeared the latter still had a trump card hidden and managed yet again to hide himself.

This enraged Lucian. However, he had to rein in his anger because he still had to deal with Estrid.

To be honest, Lucian wanted to get rid of Estrid for a long time but was unable to because of the benefits he received from her clan. He gave her preferential treatment, while thinking that she would soon step down.

But several hundred years later Estrid remained the leader of the Crepuscule Clan and Lucian's patience was running thin.

Encountering the Void Master inside Estrid's territory was truly unexpected. And Lucian initially did not want to mess it up while Estrid was away. But because of the sudden appearances of several variables, the situation in the Crepuscule Auction House escalated to the point that it would be hard to pacify Estrid's rage after the ordeal. Thus, Lucian no longer bothered. If she came after him, he would kill her.Nôv(el)B\\jnn

Estrid suddenly returning was somewhat surprising to Lucian. Nonetheless, it did not change anything since he already decided to get rid of her.

Fortunately, Estrid's behavior toward Lucian gave him more justification to enact punishment. And with the Spear of Retribution, he would erase her existence.

CRACKLE! SIZZLE! SIZZLE!

SHATTER!

The emerged face on the golden medallion finally shattered against the golden spear's momentum.

"NOOOOOO-AAAAAARRRGGH!" Estrid's scream began to resemble a wild beast's roar as she held onto the golden medallion. At the same time, several-layered defensive barriers materialized to stop the golden spear's descent.

The fourth face on the medallion dimmed, as another glowing face emerged just before the last layer of the barrier Estrid summoned was destroyed.

With the emergence of another face, the golden spear's descent was obstructed once more. Apart from that, this face's defenses seemed better than the previous.

'Hm?' Lucian furrowed his brows after seeing the medallion in front of Estrid. It did not take long for him to recognize it as the supposedly missing Queen of the Fae's treasure.

'Vita's Nine Faces…'

The name of the medallion did not say much of what it did. But from its performance against Lucian's Spear of Retribution it could be considered a very powerful defensive item.

However, Lucian knew better. The Vita's Nine Faces was a life-saving item. Those faces represented one life. Thus, anyone who used it could escape certain death in exchange for one face.

Based on the number of glowing faces, there were five remaining lives that Estrid could sacrifice. As long as she endured until Lucian's Spear of Retribution lost its momentum, then she would survive.

'Really… A foolish fox.'

Estrid proved her cunningness by surviving the Spear of Retribution up to now.

But…

'Since I declare your end, then there is no escaping your

fate

.'

As soon as Lucian thought this, the winged being above raised its hand.

Space distorted above its hand and the air crackled from the magic fluctuations. Soon light magic energy gathered around on its palm and…

Shiing!

A new golden spear appeared on its hand.

The moment the spear appeared, the winged being bent its back, and braced itself for another throw.

Estrid, whose view was obstructed by the collision of the second face from the medallion and the first golden spear failed to see the appearance of the second spear.

WHOOOOSH! Explore more at empire

The winged being released the second spear, its momentum far stronger than the first.

"!"

Estrid's slitted eyes turned bloodshot when the second spear entered the range of her Divine Sense.

"AAARRRRGH!!!!"

She growled while trying to activate the golden medallion once more.

However.

"No…"

With a face still active, the medallion did not react.

FOOOOOOOM!

SHATTER!

The face shattered without much resistance when the second spear collided with it.

This result was expected, given how the face could only counter the first spear.

With the momentum of two spears, Estrid's last bastion of defense was destroyed.

"HEUK!"

Two golden spears pierced her torso. Due to the combined momentum of the spears, Estrid was dragged several kilometers below before finally exploding.

BOOOM!

Several massive shockwaves erupted in all directions. With the absence of land or objects around, the impact did not seem that much. Still, the magic fluctuation that reverberated all around was enough to affirm how devastating that explosion had been.

Seeing its spears finally pierced its target, the winged being closed its eyes and slowly ascended back to the clear blue sky.

The pillars of light also dimmed and soon the sky and the surroundings were covered in darkness.

Amidst the darkness were the five towers that formed a pentagram barrier, protecting Lucian.

Lucian wore a blank expression as he slowly returned to his human form. His eyes were still locked on the spot where Estrid exploded after getting pierced by his Spear of Retribution.

The spot was still surrounded by a cloud of smoke and distortions in space. In fact, about a thousand miles around them were currently suffering from the aftereffects of collisions between two advanced-level magic.

In a sense, the Vita's Nine Faces's sacrificial effect was an advanced magic that only the Spirits Clab would understand. Then there was Lucian's Spear of Retribution, which was one of his trump cards.

Lucian used his Divine Sense to scan the area where Estrid exploded. He expected the magic fluctuation there to go for some time, but for some reason, he suddenly had a strange foreboding. He could not put it into words but he suddenly felt that there was something strange swirling around the cloud of smoke.

Just as this thought crossed Lucian's mind, a soft yet clear whisper echoed throughout the space.

"Not yet."