A Lich! The Radiant Priest named Kevin had produced a Lich as his Pet!

This came as a shock for Qin Ruo and the others spectating the battle. Although they’d killed their fair share of Liches, the chance of getting a Pet Egg for one was so incredibly slight that they’d only ever heard of two people who’d found one.

Liches were incredibly powerful. From the perspective of a player, they were like living grimoires of dark magic, including spells dealing with the Undead! They were overpowering opponents!

The most terrifying thing was how, the moment the Lich was summoned, its dark eyes flared, and a Shadow Barrier immediately formed around it, the spell cast with breathtaking quickness. The only time Qin Ruo had ever witnessed that kind of speed at spellcasting was from Little Eye.

Seeing this, Qin Ruo’s thoughts turned suddenly to the Grand Tournament.

Maybe things might not go as smoothly as he’d imagined. Even if they didn’t run afoul of those few pinnacle-level elite players, they could still encounter all sorts of surprising champions and Pets.

Someone like this Radiant Priest before them, for instance.

Able to buff his Pet along with himself, having access to more exotic forms of attack (like a Psystrike), not to mention being able to Purify and Devour all kinds of Elemental magic… combined with the Lich’s vast command of Dark and Undead magics, it might even prove to be a match for Black Rock.

***

While they were considering this new development, the Lich threw out a mass of black shadow, which completely engulfed both the Priest and the Lich.

Qin Ruo’s expression betrayed a hint of consternation. This Radiant Priest who accompanied Savior was indeed proving to be no common player. His reflexes alone demonstrated that he was the equal of any Field Commander! With his first move, he’d caught Wandering Soul in his Darkmist—Blindness was the most debilitating to those of the warrior classes.

Granted, with what Qin Ruo knew of Wandering Soul’s abilities, he knew that neither the Priest nor the Tier 5 Lich would pose any real threat for the time being. The question was whether Wandering Soul would be able to handle himself sensibly.

Remembering the Tier 3 Terra Swordmaster he’d met in the Goblin Mountains, he was willing to bet on him against any odds.

Meanwhile, the fighting had begun in earnest. With the phenomenal range of Qin Ruo’s Aqua-type Elemental Perception, he could see that Wandering Soul was doing him proud, neither retreating nor throwing out his Pet in a panic. Advancing boldly while bringing out his Aura Drill, he scattered the Darkmist like fog before a gale, and was upon the Lich in the blink of an eye.

Shwing!

Dark ochre lines spiderwebbed across his blade as he brought it down heavily upon the Lich’s Shadow Barrier.

One and a half seconds later, although mostly kept safe by his Aura Drill, he nevertheless got hit by the Priest’s Elemental Wave!

The Radiant Priest had predicted that Wandering Soul would bring out some form of defensive measure. The moment he’d felt the presence of his opponent’s magic, he’d finally had the opportunity to unleash the spell he’d been holding on to!

Whirr!

There was a flash of golden light, and the very air shook for a moment!

The Aura Drill was broken, but the Elemental Wave hadn’t been fast enough to cancel the power of Wandering Soul’s attack, which cut through the Barrier and tore away over two thousand HP from the Lich!

“Hmph.” Savior sneered, seeing this.

Swordmasters only had two defenses against magic: one was Aura Drill, and the other was Elemental Armor. The former was highly effective, while the latter broke immediately after absorbing a fatal attack, and required a period of fifteen seconds before it could be used again.

There was no way either Kevin or the Lich would grant him such an opportunity: the moment he lost his Elemental Armor, the Priest’s Psychic magic and the Lich’s Dark magic would render the young Terra Swordmaster helpless, unless…

Another flash of light, and another unbelievable sight:

In that instant when Kevin used his Elemental Wave to dispel Wandering Soul’s Aura Drill, a piercing white light burst forth from the boy.

Roar!

It was a battle cry worthy of the king of beasts!

Two pairs of wings, shaped of pure light!

The radiant golden form of one of the Beastkin!

Its presence instantly overwhelmed the sense of dread emanating from the Lich, and the color washed out of Kevin’s face.

“This…”

The Lich’s first actual attack spell crashed against the golden Half-Lion that had suddenly appeared in front of Wandering Soul.

The Heaven’s Peal Lion!

A second Tier 4 Ultimate Boss, no lesser to the Lich. Now that it was at Tier 5, it far surpassed even the Tier 5 Lich!

A Light-elemental Ultimate Boss, its body was completely unharmed by the Lich’s Dark magic.

This latest surprise got a reaction from Savior, who was watching from a distance.

With extremely high resistance to Dark magic, a Light-elemental Ultimate Boss was completely immune to Dark-elemental effects.

There was nothing to stop Wandering Soul from landing a second attack upon the Lich!

At the same time, the Heaven’s Peal Lion suddenly vanished.

‘Look out!’ Savior wanted to shout, but the words never came out.

When the Heaven’s Peal Lion appeared behind Kevin, he was too horrified to do anything but watch as the Lion pounced onto Kevin.

Kevin had never once imagined that a Pet might be able to Teleport. Paralyzed by this sight, he collapsed under the monumental force of the blow, Stunned senseless.

Having brought down its foe with one strike, the Heaven’s Peal Lion did not press the attack, and instead held out its hand and summoned three shining golden Sunbolts. With a wave, it sent them streaking out towards the hovering Lich.

“For shame!” a stern voice yelled out!

Savior could no longer restrain himself. Seeing that his subordinate’s Pet was about to be slain, without a second thought, he unrolled a Magic Scroll for a Tier 5 area-attack spell!

This kid was pretty bloodthirsty: Never mind just winning the fight, he even wanted to kill off Kevin’s Pet first. That couldn’t be allowed!

Savior could afford them losing a piece of equipment, and it wouldn’t have much effect on this fight, anyway; but if the Pet died, it would become impossible for Kevin to raise the Lich up to Tier 5 anytime soon. This might ruin their chances during the third stage of the Grand Tournament!

The problem was that Kevin really was rather far away from him. Even as he scrambled to use the Magic Scroll, there was no saving the Lich from the pincer assault between Wandering Soul and the Heaven’s Peal Lion. With physical damage from up close, and Light-elemental spell damage on top of that, which was especially harmful to Undead monsters like the Lich.

Although it had managed to bring Wandering Soul down from the sky, the kid had landed smartly atop a nearby rooftop, in this way disengaging from the Lich, allowing him to change targets and attack Kevin instead. The Heaven’s Peal Lion, meanwhile, with its innate ability to fly, floated at the very edge of Savior’s spell, completely unaffected.

(Translator’s Note: Yes, there’s no prior mention of when Wandering Soul was hit or grounded. The author must have missed it.)

Now that Savior had decided to intervene, Qin Ruo rushed at him, preventing him from going to his comrade’s rescue. All he could do was watch as the Heaven’s Peal Lion reduced the Lich to a puff of black smoke, which faded away with a pitiable moan.

Kevin followed right after, stabbed clean through with a single thrust from Wandering Soul.

***

Before the dust had settled there, another heated battle was already raging!

***

Just as Wandering Soul claimed victory on his end, the battle between Xin Yu and the Bowmaster named ‘Hughes’ was also concluding.

True to Fateless’s teachings, Xin Yu had chosen to begin the battle on the ground. However, that meant fighting on the rooftops, rather than among the city streets, packed with Undead.

As she alighted atop one of the buildings, Xin Yu went over what Fateless had taught her about the Ambush and Assassinate skills. She already had experience using both of these skills in real combat situations.

In particular, they’d repeatedly gone over the finer points of a match-up against a Bowmaster.

Xin Yu watched her approaching opponent closely. Against the average Bowmaster, Fateless had never advised her to avoid confrontation, since the Bandit was not completely outmatched by the Bowmaster class. True, they had abilities to help spot Bandits, but it also came down to the player’s skill.

As long as she was able to make full use of her surroundings in preparing an Ambush, she could elude the Bowmaster’s detection.

In this way, she could stay out of the Bowmaster’s sight, advancing quickly while remaining hidden in his blind angles, so that the Bowmaster proved no different from every other class.

Of course, this was a tactic to be used against Bowmasters who weren’t aware of her. Otherwise, it was best to withdraw. With Little Eye’s Gravity Field, getting away on foot couldn’t be simpler, and escaping from the Bowmaster was even easier with Xin Yu’s Angelic Wings.

Today, she had been placed in what Fateless described as the worst possible kind of battlefield, and she had to take down an elite Bowmaster from the enemy Faction.

Right away, Xin Yu summoned out Little Eye.

What used to be a tightly squinting eye had now opened up all the way to become a single eye floating above two, like the third eye described in legends.

An Ultimate Boss every bit as powerful as the Heaven’s Peal Lion, and certainly more aloof and serene, it had all the dominating power that Galbis used to command. With both hands clasped behind its back, all it did was raise its eyebrows a little, and a yellow ochre Barrier immediately formed around it. Then there was a surge of Terra magic being drawn up.

Because she was nervous about this fight, Xin Yu was concentrating even harder than Wandering Soul, and had already made every possible preparation in advance. Fateless and her brother Qin had devised a number of strategies for her, which she was following very closely.

The appearance of Little Eye gave the Bowmaster a heart attack.

“Ultimate Boss!” Hughes faltered in his flight, gasping in spite of himself, and pulled to a halt forty meters away from his adversaries.

This was coming as too great a shock. A heretofore unheard-of Bandit girl had an Ultimate Boss as her Pet. This was going to be a little tricky. Hughes could feel the pressure mounting.

A Level 50 Ultimate Boss as a Pet, with power no lesser to that of a typical Tier 4 Ultimate Boss. What hope had he, a lone Bowmaster, against such a foe?

Unless… Hughes found his courage returning as a plan began to form in his mind! He couldn’t lose this fight! Reaching into his backpack, he drew out a Spell Arrow, inscribed all over with ancient magical runes.

It was a Shadowmesh Arrow!