Chapter 373: The Best Ending (Part 3)

  Sandro's face was ashen. He looked at the Lich without saying a word.

  "I already advised you not to be so concerned with saving face." Inham smiled bitterly and shook his head. He raised the wine flask high, tilted his head back, and poured the remaining wine down his throat, gulping it down in large mouthfuls. His head, face, and clothes were soaked by the splashing wine. He casually tossed it away, and the empty flask shattered against the rocks. The crisp sound of its breaking echoed an unusual ripple in the valley, already filled with the aura of death.

  He walked to stand before Vedenina, still reeking of alcohol. Without turning his head, Inham said to Sandro, "Anyway, I've already said it. Whether you leave or not is up to you."

  "He can't leave." Vedenina lightly waved that withered, ugly hand, and the black aura in the entire valley boiled like congee. Contained within this aura was endless killing intent and deathly intent. "Teacher, this is not my will. It is the sacred will of The Black Star. You should be able to feel it. You don't need to do those useless things. Just wait here quietly with us, wait for this great moment that belongs to us Necromancers..."

  Whether it was because he finally saw the light or realized there was no room for turning back, Sandro suddenly turned and ran in the direction he was originally heading.

  "Disappointing. I never thought you would be like Inham, Teacher. You both disappoint me too much." The Lich watched Sandro's fleeing back and sighed, shaking her head. The soul fire in her eye sockets and the magical flames on her hands burned fiercely. "One after another, you all disappoint me. Men are indeed just incomparably hypocritical animals. No matter what they say, in the end, they are just selfish and cowardly fellows."

  "No, you just imagined men to be too good. Humans are, after all, individualistic animals." Inham smiled and waved his hand, his face still wearing that smile that could charm any young girl. "This kind of thinking is just the blame of a woman who hoped to rely on a man but couldn't. I said a long time ago, a woman who hopes to rely on a man should just be content to be a good wife and mother. If she's not content, demands too much, and still wants to be emotionally dependent on a man, the final outcome will surely be an unresolvable mess that harms others and herself. I said these things twenty years ago."

  "I also said it twenty years ago. Don't flaunt your flirtatious theories in front of me. It disgusts me." Vedenina kept her eyes on Sandro's still-running back. "And to be saying such things at this sacred moment. Truly a bunch of disgusting fellows. I can even suspect you're just trying to make me laugh."

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  "Just like twenty years ago, I still think this is nothing more than a woman's willfulness."

  Vedenina did not continue this lover's-quarrel-like dialogue with Inham. The magical flame in her hand had already transformed into a huge, snake-like pillar of fire that rose into the sky.

  Even a woman who loves to argue prefers to use her fists instead of words when her fists are bigger than others. Language can only ever be the expression of the weak. Those who don't need to waste words will not waste them.

  The giant flame snake coiled its body, carrying a heat wave that could melt rock and an aura of death, and sped toward Sandro's back. But Sandro continued to run forward, without even a single glance back.

  Marquis removed a ring from his finger and flicked it. The ring flew precisely to the front of the giant pillar of fire and exploded. The surging magical power spread out, instantly forming a huge, seven-colored magical barrier.

  Such single-use magical items usually have considerable power, and one that could be worn on the finger of Inham Marquis could certainly not be just "considerable." He hadn't been willing to use it even when facing the near-death blow from a Necromancer like Stephen. It was one of the few treasures in Diya Valley, and the defensive spell it activated was the Rainbow Light Wall, a legendary spell from the ancient elves, sufficient to withstand any dragon's breath.

  But before the giant flame snake, this thin, seven-colored light wall showed a fragility that matched its appearance. It shattered silently without any sound. The flame snake was only slightly hindered, then carried a terrifying heat wave that melted all the surrounding rocks into magma and continued to fly forward.

  But just as it broke through the Rainbow Light Wall, a sword-shaped, blood-red light stabbed into the head and neck of the flame snake. The blood-red light scattered into the flame snake's fiery body. The illusory flame monster twisted a few times and finally scattered into green flames filling the sky.

  The one who delivered this strike was Inham Marquis. The smile was still on his face, but his complexion was frighteningly pale.

  "Even with the Rainbow Light Wall, you still needed to expend a third of your source magic and vital blood to block my strike. Have you still not sensed your own insignificance and foolishness?" The Lich looked at Inham, who was even having trouble standing, and didn't rush to attack again. She was like a cat holding all the cards, looking at a mouse it could crush and devour at any moment. "This is no longer a gap in power. The aura of The Black Star now filling my body makes everything futile before the might of this artifact. If it weren't for the brand of The Black Star in your body as well, you wouldn't have been able to block this strike even if your magical power were ten times greater."

  Inham didn't answer. The smile was still on his face. He turned his head to glance at the already distant Sandro and said lightly, "It seems I've won. At least I could delay you and let old man Sandro escape."

  "There's no need to provoke me further. The result is the same regardless. I said none of you can escape." The fire in Vedenina's eye sockets burned completely, spilling out and merging with the flames around her body. "Let me show you the true Dark Dragon. This is the highest magic, embodying the sacred will of The Black Star. I will turn your body and soul into the dust of Diya Valley. A degenerate like you is not even qualified to be a Wight under the Lich King's command."

  "O Dark Dragon, slumbering in ancient time and space, I summon you in the name of darkness and death. In the name of the great The Black Star, come forth and receive my command."

  The incantation was not long. Just this short sentence, a single gesture, and a cyan-colored giant dragon appeared in the sky.

  This was no longer an illusion like before. This was a real giant dragon with a physical body, a real monster formed from a massive amount of magical power mixed with the aura of The Black Star.

  Flapping its dozens-of-meters-wide wings, the cyan giant dragon instantly arrived above Sandro in the huge airflow. A sky-covering, death-green flame poured down like a celestial river hanging upside down. Sandro's figure, like an ant, was submerged in it in the blink of an eye.