In the blink of an eye, Thundering Mephis appeared behind Rover like a bolt of lightning. However, Lucian, who had been prepared, reacted swiftly. His Yamato flashed out, blocking the attack.
Thundering Mephis, its blade parried, came to an abrupt halt, glaring at Lucian with resentment.
"What are you looking at?"
Thundering Mephis: "?"
The next moment, Thundering Mephis vanished from the spot like lightning once more—this was its unique combat style, characterized by extreme speed and unpredictability.
However, Lucian was no longer the powerless bystander he had been when facing Crownless. After enduring numerous fierce battles, his combat experience had grown significantly, and his strength had undergone a qualitative improvement.
Now, his Blood Saber technique had successfully advanced to the third level. Moreover, with Rover by his side, it had directly ascended to the fourth level.
The third-level Blood Saber technique, "Bloodsea Surge," was a powerful area-of-effect attack, while the fourth-level "Bloodshadow Evasion" granted him the ability to dive underground under the cover of blood shadows.
At this moment, both of them had stealthily concealed themselves, blending seamlessly into their surroundings, leaving behind only silence.
This was a battle of patience—whoever lost composure first would likely expose a flaw.
Finally, Thundering Mephis could no longer hold back and leaped out from its hiding spot, attempting to strike Yangyang and Rover.
But Lucian, who had been observing from the shadows, immediately detected its movement.
Like a leopard, he burst forward without hesitation and unleashed his skill—"Echoing Orchestra."
In an instant, time seemed to freeze around Thundering Mephis, allowing Lucian to unleash a frenzied barrage of attacks.
With the explosion of Echoing Orchestra, Thundering Mephis was sent flying, its body mangled and bloodied—a gruesome sight.
Yet, it was not completely defeated. It still struggled stubbornly, trying to rise.
At that moment, it suddenly realized it could no longer continue the fight and decided to flee.
Electricity crackled around its body as it prepared to transform into lightning and escape.
However, just as it was about to succeed, Lucian made his move.
An orange-yellow "Comrade's Hammer" appeared in Lucian's hand.
This was the first time he had used this weapon, yet he felt no unfamiliarity or discomfort—thanks to his "Sharpshooter" talent, which allowed him to master the firing techniques of any firearm with ease.
With a dull gunshot, an orange-yellow bullet erupted from the barrel, carrying unparalleled speed and force as it streaked toward Thundering Mephis.
Thundering Mephis had already prepared to dodge, but suddenly, it made a horrifying discovery—the bullet could curve!
As it turned out, the "Sharpshooter" talent functioned like a mystical law: once Lucian locked onto a target, no matter how he fired, the bullet would automatically track and strike the enemy.
Even if he aimed the barrel skyward, the bullet would arc through the air and hit its mark with precision.
The orange-yellow bullet struck Thundering Mephis' chest like a bolt of lightning, leaving behind a pitch-black hole.
With a few agonized roars, Thundering Mephis dissolved into a golden Reverberation, dispersing into the air.
After absorbing the Reverberation, Lucian heard the sound of a man clearing his throat nearby.
Jiyan, who had witnessed the entire battle, was somewhat astonished. He hadn't expected this intelligence officer to possess such formidable combat prowess.
In his previous understanding, intelligence officers were typically genteel and scholarly.
And then… he turned his gaze toward the army of Echoes clad in red capes and fell into silence.
He couldn't help but suspect whether this intelligence officer was a double agent—could he be the mastermind behind the Threnodian War?
Shaking off the thought, Jiyan reassured himself that as the Magistrate's intelligence officer, there shouldn't be any issues.
Lucian studied him curiously. "You're General Jiyan?"
Jiyan straightened his expression. "Allow me to introduce myself properly. I am Jiyan, the current general of the Midnight Rangers."
"The Magistrate and Taoqi have already informed me of your arrival to provide support. Thank you for coming."
"Under normal circumstances, I would host you according to the customs of Jinzhou. However, given the current situation, we cannot afford to delay. I will brief you on our plans as concisely as possible."
Rover: "You're discussing military strategy with us directly?"
She was puzzled. Even if they were here to assist Jinzhou, as the general of the Midnight Rangers, he shouldn't be sharing such confidential matters so readily.
Jiyan explained: "I've heard of your deeds from the Magistrate. In her words, you are a trustworthy individual of great talent."
"And as for Intelligence Officer Lucian—since you are the Magistrate's personal intelligence officer, you are naturally someone we can trust as well."
Lucian suspected that even if Jiyan believed Rover to be the legendary figure, he wouldn't have shared this information so easily. There must have been explicit instructions from the Magistrate.
Jiyan produced a vial and continued: "This is an anti-Retroact Rain serum developed by the Academy. Please take it."
"While it cannot completely negate the effects of the Retroact Rain, it can at least mitigate the hallucinations induced by it."
Lucian: "Actually, I'm a ghost born from the Retroact Rain."
Jiyan chuckled lightly. "For someone to become a ghost of the Retroact Rain, two conditions must be met."
"First, the person must have been affected by the Retroact Rain in the past. Second, they must have a strong connection to the rainfall zone."
"According to the Magistrate, you are not of this world. Therefore, you naturally cannot meet the conditions to become a ghost of the Retroact Rain."
Lucian: "So there are such restrictions…"
Jiyan smiled. "Indeed."
Then, he turned to Rover. "You possess an ability similar to the hero described in Jinzhou's legends—'one who can absorb Threnodians.' Jué also personally shared a prophecy about you with me."
"In His prophecy, you would arrive at Norfall Barrens. There, you would reclaim the power you lost from the Threnodians."
"I will do everything in my power to help you achieve this goal."
Lucian and Rover exchanged glances.
As expected, it aligned with Lucian's earlier speculation.
Still, Rover pressed further, hoping for more clues: "The power I lost?"
Jiyan: "This is something Jinhsi may not know. When I succeeded as the general of the Midnight Rangers, Jinhsi had not yet assumed the position of Magistrate."
"It was on the day of my inauguration that Jué spoke these words to me—"
"'When the moon is full, you shall assist a returned one in confronting the Threnodians and reclaiming from them the power to defeat the Threnodians.'"
"If you are that 'returned one,' then this time, we may truly be able to eradicate that monster once and for all."