Evelynn vanished before his eyes.
The surroundings seemed to sink into silence all at once. The wind no longer blew, the grass no longer swayed, and the world seemed to have stopped still.
Luke canceled the demonic state with a thought, and his breathing became a little rapid. In that half-demon state, his overall strength would increase, but his stamina consumption would also accelerate greatly.
The sense of danger disappeared, telling him that Evelynn had indeed left this place.
The reason was easy enough to guess. She probably did not want to give the nightmare demon watching from the shadows any opportunity.
If that fight had continued, even Luke did not know what it would have turned into.
Before he had even taken two breaths, he suddenly felt a prickling sensation on his back. A chill rose behind him, making goosebumps break out across his whole body.
He turned around and saw a mass of boiling black energy appear on the ground. Then the black energy continuously churned, rising higher and higher, gradually growing into a human-shaped shadow. Immediately after that, a pair of white eyes lit up.
Now its true shape could be seen. Its appearance was somewhat human, but below its torso, its body tapered into a thin line like the tip of a blade. Its body constantly swayed, as if seen through a layer of rippling black water, and its demonic eyes were cold, stern, and oppressive.
By now, this demon's identity was obvious.
It was the Eternal Nightmare, Nocturne.
The demon Lux's great-grandfather, Fossian Crownguard, had defeated back then was him.
Nocturne was a demon of the same level as Evelynn, and in some ways, he was even stronger than Evelynn.
That was because he had been born from another realm, emerging from shadow magic. He was the embodiment of fear from human nightmares.
Human nightmares were his source of power, and he could often spy on the fear buried deep in a person's heart through their nightmares.
Perhaps Nocturne was a lesser demon beneath Fiddlesticks.
In any case, this guy's strength would not be weak, and he was extremely troublesome to deal with.
"I truly saw something wonderful."
Nocturne spoke human words, his voice sinister and low. His white eyes seemed to be laughing. "Since she lacks the ability to take back her own power, I'll help myself."
After watching from the side for so long, Nocturne had long been eager to act. Originally, because of their alliance, he had not wanted to interfere in Evelynn's battle.
However, it seemed she had still underestimated this human before him. She had expended a great deal of effort yet failed to retrieve the power that had been stolen from her.
That made Nocturne feel like laughing. A mighty greater demon had actually had her power stolen by a human.
Hilarious.
Now, she could only hand the opportunity over to him.
Moreover, Nocturne had already seen that, after a battle, this human's stamina had been heavily consumed. He could take him down with ease.
He was currently searching for a satisfactory body. Having learned from bitter experience, he had decided to occupy a human body and move through this world that way. It would be far more convenient.
And the human prince before him was clearly a suitable target.
After occupying this human's body, he could also digest Evelynn's power along with it. A good thing like this was hard to come by.
"While I'm at it, I also want to peel open your chest and see what the nightmare truly hidden in your heart is."
Nocturne examined Luke with interest. He was the lord of nightmares. The nightmares hidden in every human heart should have been unable to escape his eyes.
However, only Luke and that human woman were extremely special.
Even he could not enter their true nightmares.
So he was very curious.
Not only about the reason, but also about what the nightmares in their hearts truly were.
At this moment, Luke could also tell that the demon before him clearly wanted to treat him as an easy target. Hearing this, he smiled faintly. "Come try."
His stamina had indeed been consumed quite a bit right now, but he did not panic. With a turn of his hand, he took out a Vitality Pill and threw it directly into his mouth.
The greatest effect of Vitality Pills was restoring and strengthening stamina.
After being swallowed, the Vitality Pill immediately transformed into a warm current of energy like a clear spring, flowing to every corner of Luke's body. His stamina was recovering at an extremely fast speed.
Nocturne across from him instantly sensed that something was wrong and suddenly transformed into a thick black smoke, pouncing toward Luke.
Without hesitation, Luke used Sweeping Blade and slashed out. The snow-white long blade was covered in pure righteousness that could drive away all evil demonic energy, and powerful sword intent hummed loudly at this moment.
As the sword fell, two waves of wind were cut to either side, while the thick smoke Nocturne had become split directly in two and circled past Luke's face to his back.
Then it condensed at close range into a solid body floating in the air. A sharp attack fell from behind Luke. The demon blades seemed capable of tearing through the air.
Luke swiftly turned and slashed. Sword intent surged, blocking this strike. With a backhand motion, he slashed again, only to miss once more.
Nocturne dodged again, darting nimbly around Luke.
After several exchanges like this, neither side had gained any advantage.
In his smoke state, his movements were strangely fast, and attacks could not penetrate his body.
Several of Luke's strikes had clearly hit, but it felt as if he had struck empty air. Even though righteousness restrained demons and should have caused damage, it could not take effect.
Only when Nocturne attacked on his own initiative would he turn solid. However, in that state, he basically did not give Luke a chance to attack.
It had to be said, he really was somewhat troublesome.
How had Fossian Crownguard defeated this kind of demon back then?
Luke was extremely curious about that question.
"No matter how you swing your sword, in the end, you are only playing against air. Why not give up sooner? Every human carries a little hope before death, but in the end, it is nothing more than useless resistance."
At this moment, Nocturne spoke with contemptuous mockery, his figure drifting in midair as he looked down at Luke from above.
"You've fought for half a day without making any progress. Are you getting a little anxious?"
Luke raised the corners of his mouth and looked at Nocturne, his tone relaxed. "I heard you got your heart stabbed through by a human years ago. Now I know why. Don't you think you're weak, yet still love showing off?"
"..."
Nocturne's gaze instantly turned cold, and he sneered. "Ridiculous. Back then, that human came looking for me while I was weakened. He was merely lucky."
Luke nodded. "So just tell me, were you the one who got stabbed or not?"
Nocturne's aura fluctuated slightly, and he said coldly, "At my full strength, I could have crushed him at will!"
Luke nodded again. "But you still got stabbed, right?"
Nocturne's voice became even louder beneath the night, irritated as he said, "So what if I did? Now he is a pile of bones beneath the earth, while I am still alive! He can only watch me move freely through this world, and I will kill every single one of his descendants!"
Luke gave a calm "Mm." "If you'd admitted you got stabbed earlier, that would've been the end of it."
"Shut up!"
Nocturne's aura fluctuated even more violently. He shouted angrily, releasing several streams of black energy from his body that attacked Luke.
Luke easily dodged aside and chuckled. "I hit a sore spot. You're mad."
"I'll kill you!"
Nocturne's aura instantly exploded, and he roared in fury.
Dark energy spread outward like a black curtain. Amid his roar, he erupted forward and charged at Luke as if darkness itself had descended.
His momentum was indeed frightening enough, but Luke still received this attack.
Sword intent burst from his whole body. Righteousness poured through him, sharp and extraordinary. Several flashes of sword light flickered in the air.
They clashed with Nocturne's attack. After this collision, Nocturne dodged away again. Suppressing the rage in his heart, he suddenly sneered. "Sharp-tongued human, I'll satisfy you and let you taste fear. Look around you."
Luke looked around and discovered that everywhere Nocturne had moved, traces of dark aura had been left behind. The ground looked as if it had been polluted, with black energy coiling everywhere.
He frowned slightly. "Seriously, peeing all over the place? Have some manners."
"..." Nocturne was silent for one second. Then the corner of his faceless mouth seemed to pull into a smile, and he snorted coldly. "Say whatever you like."
His figure scattered, leaving only his voice echoing from all directions, oppressive and eerie.
"Embrace the darkness!"
As his words fell, the surrounding black energy suddenly began to boil. Then it surged upward like black fireworks shooting into the sky. It then turned into droplets of ink falling down, decorating the world.
After that, the darkness merged together and became utterly pitch-black.
Luke's world darkened just like that, as if he had fallen into a nightmare.
He immediately realized that Nocturne had gone and turned off the lights.
But very soon, his vision brightened again, and the surroundings returned to what they had been a moment ago.
However, Luke also knew at the same time that this was because of his Eye of Truth.
At this moment, he was still inside Nocturne's special domain, but Nocturne did not know that his vision had not been obstructed.
Luke loved moments when he could put his acting skills to use. He immediately raised his sword and slashed randomly around him, his steps moving with a little panic, like a deer that had lost its way.
"Heh heh heh. Are you afraid now?"
Nocturne laughed wantonly. Looking at Luke, whose rhythm had been thrown into chaos, he felt extremely pleased.
He could no longer wait to tear apart this damned human's filthy mouth.
Without hesitation, Nocturne's aura surged. He bent forward and charged directly from behind Luke, the black energy behind him spraying out and accelerating him.
In the darkness, he was utterly silent, approaching Luke at extreme speed.
On his arms, two demon blades crossed together like the scythes of a reaper, flashing with deadly cold light.
Just as he was about to get close, Luke stepped on a rock with perfect timing and fell to the ground.
Nocturne flew right over him, and his attack missed.
"What was that?" Luke seemed to sense something and quickly got up, suddenly accelerating the speed of his sword swings.
Nocturne stopped with a sudden brake ahead, looked back at Luke wildly swinging his sword, and frowned slightly, but he did not think too much about it.
"You got lucky."
He once again transformed into a surging stream of black energy and charged straight forward, so fast he became a black line.
The instant he moved, Luke also leapt high into the air, swinging his sword while shouting, "I know it! You must be hiding in the sky!"
Sharp sword strikes flashed in midair.
And that jump once again dodged Nocturne's charge.
Nocturne stopped with another sudden brake. This time, he was a little stunned. He had not expected this kid's luck to be so good that he dodged his attacks twice in a row.
"However, this can only delay your death."
Nocturne looked at Luke as he landed, built up his mood again, and prepared to charge one more time.
In the next second, he charged fiercely toward Luke again.
But right at that moment, Luke jumped again. Nocturne, who had been prepared for it, changed direction and still rushed straight toward Luke.
In the next second, he clearly saw Luke step on the air and jump again.
Nocturne flew past once more, and his attack missed yet again.
"?"
After stopping, he finally could not help slowly showing a question mark on his face.
What did that mean?
Jumping once was one thing, but what the hell was that double jump?
What decent person could jump twice in a row?
If he were not sure he had seen it correctly, Nocturne would have thought the problem was with him.
This person had indeed stepped on the air and jumped again.
Even he was a little stunned after seeing this.
Most importantly, this guy had now dodged his charge four times in a row.
Missing his ultimate four times in a row did not feel very good for Nocturne. He was a little displeased.
This kid really was lucky.
"Where the hell are you?"
Luke shouted, his sword constantly slashing.
Seeing this, Nocturne stroked his nonexistent chin and thought for a moment, humanlike wisdom flashing in his eyes.
There was no time to drag things out. Right now, he had many clones scattered outside, and they were all consuming his power.
He slowly moved toward Luke, planning to take things more steadily, directly finish this kid off, occupy his body, and then deal with the other humans.
Very soon, he silently drifted behind Luke, gradually condensing into a solid form. He raised his demon blade, cold light flashing in midair.
With a wet sound, Nocturne suddenly froze in place and lowered his head in shock, looking at the snow-white long blade that had pierced through his heart.
The black curtain covering the sky and earth began to disperse.
Then Luke turned around and revealed a brilliant smile. "Finally caught you."
"How did you..."
Nocturne's eyes were full of disbelief. He was somewhat dumbfounded, completely unable to imagine how Luke had known where he was.
With his chest pierced through, pure righteousness surged into his body and wreaked havoc inside him. The intense pain was unbearable, making him roar in agony.
"I told you, you're weak but still love showing off. Did you really think turning off the lights made you invincible? How does it feel to get stabbed again?"
The smile on Luke's face was extremely bright, but in Nocturne's eyes, it was unbearably dazzling.
However, compared to the humiliation he was currently suffering, something even more terrifying happened.
In the next second, Nocturne's expression changed drastically, hideous with a trace of anger and fear.
At his chest, black mist continuously gathered and coiled around that long blade. This weapon was frantically absorbing his power.
At this moment, Nocturne finally understood why Evelynn's power had been stolen.
So that was it.
At this moment, the same thing was happening.
His power was being taken by the human before him.
"No!"
This made Nocturne somewhat terrified. He roared, and the dark aura around him fluctuated violently. Just like his roar, powerful force poured madly toward Luke.
With his heart pierced through once more, and feeling his power draining away, he erupted with everything he had without regard for anything else.
Like an explosion, there was a boom, and darkness tried to sweep over everything.
Under such circumstances, Luke decisively pulled out Snowglance and rapidly retreated more than ten meters.
Nocturne's violent aura finally stabilized somewhat. Darkness coiled around him. He raised his gaze and stared at Luke with incomparable fury, as if he wanted to swallow him alive.
"Damned human, just wait!"
At this moment, he had finally discovered what was strange about Luke. His body transformed into mist and drifted into the sky, directly flying far away at an extremely fast speed.
Even if Luke could chase him, after seeing this, he knew the odds of catching up were not high.
At this moment, he lowered his head and looked at Snowglance in his hand. The sword's body was coiled with a cold black aura like little snakes, until his palm began to grow cold.
Luke revealed a thoughtful expression, his gaze narrowing slightly.
Clearly, this situation was the same as last time, after he stabbed Evelynn.
The demonic power absorbed by Snowglance had not scattered. Instead, it was being transmitted into Luke's body.
This time, his palm grew cold, gradually turning his entire hand chilly. The demonic energy surrounding the sword's body continued to spin, sinking little by little into the blade, and finally surged into Luke's arm.
A new pattern began to appear on Luke's left arm.
Only when his entire arm had grown cold, and he sensed the subtle feeling upon it, did the final traces of demonic energy remaining in the air scatter as well.
Then Luke moved his thoughts. After gaining experience this time, he quickly entered the state.
With black mist coiling around his left arm, a demon blade gleaming with cold light gradually appeared. At the same time, Luke also felt an increase in his overall strength.
Just like after absorbing Evelynn's power, now that he had absorbed Nocturne's power, it produced the same effect.
Luke simply referred to it as demonization.
He looked at his right arm and began considering whether the demonic power in both arms could be used together.
It seemed possible.
However, after thinking briefly, he did not try it, because merely using one demon's power already consumed a great deal of stamina.
If he used two at once, the stamina consumption would likely double.
Even now, Luke still did not know whether absorbing demonic power into his own body was ultimately good or bad.
However, if he had not had that demon's power supporting him tonight, he probably would not have lasted after encountering Evelynn.
At present, Luke did not feel any side effects, but if he had the chance, it would still be better to study it seriously.
At this moment, he raised his head, his eyes looking in one direction.
After absorbing Nocturne's power, he seemed able to sense the other party as well.
Meanwhile, in Fossbarrow.
Oil-black demon hounds charged at the warriors, their bloody maws packed with venomous fangs.
Garen and his squad members waited in strict formation with solid shield walls and drawn blades.
A wall of steel rammed them back.
Although the enemies they faced came from shadow and evil power, they still maintained their brave strength and battle tactics.
Garen stepped forward and drove his greatsword into the waist of one monster. If it had been a normal creature, that strike should have severed its spine.
The monster's body exploded into black dust, leaving behind a howl of terrible pain.
Garen twisted his blade and withdrew it diagonally, blocking the bite of another monster. With a turn of his wrist, he leaned his shoulder forward and slammed into the attacking beast.
The beast was knocked to the ground. He followed up and stomped on its chest. With one howl, the beast shattered into pieces.
Just then, a sense of danger came.
Garen suddenly raised his sword and blocked a heavy blow. The outline of his opponent looked like a giant Freljordian warrior.
Even he had his knees bent slightly from it. Under the constant drain on his stamina, his breathing had become much heavier.
A battle like this had already continued for some time.
The dark creatures' frantic attacks did not give them any time to breathe.
At that moment, a giant spider with legs covered in sharp barbs leapt above Garen. Its bloated abdomen was covered in round eyes and beastly mouths.
While blocking the tall shadow's attack with his shield, he swung his greatsword with the other hand, cutting open the giant spider's chest and flinging it away. The spider's body began disintegrating in midair.
Garen's steps grew heavy. Because of the tall shadow's further suppression, he suddenly felt a burning cold in the muscles of his shoulder. A black claw pierced deeply into his pauldron.
The metal of the pauldron did not dent or crack.
That claw passed through the pauldron without obstruction, and then Garen felt weakness and revulsion spreading through his entire body.
He smelled the stench of grave soil, the earthy odor released by a corpse that had rotted for a hundred years. This feeling was like the black mist ghosts he had fought in the border waters before.
Relying on the experience he had learned through training, he struggled fiercely against this pain, but it was no use. His body began to grow cold.
"Captain!"
Diadoro saw the situation over there and wanted to come support him.
"Hold your own line!"
Garen shouted. A flash of light crossed his eyes, and his whole aura shook. Courage enveloped him, driving away the cold from his body.
At that moment, it was as if he possessed endless strength.
A tremendous force erupted from his whole body, violently throwing off the tall shadow, then he brought his sword down heavily.
With a loud hum, the tall shadow vanished like smoke.
Garen breathed heavily, but his eyes remained firm. His upright chest was like a bastion, and his voice thundered, "As long as we have not fallen, we fight to the last moment!"
He firmly believed that His Highness and the others would definitely resolve the problem on their side.
So he absolutely had to protect everyone until the final moment.
"For Demacia!"
"This is nothing. I can fight for ten thousand years!"
"Damned shadows, taste my hammer!"
The squad members shouted in response, their fighting spirit blazing. Like Garen, they trusted their companions unconditionally.
Around them were warriors just as stubbornly defending until the final moment.
Even though the monsters formed from shadows attacked wave after wave, they remained standing.
They were all waiting for the dawn of victory, waiting for their companions to return triumphant.
Demacia would ultimately drive away all darkness.
"Where did it run off to?"
Lux moved through the mountain forest, the staff in her hand shining with light and illuminating the path ahead.
She had followed the magical sensation in the forest, chasing the fleeing shadow all the way here, yet she had not found a single trace.
Could it be afraid of her, not even having the courage to face her?
Lux did not think she was strong enough to scare a demon that badly, but if that demon dared to come out, she would definitely let it taste her power.
That was what she thought, but in truth, by now, Lux's heart was also starting to pound.
She looked around and discovered that she had arrived somewhere even she did not recognize.
The surroundings were exactly like the descriptions used in stories to scare children. Black sap oozed from the trees, and their branches were ugly and twisted, growing into the shape of demon claws, casting strange shadows on the ground.
The cracks in the tree trunks looked like mouths full of sharp teeth, and venomous spiders wove dense webs among their highest branches.
Lux got goosebumps from looking at it. She was most afraid of spiders, so she quickly looked away.
The ground beneath her feet became soft and muddy. On both sides, a stagnant marsh had even appeared, like a forest clearing abandoned by little fairies.
The air was cold, and the sound of insects crawling seemed to come from the corners.
It felt somewhat familiar, yet somewhat strange.
Then Lux remembered that this was possibly her first true battle in the real sense.
And the opponent in her first real battle was a terrifying demon.
"It should be fine."
She comforted herself aloud. Her crisp, small voice echoed through the surrounding space, making her hear it several times in succession.
That made the place seem even eerier. Lux turned the light on her staff a little brighter. The warm light dispelled the circle of darkness around her body and brought her a trace of comfort.
She thought about how she had practiced magic for so long. Wasn't it precisely to show these bad guys and demons what she could do?
She just had to perform like she usually did.
Saying that to herself in her heart, Lux continued walking forward.
After walking another stretch, Lux stopped. Ahead, shadows coiled, and the dark aura was dense.
She looked left and right, then discovered that without realizing it, she had actually returned to her great-grandfather's grave.
As long as she passed through the narrow path ahead, then climbed a few more steps, she would reach the cliff where her great-grandfather's tomb stood.
This was the direction the light had guided her toward. Lux did not hesitate and took a step forward.
As she once again stepped onto the steep road in her memory, the shadows around her were far heavier than they had been that night. As she moved forward, the light on her staff began flickering dimly and brightly, like a lantern swaying in a storm.
This really startled Lux. She was steadily feeding magic into it.
Then this situation was obviously not her problem.
She realized it was because the space belonging to the light had been compressed. The shadows were consciously fighting the light for space, and the two continued struggling against each other, causing the flickering.
Lux did not want to lose, so she silently increased her magic output. The staff suddenly became as bright as ten flashlights, instantly driving away the surrounding darkness.
Her confidence surged. A smug cold smile tugged at her little mouth, and she continued climbing upward.
A few minutes later, her great-grandfather's tomb reappeared before her.
Fossian Crownguard's tomb was a small hill covered in wild grass, but unlike last time, under the dim sky, even the surrounding green grass had turned black.
At the top of the grave mound was a simple stone cairn built from rocks, now wreathed in black smoke. In the sky above, all kinds of ghostly shapes circled, as if they would occupy this world the moment the time arrived.
Black lines wound across the great stone slab like pythons. This was the stone slab engraved with Fossian Crownguard's heroic deeds.
After arriving here, Lux discovered that the light inside her body reacted extremely fiercely. Her body was shrouded in cold, her heart thumped loudly, and breathing became difficult. It felt as if she had encountered a natural enemy.
She sensed the dark aura around her was dense and guessed that after they came last time, the demon had hidden away first, then returned here not long after.
Most importantly, in front of the gravestone, a little boy was currently sitting there. His thin body swayed back and forth as if possessed. Black smoke surging from the grave wrapped around his neck like poisonous vines, making his eyes roll white and his face turn purple.
Lux recognized him at a glance. This was Magistrate Giselle's child, Luca.
She looked around again and only found him. The other children were not here.
At the very least, she had to rescue Luca first. Lux gathered her courage and walked forward, but after taking only one step, she stopped.
Luca opened his eyes. Or rather, his rolled-white eyes turned and became a pair of pitch-black eyes that clearly did not belong to a human. Then a ghostlike, strange laugh came from his mouth.
"Hee hee hee."
The black smoke vines vanished. Luca stood up, and shadows condensed around him, circling him, drifting like ghosts. Darkness seized most of the space and surrounded Lux.
"Who do you think you're scaring?"
Lux swung her staff, and dazzling beams of light scattered outward. Instantly, light blazed brightly and illuminated the surroundings again. Her face was serious as she stared ahead. "Leave this child!"
"Oh?"
Luca's gaze toward Lux gained a bit of interest. "Compared to the insignificant embers of magic in his body, your flesh and blood are like a blazing furnace, burning and surging. I can leave him, but the price is that you take his place."
Lux revealed a pure and innocent smile. "Okay. You leave first."
"Your words are full of the smell of lies." Luca clicked his tongue, and a few traces of contempt appeared in his black eyes. "Forget it. I'll do it myself."
He raised one finger, and the darkness that had just been dispersed suddenly became active again, closing in on Lux from every direction.
Lux instantly felt her body stiffen. She could not move at all.
The light inside her body was receding, and a shadow covered her heart, as if it were being suppressed by this darkness.
That was why she could not move.
Luca also stopped in place.
She realized this was a contest of magic, and it had already begun.
A contest between light and darkness, whether darkness would ultimately devour light, or light would ultimately dispel darkness.
In any case, Lux had been pushed into a passive position by this sudden move.
But Lady Crownguard had always been someone who refused to lose, and she also did not want her first solo performance to end this way.
Her eyes changed at this moment, becoming very serious. Her bright eyes seemed to glitter with starlight, extraordinarily luminous.
Lux felt the light inside her body begin to surge again, flowing bit by bit toward her limbs, moving to every corner of her body as it had before.
The approaching darkness stopped, roughly one meter from her body, unable to advance another step.
Luca frowned, seemingly not expecting Lux to be able to hold on.
And so the true magical contest began.
Luca spoke. "The fear in this child's heart is a feast to me. You know what he is afraid of. He fears that his own people will uncover the truth, that he is the thing people hate most, a mage. You should understand that feeling better than anyone. You are the same. No matter how deeply you hide it, it still exists, does it not?"
"Yeah, yeah, exactly." Lux chuckled. "You saw right through me. So impressive."
"..." Luca was silent for a moment.
For some reason, this answer was not quite the same as what he had expected.
Logically, after being told this by him, shouldn't she have at least some fluctuation in her magic?
What the hell was "yeah, yeah, exactly"?
Had she just given up?
At this moment, the light inside Lux had already become active. It began gradually forcing back the darkness around her.
Luca sensed that he was about to be unable to hold on, and in his heart, he hoped the main body could return as quickly as possible.
However, in the next second, his expression suddenly changed. A wave of intense pain came from his heart, instantly draining his strength. His magic also began to fluctuate, no longer stable.
Lux decisively seized this opportunity and went all out. In the next second, the darkness receded like a tide.
A burst of light lit up on her staff, then flew toward Luca and entered his body.
"Damn it!" Luca raised his head and roared in pain. His eyes kept rolling, turning white for a while, then black for a while, extremely eerie.
Then a large amount of black smoke surged from his five senses, flying toward the sky as if fleeing.
Lux had no time to chase it. She focused completely on driving all the darkness out of Luca's body.
Finally, after one minute, the darkness completely left the child's body and drifted in the sky like a lost ghost, heading in one direction.
Luca collapsed unconscious and no longer moved. After checking him and confirming he was not seriously harmed, Lux finally breathed a sigh of relief.
However, her gaze was still a little worried. She had found one child, but the other three children were still missing.
Clearly, that demon had hidden them somewhere unknown.
At this moment, all she could do was trust her companions and believe they could find them.
Then Lux raised her head, her eyes somewhat grave as she looked at the ball of black smoke departing in the sky. Along the way, it seemed to merge with something. The two became one and let out a shrill, ear-piercing scream.
Then she saw the black smoke turn around and fly back toward her at extreme speed.
Lowering her head and glancing at Luca, Lux immediately cast a barrier of light over him. By now, using magic already came naturally to her.
After adjusting her breathing, Lux stood up and moved away from Luca, entering a state of strict readiness.
The shadow arrived very quickly. That should be the demon's true body, a demon with a humanoid upper body and a lower half made of swaying black mist.
His gaze was extremely furious, and the dark aura around him continuously fluctuated. Finally, his vicious eyes landed on Lux.
"Damned human, I'll start by killing you first!"
At this moment, Nocturne was blazing with rage, killing intent overflowing. He would definitely kill everyone, starting with this blond human before him.
"You think I was raised to be scared? Come on!"
Lux held her staff, raised her head without fear, and showed not a shred of cowardice no matter how frightening the demon's aura was.
Nocturne looked at her coldly. Then he cast shadow magic, and the darkness around him suddenly shot out, smashing heavily toward Lux.
Seeing this, Lux turned and ran. This place was a cliff, and an extremely steep one at that. Every step had to be taken carefully.
Even so, she did not panic and remained quite calm.
Some time ago, she had learned footwork from Luke, so she had become accustomed to steep terrain.
During her contest with that demon just now, she had already found the feeling. Now her heart was thumping, and she was even a little excited.
Boom, boom, boom!
Shadow magic smashed down with thunderous sounds. Flying stones scattered, and one hole after another appeared in the ground.
After confirming once more that Luca was protected by the barrier, Lux began casting while dodging.
Her staff lit up with a beam of light. With a thought, the beam transformed into arrows of light, flashing with holy radiance as they shot toward Nocturne.
The light arrows flew extremely fast, arriving before Nocturne in almost the blink of an eye.
Nocturne hated these bright, shining lights. His figure quickly dodged while continuously launching attacks.
Lux, meanwhile, was becoming familiar with the rhythm of battle. She understood more and more how to counterattack, gradually growing practiced.
Light and darkness attacked each other back and forth like this.
Suddenly, a very well-hidden light orb quietly rose and exploded fiercely around Nocturne.
The scorching, dazzling, disgusting beam of light stirred up the last of Nocturne's anger. The dark aura around him fully erupted, and his cold demonic eyes locked onto Lux, as if his next strike would end everything.
Dark clouds covered the sky, not letting out even a trace of light. Behind Nocturne, the sky grew darker and darker, as if the entire world were about to sink into darkness.
It was like a vast black curtain pressing down, descending from high above, absorbing and devouring every ray of light around it as it forced its way toward Lux.
Lux also stopped. She glanced at Luca. The barrier was already cracked and broken.
She was not sure whether she could still protect this child under the demon's next wave of attacks.
But in this moment, aside from giving it everything she had, she had no other choice.
"All I can say is, you picked the wrong person to mess with!"
And so, Lux's eyes were firm, without the slightest retreat, as she mobilized all the magic in her body.
In the next second, the entire staff lit up with a beam of light and floated in front of her, while specks of faint light also began to glow on her body.
In an instant, the surrounding area filled with magical aura, like a kettle about to boil, like a volcano about to erupt, ready to burst forth.
The surroundings began to warm. The bowed green grass raised its head, and the bent dead trees straightened their trunks. Under the illumination of the light, everything became lively, filled everywhere with vitality.
It was a completely different manifestation from the descending darkness.
Lux's feet left the ground. With powerful magic supporting her, she slowly floated into the air. The staff before her began spinning rapidly like a ring of light, filled with magic.
The girl's brilliant golden hair was also covered by radiant beams of light, and her bright eyes, shining like daylight, flashed at this moment with dazzling divine radiance.
At this moment, darkness came like an army bearing down, devouring everything as the demon charged forward.
In the final second before the darkness swallowed her, Lux shouted.
"Final Spark!"
Buzz!
In the instant before the world sank into darkness, dazzling light finally exploded with a roar. Instead, it swallowed all the darkness that came forward and spread in every direction.
The light was unimaginably bright, extraordinarily radiant and dazzling. The girl's body shone with the holiest brilliance, blazing beautifully, her golden hair drifting, so beautiful it could take one's breath away.
In this moment, light shone in every direction.
The color formed by countless hues gathered into a beam of light that could break through any obstruction. It shot into the sky, directly facing the demon pouncing down.
Darkness and light collided. They only stalemated for an instant before the light swallowed the darkness, crushing through it.
"No!"
From within came the demon's furious, despairing roar. The roar carried traces of fear, and in this moment, it completely shattered the demon.
Scorching waves of flame burst around the pillar of light, illuminating everything as the temperature soared rapidly. As if it knew no end, the pillar rushed straight into the sky.
In the end, this pillar of light broke through the heavens, directly piercing the dark clouds at the horizon and blasting a great hole through the cloud layer by sheer force, forming an unprecedented sight that left every person who saw it deeply shaken.
Radiant light spilled down from the great hole into the world like glowing feathers, so beautiful it defied description. In this moment, the night seemed to become as bright as day.
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