Chapter 121: Familiar Old Rivals

A faint orange glow covered his body, and holy power was gripped in his hand.

Although flames already covered his body, Li En felt no heat.

He felt only warmth.

For his opponent, it was a different matter entirely.

"SOL."

He spoke the Dragon Tongue calmly, yet what he called forth was the essence of Li En's subconscious ideal of a Holy Knight.

Ignite oneself to illuminate the world around. If this world is pitch black, if no other light source can be seen, then I shall become the light guiding those who come after.

And the undead surrounding the flame were ignited one by one.

They howled in pain within the flames, yet were gradually purified by the radiance.

"Su Er (SOL)." Li En uttered this word once more.

But this time, what was whispered seemed to be a personal name.

He touched his own heart, feeling a frantic pulse.

It was outputting Dragon Blood, yet also emitting light and heat.

The light borrowed nothing from outside; it originated solely from within himself.

If there is no axiom, no justice, no model, then let oneself create it.

Perhaps it is not perfect, perhaps it is covered in scars; this is my life, my justice.

I will not hesitate, I will not wait, I will not forgive, I will not compromise.

"Su Er."

This time, Li En no longer concealed it; what he recited was a personal name!

And the orange flames of the "Sacred Sun" became ever clearer.

This Dragon Tongue was now more complete.

"So this is Dragon Tongue magic: understand it, analyze it, embrace it, call it forth."

The so-called elements are not merely the simple natural elements of earth, fire, water, and air; those concepts of "law" and "justice" are also constituent elements of society.

And the elements invoked by Dragon Tongue magic were never limited to begin with.

"No, not infinite, but your entirety; it is you who create, you who understand."

The understanding of the Heroic Soul Su Er, and all of the path of the Holy Knight, ultimately merged into the element "Su Er," this Dragon Mark.

Dragon Marks constantly evolve, but from another angle, perhaps it is the user of the Dragon Tongue who evolves, not the Dragon Tongue itself.

"Snap!"

Li En walked forward in silence; he no longer needed to chant the names of gods or elements.

This light and heat were originally me.

I am the Sun.

Wherever he passed, the undead were ignited automatically one by one.

One by one, the Ancients, whom Li En hadn't even seen clearly, returned directly to dust.

"I am the Sun"; Li En was not comparing himself to the stars in the sky.

That would require immense confidence; perhaps Kukku could manage it. He had merely accepted the "Sun" from the memories of predecessors and transformed himself into the "Sun Holy Knight" in his own understanding, sufficient to illuminate the darkness.

That was not a perfect model of a Holy Knight; it was even obviously biased and prejudiced.

But when facing those things in the shadows, it was exceptionally effective.

No undead could stop Li En anymore; they could not even reach him.

"Is this normal? Are Holy Knights this outrageous?"

"I have seen hundreds and thousands of Holy Knights, and I have never seen anything like this. Not even Great Holy Knights."

The audience behind could not understand, but they were greatly shocked.

As the team leader, Miss Shaliman was also stunned, her face blank. She knew Li En should be somewhat stronger than an ordinary Holy Knight, but was this not a bit too absurd?

Wasn't it agreed that degenerate races would lose everything? Is this strength not a bit absurd? Even a Great Knight wouldn't directly evaporate undead like this!

Under normal circumstances, such a level of supernatural power should first injure one's own side, yet standing this close, their group felt only a slight warmth.

She subconsciously looked at Larry; this genius new noble, said to have stepped onto the fourth-rank Holy Knight threshold, perhaps he would understand.

"Truly worthy of being Senior Li En!" The six eyes of the Spider-Man Holy Knight sparkled; the young genius was like a little fangirl.

Miss Shaliman turned to her little aunt; as a magical girl, she should know something, right?

"Truly worthy of being Little Baby Li En!" Her eyes were full of stars! Little Aunt, can you not be more reserved? Are you deliberately teasing people together with Larry?!

At this moment, Kukku suddenly walked in front of Miss Shaliman, standing on tiptoes with his chest puffed out, as if waiting for her praise.

"Uh, Lord Kukku, do you know?" Miss Shaliman, in reading the room, was probably still qualified.

"I know! I taught him! I am the genius Kukku! This is the power of the Heroic Soul! The power of the Holy Knight Su Er!"

In this way, it seemed slightly understandable; after all, it was power from an ancient hero, so it was normal that it was too powerful to comprehend.

Her expression looking at Li En was somewhat complex; she had heard part of the story of the Heroic Soul Su Er from Her Highness the Princess.

That seemed to be a quite remarkable ancient hero; Li En appeared to be his disciple, but having become a degenerate race, he helplessly began selecting a new successor once again.

But this meant that Li En, who had once been a Great Knight, was indeed the successor of a Holy Knight hero who had once ended a deity.

Then, if it truly was a Heroic Soul inheritance from the previous era or even the era before that, the power system might be different, so it was normal that she could not recognize it.

However, was this power still a bit too abnormal?

Looking at Li En, she felt Li En's "lizard skin" scales were perhaps a bit too tough; did the Sudar bloodline possess such power?

Finally, the dull girl vaguely felt that something was not quite right.

"We have arrived."

And at this moment, Kuk's compass had aligned, pointing straight ahead.

The passage also began to narrow; what lay before was no longer a corridor, but complete, individual rooms.

It seemed they had already reached the base's residential area and warehouse zone, arriving at the floor plan of the first level.

The subsequent passages seemed much smoother; most of the reserves in the warehouses had already rotted away.

Not far away, the target of this journey should be.

"Clang."

The room doors didn't even need unlocking; a slight touch would cause them to rot directly into ash.

Even if there were traps and magical seals inside, they had lost all meaning before the passage of time.

Only these metal walls remained relatively tough, likely originating from ancient ruins. Kuk was very excited, running around everywhere, but often ended up touching a pile of flying ash, wanting to cry but unable to.

Finally, he grew too lazy to look at these "treasures" he couldn't touch and directly urged Li En to speed up the exploration.

"Clang."

The once again shattered door opened; this time, the item-finding compass pointed directly at the predetermined target.

Behind a large pile of iron racks and machinery, a half-ruined metal puppet lay on the ground; she had only one hand and one foot left, with faint sparks crackling around her body.

Currently separated by an entire large warehouse, the distance was a bit far, but the Dragon Eye allowed Li En to see very clearly.

"Found..." Li En's words stopped halfway, abruptly cut off.

He saw something floating; it seemed to be a skeletal undead, except only half a torso floated in existence.

"Such a thick storm of negative energy."

He instinctively felt extreme disgust; if the previous undead skeleton soldiers were merely a bit of darkness, this half-skeleton covered in blue flames before him was enough to be considered an entire night.

"Lich..." At this moment, what else was there for Li En not to understand?

But just as Li En drew his sword, preparing to fight for his life, he discovered the situation was a bit off.

That lich seemed somewhat abnormal.

His slender finger bones were poking and prodding at the Machine Clan candidate, occasionally clicking his jaw shut and open, as if laughing.

The next moment, the lich's attention was drawn to the roller he had pushed, and he subconsciously began to chase it.

"Hah!" Floating and unable to catch up, he suddenly panicked.

His hollow eye sockets shot out heat rays, directly evaporating it!

Then, he happily spun in mid-air, seeming quite pleased with himself.

Is this a wise and evil lich? Why does he look like a poodle that only knows how to yap?

"Crazy," Kuk said casually, as if it were entirely obvious.

"Mm, crazy," Violet Rose also replied very normally, seeming quite accustomed to it.

But madness is indeed the destined outcome for most liches.

These undead creatures, transformed from high-level spellcasters, long fused within negative energy; their personalities becoming paranoid, radical, or even mad is merely a matter of time.

Sometimes, it is not solely due to negative energy; most liches often stray from crowds to live in long-term isolation. Memories of their past as communal and ordinary life constantly torment them, eventually making them even more extreme.

"It shouldn't just be from staying indoors too long; he seems injured, his soul is not complete."

"The transformation might have failed, or it wasn't an active spell transformation. It could also be that he died too many times, damaging his soul."

The two top-tier spellcasters made their judgment: the lich before them must be truly mad.

However, this actually gave people a headache.

Liches are hard to deal with because of their accumulation as top-tier spellcasters and top-tier undead; a truly mad lich, even if he still retains spellcasting ability, is actually much easier to deal with.

What makes a spellcaster most difficult to deal with is always their reason and wisdom; a single perfectly timed spell can change the tide of battle.

But a spellcaster with only magical power? Isn't that just a Fireball Mage? Is that the same combat difficulty level as the Archmage?

"That Machine Clan candidate probably can't withstand friendly fire..." But the unlucky Machine Clan candidate before them, leaking electricity all over and twitching occasionally, might truly be unable to withstand any more torment.

After some thought, Li En formed an idea.

Ten-plus minutes later, while the floating lich was aimlessly chasing a rolling gear, a voice suddenly rang out from afar.

"Is this your family?" Li En, holding a blue skeleton, stepped out from the distant passage.

In the instant the lich looked over, he suddenly exerted force.

"Crack!" Li En directly snapped that blue bone, then smashed it hard, shattering it into pieces of bone scattered all over the ground.

"Sorry, your family is scattered all over the ground. Are they your parents?" The unscrupulous Paladin completed the most unscrupulous mockery.

Was it useful?

"Boom!" The suddenly erupted heat rays declared everything.

The floating skeleton lich charged straight out from the shelves.

The mocker? Had already become a fugitive running for his life.

"Come on, little lich, if you catch up, I'll return your grandparents to you..." The companions in the dark couldn't hold back anymore. "The thing cursing so dirty is actually a Paladin? Or even a Classical Oath Paladin, the moral template?"

"Acting boldly and unconventionally, tactics without a fixed pattern, truly worthy of being Senior Li En!" Sister Rona covered her face, unable to watch, while Sister Larry, full of longing, is truly beyond saving.

(End of this chapter)