Chapter 112: Parting Seas and Clouds
Yuran was at a complete loss for what to do now. Never did he think that any form of conflict would arise between Lana and the freemen. However, such was the unpredictable nature of life. There were always these inexplicable surprises thrown one's way when they least expected it.
Even though Ewen's attitude was very disheartening for Yuran to see, he had never considered making an enemy out of this past comrade of his. Hence, he simply couldn't muster up the determination to face Ewen in battle.
"If you feel like I'm asking for too much, then you don't have to follow me," Lana said in an indifferent voice, and it was clear that she could tell that Yuran was struggling with a difficult dilemma.
"I..." Yuran turned to Lana with an awkward expression, and once again, he didn't know what to say.
"There are some things that you can't do in life, and one of those things is standing on multiple sides of a conflict at once," Lana said. "Get out of my way and let me take care of this past comrade of yours."
There was black arcane energy already gathering above Lana's head.
Ewen was watching Lana with a wary expression, and his hand was already resting on the fletching of his arrow.
"You're no match for me. My advice for you is to give up and retreat," Lana said with a smile. "However, I can tell that you're not the type of person who would be willing to give up without trying."
The smile on her face gradually faded as she spoke. This was an indication that she was finally getting serious.
A burst of thunderous rumbling rang out, as if a bolt of lightning had just come crashing straight down on the ground.In the blink of an eye, a thick blanket of dark clouds gathered in the sky, and lightning was crackling incessantly within the clouds, while two balls of golden light were flashing in the heavens.
Ewen's attention had been entirely focused on Lana, but he was startled by the sound of the rumbling thunderclaps, and he took an involuntary glance upward.
He was so stunned by the sight that he was greeted by that he almost dropped his bow.
Those two balls of golden light were actually a pair of eyes that belonged to a black dragon.
Behind the layers of dark clouds was an enormous dragon that had been entirely formed by black arcane energy.
Ewen had a feeling that if that black dragon were to even graze him, then his life would be forfeit.
However, just as Lana had said, he wasn't the type of person who would be willing to give up without trying.
He had gone all-in on this attack against Intelar, and failure was not an option. He had to kill Aike or die trying.
For a reckless gambler like Ewen, there was no way that he would walk away from the table until he lost everything or he had taken everything from the other players at the gambling table.
Even if a deity were standing in his path, there was no way that he would've backed down.
With single-minded determination in his eyes, he mustered up all of the power within his body, drawing his bowstring back as far as it would go before firing a pair of arrows directly toward Lana.
One of the arrows was bright red and resembled a streak of scorching fire, while the other was purple and hurtled through the air like a phoenix taking flight.
The two arrows intertwined with one another, giving off dazzling radiance under the dark sky as they flew directly toward Lana's heart.
Meanwhile, the black wyrm within the dark clouds was roaring incessantly, and a plume of dragon flames erupted directly toward Ewen.
Ewen had just expended all of his power in firing those two arrows, so he no longer even had the energy to take evasive measures.
Thus, he was struck head-on by the dragon flames, and his entire body was violently baptized by the ferocious arcane energy imbued within the flames, threatening to take his life at any moment.
As for Lana, she was watching the pair of oncoming arrows with tightly furrowed brows while unleashing a string of instant-release spells.
If Perry had a heart, it would've already leaped into its throat as it stared at the pair of terrifying arrows. However, its master was completely unconcerned, and it heaved an internal sigh of relief upon seeing this. It knew that there was no way its master would just stand by idly and watch if Lana were truly in danger.
However, ordinary spells were completely powerless against the pair of oncoming arrows, unable to even slow them down in the slightest.
All of a sudden, a lotus flower began to bloom behind Lana.
A series of pink longswords spread open like flower petals, and it was none other than Lana's signature spell, her Shadowgleam Sword Array.
The light and longswords intertwined to form a captivating, illusory scene that was beautiful to behold, but concealed beneath the array's beautiful exterior was cold and unbridled killing intent.
As Lana spread her arms open, all of the countless swords behind her flew forward in unison.
Thus, the pair of arrows clashed with the procession of countless swords, and it seemed that neither side would give up until the other ceased to exist.
Finally, the two arrows were showing signs of slowing down.
Shortly thereafter, the pair of arrows drew to a complete halt before being quickly overwhelmed by the oncoming longswords amid the anguished cry of a phoenix.
At this point, the pair of arrows were already within reaching distance of Lana, and she casually swatted them aside, then cast a cold gaze toward Ewen, who was still being incinerated by the arcane dragon flames.
The burly skeleton watched as Lana swatted the pair of arrows aside, then gave a cold harrumph as it jeered, "Well, that was easy."
The fact that Ewen's attack was able to force Lana to unleash her Shadowgleam Sword Array was an indication that he was certainly no slouch.
Yuran was watching with tightly furrowed brows as Ewen was tortured by the dragon flames, and he wanted to implore Lana to spare Ewen's life. However, Ewen was the one who had attacked first with the intention of taking Lana's life, so there really was no reason for her to spare him. Furthermore, during his time with Lana, he had become somewhat familiar with her personality, and he knew that if he were to incur her wrath, then he would've been subjected to those same dragon flames.
While Lana was considering what she was going to do with Ewen, a streak of white light flashed through the air.
As it turned out, Moustache had been drawn to the scene by the sound of Ewen's agonized howls.
Thankfully, Lana had exceptional awareness of her surroundings, and she conjured up a ball of green fire in the palm of her hand in the blink of an eye to keep the streak of white light at bay. Otherwise, she would've ended up just like those magicians on the city wall.
At the same time, a hint of vicious killing intent had surfaced in her eyes.
She was already quite disgruntled by the fact that she had been forced to unleash her Shadowgleam Sword Array against Ewen, and her fury was further exacerbated by Moustache's attack.
She cast a cold gaze toward the azure figure, and it was as if she were looking at a dead man.
Moustache cast his gaze toward Ewen, who was still being tormented by the arcane dragon flames, then turned to Yuran, who was standing off to the side with a conflicted expression, and he was very perplexed by what he was seeing.
"Yuran, what the hell is going on?!" he asked.
Yuran had no idea how to explain the situation.
Furthermore, he couldn't just explain the situation to everyone that he met.
While Yuran was still thinking of a response to offer to Moustache, Lana had already sprung into action. She had no intention of listening to the making small talk with one another.
With a few elegant steps, she had already risen up into the air.
Mustache naturally didn't dare to take her lightly, and he nocked another arrow in preparation to fire a second attack at Lana.
However, before he even had a chance to draw back his bowstring, a bolt of lightning came crashing down from the dark clouds, striking him right on the top of his head.
In that instant, he felt as if his consciousness had almost been destroyed by the arcane energy gushing into his head.
This completely went beyond any pain that he had ever experienced before. He felt as if there were countless thin needles stabbing viciously into his body, from his skin to his blood vessels, from the top of his head to the soles of his feet. The tips of those needles felt as if they had been scorched by heavenly fire, and his entire body felt like a massive ball of scorching pain and numbness.
What was quite comical was that his immaculately groomed mustache had been reduced to ashes by the lightning strike.
However, at a time like this, Moustache's mustache was the last thing on his mind. The only thing that he could think of at this moment was to run away from this place as quickly as he could! At this point, he had no choice but to leave Ewen behind. This was clearly far too powerful an opponent for him to deal with, and he wasn't sure if he would've been a match for her even with several more decades of training.
In his eyes, the red-haired woman was like a demon that had been sent to the mortal world by the devil to harvest the lives of mortals.
However, before he had a chance to move, he was struck by another bolt of lightning.
On this occasion, all of the hair all over his entire body was incinerated into nothingness along with his mustache.
His consciousness instantly faded, and he plummeted out of the sky before crashing down onto the ground with a dull thump.
Thankfully for him, Yuran had reacted quite quickly and pushed Lucian over to his landing spot to act as a cushion. Otherwise, he would've already been dashed into a pile of mincemeat on the ground.
Lying on the ground beneath Moustache, Lucian looked up at the sky with a depressed expression. He was still yet to recover from the injuries that Lana had dealt upon him back at the Whistling Wind Pub, and those injuries had just been worsened from breaking Moustache's fall.
However, Lana still wasn't done yet. Fierce wind continued to howl around her while thunderclaps rumbled incessantly. More and more dark clouds were also gathering in the sky, to the extent that those on the ground below could easily be forgiven for thinking that this was the color that the sky had always been.
Meanwhile, she was standing atop the heavens with her dress flapping incessantly around her.
All of a sudden, the ground beneath everyone's feet had already transformed into a black sea. Violent black waves were rising and tumbling, and the city of Intelar was like a small raft beneath a storm of lightning, looking as if it could be capsized by the black waves at any moment.
The entire world seemed to have been transformed by Lana's arcane energy.
Standing atop the dark clouds, Lana looked down at the burly skeleton before asking, "Do you still think the Shadowgleam Sword Array is my ultimate spell? What do you think of this? You may have taken my memories, but I bet you don't know what this spell is called."
Indeed, the burly skeleton had no idea what the name of this spell was, nor could he find any memories of Lana using the spell.
"This spell isn't in my memories because I just created it. Its name is Parting Seas and Clouds."
A gorgeous smile appeared on her face as she spoke, captivating all of the people in the city beneath her.
Even though she still had no idea what Erwin looked like, the thought of him had crept into her mind again.
The spell had been named Parting Seas and Clouds as she was willing to part the oceans and the heavens to find him.
"I'm in a good mood today. Do you dare to face me in a fair battle?" Lana challenged as she looked down at the burly skeleton with a smile on her face.