Mimic Awakening

"The clouds are all gone." Hovering high in the sky, Claire remarks as she peers her eyes down since clouds could not form beyond her altitude.

The sky is clear and cloudless. Anyone would think that this is normal, but it is actually the result of the catastrophic clash of Claire’s Beacon of Destruction and the elder lich’s Blast of Oblivion.

Any cloud of any altitude in the range of hundreds of leagues from the ground zero simply vanishes after being blown away by the shockwave of the magical explosion.

If the explosion occurs on the continent, for example, in the Great Forest of Detho, the blast radius would vaporize all the trees within the radius of tens of kilometers and mark a wide and deep crater on it. On top of that, the shockwave could flatten or sway trees up to a thousand kilometers from the blast.

In addition, the explosion is contaminated with a curse from the lich’s Blast of Oblivion.

Fortunately for the residents of this world, the explosion occurred almost two thousand kilometers from the continent of Revoria. However, the extent of the explosion, like the faint shockwaves and the magical energy released, could be felt as far as the imperial capital of the Siafran Empire, which is almost three thousand kilometers away from the blast.

Claire and the undead mage only survive because of their layers of barriers and protection. That despite all of that, both of them suffer serious injuries as well as getting a curse that temporarily prevents them from healing or regenerating.

In the last attack, Claire almost exhausted herself of mana. Even though she intended to cast Beacon of Destruction with less than a tenth of her mana, the Evanescent Apotheosis siphoned seven times the amount for additional firepower.

Since both of them are out of mana, they somewhat agreed to a truce to check on the situation of their own island and companions, who they could not sense on the island. Worried, Claire immediately warps herself directly to the island.

◆◇◆

When Claire vanishes in the air, the elder lich is left alone in the cold, cloudless sky, though he does not have the anatomy to feel the coldness. His bones are still healing, albeit very slowly.

Alone, he turns his head to scan the surroundings and sees the results of that explosion before turning his gaze to the direction of the floating islands.

That person... She is more powerful than I expected.

He mutters those words in his mind, and then he rotates his body to face west, where the vast ocean spreads. He can see the end of the horizon and the very dark blue sky above it.

She probably doesn’t know it, but her spell actually pierced through the layers of the atmosphere before exiting to the void of space.

The powerful explosion that occurred earlier actually came from the detonation of his Blast of Oblivion alone. Claire’s Beacon of Destruction just passed through it, which triggered the premature detonation of his spell before extending its range to the empty space.

If Claire’s attack were to hit something, an explosion comparable, or even greater, to that would occur, bringing a cataclysmic event on the surface. Fortunately for him, Claire was off by less than a dozen meters, and he was not engulfed by it.

It’s a great opportunity to witness such magnificent power, but I do hope I won’t face that again.

As he is feeling grateful and worried at the same time, the undead takes a last glance at the horizon before flying fast to the islands.

◆◇◆

After arriving at the island, Claire immediately teleports to the house and confirms that Alina is safe from the explosion. Failing to find Azrael, Claire makes a call with Azrael.

(Azrael, where are you?)

(Claire? I’m in the dungeon right now, fighting my opponent.)

Clink. Clink. Clink. Boom! Boom!

Azrael pauses, and the sounds of colliding metals and explosions can be heard from the background.

(I am kind of busy right now. So I’ll leave you for now.)

Before Claire could ask another question, Azrael abruptly ends the call. From what she can hear, it seems that Azrael is in a serious battle right now. Leaving no choice, Claire teleports herself to the dungeon.

◆◇◆◇◆◇

Several minutes earlier...

Clank. Clank. Clank.

A fully plated armored man is running through the long spiral stairs of the island’s dungeon. Chasing after Azrael, the undead knight has passed through the dungeon’s labyrinth floors, and he is about to reach the sixth floor.

The whole place is shrouded with absolute darkness, but his eyes can see through the darkness, so he can navigate his way without a problem. When he reaches the end of the stairs, Azrael is already standing in the middle of the massive hallway with his arms folded. It looks like he is waiting for the arrival of his opponent.

"You have finally arrived." Azrael’s voice reverberates in the darkness.

"I’m only seconds late, kid," the knight responds, and then he scans the surroundings. "So this island holds a dungeon, huh? And it’s quite big, too big. But I didn’t find any monsters."

"Well, due to a certain circumstance, monsters don’t spawn in this dungeon any longer. But I won’t pry into it further. As you can see, this is where we fight."

"Dungeon walls are known to be the toughest material after all, so we can fight here without holding back. Before we can start, can you tell me your name?"

"My name is Azrael Demiurge, but you can call me Azrael." He gives his response with respect. "Can I ask you what yours is?"

"Mine is Dareon," the undead knight states as he holds his sword with both hands and strikes its tip to the floor. "I used to be a human but was cursed to become undead alongside my partner."

"I see. You must have gone through things."

After introducing themselves to one another, both fighters pose for their battle stance. Judging that the other is ready, Azrael is the one to make the first move and quickly dashes at a supersonic speed, ready to swing his longsword anytime.

Clink!

Before his blade could reach the target’s right flank, Dareon raises his sword and easily parries Azrael’s quick attack. Utilizing the momentum, Azrael quickly twists his body to swing his sword counterclockwise, but it is immediately repelled by Dareon again.

Cling!

"Don’t make such an unnecessary move, kid. You are wide open."

With his side exposed, Dareon slashes his blade diagonally in an attempt to land a blow on Azrael’s left waist. Azrael then reflexively dashes to the side, and the massive blade hits the solid floor.

Crash!

Dareon hits the floor so hard that it bounces off by a few feet. A weak shockwave is generated upon impact. Dareon quickly recovers his stance, and then he immediately rushes to Azrael to deliver a heavy diagonal slash to his shoulder.

Meters before Dareon can reach him, Azrael swiftly opens his palm and immediately fires an ancient dragon fireball with a percent of his mana towards the rushing knight.

"!!"

Boom!

Dareon catches the blueish-white fireball head-on, and a powerful explosion briefly illuminates the dark corridor, which is followed by a loud sound and a powerful shockwave. Since an ancient dragon fireball packs more firepower than the greater dragon fireballs Azrael used earlier, Dareon is sent flying over a hundred meters in the air before rolling violently on the floor.

Clank. Clank.

Dareon is lying facedown on the floor, and then he casually stands up as if nothing happens. His armor has visible scratches and dents, but it is not significant enough to affect his performance.

Since he is an undead, Azrael assumes that Dareon does not take that much damage from it. From what he has observed, Dareon is ridiculously strong despite the absence of muscles, and he is very efficient with managing his mana.

On top of that, he is highly proficient with swordsmanship, and he is incredibly fast and agile along with his flawless reaction time. He is not showing any weak spots either. Azrael begins to think that defeating him might pose a challenge.

As long as he does not get any stronger, I could easily finish him. That is what he thought. Azrael is pretty confident, until Dareon drops a big revelation before him.

"That was not bad. That last attack could definitely kill a greater dragon. But it is kind of underwhelming for someone who possesses thirty million magia points. I will force you to bring that out. For that reason, I am going to get serious."

So you are just playing around the whole time?!

Suddenly, the air around Dareon goes so heavy that Azrael starts to feel a little dizzy. Out of nowhere and without an obvious cause, a powerful shockwave is released out of the knight that pushes Raphael back by a few steps.

A few seconds later, the air reverts back to normal. When Azrael takes a closer look at Dareon, he feels he is surrounded by an invisible yet powerful aura.

To look for more information, Azrael peeks at his radar. Although Dareon’s mana capacity does not change, it is currently draining mana way too fast for being idle. He concludes that Dareon just did something, and he remembers what they talked about before.

"Did you use some kind of a multiplier ability?"

"That’s right. This is me at my full power," the undead claims. "With this, I will be able to push you to draw out your full potential. I am about to show you why I was once called the Battle Beast of my era."