Chapter 488: Nine Lives

He traveled beyond the spell’s range before emerging again at another location in the air.

The moment he left to another realm and returned, the illusion’s influence was broken.

Lucius turned toward Nathan’s direction, his expression remaining completely unchanged.

Nathan stared back at him.

Then, without warning, their attacks resumed.

Spells erupted between them in a continuous bombardment, magic colliding across the battlefield as both continued testing the other’s defenses.

Nathan was more cautious now, however. He knew that Lucius could manipulate illusions well enough to deceive even his magical perception, making every incoming attack potentially dangerous.

⸻

Back on the battlefield where Ethan and Agravain were fighting, the landscape had been transformed.

Flames covered the entire region.

The ruined buildings and structures that had once littered the province were gone, leaving behind a vast, barren expanse of scorched earth.

Everything had been incinerated to dust.

High above the battlefield, Agravain continued to stare down at Ethan.

The knight’s body still retained the appearance of the blazing entity.

But the steady increase in his power had finally begun to subside.

The Numeral Of The Sun caused Agravain’s power to increase from dawn until noon, growing stronger with every passing moment until it reached its absolute peak at midday.

Once noon passed, however, that growth stopped.

His power would then gradually decline.

Only a few minutes had passed since noon, so Agravain was still extraordinarily powerful—far stronger than Ethan could comfortably contend with.

But the increase that had been pushing him further and further beyond Ethan was gone.

From this point onward, his power would slowly decrease until sunset.

After sunset, the Numeral of the Sun would become less effective. Agravain would still retain considerable strength, but during the night, the blessing would provide only make him a slightly enhanced peak-human.

For now, however, he was still at the height of his power. And below him, Ethan was down on one knee.

Morgana stared at him in genuine surprise.

He had survived.

Agravain also seemed curious.

He looked down at Ethan, his expression difficult to read, silently wondering how the young man had managed to survive that attack.

Ethan struggled to catch his breath.

His body had shrunk back down to around seven feet tall, returning to the height of his normal transformation after the additional size granted by Titan Frame had faded.

His condition was terrible.

Deep wounds covered his body, some of them severe enough to expose bone.

He had lost a considerable amount of blood, and although his regeneration was already working to repair the damage, the extent of his injuries meant that even his enhanced regeneration required time to restore him.

But there was something on his shoulder.

A small black cat sat there; although its body was beginning to break apart into tiny specks of purple light.

It was one of the cats belonging to Rue’s watching clowder.

And it was the reason Ethan was still alive.

[Nine Lives — This skill allows Rue or any individual currently under her fortune to evade fatal harm. Activation requires a wish made upon one of the cats, specifying the harm to be avoided.]

Although, in this case, Nine Lives had not saved Ethan in the truest sense of what the ability was capable of.

Under ordinary circumstances, the skill should have been able to remove Ethan from the threat of death entirely.

Against another fighter at the Extraordinary level, it might have been enough to ensure that Ethan escaped the attack completely, leaving him unharmed.

But Agravain was different.

The Knight of the Sun had surpassed the level that Nine Lives could comfortably overcome, and that difference in power had interfered with the skill’s ability to completely protect its user.

It had saved Ethan to the best of its ability.

The rest of the damage had been mitigated through Ethan’s own regeneration, his Guardian-class defenses, and the resistance he had developed through his Dragon Trait, Inverse.

Ethan slowly pushed himself back onto both feet.

His wings spread behind him as he wiped the blood from his mouth.

Despite his condition, he was preparing himself to fight again.

Morgana suddenly laughed. PShe began clapping, genuinely entertained by Ethan’s survival.

If Agravain’s previous attack were compared to the strength of a demon, its power would have reached the level of a Grade 12 demon.

With the exception of the Demon King, not even the Demon Lords possessed enough power to be classified at that level.

Even Eolagar, after entering his Berserker’s Rage, had only reached the next level of a Grade 11.

Agravain narrowed his eyes.

He raised his hand once again, preparing to unleash the same attack.

It would no longer carry the overwhelming intensity it possessed at the peak of noon, but Ethan knew that it was still way too dangerous.

He stared at the gathering flames, knowing that surviving another attack like the previous one would be extremely difficult.

His only reliable escape would be to exchange positions with one of the summons he had assigned to protect Francesca and Ishtar all the way in Gritnia.

A direct escape through his own lightning-fast movement or Albedo’s teleportation would not be enough to carry him beyond the attack’s range.

The previous attack had practically decimated a significant portion of the province. If Ethan had not deliberately drawn the battle farther and farther away from the others during their earlier exchanges, that attack could have reached them as well.

The range was simply too vast to escape from easily. And Ethan could no longer endure the heat at close range either.

Agravain’s hand began descending as enormous sphere of flames followed.

Right then, a magic circle suddenly opened beside Ethan and a summon stepped through.

King Arthur Pendragon emerged from the circle with a deeply disturbed expression on his face.

Agravain’s eyes widened.

The moment he saw the man standing before him, the enormous sphere of flames rushing toward Ethan vanished.

The knight stared at him in disbelief. "My... King."

Morgana’s expression changed as well.

Her eyes widened as she stared down at the sudden appearance of her brother.