Lanqi, Successor to the Legendary Sealing Mage

As five in the morning drew near, the entirety of Palieu, the City of Flowers, remained blanketed in chaos and dread. The few surviving streetlights flickered in the howling wind like dying candles, threatening to extinguish at any moment. Evacuation shelters and temples were packed with terrified, uneasy crowds. "Mommy, is a hero coming to save us?" A mother and daughter huddled under a narrow portico. The little girl clutched her teddy bear tightly, tears carving tracks across her tender cheeks. "They will." Her mother held her close, gazing out with hollow eyes as she offered a trembling, whispered reassurance. The moment she had heard others say Loren's appearance was a mistake, hope had felt completely shattered. Whenever the two dark specks collided in the sky, the transmission shook violently, accompanied by bursts of harsh static. Battered by the tempest, demon journalists exerted every ounce of strength to set their recording equipment back up. Their faces were coated in sweat and grit, every step an agonizing struggle. This scene was captured by journalists stationed several kilometers away. "According to intelligence, the current bearer of the Original Slate - Sealing is Askesan, the Cardinal Bishop of the Resurrection Church in the Northern Continent..." Rain lashed against the lens, blurring the image. On the broadcast from the Posen Demon Realm channel, two indistinct specks atop a distant skyscraper appeared to have engaged in combat! "What slate is that? How come I've never seen it in any books?" Far beyond the reach of the cameras, in an unreachable distance above the endless night, torrential downpour, and ruins, the gates of hell itself seemed to have swung wide open. Not just in the temples, but in every corner of the city-state wherever a faint signal remained, countless figures sat upright, their eyes fixed on the screens. "Wait, no! I think I saw divine glyphs like that during our magical genealogy lectures at the Sacred Teachings Research Institute! Is that... the Sealing Slate?!" A priest inside the temple stared at the crystal display and suddenly cried out in shock. An injured cleric groaned ceaselessly nearby, blood trickling down his forehead. A succession of bishops in the Resurrection Church might have taken place quite recently. Much as one wished to offer comforting words to one's companions, the cold reality was merciless. "Just who is that...?" Askesan, the Bishop of Extinction, was a symbol of terror, despair, and torment. The priest's sudden shift in expression made the surrounding citizens grow instantly tense. Rumors of unconfirmed veracity that had drifted over from the Northern Continent some time ago all made mention of a major clash among the Resurrection Church's bishops. "Could the intelligence be false? Is he actually still alive?" "Wait, wasn't Askesan suspected to be dead?" "I can't see clearly. Even the frontline reporters are giving conflicting accounts, but it really doesn't look like the Great Priest in person." Yet because the distance was so vast and the interference from the pitch-black night, raging storm, and continuous flashes of lightning was so severe, the picture flickered between clear and blurry like an unstable dream. If Loren had truly descended, it would never have been Perlman driving Loren into a retreat; instead, an almighty gale would have swept across the entirety of Palieu. Through the lens, all that could be made out were two dark figures constantly shifting across the rooftop, erupting in clouds of black and gray mist. The invisible shockwaves alone threw up gale-force gusts that left spectators several kilometers away struggling to keep their footing. The situation in Palieu was an absolute mess. First came the initial assessments, followed by mysterious figures appearing one after another, leaving everyone entirely incapable of telling truth from falsehood. "Another slate bearer?" People either prayed silently for divine protection or clutched the hands of those beside them, seeking any shred of comfort. Meanwhile, murmurs broke out among those watching the unstable footage inside the church. Many asked in panic and bewilderment. As one of the supreme Cardinal Bishops of the Resurrection Church, every sealing art and curse he mastered had once sown the seeds of death across the world. "What on earth is happening over on the north bank?" The Bishop of Extinction was feared by all living beings across the Northern Continent, and his dread renown had once spread all the way to the Southern Continent. "It's an eighth-rank battle! A newly confirmed, unidentified eighth-rank combatant has engaged Perlman!" Though the visuals were nearly impossible to decipher, everyone could feel the raw power bleeding through the lens. On the other side of the temple, paladins worked together to carry wounded companions to safety. Legend had it that Askesan's sealing arts were dead silent, yet far deadlier than any destructive magic. In just a few hours, he could reduce a thriving metropolis into a silent purgatory where no living voice remained. Neither the strong nor the weak could escape his absolute sealing. In the eyes of this Cardinal Bishop, there was no sympathy or humanity—only a morbid obsession with death and extinction. At this moment, most citizens inside the temple felt utterly dejected. To the people of the Northern Continent, his terrifying nature was not one whit inferior to Perlman, who had incited an uprising tonight and brought the city to the brink of slaughter. The cleric wore a complex expression. It was not that he did not know the answer, but rather that he feared uttering an ominous name that felt like a forbidden taboo. Right then, another blinding flash of lightning split the night sky, illuminating the entire city-state. The demon reporter gasped, her voice trembling. Yet no matter what, their only hope lay in this suddenly arrived powerhouse being able to hold Perlman back. "Why? First Loren, and now Askesan?" Sitting on a long wooden bench, Bruton, the Platinum-rank card maker, pushed up his glasses and frowned in muttered thought. He had been escorted into the temple for protection by the Kingdom of Posen at the very first moment. As a Platinum-rank card maker hailing from the Kingdom of Aloran, he possessed far more intelligence regarding the situation across the Southern Continent than ordinary citizens or clerics. Rather than rejoicing that someone had unexpectedly stepped forward at the critical moment, the very manner of their arrival carried a profound strangeness. If one were not blinded by the joy of clutching at a lifeline and took a moment to think deeply, the jarring incongruity became glaringly obvious. Some time ago, there had been unconfirmed rumors circulating from the Northern Continent claiming that Askesan was dead. Furthermore, the scene of his death was tied to Loren. At first, nobody believed the report was accurate, because Great Priest Loren had eliminated a group of Destruction Branch operatives who launched a proactive assault shortly afterward, suggesting a high probability that Loren was actually in the Southern Continent. Or perhaps he had rushed back at an incomprehensible speed, almost as if he had foreknowledge of the future. Over the past six months, more and more couriers traveling between north and south spoke of the bishop turmoil in the Protos Empire, corroborating that Loren had indeed been active in the Northern Continent, which lent increasing credibility to Askesan's death. As a reasonable person capable of independent thought, Bruton's brow furrowed deeper and deeper. Could it be... Someone had secretly unified a faction of the Resurrection Church, pulling their strings from thousands of miles away as covert pieces to steer global events according to their design? The mere thought sent a shiver down his spine. Even Askesan, whose presence here was even more illogical than Loren's, had appeared. Perlman's coup tonight was an unexpected variable for the entire eastern region and the Southern Continent as a whole, violating the script anticipated by everyone—or perhaps by certain specific individuals. And so. Someone had come to erase it. This anomalous reinforcement felt less like salvation and far more like a "correction"! With all these preparations in place, was the Creti Empire about to go to war next? Was a stage for the birth of a hero about to be unfurled? Bruton dared not think any further. He only felt sheer dread. ... On the other side of Palieu's south bank. A demon holding a cursed grimoire paused in his tracks and looked back at a giant outdoor screen. He had already dropped his disguise as Duchess Iphatia, returning to his own blurred, indistinct male visage. Ever since crossing the Calamitous Wasteland into the Northern Continent and then voyaging across the sea to the Southern Continent, Beelzebub had never witnessed anything as bizarre as tonight. Every time a plan was on the verge of success, a slight deviation would occur. Though it seemed to have little overarching impact, and he and Perlman held an absolute advantage in terms of raw combat power and victory conditions, there was always an unshakeable variable that could not be eliminated. "Rocky McCarthy, is it...?" Beelzebub lowered his gray hood, gazing toward the distant north amidst the downpour. From his communications with Perlman, he had learned that Loren was an impostor played by Rocky McCarthy. At this point, he was uncertain just how capable this Rocky McCarthy truly was. He had already secured one of the key crystals for Palieu's city defense core. His original plan had been to claim the remaining key on the south bank from the final ducal manor before heading to the demon realm on the north bank to rendezvous with Perlman. After a moment's consideration, Beelzebub altered his course toward North Bank Sector 4. To be safe, it was better to ensure Rocky McCarthy was eliminated first. ... North Bank Sector 10. A hazy reddish hue along the skyline was steadily deepening, like cotton candy steeped in blood, slowly bleeding a soft, murky crimson. Rain poured down the glass curtain walls of the high-rises. In the flashes of lightning, winding silver serpents danced across the dark reflections. Thunder clapped in their wake, reverberating through the cluster of towers. Perlman, the rebel demon lord, and the suddenly arrived gray-robed figure clashed for the second time in this narrow patch of sky. Perlman swept both hands forward. Telekinesis as black as ink surged forth like a tidal wave, hurtling straight toward the gray-robed man. The telekinetic force was thicker than the storm itself, as if poised to swallow what little light remained and drag the entire world into endless abyss. Yet the gray-robed man did not flinch. The very next instant, an emerald brilliance erupted from around him. A barrier of wind and light collided violently with the black malice in midair, unleashing an earth-shattering boom. The immense shockwave stirred up a howling gale. The skyscraper beneath their feet began to collapse in response, the rain swirling around them into a colossal vortex, not unlike the eye of a typhoon. "No visual effects of the Wind Slate this time?" Perlman shoved forward with both hands, shouting his question. Though forging the unique divine radiance of an Original Slate was utterly unfathomable and unheard of, the reality remained that when his opponent used an immunity field to neutralize his attack for the second time, the Wind Slate's effects were entirely absent. The man was clearly a habitual fraud, pulling and retracting his tricks with effortless ease. The violent black telekinesis bore down like an avalanche, unstoppable. "As everyone knows, two Original Slates cannot coexist. Now that I've started using the Sealing Slate, I won't use the Wind Slate." Lanqi offered a serene smile and an honest reply. Layers of bedrock tore away as countless fissures shuddered open into deep abysses. Black flames climbed up the skyscraper from the ground, shooting toward Perlman from every direction. They threatened to bind Perlman's soul and burn his telekinetic energy to ash. Perlman condensed his telekinesis into an orb of black energy, enveloping himself completely. The black flames struck the telekinetic barrier with a harsh hum, unable to pierce the defense. Taking advantage of the brief lull, as though delivering a lecture on general magical genealogy to Perlman, Lanqi cast out a sealing magic card wreathed in eerie mist. The rain suspended in the sky grew suffocatingly heavy, almost freezing in place, while bloodcurdling wails echoed through the enclosed space. Countless phantoms seemed to cross over from another dimension, their figures overlapping indistinguishably like a spectral choir drifting through the rainy fog. Their shrieks pierced the boundary between reality and nightmare, bringing forth the soul-oppressing obsidian brilliance of the Sealing Slate! To Perlman, all of this was mere noise in his ears. Possessing a spiritual affinity himself, he held exceptional resistance against sonic and mental interference. These ghosts could do little more than slightly hinder his movement. Perlman's telekinetic shield snapped open like wings. The mere air pressure blew the choir of demon wraiths apart. "Do you get it now? You can only carry one Original Slate." Lanqi emphasized with an earnest tone. "Trying to bluff me with a counterfeit slate again? Do you really think I'll fall for it a second time?" Perlman had considered himself a demon of mild temper, but right now he found his opponent exceedingly obnoxious. Beyond putting on a flashy light show of the Sealing Slate's visual effects, the summoned entities served virtually no practical purpose. A psychic blast descended from above, bearing down squarely on Lanqi. Wherever the invisible magic passed, the raindrops resumed their flow, but Lanqi's movements abruptly slowed. "It's real this time, honest." Lanqi explained with an air of not wanting to fight. Without panicking, he swiftly steadied himself between the ground and midair. The square magical emblem on his dark gray coat erupted with dark-purple, crackling lightning. With an innocence matching his eyes, the invisible magical barrier unfurled before him withstood Perlman's telekinesis, throwing out rippling waves of metallic ringing and shockwaves! Talia had long since read Perlman's combat intentions; anticipating his attempt to strike with mental magic, she had matched him in advance with a corresponding spell. Sure enough, her mental magic canceled out Perlman's control effect. The remaining damage was neutralized by her mana shield, which also triggered the accessory Lanqi had given her. [Silent Emblem] [Category: Equipment Card] [Rarity: Pink Divine] [Tier: 5] [Effect: Automatically triggers upon taking massive damage, absorbing 50% of the damage and sealing 50% of the attacker's offensive attributes for 5 seconds. Can trigger up to five times every 24 hours.] [Note: Both surface and depth are real.] To an extent, they had intentionally taken a hit from Perlman, as this equipment allowed them to stall for time, discouraging him from pursuing while his attack power was weakened. *Tata, are you all right?* Lanqi sent a thought across their mental link. Talia had absorbed that mental strike entirely on his behalf. Back when Sigrid ambushed the Legendary Sealing Mage in Bandera City on the northern border of the Protos Empire, the old man had withstood several blows; Sigrid simply couldn't finish him off. Only later, while sorting through his legacy, did Lanqi discover he possessed this very accessory. *Not bad. That Old Sang teacher of yours was truly good to you, leaving you a card like this,* Talia remarked with approval, feeling none the worse for wear. Even so. If they kept fighting like this, she saw little chance of victory. In her possessed state within Lanqi, her output was constrained, barely scraping by at an eighth-rank standard. The only reason they could currently manage Perlman in his berserk state was the massive demon king bonus their nine seals granted against him. If she were summoned directly, she could unleash her full power, but her mana consumption would multiply drastically, meaning she wouldn't be able to fight Perlman for long. Regardless, she had decided to follow Lanqi's lead tonight, resolving to act as his Poet of Great Love and fight by his side to the bitter end. High above Posen Sector 10. Seeing Perlman's terrifying telekinesis sweep toward them once more, Lanqi's figure beneath the dark gray coat dissolved almost into a shadow. With a slight twitch of his knuckles, an ominous ripple completely engulfed the skyscraper terrace. Dark gray vines and foliage bloomed from his palm, expanding rapidly. The living vines grew exponentially, forming a colossal predatory net that draped over Perlman from above. Every vein on the vines radiated a dark, soul-chilling divine luster. Not only did it trap Perlman, but it began constricting, as if isolating him within an inescapable void! [Bloom of Such Exquisite Splendor] [Category: Summon Card] [Rarity: Pink Divine] [Tier: 8] [Effect: Vines surround and seal the locked target. The vines possess high damage reduction and return multi-hit damage to the enemy when attacked.] [Note: Flowers without fruit, leaves without branches.] This was a card the Legendary Sealing Mage had used in the final battle of his life. It could seal oneself or an enemy, and it served as a hard counter against the Nuclear Fusion Wolf. "Do you think you can stall out my berserk duration like this?" Perlman maintained his mental pressure on Lanqi while fending off the vines, deliberately avoiding high-damage attacks that might directly destroy them. Although this confirmed Rocky McCarthy could cast eighth-rank magic, it still fell far short of what a true slate bearer should possess; he was barely managing to hold him back. Furthermore, someone like Rocky was the type of opponent he loathed most. He never taunted, nor did he display genuine triumph or distress in battle. All one saw was him constantly playing weak, as if humoring his opponent. One never knew when he might suddenly strike back. Yet it was equally possible he had no countermeasure at all. It was a relentless psychological torment. "It seems I really am at a disadvantage. I'm practically about to lose." Lanqi couldn't say for sure how long Perlman's rational frenzy would last, but he noticed that this berserk state shared an immutable trait with the Palroni's Resentment curse: it steadily consumed vitality. After fighting for a while, Lanqi had depleted a good deal of mana, while Perlman had burnt through a fair amount of life force. Both were somewhat weakened. In a prolonged battle of attrition, Lanqi could not possibly win. Even if he forced Perlman out of the berserk state, Perlman would still have mana left, whereas Lanqi would be completely drained, resulting in the same defeat. Not that it mattered. He felt it was about time to settle the outcome. *Tata, don't worry about me. Go all out!* Lanqi projected into her mind. In an instant unnoticed by anyone. Orange feather-light scattered into the rainy night, and a maiden resembling an ethereal flower fairy touched down in midair. It was a prolonged instant that felt like eternity descending. Her dress flowed with grace and elegance, carrying a faint floral fragrance. She possessed an angelic visage, yet her face held not the slightest trace of a smile. Perlman's focus had been entirely fixed on Lanqi, leaving him completely oblivious to the fact that another, fully powered demon could emerge from him! Even when Talia appeared and locked Perlman down, Perlman failed to react in time, having been utterly consumed by his suppression of Lanqi. "..." Talia focused her magic onto her fingertips. In the direction she pointed, the air warped, splitting into dark gray chasms. Anything swallowed by them looked destined to be instantly pulverized. Though they hadn't outlasted Perlman's berserk state, she knew Lanqi had judged that dragging things out would guarantee defeat. It was better for her to unleash everything in a decisive battle. Gray threads crisscrossed around the vines, caging Perlman in. [Void-Cleaving Chords] [Category: Equipment Card] [Rarity: Pink Divine] [Tier: 8] [Effect: Upon activation, creates twelve sealed rifts in space within 60 seconds. Any enemy contact triggers a defense-ignoring detonation. Rifts existing longer than 1 second can also be manually detonated. Cooldown: 150 seconds.] [Note: Doubt, hatred, fear, pity. Your emergence has made humanity more restrained.] This magic was something even Boss Cat in the shadows knew all too well. Not only had the Legendary Sealing Mage wielded it, but the Holy Son possessed a junior version as well. Yet because it possessed dual affinities of sealing and space, a pure sealing mage could not master it naturally and had to rely on a card. Accidentally brushing against those gray, fissure-like threads in midair would cause them to rapidly expand and detonate in an overlapping blast. This was virtually the strongest card in the Legendary Sealing Mage's legacy aside from the slate itself. As for the epic-tier sealing arts he had mastered and the epic magic cards he owned, they could not be stripped away. Barring specific descriptions, all epic cards outside the Original Slate series perished into history along with their bearer's death. If one wanted them, they would have to wait for a Shadow World recreation in a future era. "Hmph." The moment Talia manifested with her tempestuous eighth-rank magic, every demon within a radius of several kilometers in Posen Sector 10 felt an overwhelming urge to drop to their knees. Perlman's gaze, previously locked onto Lanqi, snapped in shock toward this gray-haired female demon radiating immense pressure. Yet from that simple scoff alone, the demonic timbre seemed to coil into his mind, magnifying his shock and suspicion to an extreme, overloading his brain almost past the point of rational thought. Even amidst the chaos, Perlman felt as if he were inching closer to the truth. "O Demon King, why would you lower yourself to serve a mere human?!" Perlman gathered all his magic. Dodging a direct clash with the Demon King while hampered by the vines was impossible; he was forced to stake everything on a final strike against his true nemesis! It seemed his opponent had wagered on using Lanqi as a decoy to draw his attention, allowing the gray-haired Demon King to ambush him at the decisive moment. Though Perlman had never anticipated fighting a Demon King, he took solace in the certainty that she was surely the weakest, most anomalous Demon King in history. Aside from her innate bonus against demons, she was extraordinarily weak! "The answer is simple. He is my possession." Talia murmured coldly, her voice carrying the imperious authority of a demon queen for the first time. Space twisted violently. The dark gray vines plummeting from the sky and the gray fissures surging from the ground threatened to engulf Perlman in an instant. At that moment, Perlman let out a cold laugh, and the orb of black energy around him expanded into a colossal black hole. Though his head still spun, he was certain of one thing: the flashy superficiality of his opponents. The Wind Slate was a fake, the Sealing Slate was a fake, and even this Demon King aura might be a fabrication! Against an opponent who indulged in psychological tricks, a direct, crushing blow was the correct response. Overthinking only led one into their traps. Besides, if this was all the strength she possessed, even he could slay a Demon King! In a flash, a near-translucent, murky black light radiated around Perlman. Even his pupils turned into a swirling black fluid, mist rising as he entered a transcendent state of utter selflessness. He unleashed an unprecedented torrent of telekinesis, crashing headlong into the dark gray chains. A terrifying vortex converged at the center of the black hole, seeking to swallow all in its path. The vines collided with the telekinetic singularity in midair, erupting into billions of blasts far more violent than the clash of night and day. The glare was so blinding it seemed ancient darkness and eternal daylight had converged in that single spot. The skyscrapers across Sector 10 of the Posen Demon Realm shook under the clash of power, their windows shattering in a cacophony of thunderous roars. ... From a distant skyscraper, Sector 7 Lord Astaroth and Sector 8 Lord Eureka continued to watch the battle they could not intervene in—a duel that would decide the fate of Palieu. The howling wind whipped around them, tearing at the edges of their umbrellas with shrill shrieks. The torrential rain drummed furiously against the canopies, sending fine droplets dancing through the air, matching the rapid hammering of their hearts. "That's... the Demon King..." Eureka's eyes went wide, the umbrella in her hand nearly slipping from her grasp. The instant Tata revealed herself, Eureka and Astaroth finally realized Rocky's true identity. They had believed the Demon King to be nothing more than an ancient myth, never expecting to witness a living one with their own eyes today! This would undoubtedly be the strike that decided the outcome. Even Rocky had resorted to a desperate gamble, having the Demon King possessing him materialize to trade blows directly against Perlman. "Unlike Perlman, who commands absolute oppressive power, continuously stacks deceleration effects, and presses the attack in a berserk frenzy, Rocky McCarthy has chosen to stall again and again. His defenses have grown sluggish, he is covered in counterfeits, and without the Demon King, he cannot even cast the mental magic needed to cancel crowd control, leaving him exceedingly fragile..." Eureka gazed into the storm-cloaked city toward the heart of the battlefield, a trace of pity mingling with the complex emotion in her eyes. "Which means..." Astaroth looked toward her. "Indeed." Eureka nodded. "Perlman has won." ... ... It was not just Perlman who lay sprawled on the ground with his eyes wide; even Talia was stunned. She had assumed Lanqi's Sealing Slate was a fake. Yet when she used it, could this possibly not be the [Counterfeit Slate - Seal], but the genuine article—the [Original Slate - Sealing]?! Furthermore, she was Lanqi's summoned entity. After her secondary affinity shifted from curse to sealing due to his card setup, her entire body as a sealing-type summon benefited from the Sealing Slate's amplification. And when she cast sealing magic, because she shared Lanqi's slate, the spell itself received yet another layer of enhancement. The sheer potency of the sealing magic she unleashed had shocked even herself. Amidst the ruins, alongside the fallen Perlman, stood Lanqi in calm composure, with Talia floating behind him. "Admirable, Perlman." Lanqi looked down at the heavily wounded Perlman. "You are the third opponent I will not forget."