Chapter 624: Waning Momentum
As soon as the Crystal Phoenix appeared in the distance, the Eye of the Undead—a sinister orb resembling an evil eyeball—immediately turned its gaze toward it, staring as if it had found a mortal enemy.
Its support for undead creatures and the Gate of the Undead weakened noticeably.
Death energy surged in thick waves, boiling and converging, as columns of black mist rose like war banners toward the Eye of the Undead. Around the eye, the death energy condensed into countless pitch-black tendrils, wrapping the orb at the center.
Then, to Leon’s shock, the Eye of the Undead suddenly lifted off and flew straight toward the Crystal Phoenix!
Hundreds of black tendrils, formed from condensed death energy, whipped through the air with crackling explosions, lashing out at the Crystal Phoenix.
The Crystal Phoenix let out a piercing cry, releasing radiant daylight that poured down on the Eye of the Undead.
The pitch-black tendrils collided with the daylight midair, filling the air with a continuous sizzling sound. The violent fluctuations even affected the battle below, making spellcasting noticeably more difficult.
At the center of their clash, it was as if a Title Archmage was unleashing an eighth-tier spell—Thunderstorm. Furious bolts of lightning erupted out of nowhere.
A bolt of lightning, over a meter thick, struck the ground, vaporizing an unlucky Undead Shaman on the spot—leaving not even a trace of bone behind.
Only now did Leon truly understand what the journal meant when it called the Chapter of Truth and the Eye of the Undead mortal enemies!
Not just mortal enemies—they were born to destroy each other.
Whenever they appear together, they instinctively clash, locked in a battle to the death.
And the Crystal Phoenix is the true form of the Chapter of Truth!
For so long, the Crystal Phoenix had been just a lump of crystal. Leon hadn’t been able to fully merge it with the Death Tome—like a lion trying to eat a turtle, with nowhere to bite.
When Leon first opened the Death Tome, he actually had no idea what to expect. His biggest worry was how to activate the Chapter of Truth’s real form. He never imagined he’d witness a scene like this.
Above, the Crystal Phoenix and the Eye of the Undead fought desperately. Below, Leon wasted no time—one hand gripping the Doombringer Staff, the other clutching the Death Tome, unleashing a barrage of spells at the Death Knight.
Anderson was fired up as well, manifesting an avatar with three faces—each one twisted and fierce—as he wielded the Arcane Wheel, sending a torrent of spells crashing into the Death Knight.
Lord Shaun bared his teeth, the Eye of Misfortune in his brow growing dim and slowly closing. The earlier outburst had drained him so much it felt like his heart was bleeding.
Another soul-shattering roar echoed, and Lord Shaun could no longer maintain his towering wolf form. He collapsed to the ground, then dissolved into smoke, retreating back into the Essence Relic.
The Doombringer Staff’s avatar—a spectral purple dragon—and Lord Shaun had both spent too much energy and retreated into their Essence Relics. Still, their efforts paid off: Lord Shaun’s last soul-shattering roar froze not only the Death Knight, but most of the undead as well.
With the Eye of the Undead tangled up with the Crystal Phoenix in a life-or-death struggle overhead, its support for the Death Knight and the horde of undead below was drastically reduced. Even the number of undead pouring out of the Gate of the Undead dropped sharply, and Leon’s team finally felt the pressure ease.
Not to mention, the undead sea had nearly flooded the hold. Whenever the battle above spilled downward, it swept away a good number of undead creatures.
But Leon didn’t relax for a second. He focused all his attention on the Death Tome.
When Leon brought out the Chapter of Truth, his biggest uncertainty was whether he could fully activate it—but his greatest fear was whether it could actually stand up to the Eye of the Undead.
This was a rare chance: if he could fully activate the Chapter of Truth, he might finally be able to merge it with the Death Tome.
But if he failed—if the Eye of the Undead wasn’t destroyed—he could lose this precious relic forever. Even Leon couldn’t bear that kind of loss.
If the Chapter of Truth was destroyed, not only would the Death Tome’s power plummet, it might never reach its full potential again, forever incomplete.
Even with the Chapter of Truth activated, Leon couldn’t bring himself to feel optimistic…
The Chapter of Truth and the Eye of the Undead were locked in a battle to the death—one had to be destroyed for the fight to end. Which meant things were even worse than Leon had imagined: if the Chapter of Truth lost, it would be gone for good.
And no one else could even interfere in their fight!
Eyes bloodshot, Leon desperately forced his Unified Mana Harness to squeeze out more magic. His once-terrifying reserves were now draining at an alarming rate.
The dragon head of the Doombringer Staff pointed at the Death Knight, while Anderson wielded the Arcane Wheel. Waves of fire spells crashed down on the Death Knight, leaving him battered and overwhelmed. Even with the Evil Aura boosting his regeneration six- or seven-fold, his situation only got worse.
This brute-force spell barrage—no finesse at all—turned out to be the most effective strategy against the Death Knight. Three minutes had already passed; if they couldn’t finish him in six, Death Redemption would restore him to full strength.
They had to prepare for the worst. If the Chapter of Truth failed and things went back to how they were, everyone was doomed. Their only hope was to take out the Death Knight first, so even if the Chapter of Truth failed, they’d still have a fighting chance.
As time dragged on, the Death Knight’s mount was barely clinging to life, its combat ability gone. The Death Knight himself grew weaker, and his Death Slash attacks slowed considerably.
But Leon’s face only grew grimmer. The endless, mindless spell barrage was exhausting even him; this kind of magical drain was unsustainable…
(This chapter isn’t over ^.^, please click next page to continue reading!)
Worst of all, up in the air, the Crystal Phoenix was steadily losing ground against the Eye of the Undead.
The daylight pouring from the Crystal Phoenix—almost as powerful as holy light—was being forced back. The Eye of the Undead, surrounded by death energy, had no need to worry about running out in this place saturated with necrotic power.
Countless tangible, pitch-black tendrils whipped through the air, charging like a horde of fearless undead. Every instant, the daylight from the Crystal Phoenix purified dozens of tendrils into mist, but the Eye of the Undead kept conjuring even more.
Five massive tendrils, each three or four meters thick, had already formed on the Eye of the Undead. These were studded with ghastly white bone spikes, which rapidly darkened to jet-black and gleamed with a metallic sheen. Anyone could tell those spikes were deadly.
As time passed, bone spikes on those five monstrous tendrils shot out in a barrage, transforming into an upgraded version of the Bone Spear and raining down on the Crystal Phoenix.
The Crystal Phoenix fought back with everything it had, but the Eye of the Undead kept pushing it further and further back. Things were looking grim—at this rate, the Crystal Phoenix would soon be cornered and destroyed.
Gritting his teeth, Leon summoned an Alchemical Golem, ordering it to stop clearing out the endless waves of undead and join the assault on the Death Knight. Instantly, Reina the Frost Dragon and Hubert the Dragonblood Orc found themselves under much heavier pressure.
Even Hubert, tough enough to make Leon wince, was now wounded and screaming in pain. Most of the color had drained from his face—he must’ve been pale as a ghost.
"Master Merlin, please don’t do this! Hubert can’t take it anymore—save me! I swear I’ll never slack off again…"
Hubert’s eyes were filled with terror; he’d killed so many undead his hands were numb. What used to feel easy now felt impossibly heavy. Reina the Frost Dragon was exhausted too—she just shot Leon a weary look before throwing herself back into the fight without a word.
With the Alchemical Golem’s help, Leon finally managed to spare a bit of attention, channeling power from the Death Tome to bolster the Crystal Phoenix.
But since the Crystal Phoenix had never fully merged with the Death Tome—and now fought on its own—the boost from the Death Tome barely made a difference. It only slowed the decline a little.
Leon refused to give up. This battle made it painfully clear: the Chapter of Truth alone couldn’t stand against the Eye of the Undead. But unless it fully merged with the Death Tome, it couldn’t draw on the tome’s power either.
He kept pouring vast amounts of magic into the Death Tome, channeling its power to aid the Crystal Phoenix. Only by letting the Crystal Phoenix feel the boost from the Death Tome could he hope it would finally choose to merge when all seemed lost.
The only way for the Crystal Phoenix to win was to fully merge with the Death Tome—and Leon wasn’t about to let it choose death over fusion.
Anything with a hint of sentience will always try to avoid destruction and seek survival. Nothing fights to the death if it still has a trump card.
The Crystal Phoenix was clearly sentient—otherwise, it would never have stayed curled up for so long, refusing to merge with the Death Tome.
Time slipped away—six minutes gone, and despite burning through staggering amounts of magic, the Death Knight still wasn’t defeated. Then, with a single swing of his sword, Death Redemption activated, and the battered Death Knight was suddenly back to full strength.
The Crystal Phoenix was nearly cornered by the Eye of the Undead. The five massive tendrils kept sprouting jet-black bone spikes, now etched with simple runes.
With those runes, the bone spikes were now as powerful as Bone Spears at their absolute peak.