NOVEL NEXT Chapter 1062: Lucien Mad his Move!
"Take this!" Max roared, hurling the unstable devouring hole straight at Mark. The vortex screamed as it ripped through the battlefield, dragging everything in its wake toward inevitable death. Even the runic barriers around the arena groaned under its pull, straining to hold their form.
Mark's crimson eyes flickered with interest. He raised one hand and nodded lightly. "I have to give it to you, Max. This and the lightning dragon before it… Both could kill ordinary Divine Rank experts without question." His lips curved into a faint smile. "But sadly, your opponent is me."
Without hesitation, Mark reached out. His fingers wrapped around the devouring hole as if it were no more than a marble. Space cracked around his grip, but the vortex that should have swallowed him whole shrank against his palm like clay pressed by a sculptor.
And then, casually, he lifted it toward his mouth.
Before the stunned gazes of everyone present, Mark tilted his head back and swallowed the devouring hole whole. The sound was sickeningly simple, like water vanishing into a throat. The catastrophic force that could have slain gods disappeared into him as if it had never existed.
"Hmmm." Mark exhaled calmly, rolling his neck as if savoring the aftertaste. "All those concepts. Space, lightning, flames, the severing edge of your sword. They are indeed powerful, Max." His red eyes narrowed, filled with cruel amusement. "But power like that is just seasoning for me."
Max froze, his face pale. He had poured everything into that attack, a strike capable of unmaking reality itself, and yet Mark had eaten it like a meal. His chest heaved, his mind reeled, his confidence shook to its core.
Around him, silence fell. The gathered leaders were petrified. Even the most battle-hardened among them had never seen anything like this. An attack that could destroy Divine Rank experts, devoured as if it were nothing more than food.
The despair was heavy, choking. Max clenched his fists, his nails digging into his palms. His heart screamed in fury, yet his mind was trapped in disbelief.
Just then...
Crack!
The sound of reality tearing apart spread like thunder across the battlefield. Everyone turned their eyes upward. At first it was faint, but within moments the lines of fracture grew thicker, jagged streaks spreading through the sky as if the heavens themselves were breaking apart. The entire world seemed to tremble beneath the weight of the phenomenon.
Mark's eyes sharpened with sudden intrigue. His crimson pupils glowed faintly, reflecting the fractures in space. "Someone capable of breaking into my space lock?" he murmured, his voice low but filled with genuine interest. Few dared to tamper with the space he controlled, fewer still succeeded.
Shatter!
With a sound like glass collapsing into dust, the fractured space broke completely. Shards of reality fell away, glowing briefly before dissolving into nothingness. From the rift stepped a figure, descending calmly into the air above the Bright Buddha Palace. He was young, no older than Max, with hair as red as living flame and eyes that carried an unshakable calm. His presence was neither overwhelming nor violent, yet it carried the weight of inevitability, as though the world itself bent slightly around him.
"It seems I am not late," Lucien said softly, his lips curving into a faint smile as he landed in front of Max and the others.
"Lucien…" Lady Divine's voice trembled. Her usually unwavering composure faltered as her eyes widened. President William stiffened in shock, his disbelief plain on his face. Even the tiger-masked leader of the Obsidian Order, a man known for never showing his emotions, faltered. His chest rose sharply as if he could not believe what stood before him.
Lucien was a part of the Obsidian Order and yet even he had seen Lucien rarely once he became the strongest human.
The red-haired youth was no stranger to any of them. His name alone carried a legend. Lucien.
The strongest human of their generation. The aloof genius who had surpassed all others long ago, yet withdrew from the struggles of the world. He never raised his hand against the demons. He never interfered with the invasions of the Ascendants. He never stood against the nulls. For centuries, he remained in the shadows, silent and distant, never once revealing his true power.
For some, he was a legend to be admired, a symbol of what humanity could reach. For others, he was a coward, cursed for watching idly while humanity bled. His name was carved in history but tainted by doubt.
And yet, here he stood, breaking Mark's space lock, standing openly on the battlefield of the Bright Buddha Palace.
"Lucien!" The four leaders of the Four God Nations could not contain themselves. Their voices overlapped in disbelief, their eyes wide as though they were staring at an illusion. They could scarcely believe that the figure who had ignored the world for so long had chosen to appear here, in this place, at this exact moment.
Mark tilted his head slightly, crimson eyes narrowing in interest. The faintest of smiles crept onto his lips. "So… the ghost finally walks among the living." His tone was amused, but his gaze sharpened. "I have waited a long time to see if you would move, Lucien."
The entire battlefield was stunned into silence. The aloof legend had stepped into the storm, and even Mark acknowledged his presence.
"I suppose it's our first time meeting." Lucien said with a calm smile.
Mark's lips curved into a smile, slow and deliberate, his crimson eyes glimmering with both amusement and malice. His voice carried easily across the fractured skies, echoing in the ears of every human present.
"There are two presences in this world that have grown at the same level as me in the past hundred years," Mark said, his tone filled with a mocking sort of praise. "And I was very curious about the two, but neither of them ever revealed themselves to me. For a while, I wondered if they were cowards. If they were content hiding in the shadows while I stood alone above the world."
His gaze fixed directly on Lucien, sharp as blades yet smiling as though he had stumbled upon something amusing. "But here you are…"