Chapter 1581. Consuming the Essences
Theridan was a level 90 mythical. He had the highest level among all the past kings. As the king who had founded Themisphere, he was said to have defeated many barbarian tribes and united all the humans into one country. Hence, it wasn't strange that he had a higher level than any sovereigns Jack had met, even when compared to Marcus.
The rest of the kings had levels that ranged from level 70 to 85. Aside from Theridan, another two kings were also mythical grades. Thegromar and Thebalder. The others were rare elites.
Thebalder was Themisphere's fourth king who was a friend to the orcs and also the reason for their country's enmity with the Verremor nation. He was a level 82 mythical grade.
During the Judgement of Past Kings, Thebalder used a sword to activate his skill, Earth Wrath. Here, he fought with two weapons, a sword and an axe. He fought with the ferocity of an orc. Aside from some unique skills, he possessed many standard skills from the Berserker and Avenger classes.
As for Thegromar, he was Themisphere's third king. He once led a military expedition into the Daflue Region to search for treasure inside the ruin of an ancient civilization. His force met with Liguritudum force which came for the same purpose. Conflict ensued. During the battle, Thegromar slew the head of the expedition which turned out to be the Liguritudum's prince. This became the source of hostility between Themisphere and Liguritudum.
Thegromar was a level 85 mythical grade. He was a spellcaster. His spells comprised many spells from the Elementalist, Warlock, and Reaver classes.
With the addition of eleven powerful combatants who were experienced in warfare due to their past lives, the tide appeared to be turning. The Young Januses were beaten back.
All of Januses were spellcasters. Hence, they were vulnerable in melee. Their meat shields came from their summons. But almost one-third of these summons switched sides because of Theridan's Beast Dominance. This further caused disadvantages to the Januses.
Theridan's main weapon was an unusual weapon. A bladed whip. Its long reach allowed him to hit the opponents as he rode his trusty pet, Terraxx.
Terraxx charged forward to where Therras was. Seeing its kind fighting alongside it, Therras' fighting spirit was roused. It fought more fiercely than it had ever been.
Good Janus cast a spell that conjured an illusory shield that protected himself, Jack, and the chalice.
Jack cast Magic Field to increase both his and Good Janus' spellcasting ability. He then cast Orb of Storm and Perpetual Lightning Judgement. With his advanced mana manipulation, the lightning snakes from the spell slipped through his allies without hitting them and struck the enemies.
Almost all the Young Januses were hit by this spell due to its extended range. A good portion of them were paralyzed and whatever spells they were casting were canceled. The eleven kings didn't waste this opportunity. They pounced on these Januses while they were down.
"Shit!" Jack cursed.
"What?" Good Janus asked.
"Never mind. Continue casting spells!" Jack instructed.
The reason for his curse was because of his clone that was using the Lightning God Incarnation. It was the end of the divine skill's duration and Jack was about to carry out his finishing attack, but Evil Janus cast a spell that teleported Jack far into the void. Jack's finishing attack couldn't cover the range back. His finishing attack ended up exploding where there was no enemy around.
Evil Janus either knew about his divine skill's final attack or he was able to sense the incoming attack. Either way, that ultimate attack was wasted.
Dragon Jack with the Strength of Hope was still battling through the Young Januses that protected Evil Janus. Spark was fighting beside him some time ago, but the spirit weapon suffered too many attacks. Most of Young Januses' spells were AOE and there was only so much Spark could do to avoid them. It didn't have as high an HP and defense compared to Therras, so it was losing HP faster than the others.
Spark tried to use its finishing mode the same as Lightning Jack, but this also failed. Evil Janus turned intangible when Spark came charging with its finishing mode. Evil Janus was using the Ghost Form spell. Spark's finishing mode exploded without harming Evil Janus, but it did take out a few Young Januses nearby.
With only Dragon Jack and Therras, the two were having difficulty until Theridan and Terraxx came to the rescue, the table was then turned.
"Hrrggghh… You people are truly exasperating," Evil Janus growled. There was clear resentment in his tone. The mage was furious this time. "I will make you all regret this…!!"
The dark aura surrounding Evil Janus suddenly turned denser. He was also growing larger. He no longer looked like a human. He was like a darkness-type monster with one large eye in his head.
"Oh no! He uses the essences he has collected," Good Janus informed.
"What does that mean?" Jack asked.
"He sacrifices all the essences from the faction leaders he killed to fuel himself. If he wants to become eternal, he will have to kill the same number of faction leaders all over again."
"That is good, isn't it?" Jack said.
"Good for the world. Bad for us. He might have lost the essence, but he gains a temporary boost of power that probably put him close to an eternal-grade power."
Evil Janus didn't take long to showcase his power. The Eye of Illios on its head shot out a thick dark beam that blasted everything in its way. The beam went all the way to where True Jack and Good Janus were located.
Both Jack and Good Janus cast Magic Wall. The two illusory walls blocked the beam but they cracked as soon as the beam touched them. They broke a second later. Jack activated Gold Scale Armor just before the beam hit. Good Janus cast Phantasm Armor, which conjured a ghost-like suit onto his body.
Jack and Good Janus were smacked by the beam. Good Janus tumbled back and fell to the ground but Jack just skidded on the ground a few meters back due to the resistance from his Gold Scale Armor. It's a good thing neither they nor the beam hit the chalice on the ground.
Even with the protection from the Gold Scale Armor, Jack lost half his life from that one hit.
