Whoosh!
A being rushed out of the hidden space created by Damien and his group and rapidly entered the battle.
It shot past Virgil and Marcus, directly approaching the Ghost King and leaping into the air.
AWOOOO!
A dark howl filled the air as the black flash finally took form. The massive maw of a bestial black wolf chomped down on the Ghost King's neck, its sharp teeth ripping through his skin.
The damage wasn't much, but it was the first drop of blood drawn from the creature since the start of the battle!
Damien grinned.
"Attagirl."
It had been a long time since she'd been able to leave the Sanctuary and her excitement was palpable. Zara knew how strong the opponent was, but she didn't care at all!
BANG! BANG! BANG!
Rays of shadow cascaded down from her body and impacted the Ghost King, barraging him and covering his vision.
AWOOO!
She slammed down onto the ground and stomped her legs, freezing the ground and the Ghost King's legs.
"Now!"
Damien heard her call in his head and immediately pushed his foot into the ground.
He was gone in the next instant. His body rushed through space, Mirage entering his grasp as he swung it without mercy!
'Void Sword Art Fourth Form: Spatial Collapse'
BOOOOOOOOM!
Space twisted into an agglomeration of layered mirrors, bending over each other and meshing until the scenery within was completely twisted.
Damien jumped back to avoid its spread, and when he landed, his shadow expanded again.
Zara returned to his side with a savage grin.
Because of her existence as a Nox being, she'd been hidden from the world for a very long time. Immortal Blood Asura had eyes everywhere, so to conceal his connection with the Nox, he had no choice but to keep her locked away in the Sanctuary.
But it was different now. When Damien was reverted to 2nd class, Zara felt the restriction through their soul connection as well. Because of this, she was forced out of the Sanctuary and reverted to her previous state as well.
This meant that not only did she find herself in Damien's shadow again, her superior bloodline was suppressed so she was able to appear and use her old mana again!
Damien had been waiting for an opportunity to bring her out, and the Ghost King provided the perfect timing!
"How's it feel to be back?" Damien asked, grinning at her as he watched the Ghost King break his spatial turbulence.
"Greater than you'd ever imagine," Zara responded.
Her strength might've been regressed, but her intelligence was still the same. She couldn't take human form anymore, but communication wasn't an issue at all.
Something similar must've happened with Lily and Mei who were contracted to Ruyue, otherwise, she wouldn't have been able to grasp Death Mana in her current state so easily.
The smile on Damien's face represented his feelings about this moment, but nothing more could be said.
"YOU. PUNY. MORTALS!"
The Ghost King's words were choppy, which made his rage even more visceral.
Pieces of broken space fell around him like shards of glass, and his attention was wholly focused on Damien and Zara.
After all, unlike Virgil's group, they actually posed a threat!
"Listen up. I dissected his patterns during the previous fight. Just pay attention to these things as you move…"
Damien used mental transmission to pack all the information he wanted to convey into a single second of contact, connecting with the four in his party, and without another moment of hesitation, he moved.
'I should keep him distracted first. He moves slow, but he hits hard.'
The only reason they were able to take action as they did was because the Ghost King was on the slower side both intellectually and physically, but his strength wasn't a joke.
'I don't know who else can handle–'
BANG!
The Ghost King's staff slammed towards Damien, who used Mirage to hold it back.
SCREEEEEEECH!
Damien gritted his teeth as sparks from the collision flew into his face and burned him
"Khhh…!"
He pushed his feet deep into the earth and stabilized his vectors, increasing his weight exponentially, pushing back against the Ghost King with all his strength.
"Attack!"
They were waiting for his command.
At that moment, Damien flowed his mana into the Ghost King's staff, using it as a medium to penetrate his body.
The controlling of someone else's vectors was extremely difficult, but if it was just for a second…
The Ghost King froze.
Four being approached with immense speed.
Ruyue attacked first.
She raised her spear and swung it upward powerfully, letting loose an immense wave of cold Yin mana.
'Moon Goddess Spear Art Original First Form; Tide Formation.'
BANG!
The Ghost King's undefended back was struck by the wave and frozen in ice. The Yin fluctuations in his body were heightened to the extreme, which would have been a positive for him if not for–
Whoosh!
A streak of light shot past Ruyue.
'Pure Yang Flux.'
Elena slashed Yggdrasil's branch, combining her two elements into a flowing stream of absolute Yang.
Life and Light were both in direct opposition with the traits of undead. When they were combined together, and when their already disorderly fluctuations were entangled with those of their opposites…
BOOOOOOOOOOM!
A huge explosion of chaotic mana burst on the Ghost King's back. The mana waves spread through Ruyue's ice and shattered it, emitting even greater pressure.
Despite the extreme physical defense the king of the undead possessed, the force of the explosion tore his skin open and burrowed into his muscles, putting a number of holes in his body.
It all happened in a second.
ROOOOOOAAAAAAAAAR!
The Ghost King let out an ear-shattering roar as Damien's restraints wore off.
BOOOOOOOOM!
He slammed his foot into the ground, spreading a terrifying wave of destructive mana.
"Keuk…!"
Damien took the brunt of the force. He was thrown back, blood flying out of his mouth.
The others were pushed away as well, suffering varying degrees of injuries.
Rose stood up, ignoring the blood pooling in her mouth as she summoned her mana and surrounded the Ghost King's head with it.
'Conceal!'
A shimmering curtain formed from the mana.
The Ghost King's vision was impaired, the sight around him changing completely from Ghost King's Valley to a barren plain somewhere in the universe.
After the roar would come a powerful swing of his staff loaded with mana. This was already present in the information Damien gave them.
With his vision clouded, the Ghost King's swing became nonsense, a random attack with no particular target.
Zara took hold of the opening to cage the Ghost King in countless shadow chains, while Rose, Ruyue, and Elena began to approach again, a new course of attack already plotted in their minds.
A bit further away, Damien clutched his chest with a frown.
'I am not a fan of this slow healing.'
Transcendent Regeneration still existed, but taking the brunt of the force of a peak 3rd class being's attack did more than just sting.
Damien's internals were a mess, and they definitely weren't healing fast enough for him to keep taking hits like that.
He couldn't be counted out of the battle yet, but he definitely realized something important.
'I was damn lucky I didn't offend anyone powerful back then. That cocky dumbass me would've been killed without a single hope for survival!'
