Facing Ymir, whose figure had merged into the glintstone mist, Lucian remained completely unfazed.
Even Miriam herself had used that disappearing sorcery before, and Lucian could easily lock onto her. There was no reason he would have trouble doing the same with Ymir.
After briefly disappearing, Ymir appeared behind Lucian with a Carian Phalanx surrounding him, the densely packed glintblades flying toward Lucian first.
At the same time, the Carian Glintstone Staff in Ymir's hand lit up once more, and a magical greatsword rapidly took shape, stabbing straight toward Lucian's back.
After briefly disappearing and teleporting, then immediately following up with Carian Phalanx and Carian Piercer, there were very few enemies who could react in time.
The Carian Glintstone Staff was a staff that turned sorcerers into knights, and even the professors of magic were not afraid to fight their enemies at close range.
However, a technique that had once been practically unstoppable had now lost its effectiveness in front of Lucian.
Just as Ymir's magical greatsword was about to pierce Lucian's back, Lucian calmly turned around, as though he had already anticipated this situation.
At that moment, Ymir's heart suddenly jolted.
The moment Lucian turned around, the magic he had been accumulating for some time was already exposed before Ymir's eyes.
A long-prepared Crystal Burst suddenly blossomed, instantly spreading across the sky and crashing down with overwhelming force.
The interweaving magical glintblades were immediately detonated in midair by the dense crystals, transforming into countless specks of magical light.
Looking at the surging Crystal Burst, Ymir's expression changed.
He recognized this spell.
It was the sorcery of the Crystalians, highly regarded by the Crystal sorcerers.
Even among the Crystal sorcerers themselves, there were few who had completely mastered the original techniques of the Crystalians. Most could only use imitations such as Crystal Release and Crystal Barrage.
Anyone capable of truly casting the Crystalians' own sorceries could already be considered a representative figure of the Crystal school.
Fortunately, although its power was tremendous, Ymir knew exactly how to deal with Crystal Burst.
He immediately canceled the magical greatsword in his hand and instead cast the unique Carian spell, Carian Retaliation.
A blue barrier appeared between him and Lucian, blocking the countless crystals.
Not only that, after dispelling the magic, Carian Retaliation converted the power it had absorbed into several magical glintblades.
Against magic that erupted all at once, Carian Retaliation was exceptionally effective.
Even a massive wave of crystals like the one just now could be completely dispelled in a single use.
Ymir was also somewhat relieved.
Fortunately, Eren had used Crystal Burst, which was quick to cast and well suited for dealing with sudden situations.
If it had been the continuous Crystal Torrent, or even Crystal Release, then Carian Retaliation would not have been enough to deal with it.
The two were now very close to each other, and both had just released their magic. Ymir still had several magical glintblades around him.
On the surface, the situation still seemed to be under control.
But just as Ymir was preparing to launch another attack, an inexplicable sense of danger suddenly surged through his heart.
Ymir chose to trust his instincts.
He immediately cast Miriam's Vanishing, disappearing from his position once again.
The next moment, an almost imperceptible magical ambush was suddenly triggered, shooting toward the place where Ymir had just been standing.
Before Ymir, who had reappeared elsewhere, could even catch his breath, he was forced to retreat into the glintstone mist once again and continuously teleport.
Because the moment he showed himself, Night Comet would repeatedly shoot out from the void, relentlessly pursuing Ymir.
Not only that, with both hands free, Lucian continuously waved the staff in his hand, sending one incredibly fast Comet after another surging forward and keeping Ymir under constant pressure.
While dodging, Ymir also skillfully used various sorceries to counterattack.
For a time, the entire dim cathedral was illuminated by the brilliant radiance of glintstone.
Amid the constantly flashing multicolored lights, a pitch-black figure was also revealed.
At some point, Jolan had already appeared at the edge of the battlefield with her weapon in hand.
She had completely lost her usual composure.
She stared intently at Lucian, tightening her grip around the Sword of Night, ready to intervene at any moment.
The moment Lord Ymir encountered a situation he could not handle, she would throw herself forward to restrain Lucian.
Jolan's heart was pounding.
She had never expected this rude fellow to possess such overwhelming strength.
Thinking back to when she had initially tried to stop him, she felt a lingering sense of fear.
If the two of them had actually fought to the death back then, the one who fell in the end would undoubtedly have been her.
Dying without Lord Ymir even knowing about it, leaving behind nothing but a corpse...
Absolutely not.
She did not want to follow in her sister's footsteps.
She wanted to serve Lord Ymir as her living self.
—
Facing the overwhelming barrage of firepower, Ymir remained hidden within the mist, not leaving for the moment.
Seeing that Ymir refused to come out, Lucian naturally did not continue standing there like a target.
He likewise cast Unseen Form, making himself intangible to perception and difficult for his opponent to lock onto.
After the two remained locked in this stalemate for a while, Ymir laughed within the glintstone mist.
He had now personally experienced the strength of Eren, the identity Lucian was disguising himself as.
Not only had Eren effortlessly neutralized his ambush, he had immediately launched a counterattack.
One had to know that Miriam's Vanishing was extremely difficult to react to.
There was only the faintest, almost imperceptible fluctuation of magic.
An ordinary sorcerer would have been stabbed full of holes by him long ago.
Moreover, the techniques Eren had used were all recognized as extremely difficult to master, whether it was Comet or the Crystal sorceries.
There were also those Sellia Night sorceries specifically designed for fighting fellow sorcerers, which could practically be called sorcerer killers.
If Lucian really had been born in Sellia, Ymir would not find it strange that he possessed such extensive experience fighting other sorcerers.
Of course, Ymir's guess was wrong.
How could Lucian possibly have been born in Sellia?
Still, it was true that he possessed an abundance of practical combat experience with sorcery.
After all, when he had previously cleared out the Academy's resistance faction, nearly all those sorcerers had been killed.
Ymir pursed his lips and began considering how to deal with Lucian.
At present, he was not using his true staff, nor could he use his unique Finger sorceries.
It could be said that without using the sorceries that would expose his secrets, it would be extremely difficult for him to defeat Eren.
But this was only a spar.
They had not reached the point of fighting to the death.
Aside from Glintstone Nail and Nails, he had no intention of exposing any of his other sorceries.
Ymir slowly walked out of the glintstone mist.
Rather than casting another spell, he asked with great interest,
"I did not expect you, Eren, to be from Sellia."
"I have to admit, I underestimated you. You are remarkably skilled at fighting sorcerers."
"And you have even received the Crystalians' recognition and learned such a sorcery. Truly impressive."
Lucian also revealed himself and gently shook his head.
"I am not from Sellia. I simply use whatever means are available to me."
"As for the origins of these sorceries..."
"On the road to exploring the origins, there will always be some sacrifices."
Ymir smiled.
"I almost forgot. You are a Primeval Current sorcerer."
"No wonder you are so skilled at fighting other sorcerers. After all, you need to collect materials."
"If I were to lose, I suppose I would become one of your sacrifices as well?"
Lucian stared in Ymir's direction, a strange light flickering within the eyes of his Glintstone helm.
"...No. And I would not be able to defeat you either."
"You are very powerful. As a sorcerer, there are still many areas where I fall short compared to you."
"And I am also very curious about your research, so this really is only a spar."
"At least... for now."
"As for what happens after I have truly uncovered the truth, I hope you will be prepared as well."
After hearing Lucian's words, Ymir had not even said anything yet when Jolan had already drawn the Sword of Night.
However, Ymir raised a hand, stopping Jolan.
Ymir did not take offense at all.
He was neither worried nor angry about Lucian's words, nor did he regret providing Lucian with assistance earlier.
"I see. You really are a model sorcerer."
"And Eren, your level is also higher than I imagined."
"You were not even using your full strength when you fought Jolan just now, were you?"
"Truly... If only I had met you a little earlier."
Under normal circumstances, after committing the act of giving an enemy a map and items, effectively providing them with resources, a normal person would probably be filled with regret afterward.
But Ymir did not feel that way in the slightest.
After all, his original plan had been to eliminate Eren in the end and make him a sacrifice as well.
Because when everything reached its conclusion, there would only be one "spot" available.
Since both of them were harboring malicious intentions and were willing to use every possible means to achieve their goals, when it came to being devious, they could only be called evenly matched.
Now all that remained was to see which of them would ultimately come out ahead.
Lucian said nothing.
He simply waved his staff again, sounding the signal for battle once more.
'What a frivolous fellow, talking so suggestively to someone he has only just met.'
When dealing with someone like Ymir, Lucian always had the feeling that there were eyes watching his back.
Still, after their brief exchange of blows, he had gained quite a bit of understanding regarding Ymir's strength.
Lucian had not used the Crystal Staff that had been upgraded several times and was of considerably better quality.
Nor had he used spells with special meanings and specific applications, such as Eternal Darkness or Thops's Barrier.
But even so, with his overwhelming numerical advantages, dealing with a sorcery professor should have been effortless.
Yet in reality, the two could be said to be evenly matched.
In fact, Lucian had even been suppressed by Ymir when it came to these basic, fundamental sorceries.
There was no denying it.
Ymir was extremely powerful, far beyond the other sorcery professors.
And Lucian could also sense that Ymir was holding back.
Even though he had already demonstrated Glintstone Nail earlier, the spells he used during the battle were still nothing more than the same old Carian repertoire.
Lucian decided to put a little more effort into things and see if he could force Ymir to reveal some of his trump cards.
Lucian waved the staff in his hand, pouring a massive amount of magic into it.
In an instant, the barely enhanced staff was filled to the brim with magical power, and tiny cracks began to appear along its surface.
A huge sphere composed of countless irregular crystals slowly rose into the air.
Under the majestic ceiling of the cathedral, it spun like a disco ball.
But what it cast down was not ambiguous nightclub lighting.
Instead, enormous, crystal-clear chunks of crystal descended with the imposing force of a rainstorm.
The powerful sorcery known as the 'Crystal Sun'.
Crystal Release.
Facing the attack, Ymir had already expected something like this, but the corner of his mouth still twitched.
'Is this kid planning to tear the cathedral apart...?'
Ymir sighed.
The staff in his hand emitted a deep-blue magical radiance and began rotating in front of him, smashing apart the enormous crystals flying toward him.
At the same time, he was actually casting another sorcery.
One after another, white lights illuminated the rotating staff.
Large groups of Glintstone Nail, six in each formation, appeared throughout the air.
This was Glintstone Nail's more powerful variant, Glintstone Nails, possessing greater power and greater numbers.
With a thought from Ymir, the densely packed Glintstone Fingers deftly curved through the gaps between the crystals raining down from above.
Although the majority were inevitably shot down, in the end, nearly forty percent of the nails managed to penetrate the barrage and fly toward Lucian.
Looking at the Glintstone projectiles that were clearly several times stronger while also increasing in number, Lucian smiled.
'As expected, there really is an upgraded version.'
And that ability to curve and track its target was simply too useful.
See?
He had said that sparring really could teach him something.
After they finished, he would see if he could learn this technique and expand his own repertoire.
As for Miriam's Vanishing, he could simply find the original caster and learn it from her.
There was no need to learn a secondhand version from Ymir.
When the Glintstone Nails approached, Lucian stopped the Crystal Release and rapidly raised a massive barrier of glintstone around himself.
Under the protection of the thick glintstone barrier, every single Glintstone Nails was blocked.
The barrier shattered along with them.
At that very moment, another magical greatsword appeared behind Lucian.
Ymir once again cast Miriam's Vanishing, closed the distance, and attacked Lucian from behind.
However, at some point, a shield constructed entirely from glintstone had appeared in Lucian's left hand.
Without even turning his head, Lucian simply raised his left arm and swung it backward.
The shield flashing with magical radiance immediately blocked the magical greatsword, using the force of the impact to throw Ymir briefly off balance.
Parry.
A technique every Soulsborne player had no choice but to master.
If Lucian were using Carian Greatsword right now, or switched to another weapon, he could even follow up with a critical hit.
But Lucian did not make a move.
Jolan's Sword of Night was already pressed against Lucian's heart.
It was not that Lucian was afraid of Jolan.
It was simply that he was currently playing the role of a proper sorcerer.
Once an assassin had gotten this close, the defeat of a sorcerer was essentially decided.
Lucian would not have cared about taking a couple of slashes.
But this was only a spar, after all.
He still had to give Ymir some 'face'.
And it was also a perfect opportunity to continue pretending to be weaker than he really was.
Ymir took two steps back and steadied himself.
His expression was somewhat displeased.
He was clearly dissatisfied with Jolan's actions.
This had been an open and fair spar, and besides, he had not yet reached a desperate situation.
He still had ways to counterattack.
But the moment Jolan intervened, the outcome had effectively been decided.
No matter how one looked at it, it now seemed as though he had been pushed into a disadvantage.
However, Ymir quickly returned to his usual expression.
He waved gently at Jolan and spoke softly.
"Jolan, you don't need to worry about me so much."
"This is a fair spar. Neither of us had any intention of actually hurting the other..."
Jolan lowered her head without saying anything.
Lord Ymir was the only starlight in her darkness.
The only star in her world, beneath a starless night.
...From the moment she met him, she had finally understood what the stars were.
It did not matter that she could not touch the stars with her own hands.
As long as she could raise her head and gaze upon that dazzling light, Jolan felt that she would never lose her way in the darkness again.
Therefore, even if she had to bear the burden of disgraceful deeds, she would never allow anyone to harm Lord Ymir.
Ymir turned his head toward Lucian and sighed.
"Since that is the case, let us stop here for now."
"As for the Finger sorceries, are you interested in learning them as well?"