The principal shot through the air like a missile, effortlessly breaking the sound barrier, causing the air to explode multiple times. When Alric was just 500 meters away from the ship, the high lich made a soft horizontal motion with its scepter again.

Hundreds of magic circles in a putrid black color appeared simultaneously high in the sky. From them, hundreds of maddening screeching sounds attacked straight at the principal. Recognizing the type of attack it was, Alric was also ready for it.

Threads of light formed around him, condensing and compressing into countless 1-foot-long needles of pure white light stacked all around him in a spherical shape, just as the sounds of hundreds of deathly cries were about to slam onto him, intending to damage his very spirit. The millions of tiny needles of light exploded outward, breaking all the waves of sound, and breaking the effect of that spiritual magic attack as well, most of it.

But even so, the power of Alric's attack fell too short in terms of raw power compared to the High Lich, Beings who specialized in spiritual and necromantic magic, because of their racial 'dreadborn' aspect. They were pretty much unbeatable in the field of spiritual magic.

Not only was the principal maintaining his clones, all of whom were fighting against powerful Seekers in their own right, but he was also trying to use as little energy as possible. Alric was drained beyond comprehension for maintaining the spatial dome for so long. The mental energy was also like a muscle; he had pushed himself too hard.

For which his prowess of spiritual calculation would grow stronger in due time. But for now, it needed rest more than anything. His energy reserves were also low at the moment. His only saving grace was that the lich in front of him was an initial 5th phase being, while the principal himself was a peak 5th phase being. Even so, a normal Seeker would not have even stood a chance against another race with that pitiful difference in stage.

Then for the first time, a change in expression occurred on the face of the mighty High Lich, his hollow eyes in which the ominous blue fire burnt steadily, danced in a different rhythm, as it asked in a voice that seemed to be generated by the grinding of hollow bones,

"Oh! What an interesting application of light magic, an exciting way of using it, not bad human."

The lingering traces of that spiritual attack had hit Alric, and in a moment like this, when his mental exhaustion was at its peak, it had more effect on him than he expected, even though 80% of that attack was negated and only 20% hit him. And that deathly grinding voice of the lich only made him feel worse, but he did not show any weakness to his enemies outwardly; he asked the lich, sounding as steady as possible,

"Assuming the flag of the Ghost Empire on the ship, I'm assuming this is an attack delegated by the Emperor himself?"

"May I ask why the Ghost Empire is attacking an institution of humanity?"

Hearing the question, the High Lich let out an unnerving laugh, with the same bone-grinding sound, but only worse; it assaulted Alric's ears, making him slightly dizzy just from that alone. A passive effect of the Lich's laughter. But alongside that deathly mocking laughter of the lich, the hundreds of undead on the deck of the ship also started laughing in an echoing chorus of undead,

"Kha…kakak…kuhaaha…kra kra…"

The High Lich spoke again, "You overestimate yourself, human. You are unqualified to know the answers to that. But you're magic had piqued my curiosity, I would say."

The High Lich flicked its dead hands, and a wave of darkness shot out from the Lich, but the darkness did not shoot towards the principal; it formed three dark magical circles within the deck of the ship. Three harrowing and imposing undead creatures emerged from those circles.

First was a Specter, an ethereal creature that attacked the spirit directly, manipulating the mind to create deadly and nightmarish illusions. Multiple sunken long hands were protruding out of the body of the hideous-looking creature, each in a different angle, as if it were not a single being, but an abomination fused from countless vengeful souls.

Second was a Banshee, a one-and-a-half-meter-long female with dark gray skin, marked by hideous scars all over its body; its face was the most horrifying aspect, as if the lower part of its Jaw was torn apart and then stitched backwards. There was an ominous smile on its face that could be a nightmare for every child on earth. Its eyes were completely white, with no iris or pupil visible.

And last but not least was the Death Knight. Sitting on the back of a wretched undead horse. Wearing complete black armor dripping with black ink-like substance, resting on its back was a massive sword that seemed to be made of bones rather than steel. A rough black helmet that covered its entire face, only showing its flaming blue eyes.

Including the Lich that appeared with the missing students on the deck of the Dark Ship, with the breaking of the spatial dome, all four of the creatures were radiating the power of a peak 4th-phase Seeker. The Lich, the Specter, and the Banshee all started to float and go towards the principal.

Meanwhile, the dreaded mount of the Death Knight let out a bone-grinding neigh and jumped out of the ship into the waters. To the shock of the principal, the undead stallion landed its feet on the water and walked on it as if it were flat ground.

Alric's eyes narrowed as he felt a bad premonition clutching at his heart; the Death Knight's stallion slowly marched towards the island behind, walking through the water; even the waves of the ocean were ineffective against the undead mount.

Even though Alric wanted to, He could not attack the Death knight, as the three remaining undead creatures summoned by the High Lich were rushing towards him. In contrast, the High-Lich kept its hollow eyes fixed on every movement of Alric.

The Death Knight let out a mighty battle cry, and a wave of pitch black energy spread from its figure, escaping from the gaps of its impenetrable armor. The death energy spread out in a 200-meter radius surrounding the creature, creating a dark, damp area within that circular zone, transforming the very waters of the ocean into something abominable. Then from that whole circle through different spots.

Hundreds, Thousands…Tens of Thousands of undead skeletons started to emerge, and the number of them only stopped after a bit more than 11,000. Only then did the cry of the sinister Death Knight stop. Its mount started running towards the island where all the students were; the skeletal creatures, despite looking frail and flimsy, ran at a terrifying speed. This created a dreadful picture that no artist had the luck to witness this scene, and paint it into the annals of history.

A Death Knight riding on its colossal horse-like undead mount, leading the charge of more than eleven thousand undead skeletons, all running through the water of the sea at night. Mirroring the clash of the two forces, the three white moons high in the night sky clashed against the large purple moon. The Purple eclipse had begun, the waters of the ocean shining with a mix of white and purple.

Alric, forgetting his previous reasoning, instantly channeled his energy and shot a concentrated ray of light towards the death knight, which was quite easily destroyed by an attack from the High Lich. Using that chance, the three remaining creatures all performed their spiritual attacks on the principal, as he barely had any time to defend himself.

Alric was hit by multiple spiritual attacks at once. The illusory effects of the Ghostly Specter were messing with his senses. The mind-bending screech of the Wailing Banshee halted all his computational prowess, and the mental incursion cast by the Dreadful Lich made his very thoughts slower. Turning his expression into a hideous grimace of boundless mental pain that bordered on the brink of unbearable, even for him.

While the High Lich chuckled in amusement, seeing the sheer agony Alric was going through, he made a proposition, "How about this Human. If you can kill these three of my subordinates, I might answer one of your questions, and only then will you be qualified to face me."

"Oh, and do not worry, my death knight is too prideful to attack anything weaker than him. If you are worried about the human younglings."

The principal's eyes turned bloodshot as he tried his best to purge the defects he suffered in his mind moments before. Alric gritted his teeth as he reviewed his current situation. On one hand, his clones were fighting against the traitors, for which he was unable to fight with his full strength from his main body. He could roughly exert 70% of his full strength, or maybe even less.

The Death Knight was charging towards the academy with 11,000 undead skeletons, and he could do nothing about it. Believing the words of the High Lich would be an even more foolish thing to do. But even if he did believe its words. The students, despite the few strong ones that were there. They could never stand against 11,000+ creatures, all radiating peak 1st-phase power. Not to mention, the corrosive death energy of the undead was especially lethal against the fragile bodies of humans.

Then there was his current predicament. The three undead creatures he was about to face, all specializing in spiritual magic, something that was very hard to defend against for any human mage branch specialist. Even with the power gap in place, they were significantly stronger than humans. Even if he did win. The High Lich remained there like an immovable dark mountain. Filled with more horrors than he had yet to uncover. The very fact that the lich did not finish him with all of its forces, and treating this so lightly, conveyed the pure confidence of the High-Lich.

Alric had no guarantee of coming out on top against such a being, unless he was in his optimal condition.

The stakes could not be any higher. In every possible scenario, he could see nothing but loss, with almost 0% chance of winning. And his loss would mean the death of all those students who were on the island, as for the possibility that the High Lich wanted to capture the students instead of killing them. It was null. Only those unconscious bunch from the minor kingdoms were being kept alive by them. As for the rest, they most definitely wanted them all dead.

Against all those impossible odds, he was alone, no help would come, no anamoly that would shift the tide of battle. He and his disciple Gareth and the grandson of his dearest friend, all those children with the most significant potential of humanity, would all likely die on this very night of the purple eclipse.

For a moment, a thought appeared in his head. For the most part, his whole life had been spent being hunted down by the various kingdoms and the powerful families from those kingdoms nonstop.

Until he became so strong that they had no choice but to accept and honor him.

In the midst of the countless torrents of attack aimed at him from the three creatures, he dodged or blocked one spiritual attack after another. He could feel every inch of his mind protesting against him, for the strain he was putting it on. He could not help but think -

Could he not let them all die, at least most of the students? The children of those very prestigious families who once issued his own hunt all over humanity, why did he have to protect them? Risking his own life. Tormenting his spirit to the point that it was close to shattering, and why not just save the few that mattered the most?

He was exhausted, he was in pain, his body and mind all in too much agony. Even the unknown feeling of hunger was assaulting his stomach after who knew how many years. He barely had 30% of his energy reserves after maintaining the dome for so long.

All his life, he fought to protect only himself.

With no one ever backing him up.

No one ever coming to help.

So, did he have to protect these arrogant, good-for-nothing children who had no relation to him whatsoever

No, nothing was stopping him from letting those children die.

Could he let it be someone else's problem?

Just for once.

So he could rest.

So he could recover.

Maybe just for a minute.

Just a moment…

To gulp down a few potions?

No, he could not do so. But he wished he could. Oh, he hoped for it so.. so badly.

But even with the world turned against him. He wouldn't give up. He would save them all. Why? When it was so easy to give up and flee, and protect the few most critical students. Because if he chose that easier path, he would lose to himself. Lose to the path that he had decided to become.

The path of someone who sought to change the world for the better and not blame it for the misfortune it bestows. He chose to be the better one when everyone had decided to choose the easier way out. To not blame the world for your hardships. That's why, no matter how foolish it may be, he would be the light, even amid the most profound depths of darkness.

After all, that was the very reason why Prime n+nexus tilted him as the and only...

Lightbringer.

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