In the middle of the night, lightning lit up the trees for a second as it tore through the ground near the point of impact caused by Ebony's attack with her magical shield.
The explosion from that lightning magic was powerful enough to raise a curtain of dust and rip several nearby trees out of the ground, including the one Lucian had been standing on.
After a few moments of confusion, the elf Lucian rose from among the branches of the fallen tree, clutching his head. The roar of the explosion had been so close that it left him stunned due to his sensitive ears.
"What the hell was that…" the elf muttered as he began walking toward the site of the explosion, only to find a crater where the banshee had been bound by her roots.
Standing over the crater was only Ebony, her clothes torn and filthy as her wounds slowly healed thanks to her magic.
Her skin, burned by the lightning, regenerated rapidly, and the heavy shield in her hands was intact and gleaming, without a single scratch.
"How… how the hell are you doing that?" Lucian asked as he watched her healing magic, since in that world Healers couldn't heal themselves.
"Shut it, ears, my ears hurt from the explosion," the blonde said as she cracked her neck.
The two moved closer to each other and together surveyed the chaos caused by the thunder shield in her hands. It had even extinguished the campfire and destroyed the last remaining skeletons.
However, as they both sighed in relief at the end of the battle, they remembered that they still had one more member in their party, Cristofer, who was nowhere to be seen.
"Shit! Where's the kid?" Ebony shouted as she slung her shield onto her back and started searching for their young companion among the bushes and fallen trees.
"Damn it, if something happened to him we're dead, why did you use an area damage skill if Cristofer was that close?" Lucian asked as he began concentrating, trying to connect with the flowers he had summoned to locate his companion.
"I didn't think the explosion would be that big, that dwarf told me it would just be a small lightning spark without much power!" the blonde complained with every step as she failed to find any trace of the teenager.
Meanwhile, Lucian managed to identify a presence slowly fleeing from the edge of his flower domain.
"To the west! Run, now! That necrophage must've taken him!" Lucian didn't waste a second and started running, overtaking Ebony in an instant.
He caught up to the necrophage, which was carrying Cristofer over its shoulder like battle loot. The boy was still intact.
"Damn idiot, trying to flee while injured is stupid," Lucian said as he prepared the wooden staff he carried at his belt.
{{Forest Invocation: Guardian's Sword}}
In an instant, the staff transformed into a silver sword engraved with elven patterns, which he used to sever the necrophage's head in a single swing.
The head fell to the ground, spilling what little blood it had left, and the body collapsed immediately, dropping Cristofer onto the dirt.
With a sigh of relief, Lucian shook his sword, splattering the blood staining its edge directly onto the ground.
He hoisted the boy's body over his shoulder and began walking back toward the center of his flower territory, but at that moment a chill ran down his spine.
Turning his head instinctively toward the outside of the flower domain, he saw a pale man with a thick beard, stroking it as if analyzing his enemy.
His presence was terrifying. He might have been even more powerful than Lucian himself. Judging by his full armor decorated with iron skulls and the massive Damascus steel sword, his identity was obvious.
"(Damn it! That's a fucking Ghost Rider!... I guess the banshee was just following his orders, just like the necrophage… If that bastard decides to attack, we're dead)" Lucian thought as cold sweat ran down his forehead.
"Hey, kid, you killed one of my men. I didn't want to get involved because it would've been unfair, and above all I am a knight who respects the sacred right to defend your own life in fair battle… But I think you might be on my level," the rider said as he began to walk forward.
"Judging by your reaction, your senses are enhanced. Either that, or you know who I am, or maybe both, I don't really care," he added with pale, cold lips, his icy breath visible to the naked eye.
Ghost Riders were part of the undead race. In their previous lives, they had been valiant knights who eventually died, but even after being reanimated by necromantic magic, they were able to retain their free will.
Because of this trait, they were dangerous to create even for high-level necromancers, since complete free will combined with the power to devour souls was not something to leave roaming freely.
"Hey, hey, wait… If what you're looking for is a duel worthy of someone as powerful as you… I'm not worthy of…" Lucian tried to speak, but his voice faltered as he felt the icy cold beginning to wither the flowers surrounding the rider, "that honor…"
"Ho ho ho, what a polite tongue you have, boy, but you see…" the undead said calmly, then rested his massive sword on his shoulder, releasing a surge of freezing magic so intense that even the trees began to die.
"I'm hungry… I've been trapped in this forest for centuries and there's no one interesting… Sometimes adventurers come by, but I'm forbidden from attacking the inn, so I have to make do with a kid like you," the bearded man said with a chilling smile.
"STOP!" Ebony shouted as she ran through the forest and reached the scene, her face calm and her steps firm.
"Sir Rider, allow me to formally introduce myself, I am Ebony Strange! And this idiot here who killed your… pet? Friend?, that thing… um… is my husband!" the blonde said as she removed the heavy shield from her back and bowed toward the enemy.
"Oh, a beautiful lady, what a pleasure! I am… Richard Guntihgard!" the undead said as he bowed in return in a formal greeting.
"We do not seek trouble with you, Sir Rider. Death will claim us in due time, and to ensure it is not tonight, I ask for your mercy," the blonde said as she walked firmly toward her mortal enemy.
"(This bastard is the one I've been feeling for a while now, that presence I can barely endure is his, the other useless ones barely gave me a chill…)" Ebony thought before stopping in front of the rider.
His presence was unimaginably cold, his existence a void that threatened to swallow all life. For any ordinary Healer, just his presence would be enough to make them faint, but Ebony clung to her sanity.
"I request a duel!" Ebony shouted, holding back tears.
"That's it! I like that, an interesting lady. Looks like the kid hit the jackpot!" the rider smiled as he assumed a combat stance. "I accept your duel, miss."
"Good! Then I'll explain the rules…" Ebony said, swallowing hard, "The duel will be rock, paper, scissors!"
"What?!" the rider said in surprise, while Lucian himself stood there, mouth agape, in disbelief at his wife's words.