Beyond the Bloodline-Chapter 307: “Astragrim the Corpse Maker”
[How dare you liken me to a mere Skeleton Mage?!]
With a wave of its bony hand, magic erupted around it and an array of Tier 5 and Tier 6 magic spells ignited the air.
Jagged ice spears shot forward, while blazing fireballs roared through the air, leaving trails of molten destruction in their wake. Dark lightning crackled wildly, twisting and arcing like serpents in the air and the ground below ruptured, sending shadowy spikes surging upward in an attempt to impale Jamie and Glox.
As the spells surged towards them, Glox lazily turned to Jamie and asked.
"Should I block that, or are you going to do it yourself?"
Jamie simply snapped his fingers.
In an instant, a powerful spatial shield materialized before them, effortlessly absorbing the barrage. The spells twisted unnaturally upon impact, their energy redirected toward random parts of the arena instead.
The spectators gasped in shock—then erupted in cheers.
Gauxor, however, was frowning.
’Such a strong barrier... But he can’t maintain it forever.’
He commanded his Arch Lich to send the undead army charging at Jamie and Glox, whilst preparing support magic.
As the wave of skeletons and Dullahans charged forward, Jamie raised an eyebrow and asked aloud.
[What kind of Skeleton Mage can summon Dullahans? Are those Death Knights too?]
Since his voice was still infused with magic power, it resounded across the battlefield, reaching both Gauxor and his summon.
The Arch Lich’s flaming eyes flared with rage, and it prepared to unleash another volley of spells, but Gauxor quickly ordered it to stand down.
"Don’t waste your magic power—he’s trying to provoke you."
Meanwhile, the undead horde pressed forward.
Glox, who had remained seated, finally stood up and stomped his foot on the ground.
Instantly, the shadows cast by the undead came alive, latching onto the undead and locking them in place. Even the strongest among them were unable to move.
The earth cracked open, and carnivorous plants with massive, clawed mouths sprouted forth, tearing into the undead, biting through their skeletal forms with ease.
The Arch Lich quickly retaliated, raising its staff as pillars of destruction energy erupted from the ground, reducing Glox’s plants to nothing but dust.
[Oh! The Skeleton Mage is good!]
Jamie remarked with an impressed tone.
His praise, however, was met with nothing but a deadly glare from the Lich.
Unbothered, Glox extended a hand, summoning a wave of darkness that crashed over the advancing undead, drowning them like a flood.
The Lich immediately countered with a barrage of spells, but before they could activate, Glox drew a glowing circle in the air and fired a Negative Life Beam.
The beam ripped through the air at supersonic speed, shattering every single magic circle before they could fully form.
Glox then turned to Jamie and muttered,
"If you’re trying to provoke him, it’s working."
Jamie blinked at him, looking genuinely puzzled.
[Trying to provoke him? Why would I bother doing that?]
"..."
Glox studied Jamie’s expression in silence, and from it, he realised the truth.
"Do you seriously think that Lich is just a Skeleton Mage?"
Jamie tilted his head, his confusion intensifying.
"...Lich? What Lich?"
Glox facepalmed with a sigh, snapping his fingers.
Instantly, Negative Life Beams rained down from above, while more carnivorous plants erupted from the ground, spewing corrosive poison that melted through the undead army.
’I thought he was just messing around, but it seems he wasn’t actually trying to provoke the guy. He genuinely believes the summon is nothing more than a Skeleton Mage, not a Lich.’
The thoughts crossed Glox’s mind and he sighed once more, before pointing at Gauxor and speaking.
"That guy summoned a Lich. An Arch Lich, to be specific."
"..."
Jamie blinked in surprise, casually tilting his head to the side to dodge the bullets of destructive death energy the Arch Lich fired at him.
His gaze shifted from the Arch Lich to Gauxor standing behind it, then to the undead army, before he shook his head.
"Fall back for a bit, Glox."
Without question, Glox deactivated his skills and leapt backwards, allowing the undead horde to rush forward, completely unimpeded.
Jamie, standing alone, cut his thumb and let a single drop of blood fall to the ground.
The moment it touched the earth, it expanded into a glowing magic circle, and a surge of Summoning Law Energy erupted from within.
A pulse of spatial energy exploded outward from Jamie’s body, blasting back everything around him before he began to chant.
[Thou art the Bringer of Death.
And I am the one untouched by it, for I stand beyond its reach.
By my name as the Conqueror of Death, I summon thee, Death’s Bringer.
Rise once more, but be bound beneath the threshold of Deityhood.]
At the final word, the summoning magic ignited, unleashing a torrent of magic power that surged across the arena like a tidal wave.
The entire battlefield became saturated with death law energy, and a suffocating presence seeped into the ground and air alike.
From the glowing summoning circle, a figure emerged—a skeleton draped in regal royal robes, adorned with glimmering rings and jewelled necklaces that spoke of long-forgotten sovereignty.
A staff hovered at his side, its surface etched with runes and brimming with potent law energy.
The moment the figure fully formed, he fell to one knee and bowed his skull low.
[This ’Corpse Maker’, Astragrim, bows before you, my lord.]
Even as he spoke, Gauxor’s undead army continued to charge, and the Arch Lich unleashed a barrage of high-tier magic spells.
Sensing the attack, Astragrim rose to his feet, his empty eye sockets glowing with flickering blue flames.
He turned, his voice a whisper—yet it echoed across the arena like a command of absolute authority.
[Silence, ants.]
Instantly, an overwhelming surge of magic power burst forth from Astragrim’s body, flooding the entire arena and extending even into the other battlefields where other matches were taking place.
The effect was instantaneous—Gauxor’s undead froze in place, completely immobilized.
Even his Arch Lich stood motionless, as if an unseen force had shackled its very existence.
Outside the battlefield, where the Planet Lord, Orikar, and the tournament officials observed the battle, their eyes widened in shock at the sheer amount of magic power radiating from Astragrim.
The Planet Lord frowned, his expression darkening.
"Analyse the skeleton."
The officials immediately complied, running an appraisal. But when the results came back, the Planet Lord’s eyes narrowed even further.
"Your Lordship... the summon’s realm is Transcendent."
Hearing this, Orikar reacted instantly.
"Impossible! How can that thing be a Transcendent?! Can’t you feel the sheer magnitude of its magic power?!"
The analysis officer nodded, his expression still tense.
"Yes. The quantity of magic power it exudes is beyond the realm of Transcendence. However, the Existence Realm of the summon is unquestionably Superior Transcendent—Level 999 by Appraisal."
At the mention of Astragrim’s level, a new wave of shock coursed through those gathered.
A level 999 summon was beyond anything they expected. It was not something they believed any of the remaining challengers could handle.
The Planet Lord silently activated his Authority, attempting to detect whether Jamie—whom he already suspected was a Deity—was discreetly supplying Astragrim with magic power. However, the only thing he sensed Jamie’s energy doing was sustaining the magic circle from which Astragrim had emerged.
Had this Planet Lord been more knowledgeable about the Intergalactic Stage, he would have recognized Astragrim’s name. He would have also known that Astragrim was an existence only slightly weaker than their Galactic Ruler.
Unfortunately, his ignorance left him unaware of this truth.
But beyond his ignorance, there remained another question—if Astragrim was an existence on par with Lapis, why did their appraisal results classify him as merely Transcendent?
The answer lay in the final line of Jamie’s summoning chant:
Rise once more, but be bound beneath the threshold of Deityhood.
Transcendence was the highest level beneath the Deity Realms, so by adding this line, Jamie had limited the power Astragrim could manifest via this summon.
Thus, the Astragrim before them remained, by all accounts, a Transcendent.
◇ ◇ ◇
Meanwhile, within the battlefield, Jamie turned to Astragrim, his tone casual.
"Long time no see, Astra-boy.
Seems like that Skeleton Mage over there calls itself an ’Arch Lich.’ So, I called you to show it what a real Arch Lich looks like."
At Jamie’s words, Astragrim’s flames of undeath blazed within his hollow sockets, his rage igniting like an inferno.
He turned to Gauxor’s summon, his voice thundering with fury.
[A mere pile of bones dares to sully the honour of a true Arch Lich?!]
Jamie nearly quipped that Astragrim himself was also just a pile of bones, but he barely kept that thought to himself.
Still seething, Astragrim raised his hand, and his floating staff flew into his grasp. He slammed its base onto the ground, sending a shockwave of raw law energy surging outward.
The land groaned as magic power surged through it, knitting itself into a network that formed a Bounded Field.
[Bounded Field: Cholgad Vax!]
The terrain decayed, replaced by a necropolis of endless tombs and ancient ruins, shrouded in a perpetual twilight of death. The sky turned a sickly green, and ghostly wails echoed across the field.
Standing amidst this newly shaped realm of the dead, Astragrim lifted his bony hand and spoke a single word—
[Rise.]
From the cracked earth, thousands of Death Knights and Bone Wyverns crawled forth, their hollow eyes blazing with ghastly blue fire.
With a deafening roar, they charged forward, clashing against Gauxor’s undead army, turning the battlefield into a warzone of death.
Gauxor attempted to deploy his Bounded Field, but the moment he began weaving his magic power, it collapsed, instantly snuffed out by the pressure of Astragrim’s superior field.
Realizing his strategy had failed, Gauxor gritted his teeth and summoned every last creature in his arsenal.
