During the earlier battle, instead of using high-mobility, high-damage spells, he had been fighting Maliketh like a warrior—engaging in direct melee combat.
It was only after firing a Comet Azur at Maliketh that Arthur suddenly realized the mistake.
So he immediately changed tactics.
Instead of clashing head-on, he switched to mobile, evasive combat.
For a time, no matter how fiercely Maliketh attacked, he simply couldn't touch Arthur.
Arthur kept Apparating across the battlefield, flashing from one position to another.
At the same time, spell after spell bombarded Maliketh without pause.
Maliketh was not skilled in spatial magic.
At best, he could barely sense the fluctuations in space when Arthur teleported.
But by the time Maliketh detected Arthur's new location—
Arthur had already finished attacking and moved again.
Enraged, Maliketh unleashed repeated large-scale attacks.
The already shattered hall was further reduced to rubble under the power of Destined Death.
Soon, Maliketh's body was covered in wounds.
"Tarnished!" Maliketh roared.
"If you have the courage, fight me face-to-face!"
"Darting around like this—how could someone like you possess the qualities of a king? How could you ever become the Elden Lord?!"
Arthur suddenly stopped teleporting.
He shrugged.
"When did I ever say I wanted to become Elden Lord?"
Arthur had never once considered that path.
Historically, protagonists in Souls-like stories rarely end well.
In Dark Souls, for example, the chosen hero literally becomes fuel for the fire.
Besides—
Arthur had no interest in managing the mess that was the Lands Between.
Hadn't he already handed the Carian royal family's affairs to his mother-in-law to deal with?
Maliketh looked surprised.
"Then why do you seek to claim Destined Death so desperately?"
Arthur raised the Death Staff in his hand.
Black and white death energy swirled around its tip.
"To complete this power."
Arthur's Death power originated from Prince of Death Godwyn.
Although it had grown tremendously after spreading through the roots of the Erdtree, it still wasn't the same as Destined Death, which was native to the Lands Between.
The two powers were fundamentally different.
Arthur's death energy could:
Corrode life
Transform beings into Those Who Live in Death
But Maliketh's Destined Death could:
Truly kill life
Even slay gods
In terms of quality and level, Destined Death was superior.
After all, it was a force born from the laws of the Lands Between.
Arthur's power, on the other hand, had originated from a demigod's corpse.
If it hadn't spread through the Erdtree and continued to grow using Godwyn's body—
It might not even be stronger than the small fragment of the Rune of Death embedded in the Blasphemous Claw.
Maliketh stared at the swirling energy.
"This… is the power of Death?"
His voice turned uncertain.
"So that's why you were able to gather so many Deathroots…"
"I never expected you to stand on the side of Those Who Live in Death."
Arthur felt Maliketh had misunderstood something.
He wasn't on the side of the undead at all.
He had simply collected Deathroots because Maliketh exchanged them for useful incantations.
But explaining it now felt pointless.
After today—
Maliketh would be a dead beast anyway.
Seeing Arthur remain silent, Maliketh assumed he was correct.
"If you truly stand against Golden Order Fundamentalism, then show me the path you have chosen."
Arthur paused for a moment.
He carefully thought about what Maliketh meant.
Then he asked:
"You want to see my Death power, right?"
Maliketh nodded.
"You may interpret it that way."
Arthur rolled his eyes.
"You could've just said that."
Why speak like some cryptic riddle-maker?
Since Maliketh requested it—
Arthur had no reason to refuse.
After all, fighting with one power or another made little difference.
Arthur lifted his Death Staff.
"Necromancy: Undead Summoning."
Black mist spread across the battlefield.
The same scene from the battle with Placidusax appeared again.
Countless corpses and undead beings emerged from the fog.
However, this time the number was smaller.
The hall was simply too cramped.
And most of it had already been smashed apart by Maliketh.
Even so—
The undead army still looked imposing.
Maliketh stared in shock.
Surrounded by undead on all sides, he was filled with confusion.
Since when could Death power do this?
This wasn't like his Destined Death at all.
Could this be the trait of death energy born from a demigod's corpse?
But that still didn't make sense.
Wasn't its function supposed to be turning people into undead?
None of the other undead could summon armies like this.
While Maliketh was still puzzled—
Arthur kept moving.
Since the numbers were limited—
He would compensate with quality.
Arthur took out every Spirit Ash he had collected since entering the Lands Between.
Countless gray-white cubes floated around him.
Using his Death power and the Spirit Calling Bell, Arthur summoned all their spirits at once.
These weren't the cannon-fodder undead from earlier.
These spirits were true warriors.
Many had even been strengthened with Ghost Glovewort.
Among them, the most representative one was—
Mimic Tear.
After being fully upgraded, the Mimic Tear could replicate Arthur's entire combat strength from before he ascended to godhood.
And that version of Arthur was already terrifying.
With the destructive sorceries he had mastered—
Defeating a few Dumbledores would have been no problem at all.
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