Although Joseph wished he could have a chance to drastically weaken the Tower of Dusk’s strength, he knew clearly that it was definitely not the time to harbor those thoughts, because they were facing a crisis at the moment. Even if the numerous Legendary powerhouses of the expedition worked together, they might not be able to survive in the face of the strong and powerful Iceblast Wyrm. If he were to have other thoughts and cause others to be in trouble, could he possibly escape?
With the addition of Claus and the three elders of the Caesar Family, there were 17 Legendary powerhouses fighting against the Iceblast Wyrm Sindera. All of them were at level-22 and above. There were even Legendary powerhouses like Lin Li, Connoris, Thomas, and Elvis who were at the peak of the Legendary-realm. They also had powerful magic props like the War God’s Shadow. If they were outside, they would probably be strong enough to overthrow even the Felan Kingdom. Most Sanctuary powerhouses would probably choose to retreat if they met them. Unfortunately, their opponent was an ancient wyrm that dominated the skies of Anril during the prehistoric times—the Iceblast Wyrm Sindera, which was second only to the five Dragon Aspects.
Although they did not know what method Brahere had used, the Iceblast Wyrm Sindera had already lost its sense of self at this juncture, and it was just like a powerful zombie. However, the Iceblast Wyrm Sindera did not control any Humerus Wyrm and make it join the battle against the 17 Legendary powerhouses who were besieging it, perhaps because of its pride as an ancient wyrm.
With the low rumbling of a dragon roar, the Humerus Wyrms beside Sindera immediately split up and pounced straight onto the expedition in the canyon without even bothering to look at the Legendary powerhouses. In the blink of an eye, only the Iceblast Wyrm Sindera and the 17 Legendary powerhouses including Lin Li who were flying over quickly were left in the sky.
Each of the hundreds of Humerus Wyrms possessed Legendary-level power, which could similarly pose a lethal threat to the expedition. However, with the current situation, Lin Li and the others had no other option but to let the Humerus Wyrms pounce onto the team below. It wasn’t appropriate to say that they had left it up to fate, but it would be unreasonable to say that they were expecting them to destroy the hundreds of Humerus Wyrms. They could only hope that they would last as long as possible.
The only thing that was in the favor of the expedition was the local terrain. Although the canyon was very wide, the hundreds of Humerus Wyrms couldn’t all rush down at once, and probably only about half of them could fit. In other words, only 50-odd Humerus Wyrms could go down. The remaining half hovered at a low altitude above the canyon, and would occasionally spit out some dragon breath at the expedition.
Lin Li and the others did not look down at all. It was not that they didn’t care about the lives of their men, but rather that no matter how difficult and dangerous the situation the expedition faced was, it was definitely not as difficult as that of Lin Li’s group of elites. The massive pressure coming from the Iceblast Wyrm Sindera that belonged to a Sanctuary powerhouse made Lin Li and the others find it difficult to breathe. The mana that was constantly flowing through their bodies became incomparably stagnant at this moment.
At the same time that the Humerus Wyrms dispersed, intense magical waves suddenly erupted in the void, and countless sharp ice thorns appeared out of thin air around the Legendary powerhouses, as if they had transmigrated through space. They then shot towards them at the speed of lightning. Under the powerful suppression of the Iceblast Wyrm Sindera, the strength of the Legendary powerhouses was greatly affected. The sudden attack immediately forced them into a dangerous situation.
It was only the beginning. The Legendary powerhouses who had thought that they would at least be able to put up a fight had already fallen into a disadvantageous position without even getting the chance to cast a single magic spell or swing their swords. Fortunately, Lin Li had set a minimum of level-22 for the powerhouses that were going to follow him. If it had been a Legendary powerhouse who had just recently stepped into the Legendary-realm, he would probably have been destroyed by the ice spikes at the moment.
The ice spikes should be considered to be of the lowest-level spells amongst the Ice-series magic. Even a level-5 mage would be able to cast it. However, if the ice spike magic spell was cast entirely with nomological power, each seemingly insignificant ice spike would simply be sharper than any other superior-grade magical weapon and Legendary magic spell.
Under the attack of the ice spikes, even Legendary-level magic spells would collapse. All of a sudden, the Legendary powerhouses in the sky were forced into dire straits, and those who were less powerful even sustained severe injuries.
However, although the sudden attacks were powerful, they were not beyond the psychological capacity of the powerhouses. After all, the other party was a strong Sanctuary powerhouse, and it would seem abnormal if it did not cast such powerful magic. What truly horrified them was the fact that they did not notice any difference despite being in their own Magical Domains. It was simply too terrifying.
When in the Magical Domain that they had created themselves, Legendary-mages would be the controllers of the Magical Domain, and no abnormality would escape their detection. Besides, the other party was using magic. Even a Sanctuary powerhouse would not be able to cast magic spells without any magical waves. Hence, it was obvious that they had lost control of their Magical Domain even though it still existed. They no longer seemed to be the controller.
It wasn’t the clash of Magical Domains that would usually happen when Legendary-mages fought against each other, but rather that an existence of a higher level was devouring it! The entire sky was filled with snowflakes that fell into the Magical Domains of the Legendary-mages, including Lin Li’s. Even the Magical Domains that contained fire elemental laws seemed to be at an abnormal temperature. They could not melt even a single snowflake.
Lin Li, who had already comprehended the Sanctuary-realm a bit, could be considered to be the powerhouse who was the closest to the Sanctuary-realm and the most powerful one amongst all of them. However, at this time, Lin Li’s Light and Darkness Domain was just as vulnerable in the face of the Iceblast Wyrm’s Ice Domain. The entire Light and Darkness Domain had become an icy snowfield, and each snowflake contained extreme elemental laws of water. Although the Light and Darkness Domain was created with basic Laws, Lin Li clearly couldn’t compare to the Iceblast Wyrm in terms of his mastery of the Laws.
Let alone Lin Li, it was the same for the rest. While they were breathing, they heard a loud bang from not far away, and the Magical Domain of a level-22 Legendary-mage from the Mithril Alliance actually collapsed and disintegrated as it could not withstand the immense pressure. The Legendary-mage himself spat out a mouthful of blood with the collapse of his Magical Domain, obviously having suffered severe injuries. If it weren’t for his companion beside him, who had quickly shielded him by casting a defensive magic spell in time, he would have been blown to pieces by the flying snowflakes.
Upon sight of that scene, everyone panicked and put away their respective Magical Domains, which were of no help at all anyway. They did not want to be crushed to the point of collapsing and sustaining injuries.
Lin Li was the only one who was still maintaining the Light and Darkness Domain. At the same time, he raised the Helios’ Scepter high in his hand abruptly, and instantly condensed the Light and Darkness Sword, which slashed at the Iceblast Wyrm Sindera forcefully. That was the first attack that the expedition team had launched against the Iceblast Wyrm Sindera.
The appearance of the Light and Darkness Sword was like a stone that was plunged into water as the sky that was full of flying snowflakes became tumultuous. The snowflakes started flying faster, and they also condensed into a silver python that circled around the Light and Darkness Sword. It created sounds of collisions, and the Light and Darkness Sword that could easily tear apart a Legendary-mage’s Magical Domain actually shattered in the collision before it could even get close to the Iceblast Wyrm.
Lin Li’s face was slightly pale; he was genuinely frightened. The Light and Darkness Sword was not condensed with the Power of Light and Darkness that he had mastered, but with the purest nomological power of Holy Light and Gloomy Dark. He even added a hint of his comprehension of the Sanctuary-realm. Even the Magical Domains of Legendary-mages who were at level-22 or level-23 might not be able to withstand it, let alone Magical Domains like Stephen’s. He initially thought that it would at least cut the Sindera even if it was just like a tickle. To his surprise, it was blown apart only halfway through its trajectory.
That scene had undoubtedly brought an even greater shock to everyone, and they could feel the amazing power contained in the Light and Darkness Sword. Even Joseph, who detested Lin Li, dared not go toe-to-toe against the sword. However, the sword did not even manage to touch the Iceblast Wyrm Sindera. Was that the difference between the Sanctuary-realm and the Legendary-realm!?! The pinnacle of the Legendary-realm was claimed to be infinitely close to the Sanctuary-realm, but as long as one did not cross the threshold, the distance would be infinitely huge!
However, no one dared to slack off at all at this juncture, regardless of whether they were frightened or feeling cowardly. While putting up the crumbling defensive magic spells, the Legendary-mages raised their staffs and cast the most powerful magic spells that they could with all their might.
All of a sudden, the sky became incredibly vibrant, and amidst the flying snowflakes, lightning, fire snakes, and wind dragons swarmed towards the Iceblast Wyrm as if they were going to drown it. The condensed swords[1] did not fall behind, either. They passed through the crowd and stabbed at the Iceblast Wyrm’s body with immense power that could tear the sky…
“Howl!”
The sound of a dragon roaring emotionlessly filled the sky.
With the roar of the dragon, all of the attacks disintegrated in an instant, be it offensive spells or swords. They disappeared immediately and went up in smoke like torches that fell into a pool of water. However, shortly after, the snowflakes in the sky began surging, and then charged at everyone with intense killing intent…
The Legendary powerhouses who had always been high and mighty finally experienced what it was like to be insignificant in front of the Iceblast Wyrm Sindera. Even though they were already regarded as god-like existences by ordinary people, and seemed to possess the power to destroy the heavens and earth, they were actually no different from those ordinary humans now. They were just insignificant small fries that were at most a little stronger than the others.
Facing the attack from the Iceblast Wyrm Sindera which seemed to be rather casual, they did not have time to catch their breath at all. The sounds of their magical shields shattering were incessant, and everyone was trying their best to release their defensive magic spells. If they weren’t careful, they might die with their corpses torn into pieces.
Lin Li was not having it any better as well. Those attacks were simply unavoidable, and there was no other way but to defend against them with all his might. Although he was still wearing his Space-related Magical Robe, the entire battlefield was filled with deadly snowflakes, and there was nowhere he could go even if he used space-related magic spells. In his hands, the glow of the Helios’ Scepter was constantly flickering, and all he could do was desperately put up layers of magical shields. If 10 weren’t enough, he would add 10 more. However, that wasn’t enough, so Lin Li continuously released defensive magic spells, yet he still felt the snowflakes getting closer and closer to him.
Not far from Lin Li was Connoris, who was also in a state of exasperation at this juncture. The Eternal Frost Blade in his hand was constantly cracking in the space around him. Every crack that appeared was like a long whale drawing water, sucking the surrounding snowflakes into the cracks. He seemed to be having an easier time dealing with it than Lin Li.
However, only Connoris himself knew that it wouldn’t be easy to cut through and create some spatial rifts even with the power of the Eternal Frost Blade. If another Sword Sage who did not have the perfect body created by Osric had been in his place, he would probably have exhausted his power in a few shots. However, even with the perfect body, Connoris knew that he wouldn’t be able to hold on for long. After all, he still wasn’t a Sanctuary powerhouse like Rodhart.
Hence, after desperately trying to create a temporary safe space for himself, Connoris induced his power into the Eternal Frost Blade vigorously, and slashed towards the Iceblast Wyrm that was far away. Following the trajectory of the Eternal Frost Blade, a beam of light spanning across tens of meters flashed before disappearing without a trace.
“BOOM!”
The disappearing sword light directly traversed thousands of meters before appearing in front of the Iceblast Wyrm Sindera again. It then slashed at Sindera’s throat. After a loud bang, the snowfall stopped, and the snowflakes that contained massive power instantly disappeared without a trace.
Everyone found it a little hard to accept the unexpected change, and there was even a Legendary-mage who continued to cast defensive magic spells. Was that a surprise? When they shifted their gazes to the Iceblast Wyrm’s body, they felt a chill in their hearts. The light of the sword did hit the Iceblast Wyrm’s throat, but it didn’t even break the ice armor on it, even though the sword was powerful enough to cut a wyrm into two.
“Damn it, I couldn’t even hurt it!” Connoris cursed after failing to injure the Iceblast Wyrm. Although he never thought that he would be able to severely injure the Iceblast Wyrm Sindera with his sword, he found the fact that he had failed to penetrate its defense incredibly absurd.
Could Connoris even break the magic spells of the Iceblast Wyrm Sindera? It was a Sanctuary powerhouse that mastered the lethal power of elemental laws of water. It did not have to rely on chanting spells to cast magic like ordinary mages. Perhaps it merely wanted to change its approach.
However, the pause could be considered breathing time for the crowd. However, they did not use it to attack the Iceblast Wyrm. Instead, they used all sorts of methods to strengthen their defense. The situation just now made their hearts ricochet, and no one knew what powerful magic spell the Iceblast Wyrm was going to cast next. Since their attacks had no effect on the Iceblast Wyrm, they would try to save their own lives for the time being, regardless of the outcome.
However, Lin Li had no intention of giving up the opportunity. In fact, he had already raised Holy Light in his other hand when he sensed the change in the magical waves around him. “Since the Light and Darkness Sword doesn’t work, I will try this!”
At that moment, a Magic Array that was as tall as a person suddenly appeared out of nowhere in front of Lin Li. The entire Magic Array was filled with milky white light, and the center of the Magic Array was the debris of the stars, Holy Light. As the Magic Array rotated, a blinding ray of light darted out of one of the origin points on the Magic Array. When the light reached its peak, it converged in a central point that was one meter in front of the Magic Array.
“Boom!” A ray of white light that was as wide as a bucket darted out from that point immediately, causing ripples to form in the space, emitting the purest holy aura of the world before quickly shooting at the Iceblast Wyrm Sindera.
“Judgment of Light!” Upon seeing the white light and feeling the pure holy aura, everyone couldn’t help but gasp. They even forgot what they were doing.
The Judgment of Light was one of the most powerful theurgies of the Brilliance Shrine, and less than five members of the Brilliance Shrine could perform it! It was said that only the most devout believers of Holy Light who had been personally taught by Pope Rosario could perform it.
However, the other party was one of the mages the Brilliance Shrine detested! Even though the Brilliance Shrine had become less harsh to mages in the recent years, they couldn’t have possibly imparted the most powerful theurgy to them, could they? Besides, even if a mage learned it, he wouldn’t be able to cast it. Would he really believe in that ethereal God of Light!?
There had been many rumors about the relationship between the Tower of Dusk and the Brilliance Shrine in the Breezy Plains. However, to most people, it seemed to be only a cooperative relationship. Even if the rumors said that there were Holy Paladins in the Tower of Dusk, no one would believe it unless they saw it with their own eyes. The Holy Paladins were the bodyguards of Pope Rosario of the Brilliance Shrine. They usually wouldn’t leave the Holy Mountain.
However, even if they couldn’t believe it, the incomparably pure holy aura could not be faked. They couldn’t help recalling the rumors that were spreading across the Breezy Plains. They wondered if they might be real.
However, no matter what thoughts they all had in their minds, they saw a glimmer of hope when they saw Lin Li suddenly display such a powerful Judgment of Light. Regardless of how strong the Iceblast Wyrm was, it was still an Undead creature, after all, and the purifying effect of the Holy Light on Undead creatures was well known throughout Anril. Although a single strike could not purify the Iceblast Wyrm, they reckoned that it should be able to give it a huge blow.
Everyone watched expectantly as the light pillar filled with pure holy aura blasted a large hole in the death fog that surrounded the Iceblast Wyrm Sindera, striking it hard on its chest. The ice armor that blocked Connoris’ astonishing sword attack seemed to lose its effect under the Judgment of Light as the light pillar blasted into the Iceblast Wyrm’s body with little hindrance.
The light that erupted at that instant almost engulfed half of the Iceblast Wyrm’s body, dazzling and bright like the sun—so much so that they did not dare to look at it at all.
Upon sight of that scene, almost everyone’s heart was filled with ecstasy and euphoria. Even Joseph, who saw Lin Li as his enemy, was no exception. Of course, they also knew that a single shot of Judgment of Light would not be enough to completely purify the Iceblast Wyrm. However, as long as they could hurt it, it would at least show that fighting was not necessarily futile, and there was a chance of survival in the hopeless situation.
However, when the light dissipated, the crowd was disappointed to find that although a hole had been born in the ice armor on the Iceblast Wyrm’s chest, its body didn’t seem too damaged. No one knew how to use Holy Light Magic, but they knew very well what Undead creatures looked like when they were purified by Holy Light. Besides, they could clearly see the hole in the armor being restored in the blink of an eye.
Even the Judgment of Light didn’t work. Could it be that we really have to… Feeling disappointed, a despair-filled thought rose up in the hearts of almost everyone.
Even Lin Li himself couldn’t help but be horrified when he saw the result. The Judgment of Light was imparted to him by Pope Rosario when he was a guest at the Brilliance Shrine. It was claimed to be the strongest manifestation of the purification by Holy Light Magic. Over the thousand years since the establishment of the Brilliance Shrine, the Undead creatures purified by the Judgment of Light were all fierce and ferocious Undead kings that were turned into dust.
Naturally, Lin Li knew that compared to Pope Rosario of the Brilliance Shrine, his abilities were far inferior. There was still an incomparably huge gap between the Sanctuary-realm and the Legendary-realm. However, the Judgment of Light that Lin Li exhibited did not require his own power. Instead, it was the debris of the stars, Holy Light, which contained the purest Laws of light. However, even so, the Judgment of Light formed by such a power was probably only slightly inferior to Rosario’s in the Brilliance Shrine.
Yet, the debris of the stars, Holy Light, did not cause any damage to the Iceblast Wyrm Sindera. If the Judgment of Light couldn’t even break Sindera’s defenses, Lin Li would resign to fate since his abilities were inferior. However, the problem was that the Judgment of Light had pierced through Sindera’s ice armor. Hence, the purification power should have been directly applied to the other party’s body, yet it hadn’t even produced the slightest effect. It was an Undead creature!
Of course, that was just Lin Li letting his imagination run wild while he was feeling bewildered. Lin Li was well aware that the Iceblast Wyrm Sindera’s rich death aura was enough to prove its identity as an Undead creature. He reckoned that the Judgment of Light was unable to work because of the maniacal Prince Brahere. God knew what he had done to Sindera’s body.
However, the Iceblast Wyrm clearly wasn’t going to give the crowd much time to breathe. As soon as the light dissipated, it suddenly let out a deafening roar, and the entire space trembled forcefully. The people who were floating in midair found it hard to stabilize themselves, and some even almost fell straight down.
Next, a terrifying magical wave spread out in all directions with the Iceblast Wyrm in the middle. Massive snow tornadoes that were hundreds of meters tall instantly took shape, colliding with the crowd with a destructive force as they spun at high speed. Even the space around the tornadoes seemed to have become distorted. One could feel the great pulling force even from a great distance.
In the blink of an eye, the Legendary powerhouses in the sky were forced into a desperate situation again. Apart from fleeing, there seemed to be no other solution for them. At the same time, the expedition began fighting the Humerus Wyrms, taking advantage of the terrain. However, they seemed to have entered a brief stalemate.
The absence of Lin Li and the senior executives of the four forces had a large impact on the expedition, but that did not mean that they had completely lost their ability to resist.
The Tower of Dusk’s team in particular still acted as mainstays of the battle, even though five of their strongest Legendary powerhouses were absent. They managed to sustain the attacks of 20-odd Humerus Wyrms alone, and at least at this moment, none of them lost the upper hand.
During the battle, the one who displayed the most eye-catching performance was not Angelano, who was controlling the Titan-level Alchemy Colossus, but the Archmages who had yet to reach the Legendary-realm and were the lower-level members. To anyone else, those Archmages could at most continuously cast defensive magic spells when facing the Legendary-level Humerus Wyrms before collapsing.
However, to everyone’s surprise, the mages of the Tower of Dusk actually still had the spare energy to counterattack against the Humerus Wyrms when they were keeping up with their defenses. Besides, their attacks were full of power, and almost every attack was capable of causing substantial damage to the Humerus Wyrms.
[1] Possibly sword energy attacks or something, not weapons per se.
