Chapter 1276
Five Seconds into the War, the Tank is Gone
“What is this?”
“This is impossible,” Mahidifran, the “Beauty,” blurted out. “Didn’t you say… the Abyss Heavenly Envoy would be in unprecedented weakness?!”
The immense pressure from the Abyss Heavenly Envoy left the Lords feeling suffocated and unable to bear it.
The other Lords, though silent, turned their gaze towards Aimel Nour, the convener of this expedition.
“Yes,” Aimel Nour replied calmly after a moment of silence.
“Then what is this! And what is *this*?!” Mahidifran pointed at the menacing giant whale and the dim yellow world where time had been suspended. She felt deceived and raged, shouting, “I came because you said you had a way to deal with the Abyss Heavenly Envoy!”
Mahidifran’s anger was understandable. After all, this matter had nothing to do with her. She lived happily in her own city of revelry, which was far from Holy Spring City. Even if the Abyss Heavenly Envoy descended, it might not affect her. She accepted the invitation for two reasons: firstly, Aimel Nour’s confident assertion of a sure-win method, and secondly, her concern about being isolated. The Ancient Kingdom of Anxi, being even older than the Eternal Holy Kingdom, possessed sufficient reserves. However, with the Ouroboros Ring only recently activated, there were only a few individuals who had successfully ascended to the Sixth Tier. If others accepted the invitation and she didn’t, she would likely face retaliation. There was no easy way to enjoy the rewards without taking risks in Anxi. She was confident she could fight any single peer-level Lord alone, but if there were several, or even a dozen, it would be a certain defeat with no chance of survival. Conversely, following commands and jointly dealing with the Abyss Heavenly Envoy descending upon the Material Realm offered a higher probability of survival. Aimel Nour had hinted at this possibility in his letter. This was not Mahidifran’s victim complex, but a genuine threat to her life. After witnessing Eivass’s power firsthand, she had chosen to inform Aimel Nour. At that time, she still had a chance to escape, but she chose to trust the Lord of Holy Spring City. However, Aimel Nour had failed to make the correct response. Wasn’t this a dereliction of duty as their captain?
“At this point…” Aimel Nour remained silent for a long time before raising his staff, pointing it at the giant whale again, and replying in a low voice, “There’s no turning back, is there?”
As if in response, the giant whale let out a deafening roar. A translucent, illusory barrier rose before Aimel Nour. The entire world rippled and split into symmetrical mirror images. Although the residents, preserved into amber stone statues through the Preservation Technique, could no longer be sacrificed in rituals, he was not someone who became incredibly fragile when stripped of sacrifices. This was a Fifth Tier ritual spell he had prepared long ago. By praying to the Twin mirrors, he invoked the “Flawless Mirror Wall” capable of blocking and reflecting all damage! The giant whale’s roar turned into tangible sound waves, striking the mirror wall and bouncing back. However, it neither injured the other civilians fixed by the Preservation Technique nor moved the giant whale at all. The giant whale leisurely swam, observing their every move from above. Although he was protected by the “Chain of Friendship” and didn’t need to use this trump card to resist the giant whale’s roar, he had to consider his “teammates,” even though they lacked any team cohesion. More importantly, he knew he couldn’t defeat the Abyss Heavenly Envoy alone.
“…I will heal you.” Mahidifran, after her initial anger subsided, reluctantly chose to accept reality. She confessed to the other Lords, “My Path specializes in healing abilities, so I don’t have much combat power. However, through healing, I can control others’ minds and actions, allowing them to go berserk… Don’t resist this buff. It can enable an unarmed child to defeat a giant wolf.”
“Then I’ll go attract the Abyss Heavenly Envoy’s attention, and you’ll bestow blessings upon me,” Isma’i said without hesitation. “It’ll be like hunting a lion… and you’ll sneak attack it from behind.” He was not a real warrior, but he knew that if he continued to linger among the crowd, he would soon be caught shirking his duties by others. However, if he attacked the Abyss Heavenly Envoy directly, he worried Eivass would consider their cooperation agreement voided. After much thought, this seemed to be the most convenient position to slack off. He could only pray that Eivass’s plan would succeed. Although he didn’t know the specifics of Eivass’s plan, seeing the usually ferocious Abyss Heavenly Envoy, who even demanded human sacrifices, actively protecting civilians, Isma’i boldly speculated that perhaps Eivass was currently within the Abyss Heavenly Envoy’s consciousness! His self-sacrifice was not an act of despair, but another offensive route! If his guess was correct, Eivass might not attack him.
As expected… after the Brave Isma’i spoke, no other Lords were willing to take on such a risky responsibility. Not a single Lord was willing to put themselves in danger for others.
Mahidifran began to dance a magnificent Elven-style solo, chanting an ancient Elven song for the Priest of the Candlemaster. With her dance, ripples of light exploded around her. Each ripple could instantly heal a dying elder and restore their youth. As long as there was a breath left, receiving even one of these heals would restore them to their full state! Isma’i felt a surge of life force coursing through him. He suddenly grew significantly larger, his bulging muscles completely tearing through his clothes. His physical condition increased by at least half. He was not a Lord specialized in close combat, but now, when he ran, he easily tore through the air, becoming a blur. As he leaped high into the air, the Abyss Heavenly Envoy attacked again without warning.
A surging sea rushed towards him, instantly engulfing Isma’i. However, the deep blue seawater did not feel as bone-chillingly cold as he had imagined. In a daze, he saw a faint pink glow, and his will to resist vanished. He completely relaxed his body and was instantly swept away.
Charm Aura!
When he barely regained consciousness, he noticed he had almost flown out of Holy Spring City. He had initially wanted to resist, but then he gave up the idea. So, he closed his eyes, applied the Preservation Technique on himself, and let himself be swept away by the waves. All of this happened in an instant. The Brave, who was supposed to attract the Abyss Heavenly Envoy’s attention, was driven out of the battlefield without even withstanding a single attack.
It was like pouring water from a bucket into a bowl. Waves roared and overflowed the tall city walls, while the interior of Holy Spring City was filled with the sea. The flood from the sky submerged the entire city. The water instantly rose dozens of meters high, leaving only a transparent hemisphere tightly clasped to the ground by the sea. This was the other Lords, protected within the Mirror Wall. If the Preservation Technique hadn’t been used, this single blow would have been enough to shatter the entire city. Its power was sufficient to cause earthquakes that pulverized everything, reducing tall buildings and ancient structures to rubble.
One Lord struck the ground with his staff, and the sea instantly parted down the middle. From their perspective, it looked as if the sky had been split open. Another Lord summoned divine lightning that annihilated everything, gathering a crackling, azure lightning ball. The Lightning of Truth would automatically attack, turning poisonous knowledge into sharp lightning spears that eroded every being struck. These injuries would be fatal even to Phantom Demons, and even to descending Apostles and Heavenly Envoys. One Lord summoned a sky-covering horde of the Undead—the dead from his city, from ancient times to the present. Their souls were imprisoned by forbidden spells, having transformed into ferocious vengeful spirits. Their pale spectral forms then turned into torrents, rushing towards the giant whale in the sky. One Lord began preparing a ritual to borrow power from Calamity Red. Jointly fighting the Abyss Heavenly Envoy was a cooperation they had agreed upon beforehand, but for some reason… Calamity Red suddenly fell silent at this moment, not lending even an ounce of power. It was as if He tacitly allowed the Abyss Heavenly Envoy to destroy His summoner.
The Lords began preparing their own ritual spells or forbidden spells one by one. They might lack teamwork, but they understood a simple principle: as long as they could inflict damage, it was enough. Although this giant whale was immense, its volume in the Dream Realm was even greater. The Great Abyss had lost a considerable portion of its scale and power upon descending to the Material Realm. Such a god could be harmed by them! Although Brave Isma’i was blown away the moment he engaged, fortunately, they still had Aimel Nour, who was proficient in the ritual of the Twin mirrors. In addition to the “Flawless Mirror Wall,” Aimel Nour had also prepared “Mass Unyielding” and “Immunity to Cold Barrier” in a very short period, and was preparing “Mass Steel Mind” to resist possible mental attacks. The former could resist the impact of the waves, while the latter would greatly weaken the damage from the Abyss Heavenly Envoy’s bone-chilling seawater itself. With these preparations, coupled with Mahidifran’s healing… the Abyss Heavenly Envoy’s desire to attack didn’t seem strong. Perhaps they had a chance to kill it before it completely went berserk?
The Lords had already begun to dream of such a possibility.
However…
At this moment, the Lord preparing the Lightning of Truth suddenly aimed his instant-death spell, capable of annihilating Phantom Demons, at Mahidifran, who was dancing.
