Dragon's Breath!
As the signature ability of the dragon race, it condensed all of one's power into a single point, unleashing force that far exceeded one's own strength. It was precisely because of this that dragons were said to be unrivaled at any given tier. A fifth-tier dragon's breath could annihilate an entire city-state — its destructive power dwarfed even that of forbidden-tier spells.
In that instant, a searingly brilliant beam of light shot straight toward the descending pillar of fire.
Boom… boom… boom…
The collision between the two instantly tore the sky asunder, plunging the entire heavens into pitch-black void. The shockwave rippled outward and reached as far as a thousand yards away.
As the shock subsided, everyone present stared blankly at the sky.
"No way! It was blocked?!"
"That was a fourth-tier forbidden spell with power on par with a fifth-tier magic! Even a true third-tier dragon probably couldn't have blocked it — how did he pull that off?!"
Silent Star and the other magic-class players stared in disbelief at the completely dissipated triple-layered magic circle hanging in the sky, feeling as though they were trapped inside a dream.
A fifth-tier spell had enough destructive force to obliterate the defenses of a major city. Never mind wiping out a two-hundred-man team — it could level a sizable portion of a city without breaking a sweat.
When confronted with an unstoppable fourth-tier forbidden spell, they had already accepted that the situation was beyond saving. Some had even made peace with the prospect of death.
Yet none of them had expected that Shi Feng could actually block this earth-shattering blow, allowing the entire team to survive. It was nothing short of inhuman.
"Finally blocked it. That was way too close to a total wipe." Hovering in midair, Shi Feng let out a deep breath as the flames dissipated.
That had been razor-thin!
If his Realm of Reason hadn't taken another step forward — if he hadn't just barely been able to integrate high-tier combat techniques into his own body and draw out the Dragon's Breath's full destructive potential — he and everyone below the altar would have been reduced to ashes.
But before Shi Feng and Silent Star could even catch their breath, the ancient lich atop the altar began incanting once more, a triple-layered magic circle slowly materializing beneath its feet.
"You have to be kidding me!"
"No way! How can it still cast a fourth-tier forbidden spell?!"
The crowd watched the ancient lich prepare to unleash yet another fourth-tier forbidden spell, and every face turned an ashen shade of green.
In the Divine Realm, a boss's party-wiping ultimate was generally limited to a single use. Even bosses with two or three such abilities wouldn't cast them back to back without pause. Yet this ancient lich had just fired off a fourth-tier forbidden spell and was immediately queuing up another, completely shattering every known convention of the Divine Realm.
"Is it not even waiting for its mana to recover to normal levels?"
At that moment, not only was everyone else stunned — even Shi Feng wore an expression of genuine surprise.
The ancient lich chaining forbidden spells back to back wasn't entirely unexpected in and of itself; it was, after all, a pure caster-type boss. But it had only just cast a fourth-tier forbidden spell. The ambient mana was still in an extremely depleted state, which would drastically reduce the effectiveness of any spell cast immediately. Normally, a boss would wait for mana density to recover before unleashing its next killing blow. Yet this one was pressing on without waiting — Shi Feng had never witnessed such a thing before.
"It's over," Silent Star murmured, watching the triple-layered magic circle that had already fully formed. Despair crept into her voice. "That ancient lich's casting speed is way too fast. There's no way I can get a third-tier forbidden spell ready in time to counter."
After all their painstaking effort — destroying four Mana Towers and barely surviving the lich's killing blow — they had ended up in this situation.
Shi Feng had already expended his Dragon's Breath and couldn't possibly use it again within such a short window. On top of that, he was far too distant from the ancient lich to close the gap and interrupt its casting in time. Formulating a third-tier forbidden spell required at least three to four seconds — nowhere near enough to defend against the lich's next assault.
The ancient lich was on the verge of finishing the final syllable of its incantation when a graceful figure suddenly appeared before it and brought her sword slashing down.
A blinding flash of light erupted. The ancient lich was forcibly interrupted mid-cast, its body staggering backward two full steps. A damage figure north of four million popped up above its head.