"It blocked it?!"
"That was a high-level combat skill used by a Legendary monster — how is it even possible… to block it?!"
Everyone in the third-floor hall of the bar stared, stunned, at the pitch-black wall on the magic water mirror. Some couldn't help rubbing their eyes, convinced they were seeing things.
Legendary-tier Holy Sculpture monsters already possessed staggering base stats, ranking in the upper-middle tier even among Legendary monsters of the same level. Add the high-level combat skill Falling Leaves used by the Hundred-Armed Spear Berserker, and its power was more than enough to send any Legendary monster of comparable level flying with ease.
Yet against that rising pitch-black wall, it was like an ant trying to topple a tree — not so much as a ripple…
The battlefield in the desert woodland left every spectator equally dumbfounded.
"What's going on?"
"What kind of defensive magic is that black wall?! That's absurd!"
Everyone present was filled with confusion and disbelief at the sudden appearance of the pitch-black wall.
Not only had it blocked the attack of a Legendary-tier Holy Sculpture monster, it had split the entire battlefield in two, bringing the assault of the majority of Holy Sculpture monsters to a grinding halt. They simply stared at the black wall, completely at a loss.
"Is that… a spatial rift?" Huan Yu, seated before the round table, stared intently at the pitch-black wall as it slowly began to dissipate, blurting out in shock.
"A spatial rift? That's impossible! The spatial rifts caused by ordinary attacks produce at most a hole a dozen yards across. This black wall spans over a hundred yards and stands fifty or sixty yards tall — it practically cleaved the land in two. Who has that kind of power?" The fierce-looking man beside her shook his head in disbelief, thinking she was exaggerating.
Spatial rifts were nothing unfamiliar to the expert players present. Anyone who had faced a Tier 4 Legendary monster would have encountered them.
Spatial rifts formed when excessive force shattered the fabric of space. The fractures were like shattered glass — random and patternless.
But the pitch-black wall before them was perfectly smooth, without a single visible spatial crack. It looked like a wall of iron that had dropped from midair, massive yet flawless.
"You're right — even someone as powerful as that person probably couldn't pull something like this off." Huan Yu thought about it for a moment, realized the fierce man had a point, and let out a self-deprecating laugh.
"But who exactly saved Purple Pupil?" The fierce man couldn't help squinting at where the black wall had swept in on the magic water mirror, his curiosity piqued. "Setting aside the wall's defensive power, just the fact that this person could read a Legendary Holy Sculpture monster's movements — I doubt more than a handful of people in Silver Wing Town could manage that. Could it be one of the old monsters from one of Zero Wing's allied superpowers?"
Standing where the wall had appeared was a man clad in a black cloak, wielding a long black sword. No information about him could be discerned, but one could faintly sense that this mysterious man's strength was absolutely terrifying — he had at least mastered a Domain.
Before anyone could react, the black-cloaked man darted forward before the wall fully dissipated, arriving directly in front of the Legendary Holy Sculpture monster and blocking its spear strike once more, buying Purple Pupil the chance to pull back to a safe distance.
"What the hell! Who is that guy?! He can even block a Legendary Holy Sculpture monster?!" From a distance, Mad Bull watched the black-cloaked man who had suddenly intervened to save Purple Pupil, his eyes nearly bulging out of his head.
It wasn't just Mad Bull — even Neng Feng, standing nearby, had her beautiful eyes wide open, unable to believe what she was seeing.
He had already been impressive enough to tie down two Holy Sculpture Destroyers, and now he was single-handedly pinning down a Legendary Holy Sculpture Devourer that even Purple Pupil was no match for…
"Incredible! He can fully keep up with the Devourer's reactions and speed. Holding it down won't be a problem at all now," Huan Yu said, watching the black-cloaked man deflect every single attack from the Legendary Holy Sculpture Devourer, her eyes shining with excitement. "If we have him in Silver Wing Town going forward, we should be able to hold out for quite a while longer. That would throw a wrench in the Hand of the Sacred Heart's plans to recruit forces from the surrounding kingdoms and slow their expansion, giving Zero Wing some breathing room. Otherwise, with just us and the War Soul guild, we'd have no way to stand up to the Star Alliance in the Dark Night Empire."
"That would only buy time," the fierce man said, shaking his head. "The Holy Sculpture Devourer grows stronger as time goes on — its growth rate is no joke. And that's not even counting the Hand of the Sacred Heart backing the forces fighting Zero Wing. That organization has already laid down the law to every major superpower's guild master: anyone who continues to assist Zero Wing will be treated as an enemy. The Hand of the Sacred Heart has done extensive research on Holy Sculpture monsters. Sooner or later, we'll have to deal with their threat, and that means contact or cooperation with the Hand of the Sacred Heart is inevitable. That's exactly why our guild master ordered a full withdrawal — there's nothing left to save on Zero Wing's side. This mysterious expert stepping in is nothing but a drop in the bucket. The Hand of the Sacred Heart will likely track him down soon and send a warning to whatever superpower stands behind him."
It wasn't just the Scarlet Empire guild at the Blue Rose Bar who sneered at this. Other superpowers hiding within Silver Wing Town shared the same sentiment.
"Zero Wing really is lucky — having some old monster come to their aid like that."
"Probably because that old monster hasn't gotten the news yet, otherwise why would they intervene?"
Nobody knew which superpower's veteran had stepped in, but this would likely be the one and only time. The old monster's affiliated superpower would receive a warning from the Hand of the Sacred Heart, and after that, they would almost certainly cease helping Zero Wing fend off the Holy Sculpture monsters.
The current Divine Realm was an age of upheaval — and also the era of the Holy Sculpture monsters' rise.
Against those creatures, ordinary superpowers were helpless, and even the top super-guilds found them a tremendous headache. Moreover, nobody could halt the Holy Sculpture monsters' spread.
If one wished to develop peacefully in the Divine Realm going forward — whether a minor faction or a super-guild — cooperation or trade with the Hand of the Sacred Heart was practically unavoidable. To this day, no faction had produced a special item capable of preventing Holy Sculpture monster aggression. The Hand of the Sacred Heart, meanwhile, even possessed methods that could shield an entire area from their attacks.
Now the Hand of the Sacred Heart was dead set on annihilating Zero Wing. Even the Heavenly Mystery Pavilion was powerless to stop them — just as it had been powerless to prevent the Hand from seizing the Star River Alliance's headquarters.
Back in the desert woodland, as time wore on, the Silver Wing Town garrison's patrol corps had gained complete superiority over the invading Holy Sculpture army thanks to the constant stream of reinforcements. Over a thousand Holy Sculpture monsters had already been slain, and the Holy Sculpture Devourer in their midst was growing visibly desperate.
In an instant, the Devourer let out a thunderous, piercing shriek.
The Holy Sculpture army reacted as though they had received a retreat order — every last one of them turned and scattered. The Devourer itself wheeled around, preparing to flee into the distant desert.
"So they're running after all."
"Zero Wing got lucky this time. Let's see how they handle it next time."
Every superpower hiding within Silver Wing Town watched the retreating Holy Sculpture army without the slightest surprise. The Devourer had been pinned down, after all — but the true terror of the Holy Sculpture monsters lay in their immortality. They returned stronger each time. Silver Wing Town had managed to hold this round, but whether they could do so again was far from certain.
"Run?" Shi Feng watched the Holy Sculpture Devourer as it abandoned the fight, a cold smile forming on his face. "You think you can get away?"
He reached into his inventory, drew out the Ring of Gospel, and activated Miniature World without a moment's hesitation.