"Dead?"
Shi Feng stared at Frobelo, who had instantly been reduced to nothingness, and his mind went completely blank.
That crimson beam had been so fast it was beyond comprehension. Not being able to dodge it was one thing, but being instantly killed in a single hit…
Even though this body of Frobelo was merely a weak clone condensed by the one summoned through the Book of Darkness, it was still a genuine half-step Demon Lord physique.
Being able to instantly one-shot a half-step Demon Lord—this was something even a true peak Tier 5 Demon Lord might not necessarily be capable of.
As for trap barriers and magic formations, that was even more impossible. Every trap barrier and magic formation required an operator present to unleash its full power. Without an operator, such barriers and formations could at best trap an enemy—they could never hope to instantly kill a half-step Demon Lord, let alone even just a clone.
Not to mention that the beam of light just now hadn't been produced by magic or a barrier. It had been more like some kind of magic combat technique.
The crowd present was equally thunderstruck, a chill racing wildly through their entire bodies.
"What the hell just happened?"
"That was a half-step Demon Lord!"
In their eyes, Frobelo had been virtually invincible, and yet he had just died for no apparent reason. With their Tier 3 strength, they too would have been killed just as instantly.
But that wasn't even the critical point…
Being able to one-shot a half-step Demon Lord meant the power behind it was absolutely terrifying. It proved that the other party's strength was horrifying—definitely on par with the numerous terrifying existences they had witnessed.
Not a single one of those existences was something a player would dare to provoke, because if they did, having their souls utterly annihilated and erased forever was entirely possible. And if that happened, they would truly have to start all over again, with nowhere even to cry about it.
But before anyone could recover from their shock, they felt a terrifying wave of mental force bear down upon them.
In that instant, it was as though time itself had ground to a halt. The thoughts of everyone present nearly froze solid, each of them rooted to the spot, utterly motionless, completely unable to comprehend what was happening.
And as everyone fell into that state of paralysis, Shi Feng felt it too—only his heart had gone completely cold.
It's over!
This kind of existence that could practically bring time to a standstill—he had only witnessed it once before. That had been when a group of Tier 6 God-ranked experts had clashed with an ancient evil spirit.
That battle had been earth-shattering, but aside from those Tier 6 God-ranked experts and a handful of peak Tier 5 powerhouses who knew what had actually happened, not a single other player had any idea.
Because by the time everyone else had recovered, the battle was already over.
And for them, the entire fight from beginning to end had been nothing more than a fleeting instant, as though nothing had ever occurred.
But once they came to their senses, a tenth of the kingdom was gone—or rather, it had completely vanished from the Divine Realm, leaving behind nothing but endless wasteland and fractured, broken spaces everywhere…
Now this scene was repeating itself, which meant the other party's strength was absolutely no weaker than that ancient evil spirit.
Just as the flow of time around him was slowing further and further, nearly bringing Shi Feng's own thoughts to a standstill, a crimson radiance suddenly bloomed from within his inventory. The power enveloping him began to recede.
Then a tattered yet dazzling broken blade flew straight out of his spatial inventory and hovered quietly in front of Shi Feng.
"This is… the Ember Blade!" Shi Feng stared at the fractured weapon, astonishment surging through his heart.
The Ember Blade—legend had always swirled around this weapon in the Divine Realm. Rumor held that it was the weapon of a God Slayer, and in his previous life, a weapon called the Ember Blade had also appeared in the Divine Realm. Its wielder had been a mysterious expert whose identity no one ever learned.
But this person had done something absolutely earth-shaking—single-handedly wielding the Ember Blade, they had obliterated a main city belonging to a super-guild. Moreover, the Ember Blade in their possession had been extraordinarily powerful, capable of easily destroying Epic-grade weapons.
An Epic-grade weapon would fare no better—after just three or four strikes from the Ember Blade, it would be cleaved in two. Only Legendary-grade item fragments could barely withstand its edge.
Everyone had long speculated that the Ember Blade was very likely a Legendary-grade weapon.
Which was why he had kept this already-broken Ember Blade in his possession all this time, thinking that perhaps one day it could be reforged.
Of course, there was yet another legend surrounding the Ember Blade—its connection to the God Slayer's questline. The idea was that one could obtain the God Slayer's inheritance through it. However, these were merely historical records found in the kingdoms' and empires' Libraries, and no one had ever truly obtained anything through it—until that mysterious expert appeared, shattering the status quo entirely and drawing everyone's attention to the Ember Blade.
"How interesting. Among those who came this time, someone actually brought that thing along. It seems you're quite fortunate."
Just as Shi Feng was still reeling from his surprise at the Ember Blade, a deep, frigid voice drifted over from the depths of the cave. The words were not in any human language—they were Divine Speech, much like the tongue of demons.
Though he didn't understand Divine Speech, his brain somehow comprehended the meaning with perfect clarity.
Before Shi Feng could even react to the Divine Speech, an old man clad in a gray robe appeared before him.