Wiseman's arrival made all the players heave a sigh of relief.
The Mechanical Slaughterer was far too powerful. Despite having so many guards dispatched to take it down, player deaths exceeded fifty thousand, and several streets in White River City had been completely destroyed.
If the Mechanical Slaughterer had been given any more time, every last player in White River City would likely have been massacred, and the entire city would have been reduced to rubble.
To think that just a single level-50 Aberrant High-rank Leader could inflict such catastrophic damage on a major city like White River City — if several powerful monsters appeared at once, wouldn't White River City be wiped off the map entirely?
The thought left everyone with a heavy heart.
Only Shi Feng understood just how powerful Aberrants truly were. A regular High-rank Leader could never be that strong.
The appearance of an Aberrant could be considered nothing short of a natural disaster.
"I wonder who's stronger — the Archmage or the Aberrant?" Shi Feng stood quietly at a distance, watching Wiseman's and the Mechanical Slaughterer's every move.
A Grand Mage was a Tier Four class, a figure of authority throughout the entire Star Moon Kingdom. Only major cities like White River City had such powerhouses stationed in them. Smaller cities had no Tier Four experts at all — at best, they were protected by Tier Three NPCs.
The Mechanical Slaughterer was no ordinary foe either. It was an Aberrant born from the mutation of a High-rank Leader. In terms of raw tier, Shi Feng estimated it was at least High-rank Tier Three — otherwise, the Tier Two guard captain wouldn't have been taken down so easily.
Now, the level-200 Wiseman and the level-50 Mechanical Slaughterer faced each other from no more than thirty yards apart.
The gap between their levels was enormous. On the surface, they didn't seem like they belonged in the same league. Yet when the two stood opposite one another, nobody felt anything out of place.
"An Aberrant? No wonder even the city garrison couldn't hold it back." Wiseman didn't rush to attack. Instead, he took a careful look at the Mechanical Slaughterer, then let his gaze sweep across the surroundings. The once-bustling street was now devoid of its former liveliness. Collapsed buildings lay everywhere, adding a trace of cold light to the warmth in his gentle eyes.
In an instant, a chilling aura radiated from Wiseman's body. Even from hundreds of yards away, everyone felt a crushing weight settle over them, their breathing growing labored.
The aura continued to intensify. Some ordinary players in the distance, unable to withstand the pressure, suddenly collapsed to their knees, their faces twisted in terror, their entire bodies trembling.
The aura was invisible. It couldn't cause any physical changes — it was primarily a form of spiritual pressure, a primal warning that creatures felt when facing a being far beyond their own level, a caution not to provoke such an enemy.
Modern humans had long been removed from the threats of nature and had grown extremely dull in this kind of perception. However, the advent of Divine Realm had begun to restore this sensitivity among players.
Even though players had recovered this perception, their spiritual fortitude was still far too weak, causing many to collapse helplessly to the ground.
Beyond the terrifying aura, Wiseman's magic domain enveloped everything within a hundred yards of him. Anyone caught inside the domain who lacked a comparable domain of their own would have their strength suppressed. At the same time, the domain bolstered his own power — this was the true terror of a Tier Four class.
Once a domain was deployed, a Tier Three class was nothing more than prey to be slaughtered at will.
The Mechanical Slaughterer sprang into action as well, raising its massive serrated sword high above its head and bringing it crashing down toward Wiseman.
Countless wind blades swept toward the mage, but Wiseman vanished in the blink of an eye. The next moment, he reappeared on the other side of the Mechanical Slaughterer. The creature reacted with stunning speed, swinging its sword again — but the result was the same. Wiseman dodged effortlessly with a teleport.