Outside Lunter City, the July heat did nothing to diminish the beauty of the scenery.
Above the "Land of a Thousand Lakes," the space suddenly twisted into a gateway, within which lay a kingdom where powerful magnetic fields and electrical currents intertwined.
Brook, wearing a white wig, and Chelsea Holt, the "Silver Moon Scholar," stepped through the gateway and saw the ocean of Sacred Light engulfing the entire city, saw the legendary battle within still raging, and felt relief wash over them — they had made it in time!
At that moment, Brook suddenly sensed something and looked up at the sky. Within the vast sea of light that blotted out the sun, a figure was slowly materializing, wearing a sacred crown and wielding a platinum scepter.
"Benedict II? Divine Descent?"
Brook's pupils contracted sharply. In the end, he still flew forward at full speed to meet the oncoming figure.
He shouldn't be able to use Divine Descent anymore!
…………
The sphere of energy grew faster and faster under the pull of the intense magnetic field and was about to enter the Storm Barrier. At this moment, not only Melmors, but even Anastas, Maria, and the other Saints felt an extreme premonition of danger settle in their hearts, as though a heavy stone had dropped upon them.
Without exchanging a single word, they moved with extraordinary coordination, all striking at Fernando simultaneously. They had to kill him before that terrifying spell took effect, break the Storm Barrier, and escape the core!
Holding nothing back, all three Saints unleashed "Light of Judgment," seething with fury — even if they died, they would drag him down with them!
Majestic, vast, orderly, radiant — three beams of "Light of Judgment" tore through the sky, carrying an aura that judged all things, slamming toward Fernando and stirring the ocean of Sacred Light within the "Heaven on Earth" into a churning tempest.
In this moment, none of them bothered with defense, relying only on the residual effects of their Divine Arts to withstand the Storm Barrier's attacks. If they couldn't kill Fernando, everything else was moot!
And Melmors and Anthony merged their "Dawn" and "Radiance" powers with their sword light, executing the "Legendary Breaker Strike" — a technique known only to Holy Knights!
Yet Fernando, rather than retreating, advanced. Ignoring the two epic knights' attacks, he charged straight into the three beams of "Light of Judgment."
That mirror etched with intricate patterns appeared once more, like a gateway connecting two worlds. With three crisp clanging sounds, the "Light of Judgment" reflected off its surface and bounced back, following the laws of light reflection.
The "Reversal Spell" had never been dispelled!
Because Fernando had charged into the "Light of Judgment" of his own volition, the two "Breaker Strikes" arrived a fraction of a second late, striking his body.
Sword light pierced through flesh. Blood and gore flew everywhere. The Storm Lord was sliced into three pieces, and his magic robe had offered not the slightest protection.
"He wasn't even wearing the Lord's Robe?" Only now did Melmors realize with sudden clarity why the Storm Lord hadn't used the "Eye of the Storm" even while being suppressed!
Unfortunately, he had realized too late!
The three pieces of corpse crackled with tiny sparks of electricity, writhed rapidly, and split into three separate Fernandos!
Even this wouldn't kill him?
Melmors and Anthony no longer harbored any hope of making the Storm Lord truly perish within a few short seconds using Light of Judgment. They had only one thought: deal with Fernando first, break the Storm Barrier!
In the distance, Mecanteron, the "King of Angels," saw this and his expression turned grave. He crossed his hands over his chest in a cruciform gesture and was about to kneel to cast "Divine Protection." This way, although they would be unable to reach the legendary mages, that terrifying spell would also have difficulty harming them — they would already be in a different world!
But standing before him was the "Archanist Emperor." The stars in the sky shifted, and a tremendous gravitational force suddenly erupted, pulling him this way and that, nearly tearing him into countless pieces. He had to rely on other legendary Divine Arts to resist. In such haste, there was no chance to prepare "Divine Protection."
"I am not your lord. Do not kneel to me."
Douglas's mental transmission rang out, with a rare touch of humor. His original target to hold down had been the quasi-divine Benedict II, but now it had switched to the "King of Angels." Since they were not on Heavenly Mountain, it was naturally much easier. According to the initial Plan Four — if the Pope appeared, immediately create this current situation. Even if the Pope could still use Divine Descent, the target would certainly be that pile of spell-casting materials; otherwise, he would wipe out all five of his own Saints!
However, Douglas didn't know how long he could hold the Pope back while the latter desperately tried to rescue — ten seconds, twenty seconds, or a full minute?
These worries vanished as Plan Three progressed smoothly and Saer de unexpectedly used "Divine Descent."
Valenshir's body erupted with Sacred Light, melting away the extreme cold that had frozen him, but he wisely did not head toward the Storm Barrier. Instead, he fired "Light of Judgment" at the "Element Dominator" Hathaway, attempting to interrupt her spellcasting.
"Wall of Aurora!"
At the sound of a cold, crystalline female voice, a translucent layer of ice appeared around Hathaway, swirling with brilliant, multicolored splendor — as beautiful as the aurora of the northern lands.
"Light of Judgment" struck it, and both vanished simultaneously.
The "Ice Witch" was closely maintaining the spatial shackles outside the "Storm Barrier" and still had the power to block Valenshir — this was the "distance" between a Grand Archanist and an ordinary Holy Spirit Priest!
The five Saints were fighting with everything they had, and their strength held an absolute advantage. In just a few short seconds, "Light of Judgment" and "Legendary Breaker Strikes" struck all three Fernandos. Despite his successive casts of "Legendary Mage Armor," "Electromagnetic Storm," and other spells, he could not completely block them. His remaining true body was finally engulfed by a beam of light that was just, orderly, yet cold and merciless.
Dead?
Not quite! The moment joy began to rise in the five Saints' hearts, they discovered that the Storm Barrier showed no signs of dissipating.
A wooden puppet covered in strange, eerie symbols flickered into existence behind them with an inexplicable smile, then rapidly transformed into Fernando's likeness.
By now, the "spell material" had passed through the Storm Barrier, and the aura of destruction within could no longer be contained.
Fernando's body detonated, merging with the Storm Barrier. The dark magnetic field compressed and warped space, binding the five Saints firmly in place.
There was no more time!