With the aid of the Sky Throne, the entire Sky City was enveloped by a peculiar energy, and the trembling noticeably subsided.
Once the external energy storm had passed, Wells looked at the scenery not far away and suddenly cried out in alarm: "The Akvlay Layer! Where has the Akvlay Layer gone?"
Originally, beneath Sky City, there should have been a vast sea of black thunderclouds — a naturally formed landscape that also served as the city's natural defensive barrier.
Apart from Morning Star Wizards, even Crystallized Wizards found it nearly impossible to cross alone.
But now, the enormous black thunder sea had vanished entirely, replaced by nothing but a misty haze of condensed water vapor.
"Of course it's all been destroyed — even Sky City ended up like this..." the Radiant Moon Wizard said with a bitter smile.
Wells finally snapped back to his senses. Looking at what had become of Sky City — now resembling nothing but ruins — he lowered his head in dejection.
Though the Sky Throne's protection had spared Sky City from total destruction and its main structure wasn't even heavily damaged, over half of its buildings had still been ravaged by the firestorm, and the losses were incalculable.
Even the massive floating island itself had been scorched halfway through, giving it a wretched, unsightly appearance.
"What... what on earth happened? Could Leilin have caused this? How is that possible?" Wells stared blankly, his eyes devoid of focus.
"This is peak Level Six! It involves the power of natural law! It must be the ancient Son of the Sun's 'Scorching Sun Annihilation'!" The Radiant Moon Wizard's voice carried heavy gravity. "Though I don't know what method Leilin used to obtain the Son of the Sun's bloodline, the fact that he could recreate this ancient attack through a bloodline imprint means his mastery of bloodline wizardry is probably unprecedented..."
"Was it Leilin?" Bitterness welled up inside Wells. "Then Stuart..."
"Sky City ended up like this — what could he have done?" the Radiant Moon Wizard sighed with some emotion. "After all, we were colleagues..."
Watching his colleague fall like this, he didn't feel good about it either.
"Stuart defied my decree and unilaterally involved himself in the war between the Ouroboros Ring and Jupiter's Thunder! I now declare him expelled from Sky City!"
A strange voice echoed throughout the city.
"That's the voice of the Sky Throne!" Wells exclaimed. "Even His Highness doesn't want to provoke Leilin anymore?"
Only now did he realize just how vast the gap between himself and Leilin truly was — it was enough to make him despair...
...
BOOM!
The void shattered, and torrents of golden-red flames surged inward.
"What—" Jethiah had barely formed the thought before he was instantly engulfed by the golden-red flames, letting out a piercing scream.
The golden-red solar fire showed no mercy to anything else, spreading outward in all directions. Even a Fifth-level Radiant Moon Wizard's tower could not block it.
Faintly, a woman's scream could also be heard, emanating from Jethiah's arm.
"Damn it! It's the ancient Son of the Sun!"
"Curse entwined in antiquity, obey my command — bring down the fury of time and space..." the woman's voice chanted rapidly.
Sizzle! Accompanying the eerie and terrifying incantation, all the black currents within the Pool of Lamentations surged violently, rushing out to entwine with the solar fire.
Numerous twisted spirits materialized from the void, forming a resilient barrier of light to withstand the flames' scorching heat.
After the storm subsided, the black currents in the Pool of Lamentations had greatly diminished, and of the original Jethiah, only a charred arm remained on the ground.
Crackling! The charred arm burst open, flesh and blood rapidly growing and regenerating, reassembling into Jethiah once more.
But at this point, not only was his complexion terrible beyond words, his body was also covered in horrifying burn scars.
"The ancient solar fire — fortunately it erupted far from us, and its power was reduced by more than half passing through the spatial corridor. Otherwise, it wouldn't have been as simple as just taking one of your lives..."
The mysterious woman's voice spoke.
"Damn it! Damn it! How could this happen? Everything was supposed to go smoothly... ugh..."
Jethiah's roar cut off halfway, as though someone had seized him by the throat. Tiny flames reignited across his body.
"The Son of the Sun is at the peak of Level Six Wizardry, an existence that has begun to comprehend the laws of nature. Even carrying just a trace of law-level power, its flames are not so easily broken!"