The sea race aren't human. Living in the ocean, their true forms naturally conform to the laws of nature.
As for those sea folk seen on land who resemble humans—at most bearing a few scales on their bodies—those are merely forms they adopt specifically for communicating with humans. The creature that appeared before Leilin, a monster thousands of meters in size, was their true form.
After revealing its true body, the terrifying fluctuations radiating from Seibel surged as if off the charts.
A flicker of excitement crossed Leilin's face. "Chip! Begin calculating the trajectory!"
A torrent of blue light poured from Leilin's eyes as the Chip's processing power was mobilized to well over half its capacity.
"Commencing simulation model of target. Trajectory calculation in progress!"
"Roooar..."
The sea creature ahead roared furiously. Vast amounts of seawater, mingled with the soul power of a Dawnstar
"Right on time!" Leilin laughed aloud. Massive and terrifying bloodline power, along with soul power, converged upon his hand as well, releasing an overwhelming fluctuation before slamming violently into the blue energy sphere.
Hummm! Hummm! The void trembled, yet no violent explosion or spatial rift appeared, leaving the sea race wizard across from him confused—his movements freezing for an instant.
Whoosh! In that instant, the blue energy sphere was engulfed by crimson light, streaking across the sky like a meteor toward a specific point.
There, a five-colored curve like a rainbow tore through the entire starry sky.
"The... the Oaker Arc!" came an incredulous voice from the sea race wizard.
It looked up sharply and witnessed a wondrous sight.
Though it was nighttime, a colossal sun suddenly materialized, merging with the moon and the brightest Morning Star.
A dazzling yet gentle radiance poured down, forming a thin line that descended to this very spot.
Rumble! The void surged and churned, and faintly, another vast pocket of space was forcibly squeezed out, the force fields of both sides beginning to overlap.
"Success!" Leilin rejoiced inwardly.
Using the Chip's immense computational power, he had merged the enemy's strength with his own, forcibly advancing the opening time of the
This hadn't been his original plan—it was an impulse that arose the moment he spotted the opponent's Dawnstar—but the benefits were considerable.
With the ruins appearing ahead of schedule, even those shadowy manipulators who had calculated the exact timing would now have their plans thrown into disarray.
And the more chaotic things became, the greater the advantage for Leilin.
"Th-this... this is... the Scarlet Crescent Moon Ruins!"
The enormous sea creature across from him stared wide-eyed, murmuring in disbelief.
Though it knew the ruins could appear at any of the thirteen outposts, the probability of them landing right here was simply too much of a coincidence.
Watching the phantom gradually solidify and form a spatial passageway radiating dark silver light, Seibel's face wavered with hesitation, but he still chose to contact the other wizards—and more importantly, to notify their commander, that Radiant Moon Wizard.
But the moment his soul power touched the communication device, Seibel froze in shock!
Their leader, that fifth-rank Radiant Moon Wizard, was still in the World Rift! That kind of place naturally couldn't receive any communication messages. Even his colleagues were currently entangled by the enemy's Dawnstar Sorcerers, and from the looks of it, things weren't going well. Where was he supposed to find anyone?
Watching the other party's hesitant expression, Leilin chuckled softly, having no interest in continuing to tangle with him.
Even if he was confident he could kill the opponent, he would necessarily have to deploy his Dawnstar-level killing move, consuming far too much time—something absolutely unacceptable at this moment.
And so, as if lifting a curtain, Leilin spread his hands and parted the spatial rift, stepping through without a shred of hesitation.
Only after Leilin vanished into the spatial rift did Seibel grit his teeth, transmitting a few words through the communication imprint before immediately following him in, letting the spatial ripples wash over him.
For Dawnstar Wizards, their bodies could even traverse spatial turbulence. A spatial passage like this—similar to a secret realm teleportation—could be forced through by sheer power alone, even without a dedicated teleportation formation.
"What? The ruins have appeared? Already?"
At several other outposts, both sides of the battle received the news almost simultaneously. Caught completely off guard by this unexpected intelligence, they merely faced off for a moment before immediately heading this way.
Meanwhile, in the outer World Rift.
Countless stars and swirling nebulae formed the backdrop of the World Rift, imbuing the space with a vast and majestic feeling.
Right here, an ancient battle of mythic proportions was unfolding.
A majestic lion covered entirely in golden fur, spewing fire, ice, and lightning from its three heads, suddenly halted and adopted a thoughtful expression.
Facing it was none other than a wizard clad in magnificent pure-black robes, bearing a peculiar crescent-moon-shaped rune mark on his forehead.
"Heh heh...
This wizard was none other than the fifth-rank Radiant Moon Grand Wizard of Thunder of Jupiter—though at this moment, a rare expression of flustered irritation crossed his face.
The beast before him wasn't Wade's true body, but rather one of his most powerful avatars, inheriting the innate abilities of an ancient race. Its strength pressed close to the fifth rank—even the Radiant Moon Wizard couldn't easily overcome it and was in fact being suppressed here in frustration.
"The astrologer miscalculated! It has nothing to do with the original plan!"
From the central head of the three-headed lion came the cold words of a middle-aged man.
"Besides, unlike you, what I have here is merely an avatar..." The three-headed lion raised its paw, displaying an almost human smugness.
"You don't mean—" The Radiant Moon Wizard's expression changed drastically, and he moved to forcibly break through the blockade and return.
"Trying to leave? Not so easy! Stay right here!" The golden three-headed lion roared, all three massive mouths opening at once.
A terrifying gravitational pull like that of a black hole bore down upon the Radiant Moon Wizard—even the light around him couldn't escape, all of it being sucked inward. Faintly, furious roars and cries of unwillingness continued to emanate from within.
In the main world, a golden meteor streaked across the sky.
Within the golden radiance was a male wizard whose golden-flame hair shone like sunlight. His body and face seemed forged entirely from gold, radiating an extraordinary majesty.
At this moment, however, his face bore a pensive expression.
Outside the passage to the Scarlet Crescent Moon ruins, two groups of Dawnstar Wizards—including Philip and the hunter archer Borik—had each returned to their respective camps. After maintaining a standoff for a time, they had nearly simultaneously forced their way into the spatial passage.
The surrounding void fell silent. Only the deep craters and scattered pools of water on the ground bore witness to the fact that Dawnstar Wizards had been battling here moments ago.
Having suffered extremely intense wizardry radiation, this region would remain barren and devoid of life for a very long time, possibly even generating various anomalous phenomena that would attract beings from other dimensions, becoming yet another infamous dangerous zone on the Central Continent...
Whoo whoo... A gentle breeze stirred, raising faint ripples.
In the void, a shimmer of light flickered, and another figure appeared.
"How is this possible? According to the ancestors' records and my own calculations, how could the time have been advanced?"
A white-haired elder in very archaic robes murmured with unfocused eyes.
"This opening of the Scarlet Ruins was supposed to be a golden opportunity for our organization's rise. Who could have imagined that such complex circumstances were involved..."
The old man muttered to himself: "First the secret was discovered, drawing the covetous eyes of several sorcerer organizations and Thunder of Jupiter, even sparking a war. And in the end, even the notebook recording the ruins' appearance time was wrong. What on earth is going on?"
Thanks to Leilin, this old man of extraordinary origins was practically beginning to question his entire worldview.
However, the education he had received and the convictions forged within him quickly brought him back to normal.
"No matter what, my ancestor was a member of the Scarlet Crescent Moon. Our organization is also a branch that inherited part of the academic doctrines of the ancient Scarlet Crescent Moon organization. These ruins were always meant to be ours!"
The old man's expression turned ferocious in an instant as brilliant stardust erupted from his body.
Hummm hummm!
The spatial passage opposite him trembled at once, as if sensing something, and likewise released a massive burst of light that merged with the stardust from the old man's body, actively absorbing a large portion of it. In an instant, the spot was empty.
...
"Truly ingenious design!"
At this moment, Leilin walked with his hands clasped behind his back along a spatial corridor bathed in starlight, a thick membrane of crimson light coating his body.
The numerous spatial rifts and turbulent flows couldn't raise the slightest ripple against him.
"This entire region has been completely sealed off—one can only enter through the spatial convergence that occurs at a specific time..." Leilin's eyes were filled with admiration. "Such meticulous engineering, and spatial-partitioning wizardry... truly fearsome and awe-inspiring."
Though he had already ascended to the Dawnstar rank, it was merely the lowest threshold of the ancient era. The road ahead was still long and arduous, and naturally, he harbored no arrogance or complacency.
Quite the opposite, in fact. The more he learned, the more Leilin felt that the knowledge he had gained was pitifully little, and he became ever more humble.
And the master who had laid down this temporal-spatial formation was an existence he would have to look up to and learn from!