"Unit One, acknowledged!" "Unit Two, acknowledged!" "Unit Three, acknowledged!"
Following the old man's command, three different voices immediately echoed from the emerald-green metal bracelet.
"Begin extracting the wraiths! The ritual begins..." The old man's voice was flat, yet carried a bone-piercing chill.
At the same time, almost every Morning Star powerhouse within Transas City felt a sudden chill in their hearts.
"This feeling?"
"It's a wizard world's magical array! A necromantic array specifically designed to target wraiths!" Leilin Farell and
Clashes between Morning Star-level beings, even when both sides intentionally held back, would cause tremendous damage to the surrounding environment. What's more, this was the Sacred Star Festival — not only local residents had gathered, but representatives and attendants from every region, along with tourists, had long since packed the entire city to the brim. The plaza in particular was a sea of people, and now all of them had been reduced to minced flesh.
Even quite a few high-ranking officials and nobles had been killed, so naturally no one was paying attention to the common folk.
"I suspect it's the wizards of Jupiter's Thunder!" Leilin transmitted to Gilbert and the others while engaging a fire elemental beast that resembled a two-headed hound.
Before Leilin stood a colossal fire hound two stories tall, its body covered in steel barbs. Its vicious gaze pierced through its skull to stare at Leilin, reminiscent of the legendary three-headed hound of the underworld.
This creature was also a member of the opposing delegation. Its energy intensity had already reached the peak of the Third Rank, which was why Leilin currently appeared to be in a very "dangerous" situation, barely holding on with the support of several teammates.
Meanwhile, taking advantage of the chaos in the plaza, Gilbert and Emma had already sneaked to Leilin's side. Three Morning Stars formed a small squad — appearing like a random group that had gathered together by coincidence — surrounding the two-headed fire hound in their midst.
Such temporary groupings were common throughout the plaza. Besides, at a time like this, hardly anyone would be paying attention to Leilin and his group.
Burns was the exception, of course!
"Shike! Did you see that?"
Even amid this massive upheaval, loyal martial officers still formed a protective cordon around Shike at the center. Burns stood at his side.
"That Leilin fellow is clearly suspicious! Two nobles who approached him — a count and a viscount — both rank high on our list of individuals requiring thorough investigation. Furthermore, Locke has identified that the origins of one of them are questionable..."
"Let me think! Let me think..." Shike pressed his hand to his forehead with a headache. At a time like this, he was far more worried about his father. As for this Leilin fellow? That was a minor matter. As long as his father was still alive, nothing was unresolvable!
"What is that..."
Just as Shike was about to make up his mind, the necromantic array that Jupiter's Thunder had laid down finally activated in full.
Dark green light erupted from underground and coalesced in midair into a bizarre ring-shaped symbol, with vast quantities of phosphorescent green fire raining down.
"It's the mark of the Möbius Loop! They're here too!"
Shouts erupted everywhere, plunging the plaza into complete chaos — especially when a great number of Fire Feather race members discovered that the emerald-green ring of light in the sky was draining their energy, and even their flesh and blood!
Wisps of dark qi emanated from a nobleman's body. Before he could even register what was wrong, he collapsed to the ground, an eerie expression on his face, his body shriveled and desiccated.
Nobles of weak strength died one after another beneath the Möbius Loop's bizarre array. Even experts above the eighth level of the Fire Feather Art felt their internal energy constantly draining away.
"We can't just wait like this!"
Several peak ninth-level Fire Feather members exchanged glances and all charged toward the sky. Blazing flames formed enormous phantom fire phoenixes behind them.
Boom! The flames collided violently with the emerald-green light, but the result was those Fire Feather members sent flying backward, trailing streams of blood.
"You lot aren't good enough! Let me handle this!"
Before those Fire Feather members could hit the ground, a pair of powerful hands caught them. Wisps of eerie dark qi rose from their bodies, only to be incinerated by flames.
"Lord Garrison Commander!" The Fire Feather members recognized the newcomer — none other than the Garrison Commander of Transas City — and immediately saluted.
"Mm." The Garrison Commander said little. He had smooth, platinum-blond hair, and his once handsome face was now covered in murderous intent.
"The Möbius Loop! Nothing but rats that hide in gutters and darkness. It seems the lesson we gave them by destroying their headquarters wasn't enough!"
The Garrison Commander snorted coldly, and a powerful Morning Star-level field erupted from his body. He shot up into the sky, a red streak of fire lancing toward the twisted emerald-green ring.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
The fire streak was intercepted in midair, and then numerous figures materialized — a full seven wizards in black robes floating in the sky. The distinctive particle fluctuations emanating from them immediately drained the color from the Fire Feather Garrison Commander's face.
"Morning Star-level powerhouses! This many?!"
Horror instantly flooded his heart. According to his intelligence and records, the Möbius Loop was a small organization. Their ritual methods were somewhat bloody and fanatical, but they had fewer than three Patriarchs — even weaker than the Three Serpent Cult.
But now, the enemy had a full seven Morning Star-level powerhouses appear. How could he not be utterly horrified?
The entire capital might not even have seven Morning Star-level Fire Feather members at this moment. The addition of such a massive force would instantly turn the tide of battle.
And furthermore... the Möbius Loop had been concealing its true strength all along. What exactly had they been plotting?
The Garrison Commander had no time to ponder further, because ferocious waves of wizardry energy suddenly erupted from the seven Morning Star-level figures before him.
Morning Star domains materialized like stellar voids, seven domains overlapping and influencing each other, immediately turning the Fire Feather Garrison Commander's face ashen as his body came under tremendous suppression.
"Using wizardry in an Otherworld is quite troublesome. Fortunately, our organization has prepared a large number of analytical spell templates. Although Morning Star killing moves still haven't fully adapted to this world's rules, the other Fourth-level Spells will more than suffice! Prepare the combination spell!"
The Morning Star
Vicious tides of elemental particles surged toward his hands like a tsunami, forming a terrifying sphere of energy. Intense particles continued to concentrate within, producing increasingly violent energy reactions.
"Fourth-level Spell — Field Bind!" A female voice on the right pointed a finger at the Garrison Commander.
Instantly, the Garrison Commander found himself seemingly encased in stone, the surrounding air growing incredibly heavy, making even movement nearly impossible.
"Fourth-level Spell — Sensory Deprivation!" Another wizard spoke, the voice bizarre and unsettling, like continuous shrieking, extremely grating on the ears.
"Fourth-level Spell..."
One terrifying Fourth-level Spell after another emerged from the Morning Star Wizards' hands, binding the Fire Feather Garrison Commander tightly and even stripping away all of his abilities.
Seven Morning Star domains overlapping nearly formed an independent space. Combined with the power of the combination spell, it completely sealed off this area, leaving the Fire Feather members outside watching with eyes splitting from rage, yet utterly powerless to render aid.
"In the name of the Flesh Möbius, I grant you your final death..." Like an incantation, the central Morning Star Wizard delivered his verdict.
Boom!
The besieged Fire Feather Garrison Commander collapsed. His platinum-blond hair scattered in the wind, no trace of life remained on his body. Even his soul had been completely annihilated, leaving no possibility of resurrection.
Although this was an Otherworld and fully deploying wizardry was still somewhat troublesome, when seven Morning Star Wizards acted in concert using Fourth-level Spell combinations, the resulting power was no less formidable than some Morning Star killing moves!
In fact, in a single strike, a Morning Star fell!
The Morning Star Wizards from the Otherworld once again bared their vicious fangs before the alien race.
Even after the Garrison Commander's corpse crashed to the ground, many Fire Feather members still could not believe what they had seen.
Though the battle had raged until now, this was the first time a Morning Star-level combatant had actually fallen!
Moreover, today was the Sacred Star Festival — the shared celebration of the entire Fire Feather race — and a Morning Star-level clansman had been slain right at the festival. Could anything be more bitterly ironic?
For a time, every Fire Feather member present felt as though they were trapped in a dream.
"Haha! Friends of the Möbius Loop, your timing is perfect!" The fire elementals that had been at a disadvantage suddenly roared, transforming one after another into massive lava giants and beginning to rampage through Transas City.
With the addition of seven Morning Star Wizards, the Fire Feather members present immediately found themselves at a disadvantage. Though they vastly outnumbered the enemy, they had fallen behind in Morning Star combat power.
Before a Morning Star, a human-wave tactic was nothing but a joke!
In particular, the water- and ice-system spells wielded by those seven Jupiter's Thunder wizards — specifically targeting their weaknesses — dealt devastating blows to the many Fire Feather members who had never encountered such magic.
As the martial officers and elite guards were pushed back wave after wave, the entirety of Transas City descended into blood and fire.
The entire city seemed to be weeping and screaming. Amid the flying flesh and blood, colorful ribbons and decorations prepared for the festival continued to fall and burn, lending the scene a tremendous sense of irony.
Shike watched this scene, his eyes bloodshot, his fingernails digging deep into his palms until blood seeped out, yet he had no choice but to be shielded as the martial officers retreated.
"Father! Please end the battle quickly and come save your people!"
Shike could only silently pray in his heart.