"Of all these people, you gave me the most dangerous impression — I never expected it to be an old friend!"
The Flame Witch gazed at the illusory figure in her hand, a faint smile appearing on her face.
"I don't know what you're talking about..." Mirror's voice was dry and mechanical.
"Crolod! My realm of flame brooks no prying eyes from outsiders!"
The Throne of Flames seemed utterly certain of her judgment. With words that sounded like a proclamation, terrifying golden Spiritual Power surged violently into Mirror's body. Threads of golden light writhed back and forth within its illusory form before igniting into golden flames.
An illusory scene was wrenched out from Mirror by the Throne of Flames.
It appeared to be a vast, empty hall, with a platinum-white figure seated upon a throne.
The golden flames seemed to tear through the void itself, descending directly into that place.
A faint sigh drifted from the platinum-white figure. Then a single feather materialized, morphing within the white light into a strangely shaped longsword — its crossguard adorned with feather-like decorations — before slashing downward with devastating force.
Boom! The void split apart, and the hall from before vanished completely.
Meanwhile, Mirror in the Throne of Flames' grip burst apart like a balloon.
"Crolod? The Sky Throne's true name?" Leilin's eyes flashed with sharp insight. "I originally thought Mirror was a spirit-type
"But the Sky Throne's arrangements can't possibly be this feeble, can they?"
A trace of anticipation flickered in Leilin's eyes. After all, this was a hidden card laid by a sixth-level Dawn Sun Wizard — Mirror shouldn't be dealt with so easily.
Hum!
At that moment, several pristine white downy feathers drifted onto Leilin's shoulders like snowflakes, catching him completely off guard.
Almost immediately, feathers like driving snow began to descend slowly throughout the entire demiplane. A thin layer of white, light as floating catkins, accumulated on the ground — enough to overwhelm even the Throne of Flames' crimson-gold Spiritual Power.
Crack! Crack! Fissures began appearing across the demiplane's boundary membrane, and the Throne of Flames herself suffered far worse.
Boom! Crimson-gold flames erupted from her body, instantly incinerating the approaching feathers to ash. But several white feathers still pierced through her defenses, and her expression turned grim: "Crolod, you're dead!"
Bang! The feather exploded, causing the Throne of Flames' body to shake. Instantly, the True Spirit of the Sun behind her dimmed dramatically. The scorching temperature plummeted, significantly reducing the oppressive atmosphere filling the entire demiplane.
Dark brown fissures suddenly appeared across the spectral image of the True Spirit. Even the aura radiating from the Throne of Flames herself weakened perceptibly.
"So, you really can't suppress your injuries completely!"
"Die!" Faster than her was Joanna. At this moment, the aura emanating from her body had reached the peak of the Lunar Phase. Streams of purple energy converged before her, forming the shape of a trident, which she thrust fiercely toward the Throne of Flames.
"Get lost!"
Accompanied by a furious roar, the golden flames around the Throne of Flames surged tenfold in intensity, incinerating all of Sky Throne's arrangements.
However, after launching this strike, the Throne of Flames also stumbled back several steps. Cracks began to appear across the crimson-gold throne behind her.
"I am the Throne of Flames! The rules of fire in this world are all under my dominion!"
Facing the attacks from Miranda and Joanna, the Throne of Flames' expression turned indifferent, like a lofty deity making a proclamation.
A massive number of crimson fire particles suddenly materialized, even forming a plane that surpassed the Domain. It shrouded this place completely.
"The power to grasp the Rules of Fire? Just a portion of its might is already this terrifying..."
Lin Lei's head tilted slightly downward, concealing his eyes that were constantly emitting a faint glow.
In his perception, ever since the Throne of Flames summoned the Fire Plane that surpassed the Domain, the fire-elemental particles he could normally communicate with now seemed to have a master, resisting the call of his soul power.
Compared to the elemental isolation of the Morning Star Domain, this feeling was far stronger. Lin Lei even had an illusion, as if those fire-elemental particles possessed their own life and will, automatically rebelling against his control.
"Even just comprehending a sliver of the power of the Rules already grants too great an advantage over those below!"
Lin Lei sighed.
At this moment, the Throne of Flames' right hand coldly clawed forward: "Rule of Fire!"
Boom! A mass of flame that was neither intense nor seemingly very hot suddenly appeared, floating before the Throne of Flames. Yet it seemed to be the most primordial flame in existence, filled with an aura of ancient antiquity, even giving off a sense of being the leader.
Sss! The moment the tip of Joanna's purple trident touched this flame, it immediately began to melt. The sound it emitted made Joanna's expression change drastically.
The red flames in the hand of the Throne of Flames seemed to come alive, instantly reshaping into a fiery whip. With a flash of the whip's shadow, Joanna's figure was sent hurtling backward, a long, scorched burn mark trailing across her body.
"I am the master of flames, and with the power of Rules in my grasp, you are incapable of stopping me!"
As if to prove his words, a wave of violent true spirit power radiated from the Throne of Flames once more.
Melinda stumbled back a few steps. Being attacked by this Dawn-tier true spirit power immediately caused a backlash against her previous actions, and two trails of blood seeped down from her eyes.
"Are you going to act or not?" Melinda retreated swiftly while sending a voice transmission to Reilin.
"I can act! But what will you give me?" Reilin stood with his arms crossed, watching Melinda coldly.
"What do you want?" Melinda was nearly driven to the brink of despair. At a time like this, Reilin was still haggling so shamelessly. Didn't he realize that once the Throne of Flames killed her and Joanna, he wouldn't be able to escape either?
"I want the method you used to separate your true spirit and split your soul!"
Reilin was quite confident in his own ability to escape, so he was completely unhurried and took the opportunity to bargain for benefits.
With his strength, he was confident he could flee even from a fully intact Throne of Flames, let alone this incomplete entity.
Among the things Melinda possessed, he was only interested in this soul-splitting technique. Even if he wouldn't use it himself, it would be valuable to add to his database.
"Deal!" Melinda agreed to Reilin's condition without hesitation. For her, eliminating the Throne of Flames was the most important thing right now. No matter how important the soul-splitting technique was, it was merely a piece of data, so there was no problem at all.
Not only that, Reilin instantly felt Melinda's sincerity.
[Ding! Spiritual Power data port detected. Initiate transfer?] the Chip asked mechanically.
After Reilin confirmed the transfer, a massive amount of information immediately appeared. Though he didn't examine it in detail, the Chip's scan confirmed it was genuine.
"Only Rules can counter the power of Rules!"
The gray ring on Reilin's right hand shattered, releasing a puff of gray mist that coalesced into a gray world, rivaling the fire domain of the Throne of Flames.
"A Level Six Bloodline Sorcery?"
The gray mist and the crimson flames consumed each other. At the edge of the two vast domains, the void continuously fractured. A cry of alarm came from the direction of the Throne of Flames.
"Damned bloodline sorcerers! I should have uprooted you long ago!"
This kind of venomous speech did nothing to make Leilin stop. Instead, it drew a faint smile from his lips: "When someone wants to lay a hand on me, I always enjoy listening to their furious wails—it's a sign that their failure is already irreversible..."
Previously, harvesting
However, due to the total amount of bloodline power it contained, Leilin could only unleash the Ancient Mist Giant attack twice at most. He had used one strike on the Flame Throne's avatar, and the final one was now being deployed right here.
"Chip, prioritize data collection!" Using the Bloodline Seal as a conduit, Leilin could faintly perceive and even manipulate the rules of the gray mist. Such precious material absolutely had to be recorded meticulously. He immediately issued the command.
[Ding! Recording initiated. Designation: Gray Mist Rule Deduction Data...]The Chip responded swiftly.
At that moment, a vast amount of gray mist, under Leilin's control, coalesced into a three-headed monster. Each head spat forth poison, lightning, and frost respectively as it violently collided with the Fire Plane.
Even the mere residual shockwaves from a droplet of poison or a spark of lightning and frost from the battle forced Merlinda and Johanna to scramble back, terrified of being caught in the crossfire.
"My bloodline seal only has enough power for one more attack. Whatever means you have, use them now! I'm going to break through their rule-based defenses first!"
Leilin glanced calmly at Merlinda and Johanna. The three-headed monster had already shrieked and torn open the entire Fire Plane, revealing the true form of the Flame Throne.
*Crash!* A gray claw descended abruptly, extinguishing the flames the Throne had summoned and even ripping apart the chains of fire before it.
Only at this moment did a flicker of surprise finally appear on the Flame Throne's previously confident face, clearly not having expected Leilin to grasp the indirect manipulation of rule power so quickly.
"Brother! Wait for me! Soon, your sister will join you!"
The moment the Flame Throne was revealed, a profound hatred surfaced in Johanna's eyes. She threw herself forward, and wisps of purple aura emerged behind her, coalescing into the spectral image of a gigantic plant, its patterns strikingly similar to the one on her forehead...