"Is this an empty city?"
Diya gripped Sonia's hand tightly. Sonia swallowed hard as well, resting her left hand on the hilt of her sword. "It is."
"But isn't it a bit too..." Diya felt holding onto just Sonia wasn't enough, so she grabbed Daidalos's hand with her other hand, hiding her small body behind them. "...bustling?"
Unlike how it appeared from the outside, visibility inside the mist was quite good; one could vaguely make out things twenty meters away. Furthermore, aside from the mist, this satellite city of Jialesi, Nash, had not suffered any other natural disasters—it was not submerged in water or anything of the sort. Brand-new municipal roads stretched deep into the city.
The problem was that the highways, sidewalks, and bike paths were packed full of people. Ancient people.
Some wore the elaborate formal attire of centuries past, sporting top hats and canes, their cowhide shoes clicking crisply against the stone paving; some wore floor-length robes that looked straight out of period dramas, even carrying staves as tall as a person; some simply wore animal skins, walking barefoot or even crawling along the ground like wild beasts.
They emerged from the dense mist, marching toward the heart of the city as though on a pilgrimage. They paid no heed to the Four Pillar Cultists who looked so out of place among the crowd; they even actively steered clear of them. Standing in the middle of the road, Sonia and the others were like boulders in a raging torrent.
"They're all sorcerer projections," Trozan said calmly.
Hardly any sorcerer failed to recognize them. They were life-and-death adversaries, mentors passing down knowledge, treasure chests brimming with infinite possibilities, history of the past, and reflections of their future selves.
From the Knowledge Sea to Ruby Mountain, sorcerer projections appeared everywhere in the Void Realm, just as sorcerers set foot everywhere in the Void Realm. The profound impact of sorcerer projections on sorcerer civilization was evident even from the calendar—none of the realms possessed historical records before Year 0, as if humanity had suddenly appeared out of nowhere in Year 0.
Yet everyone knew that was impossible, giving rise to endless theories: the "Apocalyptic Severance Theory," the "Isolated Island Theory," the "War of the Gods Theory." Even in an environment marked by a severed civilization, the six nations had still managed to grow and flourish in a mere 1,668 years. This was not only due to the guidance of the Divine Lords, but even more so because sorcerer projections had shouldered the responsibility of passing down legacy.
One could even say that if the six nations were to suddenly suffer a cataclysm that wiped them out entirely and reduced their civilization to ashes, as long as people survived, sorcerer civilization would inevitably flourish anew. Lost sorcery arts would resurface sooner or later, forgotten miracles would be unearthed, and deceased forebears would become known to posterity through sorcerer manuals.
As long as the mechanism of sorcerer projections existed, sorcerer civilization was like sawing wood—advancing during times of peace, pushed backward by disasters, but ultimately deepening in development overall.
In the eternal treasure vault of the Void Realm, sorcerers were both the inheritors of treasures and their creators.
Hence, sorcerers were never afraid of sorcerer projections, just as students would never fear their teacher's slides.
However, when sorcerer projections appeared in reality, things were entirely different. Far from educational tools, they were closer to another kind of existence—"wraiths" or "ghosts."
It would have been fine if there were only a few sorcerer projections, but everywhere the Four Pillar sorcerers looked, this empty city was crowded with the phantoms of the dead. Walking among them felt as though the living had stumbled into a city of ghosts.
"Fly ahead and take a look," Sonia quickly regained her composure. "Look on the bright side: even if someone spots us, they'll just assume we're sorcerer projections. We don't have to worry about putting anyone on guard. Witch, do you have any more intel?"
"We need to go a bit deeper." Diya pressed close to Sonia's bottom. "Right now, Gospel's perception matches mine; what I can't see, it can't see either."
"Is the Gospel really that weak?"
"I haven't provided it with any energy support at all, other than letting it stay in my soul."
"Working for its landlord for free—no wonder..."
The Four Pillar sorcerers spread their void wings and flew toward the depths of the mist. The deeper they ventured into the city, the thinner the fog became. Rumbles and explosions echoed from afar, and they could even see bursts of bright light piercing the haze, like the sun sweeping over the earth, or dawn breaking through the shroud of night!
Sonia called out urgently, "Evade!"
As if the sorcerer projections on the ground were also the Sword Seat's subordinates, the moment the beams of light pierced the mist, the sorcerer projections lining the entire street spread their void wings and dodged at top speed, nearly blinding the Four Pillar Cultists!
Silver Wings, Golden Wings, Seven-Colored Wings, Colorless Wings!
The sorcerer projections filling the entire street—hundreds of projections soaring into the air—all possessed four complete void wings!
Just as the Four Pillar Cultists froze in terror, too frightened to move, they saw several four-wing phantoms who hadn't managed to dodge in time get swept by the beams of light, evaporating and shattering like illusions!
"Huh?"
Everyone paused, startled. Dignified four-wing phantoms, yet they didn't even know enough to deploy their Sanctuaries?
At that moment, Diya glanced down at her small mirror and said, "They aren't true four-wing phantoms. Their sorcery power was just temporarily boosted... They are all projections of Silver Sorcerers from the Knowledge Sea!"
The Four Pillar Cultists let out a collective sigh of relief. Claire, masked, remarked casually, "Even if a Silver Sorcerer is boosted to Four-Wing, what can they possibly—"
The very next second, the Calamity Messenger clamped her mouth shut. For all along the street, the startled four-wing phantoms launched an assault from afar against the presence within the mist!
Fireballs. Earth spikes. Ice crystals.
Archery. Thrown projectiles.
There were barely any miracles among them; most of the four-wing phantoms were simply driving their sorcery spirits. Yet such simple sorcery spirit attacks wove together an earth-shattering might!
Because their sorcery spirits had also been enhanced to the Four-Wing level!
Dense clusters of fireballs formed a meteor shower of flames; earth spikes surged upward like tumbling earth dragons; ordinary arrows carried the might to pierce all things; even a hurled stone tore through the fabric of space! The sorcery spirits cheered and roared, unleashing their power to its absolute limit, as everything in the world bobbed and drifted within the tidal wave they stirred!
The onslaught of the sorcery spirits slammed forward like a roaring tsunami, instantly scattering the mist ahead and finally revealing to the Four Pillar Cult the arrangements made by the Divine Lord of Stars—
It was a rampart enveloped in starlight. Thousands of starlights drifted outside, linking together like a protective dome around the bulwark. The sight reminded the Sanctuary sorcerers of the time the Starry Sky Divine Miracle had sealed off the Spectre Inheritance.
Only, that Starry Sky Divine Miracle had trapped people inside, whereas this one could defend against and even retaliate against any intruder!
Sorcerers within the rampart seemed to be casting spells. Thirteen points of starlight simultaneously gleamed with green light, and then a pitch-black gale swept across the earth—resembling the black lines used to depict airflow in comics—as hundreds of four-wing phantoms who couldn't dodge in time were scattered into nothingness by the black wind!
Concealed within a nearby unfinished high-rise, the members of the Four Pillar Cult stared blankly at this offensive and defensive clash, whose scale of combat power was so exaggerated it could be called the pinnacle of the mortal realm.
On one side were thousands upon thousands of four-wing phantoms possessing legendary combat prowess; on the other stood a sorcerer rampart sustained by divine miracles. Even if the six nations were to unite and wage total war right now, they could never produce a battlefield more tragic or more magnificent than this.
Chapter 824