When she saw the three Sanctuary sorcerers rushing forward, Gloom Demon let out a cheer, brandished her flame halberd, and charged right out.
Yet Super Discharge Vanguard, Furious Sword Baron, and Gale Dancer worked together with seamless coordination. First, Furious Sword Baron roared, using a miracle to block Gloom Demon's opening strike. Then Gale Dancer brandished his spear, cutting off all of Gloom Demon's retreat paths. Finally, Super Discharge Vanguard leapt into the air, his charge blade spinning relentlessly with flashing lightning, unleashing a Super Elemental Discharge from above that sawed down into Gloom Demon like a chainsaw!
Boom!
The violent spatial tremors from the Super Discharge slammed Gloom Demon straight into the ground. Although protected by her Sanctuary defense, she still cursed in fury, "Damn it, if only I had more than one sorcery spirit..."
"Trash."
Gloom Demon snapped her head around toward Black Demon, who was dashing forward, and gritted her teeth in retort. "If you can't insta-kill them all in one go, you're trash too!"
"Is that supposed to be hard?"
Charging toward the three Sanctuary sorcerers, Black Demon suddenly smiled sweetly and asked, "Why have your watches stopped ticking?"
Super Discharge Vanguard and the other two stared warily at Black Demon, ignoring her question. Black Demon continued, "Are your watches broken? Or could it be..."
"...that the time inside them has run out?"
As Black Demon's voice echoed in a seventeen-fold chorus, a Chiming Bronze Dragon materialized behind her. Spreading its wings, the dragon transformed into an enormous clock. The clock had three second hands, each ticking down a one-second countdown.
Within that single second of the countdown, time completely stopped for the three Sanctuary sorcerers. They hung suspended in midair, showing no reaction whatsoever even as Black Demon's threads wound around them.
*Crack.*
When the Chiming Bronze Dragon's countdown ended, Black Demon phased through the three Sanctuary sorcerers, leaving behind only dozens of gory, severed limbs. In a single second, three illustrious veteran Sanctuary sorcerers were slaughtered clean by Black Demon, their butchered remains mangled amidst mud and spent shell casings.
Black Demon drifted lightly to the ground, strode up to Gloom Demon, stuck out her tongue, and drew out her words: "Traaaash."
"Damn it..." Gloom Demon gnashed her teeth in anger. Rather than being humiliated by Black Demon, she was actually angrier at how weak she was—weakness was the sin she despised most of all!
Besides, if even Black Demon could walk all over her, where was her pride in this band of arsonists and murderers?
Gloom Demon suddenly went over and hugged Mirror Master. "Mirror Demon, help me out! My Twilight Glow Dragon isn't an offensive guardian spirit—buff me with your invincible Reincarnation Illusion Mirror Dragon!"
"This..."
"I haven't eaten or drunk anything since earlier, so you can taste Watcher's original flavor straight from my mouth. How about that?"
Mirror Master gave her a speechless glance, sighed, and summoned a colossal phantasmal dragon that appeared to be made of countless shattered mirror shards. As the shards of the Illusion Mirror Dragon reflected Gloom Demon's silhouette one after another, Gloom Demon let out a moan of pleasure. Then, gripping her flame halberd firmly, she rocketed toward the gate of the Second Fortress like a flaming meteor!
Boom!
The flame halberd struck the gate with immense force, stirring a wave of ripples.
The White Tower sorcerers jumped in fright, but seeing the fortress hold fast, they breathed a sigh of relief. The barrier of the Second Fortress was far stronger than the outermost wall. Even if these intruders could breach the outer wall, they wouldn't necessarily break through the Second Fortress!
Yet at that moment, many White Tower sorcerers noticed that the elf sorceress who had just slammed into the gate had abruptly vanished. She was back beside the other intruders, as though nothing had happened at all.
Boom!
Boom!
Boom!
Time and again, the elf sorceress struck the gate with her flame halberd, vanishing and reappearing in the distance each time. The ripples she generated grew more violent with every blow, and the frequency of her attacks became faster and faster!
Realizing what was happening, the White Tower sorcerers muttered, "Impossible... How could such a miracle exist—"
Boom!
When the thirty-second blast sounded, Gloom Demon finally shattered the entire gatehouse with a single strike. Reinforced and constructed by thousands of sorcerers, the gatehouse crumbled and scattered under the compounded force of thirty-two strikes. The flames, accumulated thirty-two times over, washed through the corridor like a roaring torrent, incinerating every sorcerer who hadn't yet retreated into ashes!
Under the empowerment of the Reincarnation Illusion Mirror Dragon, all of Gloom Demon's prior unsuccessful attacks would continuously accumulate until she could forcefully shatter the barrier miracle!
"Ah~ That feels so good."
Gloom Demon let out a long breath, a flush rising on her cheeks. "Even though my primary field is the prophecy faction, I still prefer this kind of raw, unpretentious aesthetic of violence."
Passing by her, Watcher casually remarked, "A moment ago you said you liked watching people kill each other, and now you say you like the aesthetic of violence. Just what else do you like?"
"Poisoning, starving, dying of depression, drowning, burning, corroding... I like every way of killing people!" Gloom Demon tilted her head and smiled. "I respect all forms of slaughter. I'm very open-minded."
"I still prefer ripping people into lots of pieces," Black Demon said, skipping along. "That way, there look to be as many of them as there are of us sisters."
"Ah, right!" Gloom Demon suddenly remembered something. She dashed over, threw her arms around Mirror Master, and planted a wet kiss on her, deliberately unfurling her black wings to block everyone's view.
Watcher couldn't be bothered with them. He strode through the Second Fortress. Now, only the final Inner Keep stood between them and the River of Flowing Gold.
However, this also meant they were utterly encircled by the White Tower's sorcerers. The Fortress Legions and Gryphon Companies from other directions had already arrived; this pedestrian concourse ahead would be the most bustling stretch of their journey.
The Fortress Legion swiftly deployed along both sides of the road, while the Gryphon Company held their aerial vigil in the sky. All guns and cannons were calibrated, and all miracles had their sorcery procedures prepared. Although the White Tower sorcerers did not dare look directly at the five intruders because of Silver Lantern, this all-encompassing encirclement from ground to sky was enough to make anyone understand what it meant to have "the whole world as your enemy."
"...Aren't they going to attack?" Dead Frenzy asked suddenly.
"The sorcerer presiding over this ritual is a very calm individual," Watcher replied. "He realized that the power of stars alone cannot eliminate us, so he abandoned the war of attrition altogether, attempting instead to use a legion of sorcerers to exert psychological pressure on us."
"I really want to gouge out their eyes," Gloom Demon said. "Let's go slaughter them all."
"Seconded," Black Demon chimed in, raising her hand.
"No rush," Watcher said impassively. "Once we destroy the Inner Keep, they'll naturally rush forward wave after wave to die. In the interval between destroying the Inner Keep and disrupting the ritual, you can do whatever you like."
"Yay!" Gloom Demon and Black Demon cheered in unison.
"So the only problem left is breaching the Inner Keep's barrier."
Looking at the nearby Inner Keep, Dead Frenzy frowned slightly. "With our current sorcery spirit setup, even with the empowerment of guardian spirits, I'm afraid..."
Right at that moment, black ripples of Anti-Sorcerer Guns suddenly surfaced along both sides of the road. They knew Dead Frenzy could deflect Anti-Sorcerer bullets through Divine Might, but they were now scattered in every direction; no matter how formidable Dead Frenzy was, she could only deflect a portion of the bullets, and the rest would be enough to riddle her companions!
This was the White Tower sorcerers' final effort, the final dignity of the Country of Stars!
Bang! Bang! Bang!
As if oblivious, Watcher continued striding straight forward. Dead Frenzy drew her sword, Mirror Master raised her lantern, Gloom Demon brandished her flame halberd, and Black Demon spun her threads. Guarding Watcher on all sides, they nullified and deflected every single Anti-Sorcerer bullet!
The Alchemy King sighed, his last sliver of hope utterly shattered—besides the sword sorcerer, the others could also deflect miracles!
Reaching the wall of the Inner Keep, Watcher raised his head and locked eyes with the Alchemy King atop the battlements.
By now, the Alchemy King had stood up. The wheelchair had transformed into armor encasing his body, so he no longer looked like a decrepit old man on the brink of death, but rather a futuristic silver warrior straight out of a fantasy.
"You are the most formidable legendary sorcerers I have ever seen. I know not which country could give birth to experts like you, but regrettably, you are ultimately still only legendary sorcerers." The Alchemy King's voice reverberated throughout the White Tower fortress. "We cannot hold you here; you may leave at any time. But if your intent is to disrupt the ritual, I fear you will only return empty-handed.
"The Inner Keep was constructed personally by church sorcerers, linked to the stars, and blessed directly by the Divine Lord of Stars. You can indeed easily defeat us mortals, but your opponent now is a Divine Lord who commands world-shattering might.
"Even if you are infinitely close to demigod might," the Alchemy King said with conviction, "you are bound to break against the stars!
"Even if you were to become demigods this very instant, you could not shatter this final Inner Keep!
"Give up, mysterious sorcerers. The dignity of a Divine Lord is not something mere mortals can provoke!"
The Alchemy King's words rallied the White Tower sorcerers, who gripped their firearms tightly. Together, they looked up at the sky curtain traversed by the River of Flowing Gold. The twinkling stars seemed like their glory, proof of the Divine Lord of Stars' deep love for them.
Dead Frenzy, Mirror Master, Gloom Demon, and Black Demon all looked toward Watcher. They could naturally tell that the barrier of the Inner Keep was indeed linked to the sky curtain, which was a real-world wonder directly influenced by the Divine Lord of Stars. Thus, the Alchemy King was right: the defensive strength of the Inner Keep's barrier had already surpassed the demigod level.
Although they had gods and guardian spirits, they were limited by possessing only Four-Wing sorcery power; at most, they could approach the brink of a demigod's power, falling far short of a Divine Lord's level.
If Watcher had no way forward, the failure of this operation would be secondary; the real issue was that he would lose his voice of authority within the group. Not to mention Gloom Demon and Black Demon, even Dead Frenzy and Mirror Master, who supported him, did not truly follow his command willingly—it was only because he had always been right that they felt compelled to obey.
Each of them had once lived an illustrious life of supreme supremacy; how could they ever submit whole-heartedly to someone else? The idea that they only obeyed the strong was even more laughable; it was precisely because they had refused to submit to Divine Lords that they ended up being branded as Demon Kings by the world.
Moreover, as Yaxiu and the others reached the legendary rank, many forbidden boundaries could be lightly tested... Aside from Gloom Demon and Black Demon, who were openly exposed werewolves, was Dead Frenzy truly uninterested in embracing happiness? Did Mirror Master truly have no desire to mend what was broken?
"I've always disliked him; he's far weaker than I am."
Watcher suddenly brought up an unrelated topic. "You can tell just from the sorcery faction he majored in. It was entirely out of laziness that he went along and majored in swordsmanship. But his true talent was never swordsmanship in the first place.
"Swordsmanship is merely my minor. This current sorcery spirit setup has far too low compatibility with me, so I can hardly display much of my real strength."
Shifting the blame to Yaxiu, huh... The corners of Gloom Demon's mouth curled up; Black Demon looked bewildered; Mirror Master sighed; Dead Frenzy was a little annoyed.
"Especially that miracle he created recently—squandering over half a year of accumulation, yet even the foundational philosophy of the miracle is disgustingly weak," Watcher said. "Summoning a phantom to fight alongside oneself... Just how afraid of loneliness must a sorcerer be to embrace a phantom just to obtain a tiny sliver of warmth?"
"Yet whether by design or coincidence," Watcher turned to look at the four women, "the latest version of his revised miracle procedure just happens to begin with emotion, follow with time, turn on illusion, and end in a phantom.
"What's even more interesting is that there just happens to be a River of Flowing Gold right here."
The four were startled, and they all looked up toward the heavenly River of Flowing Gold inside the Inner Keep.
"I didn't expect that I would have to say these words again. I hope there won't be a third time."
Watcher said calmly, "Lend me your strength."
Extinction Resentful Blazing Dragon.
Chiming Bronze Dragon.
Reincarnation Illusion Mirror Dragon.
Twilight Glow Dragon.
The guardian spirits manifested behind Dead Frenzy and the other three. Looking toward Watcher at the very front, they continuously poured otherworldly power into his body.
Watcher gripped his twin swords and exhaled a breath of turbid air.
"Miracle: Sword Retainer."
*Clang! Clang!*
He unsheathed and slashed, carving shallow ripples onto the Inner Keep's barrier.
The Alchemy King stared intently at the Inner Keep's barrier, and all the White Tower sorcerers held their breath.
Yet one second, two seconds, three seconds, ten seconds passed, and nothing happened to the barrier.
Everyone exchanged glances. As the first person failed to stifle a chuckle, faint ripples of ridicule began to echo endlessly under the starry sky.
Inwardly, the Alchemy King also breathed a sigh of relief. Facing combatants on par with demigods, he had not been as composed as he appeared. He chuckled, "It seems the stars have prevailed after all. Honored guests, please depart."
"Don't be in a hurry. He hasn't arrived yet," Watcher said calmly.
"What?"
"He is, after all, a phantom from the distant future," Watcher said. "It takes a little extra time on the road."
Right at that moment, cries of astonishment broke out in waves across the Inner Keep. The adjutant beside the Alchemy King shouted, "Lord Alchemy King, the River of Flowing Gold, the River of Flowing Gold—"
The Alchemy King looked back and froze as well.
The River of Flowing Gold, which had been a full hundred meters wide just moments ago, had now shrunk to less than half its size. What's more, it was shrinking further at a speed visible to the naked eye, as if something within was drinking up its waters!
Could a miracle that directly attacked the River of Flowing Gold actually exist?
His thoughts racing, the Alchemy King shouted, "No need to panic! The River of Flowing Gold is merely material; the true ritual mechanism lies within the Inner Keep! As long as the Inner Keep is protected, the ritual will not fail! Even if he cuts off the River of Flowing Gold, it can only be cut off temporarily—it won't change a thing!"
"I'm not cutting off the River of Flowing Gold," Watcher said leisurely. "What I did just now is no different from what the Divine Lord of Stars is doing.
"We are both merely making proper use of the River of Flowing Gold."
Right at that moment, a dark silhouette abruptly materialized within the River of Flowing Gold. No matter how brilliant and surging the golden river was, it could not overshadow the jet-black, somber radiance of that figure.
When the dark silhouette unfolded its first wing, the corners of Watcher's mouth curved upward into a subtle smile:
"One wing."
Chapter 859