Six Wings

What kind of phantom was he trying to summon that could cause the River of Flowing Gold to run dry? The Alchemy King dared not even imagine a concrete answer. He stared blankly at the constantly shrinking river, only snapping back to his senses when his adjutant shouted beside him, "Your Excellency Alchemy King, what should we do now?" "Two wings," Watcher said. His party of five flew outside the Inner Keep, watching leisurely as the dark silhouette in the River of Flowing Gold sprouted a second void wing. No matter what the miracle was, striking down the caster directly would sever the connection! The Alchemy King made an immediate decision: "All forces, coordinate with the Sanctuaries to surround and eliminate the enemy!" Every Sanctuary sorcerer mobilized, attempting to shatter the Void Sanctuary of Watcher's five. Yet Watcher and his companions did not even call upon their guardian spirits. Mirror Master's Silver Lantern unleashed its armament-color power at full strength to lower the intelligence of the surrounding sorcerers; Gloom Demon brandished her flame halberd; Black Demon strangled with her threads; and Dead Frenzy dispatched enemies one after another with each divine-might sword counter, swiftly slaughtering the Sanctuaries to the last. "Three wings," Watcher said. "Sever their perception!" the Alchemy King roared. "Sonic grenades, smoke bombs, concussion grenades, flashbangs—use them all!" All the special ordnance in the White Tower's stockpiles poured forth. Thousands of sonic and smoke rounds turned the area around Watcher's group into a heavily polluted zone, rupturing the eardrums and scorching the eyeballs of any sorcerers who drew even slightly near! "Four wings." Amidst the billowing smoke, Watcher's voice remained crystal clear. The Alchemy King turned to look, and sure enough, the dark silhouette in the River of Flowing Gold had already unfurled its fourth void wing! A bizarre thought suddenly surfaced in his mind, rapidly swelling until it crushed his mental defenses. Even when he fell into the River of Flowing Gold all those years ago, even when he encountered the Shadow Evil Dragon in the Distant Sky Realm, even when he was engulfed by boiling bloodflies on Ruby Mountain, he had never felt such terror as in this moment! "Five wings." While the Alchemy King stood dazed and trance-like, the dark silhouette quietly unfolded its fifth void wing! The legendary Wing of the Thief, the wing of a demigod! The divine realm that had captivated the Alchemy King now appeared right before his eyes! The power of a demigod, unseen in the mortal world for 1,668 years, was about to bloom once more within the Inner Keep! And what was even more terrifying was that this phantom miracle did not seem to be over yet. "Attack the River of Flowing Gold," the Alchemy King croaked hoarsely. The adjutant froze. "What?" "All forces, heed my command: cut off the River of Flowing Gold!" the Alchemy King bellowed. "We cannot let his miracle keep growing... Attack!" After a brief hesitation, the Alchemy King's venerable prestige won the allegiance of all the White Tower sorcerers. Every weapon in the Inner Keep was trained upstream on the River of Flowing Gold, and tens of thousands of gun rounds tore through the water with each passing second! Through the efforts of the White Tower sorcerers, they successfully depleted the water beforehand, shrinking the River of Flowing Gold until it was only three or four meters wide. Yet that terrifying voice sounded once more: "Six wings." Seeing the dark silhouette unfurl its sixth void wing, the Alchemy King's mind, which had run for over a century, nearly ground to a halt. But in the next second, he let out an aged roar, his figure transforming into a streak of silver light that charged straight into the River of Flowing Gold! Raising his hands high, flowing golden liquid condensed from the air, relentlessly blocking the torrent rushing down! Alchemy Miracle: Impregnable Gold! This was a defensive miracle the Alchemy King had painstakingly developed after his bitter failure in the Thousand Wishes Inheritance. Although its consumption of sorcery power was immense, its defensive strength far surpassed that of his former Dark Gold Giant! "Stop for me!" With the Alchemy King's roar, the River of Flowing Gold was completely cut off by him and the White Tower sorcerers. Only a single final drop of river water fell, dripping into the dark silhouette. The faint shadows beginning to sprout at the small of the silhouette's back were ultimately forced to recede. It succeeded. The White Tower sorcerers were wildly invigorated. They had successfully severed the River of Flowing Gold and halted the intruder's miracle! "Well done," Watcher said, clapping his hands. "The Sword Retainer I summoned has, after all, stopped at six wings. "Now then, how do you intend to defend against a full-power strike from a Six-Wing Sword Retainer?" Before the White Tower sorcerers' gradually despairing eyes, the dark silhouette slowly rested its hand on the sword hilt. The immense pressure nearly suffocated the sorcerers and made the sorcery spirits tremble with fear. Just then, the phantom of a ferocious dragon radiant with golden light appeared behind the Alchemy King. Reaching backward, the Alchemy King drew a lance from the golden dragon's mouth. This was the Alchemy King's guardian spirit, and his final trump card: the Radiant Gold Thorn Dragon! The lance condensed by the Radiant Gold Thorn Dragon would turn all tangible things into gold, whether miracles or sorcery spirits! Inside the silver armor, all the enhancing potions were injected into the Alchemy King's aged body, restoring him in an instant to his prime from a century ago! Boom! Accompanied by a piercing supersonic crack, the Alchemy King's lance pierced straight through the six-winged dark silhouette! Yet there was not the slightest joy in his heart. Because he felt no sensation of striking anything solid. "As expected, this is a Divine Lord..." Just as this thought flashed through the Alchemy King's mind, the six-winged dark silhouette finally drew its sword. Clang. In that instant, all of Jialesi heard the hum of the blade. Forty-eight minutes later, fortress warriors stationed at the abyssal edge of the Starry Country would also look around in wonder at the sword's hum. Outside the White Tower, the Starry sorcerers who had just watched the River of Flowing Gold get cut off witnessed the Inner Keep's barrier shatter like glass, disintegrating all the way up into the sky curtain. The river was cleaved to a halt, and even the stars flickered. Immediately afterward, immense Sword Qi burst forth, sweeping across Jialesi like a tempest. Countless cracks splintered across the White Tower's walls, and many sorcerers were nearly blown into the air. Those nearest to the breach were even cut by the razor-sharp Sword Qi, and tears streamed uncontrollably from the eyes of every onlooker! Blown to the ground like everyone else, Daidalos could not even bother with grace in that moment. She stared blankly toward the inside of the White Tower, murmuring like a bewildered commoner, "How is this possible... Even the aftershocks carry such power... "Heaven and earth altered, mountains and rivers transformed, death to those who draw near, harm to those who behold—this is already the legendary... Six-Wing authority!" When the River of Flowing Gold cascaded down once more, Watcher held twin swords and stepped into the ruined Inner Keep. Almost all the walls and buildings had turned to debris; the violent Sword Qi had cleaved and annihilated every tangible thing. Gloom Demon bristled. "Watcher, you liar! With that strike of yours, everyone on the perimeter collapsed. How are they going to come here and throw their lives away now?!" Black Demon kicked aside the rubble to inspect the remains within, letting out a disgusted "Ew." "This is shredded even finer than what I do." Stowing away the Silver Lantern, Mirror Master said sentimentally, "Our pleasant trip has come to an end." Dead Frenzy pulled a cream puff from her robes and ate it in silence, but Black Demon soon rushed over and snatched the remaining cream puffs from her arms. Watcher walked before the River of Flowing Gold, suddenly using his sword tip to lift aside his mask, gazing at his own reflection in the water. "Well then, I leave the rest to you." Soon, the Starry sorcerers noticed that the River of Flowing Gold abruptly reversed direction, flowing back up into the sky curtain before vanishing. By the time the Gryphon Company and Fortress Legion regained their composure and ventured bravely into the Inner Keep, ready to die, they found no trace of anyone, nor did anyone notice the few inconspicuous broken statues among the rubble.