The instant his Divine Sense returned to the battlefield, Dies Martin felt pressure unlike anything he had known before.
Every strike from War God Helion's holy sword and every Light Arrow from Hunting Goddess Artemis was precise and deadly. They seemed less intent on defeating the defenders outright than on testing and wearing them down.
What constrained the defenders most was the need to keep the area at the center of the sea absolutely safe.
Even the slightest trace of Light Power reaching Qin Chuan could deal a devastating blow while he was undergoing his transformation.
That meant they had to withstand the combined assault of two Light Main Gods while diverting a considerable portion of their Divine Might into dense layers of defensive barriers, keeping every stray shockwave out.
It left them at an overwhelming disadvantage from the start. Their Divine Might was draining far faster than expected.
Pure Light Power surged like a tide that found its way through every gap, battering the defenses they had built.
Blocking even a fraction of it consumed enormous amounts of Divine Might.
"Damn that light! It's every bit as overbearing as I expected!"
Dies Martin's will roared.
His Deception Authority worked furiously to distort and misdirect the incoming attacks, but it had little effect.
Against such overwhelming power, the value of his subtle techniques fell to almost nothing.
Holy Light seemed to dispel illusions by its very nature, rendering many of his arrangements useless.
Night Lady gathered her power into a curtain of deepest night, shielding Qin Chuan within it.
Her will was steady as stone, but the night's constantly trembling edges and the occasional flecks of starlight that escaped showed how much strain she was under.
"Lava and Torture can't come here," Night Lady told Dies Martin through her will.