The Purgatory Demon Tree had been smart to choose the Sea Emperor as its first target.
The battle on the Saint King's side was unlikely to produce a winner anytime soon, since the gap in Combat Strength was not great.
But the Saint Lords and Saints were being slaughtered. With every passing minute, someone from the five major tribes fell.
The Sea Emperor commanded the overall situation. As long as he was killed, those on the battlefield below would be left without orders, and the pace of slaughter would surely slow significantly.
Under normal circumstances, choosing the Sea Emperor as its first target had indeed been the right move. But the Purgatory Demon Tree's mistake was choosing the Sea Emperor, because killing him was no simple matter.
When he saw three golden branches lashing wildly toward him, the Sea Emperor was delighted rather than alarmed.
"Since I've got nothing better to do, I'll play with you!"
The Sea Emperor curled his lips into a faint smile and extended one hand toward the void.
Before him, a complex pattern was swiftly formed from divine source power, instantly transforming into a massive shield.
Then came a second, a third... one pattern after another rapidly took shape, becoming layers upon layers of giant shields that stood before him.
What the Sea Emperor used was precisely Miko's specialty, Barrier Art.
Although his method of creating barriers differed greatly from Miko's, his speed was no slower than hers.
The three golden branches struck the giant shields. The shields shattered layer by layer, but the whip-like branches lost momentum again and again.
Once all the shields had shattered, flames suddenly erupted and engulfed all three branches.
That was the Bursting Barrier the Sea Emperor had set up. The earlier layers of shields had not merely been