High above, the Throne Wizards of Golden Crown Mountain clashed with sixteen Third-Ring Wizards from the local Black Wizard Alliance.
In an instant, the heavens and earth churned.
Each combatant's Magic Pressure rivaled a Greater World. Their Plane Principles seemed to become stars overhead: constellations shifted, the sun and moon moved, mountains and rivers changed, and time swept on.
Every collision of magic chilled the watching wizards to the bone. This was a battlefield on a stellar scale, and every wizard who fell was like a dying star.
One Star-Ring Wizard even noticed that the magic sustaining his Permanent Defense Field Shell was coming apart.
"Wh-why? What's happening to my magic?"
A Sun-Ring Wizard who commanded a Demon-Hunting Squad strode over. His Great Magic became a defensive ring, forming a Magic Circle around him.
"It's nothing. Too many beings who surpass ordinary truth are fighting up there. Their Plane Principles have affected your magic, drawing it under the pull of theirs. That's why your Permanent Defense Field Shell is losing its effect. I've touched a sliver of the true meaning of True Forging, so I have some resistance."
"Ordinarily, a Third-Ring Level battle would force Second-Ring Wizards to retreat a thousand miles. Only Sun-Ring Wizards could approach. But the rules of this sudden battle have already been broken."
The Demon-Hunting Squad commander looked up. In the distance, Grandet had blown the Golden Bull Horn Locke had given him, summoning the local Demon-Hunting Squad wizards.
"Mr. Locke Augustine seems to have sparked this battle, but look closer, and you'll see that many powerful figures are crossing swords."
"This was the Red Dragon Throne's scheme all along. What exactly is she trying to do?"
The commander looked toward the Rose Throne, who was sipping a drink and watching the show with a