Dense white Runes surfaced across every lotus petal, forming layer upon layer of holy, resilient defensive barriers.
Yet all of it was futile.
"Boom—!"
The Darkness Chains slammed fiercely into the crystalline barrier conjured by the Ice Phoenix.
With a single strike, the barrier shuddered violently, countless fine cracks appearing across its surface.
The second strike followed close behind. The crystalline barrier shattered instantly, turning into a skyful of dark-blue fragments that scattered through the night.
The Darkness Chains did not slow, piercing straight through the shattered barrier and wrapping around the Ice Phoenix's massive body like festering parasites.
The white lotus's defense was somewhat stronger than the Ice Phoenix's. The layered petal barriers did indeed block the first wave of Darkness Chains.
However, with a mere thought from Qin Yan, even more Darkness Chains poured from the scepter, crushing down upon the white lotus from all directions.
The white Runes on those petals dimmed visibly under the corrosion of the Darkness Force, their holy radiance flickering like a dying candle in the wind.
The second layer of petal barriers shattered, then the Third Layer—like splitting bamboo, the Darkness Chains tore apart the white lotus's defenses layer by layer.
"Boom!"
When the final petal barrier was brutally smashed by the Darkness Chains, the ink-black chains wrapped around the lotus itself without further obstruction.
The chains tightened further and further, binding the Ice Phoenix and white lotus firmly in midair. No matter how they struggled, they could not break free in the slightest.
"Shatter."
The instant his words fell, the Darkness Chains wound around the Ice Phoenix and white lotus lit up with a piercingly eerie glow.
The ancient Darkness Runes upon the chains activated in full at that moment. Countless streams of Darkness Force condensed to the extreme surged from