"What was that?!"
Under Max's multitronged barrage of heavenly lightning, the people of Earth had only just managed to hold back the Astral Nomad legion. Before they could even celebrate, an intense sense of dread abruptly welled up within them, as though an invisible giant hand had seized their hearts and could rip them out at any moment.
Everyone instinctively looked toward the source of that dread—the floating continent.
Above the floating continent, Max and Lee's battle was earthshaking, every clash capable of toppling mountains and splitting the ground.
But from so far away, the people below naturally could not see the two of them. What truly entered their sight was the energy sphere slowly rising above the top of the mage tower at the highest point of the floating continent.
The sphere was not particularly large, yet the radiance it gave off was blinding, like a tiny sun hanging close at hand.
Yet this sun brought no warmth at all. Instead, it made everyone feel as though they had fallen into an ice cellar.
Even ordinary people with no special abilities could clearly sense the terrifying energy gathering within it, the fear that made their hearts clench uncontrollably.
"Destroy the planet..."
Everyone recalled what Lee Stein had said before.
The Astral Nomads had come precisely to destroy the planet.
"Lee, wake up! Wake up!"
Even ordinary people could sense it, so there was no way Max, who was extraordinarily sensitive to energy, could have missed it. Sensing the terrifying energy fluctuations gathering atop the mage tower—so terrifying that even he felt despair—Max called out urgently.
His cries were rushed and loud, yet they could not conceal the helplessness within them.
No miracle occurred.
For half a day, until the energy sphere atop the mage tower meant to destroy the