This was a spectacular tug-of-war.
The contest took place in the sky. On one side was a Giant Hand reaching out from the void; on the other was a Blue Great Fish swimming out of the tower.
The rope was twisted from a Space Vortex. Invisible and intangible, yet sturdier than any physical rope.
The gale stirred up by the fish's fins and the Giant Hand howled as it sliced in every direction. Trees and houses within several hundred meters were reduced to dust by that violent force. A terrifying heat wave poured from the Space Vortex, seeming ready to melt the entire world.
The formation of the Withered Land activated once more.
Invisible ripples surged anew. The noose tightened, the great net spread wide, binding the blue fish and hauling it upward.
At the center of the net, the great fish was wrapped in the formation and the Space Vortex. The blue tide that had once swirled around it finally dissipated, revealing translucent skin. Beneath the fish skin, its flowing blood, bones, and that vague shadow of a cloak could faintly be seen.
The disadvantaged great fish fell silent for a second.
Then it shrank inward.
Its body suddenly became smaller.
A trace of blue appeared at the fish's core as it contracted. Along with it came an aura of destruction, spreading outward from that speck of blue.
"It's going to self-destruct..."
An Old Lich in the Mage Tower shrieked, but before it could finish, Sir Ulrich snorted coldly and cast it a glance.
The Old Lich instantly turned into a stone statue, its face still frozen in terror.
Sir Ulrich turned his gaze back to the air.
Once the destructive aura released by the great fish spread out, it finally broke through the Space Vortex's restraints and appeared