The entire Antarctica Ice Sheet suddenly bulged upward.
The ice cap for several kilometers around rose as though a giant beast beneath the ground had thrust it up, forming a terrifying hemisphere before bursting apart from the center a moment later.
Ice hundreds of meters thick tore open, and fragments of rock shot skyward amid steam and black blood.
A searing white pillar of light erupted from the fissures, illuminating the swirling snow as brightly as daylight.
The area where Eolseu No. 1 Underground City stood collapsed outright.
Ring after ring of cracks appeared across the ice sheet, racing outward from the center of the blast. Swathes of the demon tide that had yet to evacuate vanished along their path.
They were swallowed by heat, impact, and collapse all at once.
The Great Xia Third Unmanned Legion was caught in the blast again. Countless unmanned combat units were hurled into the air, tumbling through the shock wave before smashing into the ice.
High above, the Seventh-Order Experts and the six Demon Venerables were not spared either.
Even though they had climbed another thousand meters from their original altitude of two or three thousand meters, even though the explosion had erupted beneath thick layers of earth, the terrifying shock wave still struck viciously from below like an invisible giant palm.
Balin was the first to be flung away.
He tumbled through the air, his beard and armor covered in ice chips, yet he yanked a shield magic scroll from his Spatial Ring and tore it apart with a flick of his hand.
The earthen-yellow shield had only just lit up when a second impact slammed into it.
Balin spat out another mouthful of blood from the impact, yet he laughed louder than anyone.
"Hahahaha!"
"Idiots, you fell for it!"
His voice