In the outer space of Lighthouse Star, a colossal dragon, resembling a flagship, soared across the battlefield. Its slender body was enveloped in colorful magic circles, blocking all artillery fire and leaving a trail of explosive light in its wake.
Milizaus flapped his wings, his massive body rampaging wildly, his inner magic surging as he unleashed endless offensive spells, creating a magical frenzy on the battlefield.
Beside Milizaus followed two tiny figures. "Photon" Sagman was surging with golden energy, which he unleashed repeatedly, shattering Milizaus's protective spells. The other, "Divine Spell" Ninja, released spells to clash with Milizaus. The two of them had him entangled.
Due to his enormous size, Milizaus has very poor dodging ability and is practically a sitting duck. However, this has its advantages and disadvantages. His physical strength is almost unmatched by any other mage, making him extremely powerful and amplifying the intensity of his spells. Although Sagman and Ninja can hold him off, they are essentially evenly matched for the time being.
Three Beyond Grade A ships were engaged in fierce combat on the battlefield, causing damage to the surrounding fleets, with warships being destroyed by the aftershocks.
"Two troublesome fellows..." Milizaus's dragon eyes were filled with solemnity. Sagman was the strongest among the six opponents, and with another Beyond Grade A mage added to the mix, they were quite difficult to deal with.
Although he could fight two people at the same time, he couldn't spare any time to support Black Star.
"These two guys are targeting me, their strongest point. But you could also say I'm holding off two of them. Black Star still has four people on his side. Even if I go to help, these two will follow, making it just as dangerous... Sigh, there's nothing I can do. I hope Black Star and Beoni can hold on. I can't help them anymore..."
Milizaus felt helpless. Even though he was extremely strong and one of the three pillars of the empire, the two Beyond Grade A enemies were not to be underestimated. He had no choice but to focus on dealing with them and could not get away.
If we hadn't gotten involved in this mess in the first place, we wouldn't have been dragged into this crisis...
Overwhelmed by regret for his choice, anger at his enemy, and worry about his own situation, Milizaus grew angrier and angrier. He looked up and unleashed a devastating, dark golden magical dragon breath that collided with the light energy shockwave released by Sagman, exploding into a vast expanse of dazzling fireworks.
"Heh, our four companions are going to take on the two of you. Black Star won't last long. The battle over there will be over soon. Your resistance is pointless. You might as well give up and join our Arcane Church. It's your only way out. You're not a direct descendant of the Empire, there's no need for you to die for them."
At that moment, Ninja transmitted his voice through magic, his words laced with a cold laugh echoing in Milizaus's mind.
His response was an even more powerful burst of dragon breath.
"Hmph, as expected, they won't compromise." Ninja's eyes turned cold, and he casually released a huge magic shield to block the dragon's breath.
Sagman said calmly, "Then let's proceed according to plan. He thinks we're just trying to keep him occupied, and we'll create an opportunity to use the Scepter of All Gods later."
"Good!"
At this moment, Milizaus was unaware that Black Star was not the only target of the Arcane Church!
High above the thin air of Lighthouse Star, Han Xiao and Beoni clashed with Sisko and his three companions.
The moment the battle began, Han Xiao activated Reynold's character card without saying a word, and the Mechanical Force within his body suddenly swelled up as if he had taken an aphrodisiac.
Perfect Mechanical Sense!
This character card can be used a maximum of three times. It has already been used twice, and this is the last time!
The 1.4x Mechanical Affinity boost instantly raised the level of Mechanical Force enhancement to a new level. The densely packed mechanical legions around immediately opened fire, their attack power soaring under the effect of Mechanical Force, and the barrage of energy cannons directly blocked the sky.
The four sprang into action instantly. A blue light flashed in Dilun's eyes, and a massive amount of seawater gushed from his body, forming ever-growing water dragons that surrounded the group, becoming a barrier. Under his control, the water was compressed to an extreme degree, transforming the water curtain into a solid shield.
Sisko wasn't idle either; he released his telekinetic powers to cover the water curtain barrier, forming multiple shields.
Bang bang bang bang!
Round after round of concentrated fire bombarded the water curtain and telekinetic shield, causing the shield to shatter continuously. However, Sisko and Dilun constantly replenished it, blocking the vast majority of the attacks. Together, the mechanical forces were essentially breaking through two Beyond Grade A defenses.
The four enemy soldiers, however, did not stand still and take the beating; they all moved at high speed.
"Desolate Beast" Motes is a gray-black beast-like humanoid over seven meters tall. He looks like an upright wild beast with thick mane running from his head along his spine to his tail. His body is covered in bulging muscles, and he wears simple, specially made battle armor. He is enveloped in a powerful green martial arts aura, and he appears as a shooting star.
Han Xiao had already deployed his mecha, covering his entire body. Having fought with Heber before, he was very experienced in dealing with the headstrong kid. He constantly changed his position, controlling the mechanical troops to intercept the opponent, and always maintained a distance from Motes.
Facing four formidable enemies, Beoni dared not slack off and kept activating his powers. His main target was Dilun, who ignited a large area of seawater, turning it into a raging sea of fire. The water curtain and the sea of fire collided and turned into large clouds of white steam.
Just then, Han Xiao and Beoni both sensed the strange fluctuations in space and looked up. They saw "World Gate" Taylor holding a staff, his lips moving as if he were rapidly chanting a spell. A giant magic circle appeared in the sky behind him, its glowing patterns as intricate as branches and vines.
Rumble--
It sounded as if the palace gates were being pushed open, and the next moment, the magic circle behind Taylor split open from the middle, turning into a huge circular gate of light.
Inside the portal was a pitch-black world, with countless tiny red lights, like fireflies, shining through the darkness, resembling the eyes of some kind of creature.
"This is... a summoning array!" Han Xiao's eyes narrowed.
"RUA!!!"
The next second, countless bizarre, crimson creatures roared and surged out of the portal, like a blood-red torrent, creating a scene as if a flood had been released!
These creatures resemble mutated giant bats, with sharp claws and bone spikes, horns on their heads, and two pairs of blood-red eyes that can emit red lasers. Their appearance seems to be related to demons.
After these summoned creatures appeared, they immediately confronted the mechanical forces, and the two sides clashed in mid-air.
Flesh and blood collided with machinery, blood and oil gushing out, and shattered pieces of flesh and broken parts rained down with a crackling sound.
Taylor is a magician whose specialty is summoning magic, hence his nickname "World Gate".
"Summoning mages is very disadvantageous for me..." Han Xiao gritted his teeth inwardly.
Legion-style Mechanics and Summoning Mages are known as the two major rogue classes, both employing swarm tactics. The difference between the two lies in their resources: Mechanics are expensive, as they can build machines in advance and instantly flood the field, while Summoning Mages can only slowly summon minions during battle, burning through mana.
Now that Han Xiao's mechanical army has reached a scale of tens of millions, it would take Taylor a very long time to summon a baby of the same size. At this time, the first batch of summons cannot cause much damage to the mechanical army... However, if Taylor is not stopped from continuing to cast spells, more and more summons will eventually be able to fight against the mechanical legion, greatly weakening Han Xiao's advantage of human wave tactics.
In a one-on-one fight, Han Xiao would have more than a dozen ways to interrupt the opponent's summoning. However, now it's a group fight, two against four, and he is being held back by the enemy, making it exponentially more difficult to stop Taylor from casting his spell.
"The martial artist's charge puts pressure on me, while the psychic and control-oriented ability users deal damage and maintain crowd control, leaving the summoner with no pressure... It's a really good combat setup."
Han Xiao felt a heavy weight in his heart; the enemy had clearly come prepared.
Beoni understood this as well, and his eyes blazed with fire as he began to target his summoned creatures as well.
Whoosh!
His area-of-effect (AOE) ability is equally outstanding; his summoned creatures are ignited without any resistance, turning into falling fire meteors.
"I'll deal with him."
Dilun gave a command and manipulated the seawater to surge towards Beoni. The churning ocean extended water tentacles, pushing aside the mechanical troops blocking its path.
He stepped on the waves, his legs springing out like a cannonball, swirling with tiny, tornado-like sprays of water as he hurtled towards Beoni.
Beoni's body blazed with intense flames, his blood, once belonging to the Flame Demon Race, boiled, and he opened his mouth to spew out blazing red flames, instantly evaporating a large area of seawater, which collided with the seawater spewed out by Dilun in mid-air.
Fire and water, red and blue, neither side willing to give in, locked in a stalemate supported by their immense strength, releasing large amounts of water vapor.
The thick white fog spread rapidly, obstructing visibility, but this had little impact on Beyond Grade A.
Han Xiao had no time to spare, as only one of his opponents was able to restrain Beoni, while Sisko, Motes, and Taylor joined forces to beat him up.
Facing pressure from three Beyond Grade A enemies, the mechanical troops suffered increasing losses. Fortunately, they had the bonus of Perfect Mechanical Sense, otherwise the rate of loss would have been even faster.
Han Xiao himself was in a very bad state, constantly dodging attacks from psychic power, magic, and martial arts fluctuations, with no time to catch his breath.
With his current strength, facing three Beyond Grade A at the same time is far beyond his capabilities. Beyond Grade A opponents are all experienced combat experts who coordinate very well and their combat power is more than just additive. He spends 90% of his time dodging and defending, making him very passive.
While pursuing Han Xiao, Sisko and his two companions also launched a massive attack on the mechanical forces. They had read the files and knew that Han Xiao had the title of "Indestructible Black Star".
Although they believed that with their combined efforts, Black Star would lose his "undying" title, only by removing the mechanical forces could they have a safe environment to deal damage, since the mechanical legion was indeed very threatening... The Perfect Mechanical Sense bonus, coupled with the true damage of [Legendary Combat Technique], meant that if they were careless, they could be severely injured by Black Star at any time.
Therefore, Sisko and his two companions focused their attention on Han Xiao's mechanized forces.
One after another, the mechs were destroyed by the attacks of the Beyond Grade A, only to be pulled back by Han Xiao's [Scrap Modification], turning the situation into a tug-of-war.
"This is going to be bad..." Han Xiao muttered to himself as he dodged the attacks.
Although he can repair the mechanical legion, there is a limit to the number of times he can do so. The enemy has four Beyond Grade A soldiers, and his mechanical forces definitely cannot outlast them.
If all the mechanized units are wiped out, I'll be like a toothless tiger—no matter how tough I am, I won't be able to fight back.
The Lighthouse Star Guardians and the Arcane Church fleet have launched a full-scale war, with the sky and the ground becoming battlefields.
Milizaus's Armed Dragon Guards had already joined the battle, with heavily armored dragons clashing with the warships, tearing apart each other's outer armor and scales.
Hila, Hadavy, Fording, and other Black Star Army guards also joined the battle in outer space, helping the Imperial fleet fight against a number of Arcane Church warships.
One after another, the Calamity Grade officers moved through the battleship array, using their respective abilities to destroy enemy ships one by one.
Although they wanted to help Han Xiao, they knew their own limitations. The battle of six Beyond Grade A fighters was beyond their reach; they would only be cannon fodder and a hindrance. All they could do was fight alongside the Imperial Fleet.
The Royal Guard officers are all elite Calamity Grade who can shine on the battlefield.
In addition to sending Beyond Grade A warriors, the Arcane Church also sent a group of Calamity Grade combatants with them, but their numbers were still less than those of the Empire.
The two sides' Calamity Grade quickly engaged each other and began fighting as high-level combatants.
Hadavy endured a massive barrage of attacks, then unleashed a devastating attack on a Calamity Grade enemy.
Fording manipulated his telekinesis, weaving gracefully through the crisscrossing beams of energy, his telekinesis striking his targets with pinpoint accuracy time and again.
Hila were even more expansive and powerful. The vast battlefield constantly provided her with a continuous supply of souls, allowing her power to increase rapidly.
Without holding back, dark red death energy surged out like a tsunami, an overwhelming force Hila quickly slayed its opponent and absorbed their soul.
She took the opportunity to glance at the battlefield high above Lighthouse Star. Han Xiao and the other six were fighting there, and the aftershocks they released were so terrifying that it had become a forbidden zone.
"... Please, please don't die."
Hila bit her lip, and without hesitation, turned to look for her next enemy.
The six-person aerial battlefield shifted continuously, with fierce battles raging. The summoned creatures grew larger and larger, while the number of mechanical troops steadily declined.
The two became increasingly passive.
Han Xiao also suffered a lot of attacks, but his strong recovery ability meant he wasn't affected much.
But Beoni was different. He didn't have a strong physique, and he had almost no way to defend against Sisko's telekinetic attacks. He could only barely hold on, and the situation was getting worse and worse.
"This guy's done for..." Looking at the battered and bruised Beoni, Han Xiao's heart sank.
This teammate is his only support right now. If he gets eliminated, he will have to face four Beyond Grade A opponents alone, and he might not even have a chance to maneuver.
Just then, Sisko and his three companions exchanged a glance and suddenly launched an even more intense attack on Han Xiao.
Call out!!
A summoned white jade beast statue, hundreds of meters tall, shot a gray beam of light at Han Xiao. The beam was extremely powerful and was an elite summoned creature under Taylor's command.
Han Xiao hurriedly turned away to avoid it. His possession of the Void Bloodline had already been recorded in the data, and Void Leap was being targeted by the enemy.
As Beyond Grade A mage, Taylor is naturally proficient in multi-dimensional energy control—a fundamental skill for summoners to communicate with their summoned creatures. Once Han Xiao enters the Void Dimension, he will soon be forced out by the opponent's spells, unable to maintain the Void Leap state for long, and thus unable to escape.
In fact, when the Arcane Church fleet appeared, Void Dimension Jump could no longer help Han Xiao escape. Even if he abandoned everyone and jumped away alone, the Arcane Church's spaceships would not be slower than him and would soon be caught up, and he would be left alone.
Avoiding the beam of light, Han Xiao was met with a surge of telekinetic energy and a water dragon as they rushed towards him. He activated his Psionic Energy shield, defending and dodging simultaneously.
Just then, a figure appeared in front of him as if teleported, it was Motes, whose furious fist slammed down.
"Is this the same teleportation technique Heber used?" Han Xiao was startled and quickly assumed a blocking stance.
However, the falling fist seemed like a phantom, piercing through Han Xiao's body without any real feeling, proving that the person in front of him was an illusion.
"Oh no!" Han Xiao immediately realized what was happening, his expression changed, and he hurriedly looked towards Beoni.
As expected, Taylor used magic to feint, and the real Motes, concealing his presence, turned and approached Beoni, unleashing a barrage of punches amidst Beoni's panicked expression.
Knock knock knock!
Beoni suffered a series of Heavy Strike, and his injuries rapidly worsened. The other three immediately changed targets, as if they had planned it in advance, and launched an attack on Beoni simultaneously!
If Beoni were to be hit by a concentrated attack from four Beyond Grade A fighters, given his current injuries, he would most likely be on the verge of death.
Whoosh!
In the nick of time, Han Xiao disregarded everything else and used his restrained Void Leap to hastily appear in front of Beoni —a distance he could still manage.
Immediately afterwards, Han Xiao pushed Beoni behind him and faced the combined attack of four Beyond Grade A fighters.
Bang!
The mech shattered, and its health dropped significantly in an instant!
Han Xiao's vision blurred, followed by excruciating pain all over his body. He was sent flying like a baseball, spinning and tumbling in the air.
The mechanized troops rushed to stop Sisko and his three men from pursuing them, disregarding casualties, which gave him time to regain his footing.
Enduring the excruciating pain from his wounds, he glanced at his plummeting health points.
"That was a terrible blow. If I hadn't stopped it in time, Beoni would probably be dead..."
Han Xiao smiled bitterly to himself; this time, he had truly become a meat shield for the squishy characters.
Beoni quickly stepped back to Han Xiao's side, supporting him, and asked in a hoarse voice, "Are you alright?"
"Not bad, I'm not that easy to kill. Don't forget my nickname."
Han Xiao shook off his hand, took a breath, and activated his cell regeneration ability to gradually heal his terrible injuries.
"Thank you, if it weren't for you, I'm afraid I would be dead..." Beoni's tone was full of gratitude, then turned somewhat sad, "No, we were still doomed, it was only a matter of time."
"Isn't that obvious? Everyone dies." Han Xiao couldn't help but glance at him.
"..."
Beoni was taken aback, looking helpless. You're still in the mood for jokes at a time like this?
But then, Han Xiao shook his head, his tone firm and resolute.
"But our death is not today!"
Just as Sisko and the other three Beyond Grade A fighters were about to press their advantage, Taylor suddenly paused, looking surprised and uncertain, and said:
"Wait, I sense a strange magical fluctuation approaching from the Secondary Dimension... It's so powerful!"
Just then, the space not far away suddenly distorted, and a portal that kept expanding appeared.
By this time, the Empire's wormhole countermeasures had already been shut down. Taylor wanted to use spatial magic to counter the suddenly reappearing portal, but he discovered that the magical fluctuations of this portal far exceeded those of any magician he had ever seen!
Taylor was shocked; with his abilities, he couldn't stop the portal from being created?!
The next moment, a massive castle enveloped in a hazy magical light emerged from the portal.
"How did he end up here?!"
Sisko's eyes widened. As a fellow Beyond Grade A of the Shattered Star Ring, he was all too familiar with this thing.
This is the Palace of Hidden Spells!
Austin floated atop the castle of the Palace of Hidden Spells, with a dense array of red-robed Forbidden Sorcerer behind him, all staring intently at the crowd.
He adjusted his ill-fitting, oversized robe, a strange smile appearing on his face.
"Oh, I'm not late, am I?"