Without prompting, the disciples raised up their swords and attacked! Previously, the barrier prevented attacks from both sides, granting the sect precious time to prepare. Now, the sect's full power was wielded to fend off the imminent threat! Thousands of spells and techniques filled the skies to destroy the Underworld Rose. The world was painted in a myriad of colors as Magic and Martial Energy erupted from everyone. Wind blades, water jets, lightning storms, fire balls, earth shards, energy blasts, light flashes, black holes, magic barriers, illusionary fields, restriction zones, sensory interference, sonic booms, poison clouds… When boosted further through Magic Arrays and other allied spells, even the weakest person was capable of large-scale devastation!
Whether they be Fundamental Realm, Perception Realm, Gaseous Fog, or Condensed Drop, the sect united! If the large-scale tactical spell, Torrential Blizzard, used by the Ten Dawns was already capable of killing a hundred soldiers, what about now? How much destructive potential was present? It was unimaginable! Regardless of anyone's side, everyone was reminded once more that the Featherwind Sect was a genuine Rank 3 civilization!
However, that urgency became a poison. Commander Chaotic Hex King even laughed. The Underworld Rose could not be cancelled out through sheer force. It was far more domineering, worthy of being a treasured trump card of the Luminous Central Origin! When the thousands of spells clashed with the descending lights, the Underworld Rose activated its parasitic power once more and greedily absorbed all the Magic Energy! Spells were essentially rewriting the world through Magic Energy, thus giving rise to the magical phenomenon. By extinguishing the energy supporting that transformation, then the phenomenon would harmlessly dissipate back to nothing. This was one of the main principles behind negating magic. Therefore, the thousands of spells were simply adding fuel to the fire, as they strengthened their enemy's attack! The Underworld Rose was that obscene!
Of course, how could such a convenient thing exist? Besides requiring a Rank 3 existence, a monstrous amount of Magic Energy, and a lengthy amount of time to activate, it had one glaring weakness. That was… Martial Energy! While Magic Energy focused on manipulating and transforming the external world into their weapon, Martial Energy focused on empowering and harnessing the person instead. For example, the sect's martial artists slashed the air, sending flying strikes. Others jumped off the ground and flew up to attack. There were also people throwing specialized projectiles that could pierce through metal! The more advanced disciples could even inject Martial Energy into their weapons or armor, elevating them to another level!
Despite the decreased grandeur, they were equally as powerful as their magical counterparts! Facing the sea of martial techniques, the Underworld Rose killed over five hundred people before finally being repelled. And yet the sect was washed with elation and satisfaction to have thwarted a Rank 3 King! Maybe they had a chance to win after all?
Unfortunately, the acting Sect Master's face was pale. As soon as he gained a second to breath, he shouted, "Retreat to the main tower! Hurry!" Seeing everyone's confusion, he cursed. "We lost our barrier, and the Golden and Amber Armies are approaching! If you don't want to die, rush to the main tower and prepare our final defenses!"
"Hurry up! Listen to his orders!" someone ushered as they snapped out of their reverie. The thousands began flying hurriedly to the tower.
"What a pointless thing to do," Chaotic Hex King laughed. "You moved from one hole to another!"
"Aim the cannons!" Ice Rupture King ordered to her vice-commanders. On her command, the massive fleet behind her took aim and began charging their main armaments. If the Crimson Army could do that, then there was no reason they could not as well!
"We'll do the same!" Chaotic Hex King said languidly.
In both of their armies, a humongous surge of Magic Energy erupted with sixty main armaments preparing. Since the Featherwind Sect retreated to the central tower, that meant they could concentrate their firepower. The killing power was hard to estimate! Just then, the entire sect realized the massive disparity in strength. Although the sect had the home ground advantage, their opponents were just too strong… It was hopeless!
"Oh no you don't!" the leader of the four guardians roared.
He flashed toward the distant fleet in fury. Forsaking his life, his initiated a secret art and detonated his Core! In return, an unfathomably massive and monstrous amount of Magic Energy exploded from him, as he converted every bit of his lifeforce and World Energy into raw power. Strengthening his body beyond limits, his feathers were drenched in his own blood and his body bulged to twice its size. In doing so though, his wings became razor-sharp, stronger than the most powerful of blades! He pierced through two nearby airships easily and slaughtered over two hundred Rank 2 experts! His speed and power were so high that even Perception Realms saw a mere afterimage! He was far from the mid-Rank 3 level, but the counterattack of a cornered animal was the most dangerous! Even the commanders had to take this suicidal guardian seriously.
Commander Infernal Witch King casted a magic spell across her armor, igniting it into a fiery mantle! Do not be mistaken by its simple appearance. It was not a simple fire, but highly concentrated, super high temperature flames! A normal sword would disintegrate into liquid by contact, much less a living being. The heat warped the air and burned everything in a large area. It was so intense that the nearby airships had to retreat to a safer distance. She was like a massive fireball in the sky! That was not all. She waved her hands and summoned a magical treasure, her preferred weapon, a claymore. The sight of the petite, child-like commander wielding such a weapon was a strange sight, but she used it with ease. The runes lit up on its surface as the sword turned bright red, symbolizing its sheer destructive potential!
Commander Ice Rupture King threw out a hundred more of her orange marbles. These marbles were made of a unique substance, akin to water. Since liquid water expands due to freezing, her weapons utilized the same principle. Her marbles could burrow into an enemy's body with its small size, then rapidly 'freeze' and expand to a thousand times their size. The side effect was obviously destroying whatever it was embedded into. One had enough power to detonate inside a guardian and kill him so the appearance of over a hundred marbles dazed everyone temporarily. Just how much killing potential was present? Under her command, the hundred marbles orbited her like celestial bodies, providing with impeccable defense and offense!
Commander Chaotic Hex King waved his golden trident and sent a new surge of Martial Energy into it. The weapon then transformed from the simple shape into a godly killing tool! The dull wooden shaft morphed into a golden rod with countless inscriptions. The three prongs merged into one as all the explosive force was concentrated, multiplying the power several times over. No longer a trident but a spear, the weapon emanated a thick and deep deadly aura as if it could pierce through the heavens! Executing a trivial martial technique, the spear hummed in his hands with joy. It seemed to be alive! He had actually achieved a high level of Spear Intent!
The leader of the guardians and the three commanders released their full strength, actively manipulating the world around them! World Energy was visibly condensing around their bodies in liquid form! Using their magical tools, the three commanders accelerated and shot across the battlefield at near-sonic speeds. They were so fast that their speed only slightly paled when compared to the suicidal guardian! The four collided in the air and released a roaring boom! Rocks were smashed, trees were pulverised, while the entire forest was being uprooted and destroyed. No matter what it was, everything was destroyed!
A stray attack destroyed four airships and killed four hundred soldiers. Another slammed into the sect's central tower and erased five hundred from existence. Just the aftershocks of their world-shaking battle could inflict so much devastation! A fight between Rank 3s was extremely rare to witness, so people never fully understood the difference between ranks. However, seeing the fight unfold now, everyone felt fear. This was the true strength of Rank 3 Kings! And at the same time, people shivered. What about the rank above… Rank 4 Emperor or Rank 5 God? How much power could they display? It was impossible to imagine!
The heated battle stirred the acting Sect Master's thoughts, as well as the rest of the sect. Clutching the Featherwind Pearl in his hands, he prepared to activate the Rank 3 spell once more! He was ready to die fighting! The sect also prepared their own countermeasures to retaliate against the three armies. They were the proud Rank 3 civilization, the Featherwind Sect! They would not fall so easily! As the light of thousands of spells and techniques filled the world, the three armies did not delay either. The soldiers and vice-commanders launched their own storm of attacks as the sixty main armaments fired! The world was briefly blinded in a brilliant flash and thousands of world-cracking explosions! The battle finally began in earnest!