Chapter 1148
In an instant, the fiery barrier that Saedus had laid down around the basin lost all effectiveness. Spatial ripples, howling winds, sonic booms, dust and shattered stones—like a reckless giant—tore through the hundreds of meters-wide flame defenses with brute force.
Flames swept up and shredded, merging with the sandstorm and slowly dissipating. The vortex in the sky, which had been spewing elemental fire in torrents, was swept by spatial ripples and shockwaves—shuddering and twisting for barely three seconds before detonating with a deafening boom.
The powerful flames, now deprived of fuel, quickly lost their strength and were ground to nothing by the raging sandstorm.
As the sandstorm’s residual force slammed into the basin’s perimeter, the array of alchemical formations Leon had set up in advance finally activated.
Beams of light flared around the basin as each alchemical array erupted almost simultaneously. All the radiance converged, forming a massive, prismatic barrier that sealed the entire basin beneath it.
The terrifying sandstorm surged like a flood across the sky above the basin, even spilling past it—crashing into the very edge of the Blazeforge Battlefield and slamming hard against the spatial barrier at its outermost limits.
Suddenly, in that seemingly endless void, spatial ripples spread out like enormous smoke rings—expanding rapidly until they stretched for over ten kilometers before slowly fading away...
After the sandstorm’s onslaught, Leon’s face turned grim as he shot into the air.
Sky Rank Level 2!
This was absolutely a true Sky Rank Level 2 transcendent beast!
Not like that horde of pseudo Sky Rank beasts with no awakened intelligence.
That Sky Rank Level 2 beast was still far away, yet a single cry from it rivaled a catastrophic, wide-area transcendental spell.
The spell looked like a sandstorm, but in truth, it was a sonic wave spell. The speed and range of sonic propagation far surpassed ordinary elemental magic.
The powerful sonic waves shook space itself, making their reach and speed even greater. The force spread outward, tearing up the earth like it was being skinned alive—hence its sandstorm-like appearance.
Looking into the distance, cold sweat broke out on Leon’s brow.
Peering past mountain after mountain, even with Eagle Eye magic, Leon could only see a dozen kilometers away at most.
But everywhere within sight, the land looked as if it had been flayed—mountains and earth left bare and stark, nothing remaining but exposed rock and soil... nothing else could be found.
And the sandstorm’s coverage was only a few kilometers wide; beyond that, almost nothing was affected. It meant the Sky Rank Level 2 beast’s control over its power and magic was frighteningly precise.
Recalling the sandstorm’s destructive force—even after being dampened by the mountains—Leon knew he was in serious trouble.
Trouble, real trouble...
Leon’s expression was sour. He couldn’t tell if he was lucky or just cursed.
A Sky Rank Level 2 beast—just yesterday, I’d wondered about it. With mana crystals constantly being produced here, if the Blazeforge Battlefield wasn’t open, wouldn’t the endless creation of pseudo Sky Rank beasts eventually burst the whole place?
A hundred years of this, and the pseudo Sky Rank beasts could probably form a queue around the Blazeforge Battlefield several times over.
Either, when the battlefield is closed, no mana crystals are made and no pseudo Sky Rank beasts are spawned.
Or, the crystals are made, but instead of spawning more pseudo Sky Rank beasts, those already created have to fight for them.
But based on what we’ve learned, the distribution, types, and numbers of pseudo Sky Rank beasts haven’t changed much since the last time the Blazeforge Battlefield was closed.
Leon guessed that when the battlefield isn’t open, time here might just stop altogether.
Another possibility: the spawned beasts simply go dormant.
Now, with a Sky Rank Level 2 beast approaching, Leon realized that these pseudo Sky Rank mana crystals meant far more to the pseudo Sky Rank beasts than mere racial inheritance.
They’re a vital temptation—a chance to truly ascend, awaken intelligence, and become transcendent beings!
These mana crystals are their lifeblood, their only hope. Now that Leon controls the alchemical array, he’s basically invited every beast’s wrath...
Sky Rank Level 2...
Leon’s heart sank.
The gulf isn’t just wide—it’s an abyss. Sky Rank Level 1 is just the beginning, barely the infancy of a transcendent being.
At this stage, the boost in combat power isn’t massive compared to later ranks, but it’s still worlds apart from anything below Sky Rank.
This holds especially true for beasts—once they awaken intelligence and gain transcendent power at Sky Rank Level 1, every aspect of them improves.
A physically weak Sky Rank Level 1 beast could slaughter pseudo Sky Rank Bull Beasts like a cat playing with mice.
That gap is far greater than the difference between human Sky Rank mages and pseudo Sky Rank mages.
If a Bull Beast awakens intelligence and transcendent power, it could stand there and tank a hundred Tier 8 spells without a scratch. That’s the fundamental difference.
When a beast transforms into a transcendent being, the leap and change is far greater than what human mages experience—some traits undergo a complete qualitative shift.
But the gap between Sky Rank Level 2 and Level 1 beasts is even wider—ten times, dozens of times, even hundreds of times greater.
Just releasing its aura would make a Sky Rank Level 1 beast powerless to resist. The difference in bloodline and rank is strictly enforced among beasts—each level is a chasm, utterly impossible to cross. Humans can make up for this with magic items, but beasts cannot.
All the pseudo Sky Rank beasts here combined probably wouldn’t be enough for that Sky Rank Level 2 beast to slaughter. And the same goes for all the humans—none of us could possibly stand against it.
Once that Sky Rank Level 2 beast arrives, everyone here is doomed...
A bitter smile tugged at Leon’s lips. He was finally losing his composure. If it were a Sky Rank Level 2 mage, maybe there’d be some methods—some horrific price to pay to take them down.
But against a Sky Rank Level 2 beast, every trick loses its power.
Even with all these magic items in hand, it’s impossible to kill a Sky Rank Level 2 beast.
Simply put, nothing we have could even break its defenses. These monsters are all hide and blood—thick-skinned, impossibly tough.
We might hold out for a moment, but in three minutes, that Sky Rank Level 2 beast could wipe us all out. At best, it’d get a scratch—nothing more.
After Saedus became the Relic Spirit of the Spellbook of Ages, he was comparable to a Sky Rank Level 1 beast. But Saedus’s control and development of the Spellbook are still lacking—he can barely display Sky Rank Level 1 strength.
Faced with a Sky Rank Level 2 beast, Saedus might get killed—and even the transcendent Spellbook of Ages could be destroyed.
Leon still hadn’t made a decision, but the beast across from them already had.
Dozens of pseudo Sky Rank beasts charged the basin again, and in the distance, more were racing toward them.
With Saedus’s flame barrier gone, the pressure of their assault surged dramatically.
In three seconds, the four leading Stonehide Bull Beasts had already barreled to within a few hundred meters of the alchemical arrays.
Leon unleashed his Fourfold Burst spell, and the Mage Legion followed with a torrent of explosive flames—blasting the four Bull Beasts off their feet. But their massive bodies, even as they crashed down, rolled forward like tumbling hills, slamming hard into the alchemical arrays.
The force of their charge was so immense that even they couldn’t control it...
Four mountains of flesh, each dozens of meters tall, crashed into the radiant barrier formed by the alchemical arrays. Instantly, the dim barrier flared with light as translucent runic symbols floated forth.
Around each rule rune, vast clusters of minor runes gathered. The rule runes acted like generals, leading dense swarms of runes through the barrier—dispersing and dividing the impact, then channeling it into the alchemical arrays.
Split into dozens of streams, each impact was broken down by the unique functions of every alchemical array. The barrier only flared for an instant before dimming again, and the Bull Beasts’ charge was stopped in less than a second.
Leon watched the four dazed Bull Beasts outside the array, a cold glint in his eyes. He chanted four strange syllables, and instantly, four multicolored rule runes appeared in midair.
The three-dimensional runes collided, merging into a sphere of four-colored light, then split into four fragments—each shooting into a Bull Beast’s mouth.
Immediately, four-colored light erupted from each stunned Bull Beast’s mouth as Leon’s mana burst forth like a dam unleashed.
A torrent of mana surged out—at the cost of several times the normal expenditure, Leon instantly cast four Fourfold Burst spells, each one detonating inside a Bull Beast’s mouth.
At such close range, Leon could condense spells right inside their mouths. Normally, the interference would be too great, but with magus-level power and sheer mana, he brute-forced four instant spells into existence.
This chapter isn’t finished yet~.~ Click next page to continue reading the rest!