Chapter 564: Time Stopped

"Where is this?"

Lei En's first thought leapt out, realizing he was in a desolate land, surrounded by black hard soil, the sky dim, the view flat and endless, the horizon with no curve; even with his super vision he could not see the end.

Immediately followed by a suffocating feeling, the air's oxygen was scarce and filled with a bitter almond scent.

"The air is poisonous!"

Lei En held his breath and instantly realized this was not the Prime Material Plane, but some unknown plane.

He looked around and found that not only he had been transported to the alien plane, but also BrewotzAcademy's projection room had been brought over, his feet standing on smooth stone, along with part of the projection room's walls, decorations, and rune array.

"Spatial Transposition!"

Sabbath stood amid the wreckage of the projection room, cautiously observing the surroundings, trying to locate the enemy, and shouted, "Someone used Spatial Transposition on us; this is a Nine-ring Technique. The casting was so fast that even I didn't notice in time; the opponent must be at least Thirty-level!"

Lei En's heart raced with horror.

Whoa!

Thirty-level or higher? Augulevi Master already acted?

He knew the Spatial Transposition spell: the caster selects two distinct locations, instantly swaps them, and everything within the area exchanges places.

Lei En glanced at his and Sabbath's positions, noticing Sabbath stood at the center of the transposition field, while he was near the edge, just a few steps away from evading disaster. Of course, with bad luck he could have been sliced in half by the Spatial Transposition.

"His target is me," Sabbath said in a low voice. "Take care of yourself."

His eyes flickered with magical light; the moment the Spatial Transposition occurred, he was already searching for the enemy's silhouette. Lei En had already fully activated his Soul Eye and All-Seeing Eye; Truth Will combined with the Key of Doors, his gaze pierced the surrounding space-time.

However, neither of them detected the enemy.

Lei En retrieved the Titanic Power Armor from his Nebula Ring and put it on, reached out, grasped the handle of Thunder God's Hammer, and pulled it from the void. Thunder God's Hammer had been drifting in the surrounding void; fortunately it was close—just a hair's breadth away from being left behind at BrewotzAcademy.

Facing such a terrifying foe, hesitating any longer might mean never getting another chance.

Lei En's mind shifted, igniting a Lightning Form; a surge of current flowed into the war hammer, instantly erupting in dazzling lightning.

Boom—

A more ferocious Lightning Power surged back from the war hammer into his body; golden bolts of lightning coursed over the Titanic Power Armor, solidifying into a dazzling thunder battle armor.

"Thunder God's Rage!"

Lei En exhaled a breath tinged with electric sparks, feeling his Lightning Element affinity had reached an inconceivable level.

This is the strongest enchantment effect of Thunder God's Hammer.

The legendary Element Thunder Lord, all lightning spells' potency surged more than threefold, casting speed went berserk, and every lightning spell he had mastered could now be cast instantly.

At the same time, strength and defense surged again.

Donning the Titanic Power Armor, his strength reached level twelve, activating Blood Frenzy and Combat Music; after the Thunder God's Rage blessing, his strength jumped straight to level thirteen!

Dragon Power Technique had long been constant, and Wind‑Thunder Wings instantly sprouted from his back.

In barely three steps, Lei En's power fully manifested, causing even the highly alert Sabbath to glance sideways.

Bang!

With a crack of thunder, Lei En ran as fast as lightning, and in a blink closed the distance to Sabbath Dean, standing shoulder to shoulder with him.

Sabbath is a Shapeshifting Wizard; although he already possesses a Holy Soul, he has only recently advanced, and against an enemy who might be Augulevi Master, Lei En and Sabbath are not that different.

The two must stay close to protect each other.

Sabbath did not shapeshift immediately; instead he erected a thick flame shield, scorching fire radiating outward, while rapidly casting multiple spells on himself, emitting a terrifying aura unique to a Holy Soul Wizard.

A Shapeshifting Wizard is not limited to fighting through transformation; he can also let a Demon Soul possess him, temporarily gaining the Demon Soul's spells and multiple casting buffs from Demon Souls.

All three specializations of the Soul-Command School have mastered this ability.

Lei En's Soul Eye could not see through the Holy Soul Wizard, but he could surmise that Sabbath Dean's Demon Soul must be immensely powerful, far beyond just a Fire Phoenix.

A Shapeshifting Wizard can balance melee and casting, making him versatile with no major weakness.

Sabbath kept buffing himself, never ceasing to search for the enemy.

Lei En did the same.

But the enemy never manifested, as if it vanished after transporting the two to this plane.

Lei En possessed Truth Will; no matter how powerful the foe, it did not make him nervous. His mind was calm as he swiftly asked, "Where is he?"

Perhaps Sabbath Dean would discover something.

But Sabbath shook his head, indicating he also found nothing. He decided on the spot, "We must return to BrewotzAcademy immediately."

Speaking that, Sabbath raised his hand to cast, attempting to open a portal to the Prime Material Plane.

Lei En understood his thought; the opponent might simply send him and the dean away, which would be detrimental to the academy—Sabbath cares about the academy even more than himself.

Sabbath's soul power began to ripple and then abruptly halted.

"Dimensional Anchor."

"This space has been locked."

Lei En muttered a bad omen internally; the opponent's target was still the dean and himself, so it must be here.

Yet they could not find it by any means.

All this time, no enemy could hide before his eyes; Soul Eye, All-Seeing Eye, Truth Will, and Key of Doors—four layers of insight stacked—gave Lei En great confidence, but this time, they all failed.

Lei En did not think his insight was at fault; his mind quickly shifted, and he immediately considered a possibility.

The opponent must be nearby, yet it had not launched an attack.

It wasn't that it refused; perhaps it could not.

Because he could not see the opponent, and the opponent could not see him, yet they were spatially within arm's reach... The only way to produce such an effect is one possibility: they exist in different times!

"Time Leap!"

Lei En instantly recalled a Nine-ring Technique, Time Leap, which allows the caster to appear at least six seconds in the future; the higher the level and the deeper the study of the spell, the longer the jump into the future.

Since the two were transported here, about ten seconds had passed.

Sabbath's expression also shifted slightly.

Lei En's words had just fallen, and before he could devise a countermeasure, two tall, thin figures appeared a hundred meters away. They were identical, clad in ornate magical robes, their gaunt, chicken‑claw‑like hands protruding from the sleeves, skin pale and wrinkled, faces devoid of any color, eye sockets sunken, eyes like twin flames filled with endless evil and coldness.

Lich!

Holy Soul Lich!

The Lich's face bore little flesh, differing from its living appearance, yet aside from Augulevi Master, who else could it be?

Lei En's mind and spirit were both shaken.

Even though he had guessed countless times what Augulevi Master now looked like, seeing the Lich with his own eyes still shocked him.

This Lich resembled Augulevi Master about seventy percent.

Appearance was secondary; the terrifying part was the opponent's power—hardly any Holy Soul-level Lich exists worldwide. Moreover, the foe still clutched Augulevi Master's signature staff—Time's End!

This Legend Grade staff is touted as the strongest staff in the world, perhaps without equal.

Its might rivals that of a divine artifact!

A Level 41 Wizard wielding Time's End, even an incarnation of a deity among mortals could not be a match.

And there were two right before his eyes!

Lei En's Soul Eye remained open, and at the instant the two Liches appeared, he endured the massive backlash from the rank disparity to make a discernment.

He found that both Liches were the true bodies, not projections!

"How did you do it?"

Lei En's thought formed, then his mind halted.

The moment the two Liches manifested, the left Lich waved its staff, and time within several hundred meters ceased; the air no longer moved, everything seemed pressed on a pause button, immobilized, even thoughts stopped ticking.

Sa Bu La, upon seeing the Lich, did not hesitate to transform into a phoenix.

His body erupted in red light, then, as if frozen, the scene halted; even the flames blazing from within stalled, each beam of light crawling forward like a snail.

In the blink of an eye, Lei En and Sa La Bu lost their resistance.

Under Time Stop, only the two Liches could act, and they began casting spells.

Malevolent Transformation!

Energy Absorption!

Annihilation Sphere!

Void Storm!

Death Finger!

Ruin Technique!

Space Enemy!

Decree: Death!

Extreme Sky Rage Fist!

Chain Extreme Meteor Technique!

The two terrifying Liches each selected a target and began casting wildly. One after another, Eight-ring and Nine-ring spells surged like a torrent; each spell was instant, none could be withstood even by a Legend, and all were completed within six seconds.

During the Time Stop effect, the caster's own spells could not take effect immediately; they had to wait until Time Stop ended to manifest their power.

Multicolored spell light enveloped Lei En and Sa Bu La's heads and surroundings.

Rows of spells gathered before the two Liches, ready to unleash.

The moment Time Stop ended, Lei En and his companion's lives would end; no one could withstand so many Eight-ring and Nine-ring spells, regardless of resistance, even a deity incarnation could not.

Lei En stood like a statue, motionless.

The terrifying spell light reflected in his pupils—one second, two seconds... finally, in the third second, a simple bronze gate appeared in his eyes, as if formed by countless transparent worm clusters, the tightly shut gate cracked open a slit.

Lei En's pupils flickered.

His thoughts resumed their pulse; although his body remained bound by Time, immobile, he was no longer at the mercy of slaughter.

The Will of Truth took effect in the fourth second.

Lei En remained calm, the two Liches and their dozens of spells flashing before his eyes; in just one second he grasped his predicament.

Then, in the fifth second, he thought of a solution.

He couldn't be sure it would work, but it was the only way; without trying, another second would bring his death.

The sixth second.

Time Stop ended.

The world's pause button was released, and in the same instant the two Liches vanished, as if they never existed in this world, giving no opponent a chance for direct confrontation.

Time resumed its flow.

Sa Bu La's phoenix transformation continued, but in his eyes the two Holy Soul Liches flashed into view for a moment, then vanished, replaced by spell after spell that engulfed him.

He could not complete the transformation.

A Nine-ring Malevolent Transformation turned him into an ugly toad, forcibly interrupting the phoenix metamorphosis.

Even the spells he had layered on himself were instantly nullified, utterly ineffective; before a sound could be made, meteors pulverized him, his toad body disintegrated inch by inch, leaving no bones.

With his own survival in doubt, Sa Bu La could not attend to Lei En, unable to see Lei En's condition.

Lei En was also overwhelmed by countless spells.

Titanic Power Armor and Thunder Battle Armor, together with his own formidable physique and resistance, and the Will of Truth, which was also immune to the soul‑targeted Decree: Death, allowed him to endure the terrifying spell energy without being instantly killed.

At the critical moment, Lei En vanished.

A gaunt figure clad in a black robe took Lei En's place, receiving the barrage of dozens of Eight-ring and Nine-ring spells—Reslin.

Castling!

Already at Legendary Peak, the Level 19 mage Reslin, before swapping positions, layered himself with every protective spell—prismatic shield, spirit armor, protective energy damage, and so on—and, the instant he teleported, flashed forward to dodge the main area of the spells.

Yet none of it proved useful.

They just flashed into view and were interrupted, the shield and protective spells on their body all collapsed, and before dying they threw the flame gem they were holding.

Boom!

The gem fell to the ground after traveling less than three meters, and the stored Ring of Flames was released, covering the ground within dozens of meters with a layer of fire.

Reslin himself did not see this scene, and instantly turned to ash.

Sa Bu La died even earlier.

But the spells released by the two Liches did not stop; massive meteors continuously fell from the sky, the ground trembled, the void shattered, various different energies raged wildly over this space within several hundred meters, and no one could survive such an onslaught.

After a few seconds, the energy subsided.

Large sections of ground collapsed, the soil was bombarded by meteors into a glassy state, the torn space slowly recovered, and one could still see dark voids within the fissures.

Not far away, the Lich reappeared beyond a safe distance.

This time, only it was alone.

The Lich saw the fire on the ground, its eyes flickered, and a hoarse voice rasped from its throat: "Phoenix Nirvana."

This was completely unexpected for it.

The Lich knew that Sa Bu La could transform into a phoenix and possessed the legendary Element of Phoenix Nirvana, which allowed rebirth in flame, so it sent Sa Bu La to this tiny plane where fire Element was extremely scarce, almost nonexistent, and did not use any fire‑producing spells, precisely to deny Sa Bu La a chance to rebirth.

Without surrounding fire, Phoenix Nirvana would not take effect.

Sa Bu La, near death, also had no chance to unleash flame, but where did the fire on the ground come from?

The Lich could not figure it out, but this small accident was unimportant; the still‑burning flame rose and twisted, forming a vague human silhouette that was about to revive from it.

It immediately wielded Time's End, preparing to cast again to kill Sa Bu La.

Suddenly, a booming sound, the void behind the Lich opened, and a tall human figure clad in blue armor, like a metallic fortress, surrounded by rings of lightning, brandishing a war hammer, surged out, using all its strength to smash the Lich!

(End of chapter)