Chapter 565: The Terrifying Enemy

Boom!

The void shatters as if struck by a golden war hammer, and Lei En erupts, surrounded by countless bolts of lightning.

The power of a Thirteen-level, Thunder God's Fury imbues the legendary Element "Lord of Thunder", like a true thunder deity, its speed surpasses even lightning.

He is less than three meters from the Lich, practically within arm's reach for a caster.

The power of the war hammer exceeds ordinary imagination.

Thick bolts of lightning coalesce into plasma, dazzling with electric light, and the hammerhead resembles a small sun.

In the Lich's deep-set eye sockets, the blue‑flame-like pupils flicker once; a Holy Soul‑ranked caster is almost impossible to ambush. He constantly possesses "global vision", allowing him to see everything around at all times, with no blind spots.

His reaction is faster than Lei En's; without turning his head, he cancels the spell aimed at the soon‑to‑reborn Sa Bu La and instantly casts a Time Stop.

Time Stop!

This Nine-ring Technique is a legendary Element, regarded as one of the ultimate tools of all Arcane practitioners; once unleashed, unless a caster of equal level possesses a counter, anyone caught in the Time Stop becomes a helpless target.

Such a powerful spell is a nightmare for every enemy.

Only casters above Level 20 can master the Nine-ring Technique, and Time Stop is its pinnacle; the difficulty is such that those below Thirty-level dare not even hope to cast it instantly.

Even above Thirty-level, without centuries of deep study, instant casting remains difficult.

Yet, as the most powerful caster in human history, the Lich's Time Stop is completed with a single thought, easier than tossing out a Zero-ring trick.

The moment Lei En bursts from the void, he casually releases a Space-Time Shock.

Because his Soul Eye cannot pierce the Lich's soul and may even backfire, he cannot precisely interrupt the opponent's casting; he merely seeks to stall for a heartbeat, even a blink, to create an opening for his war hammer to strike.

The Space-Time Shock vanishes like a mud ox in the sea, having no effect.

Then, time stops again!

Lei En's motion halts abruptly, yet he retains his sprinting posture: one foot plants on the ground, kicking up a spray of mud, the other lunges forward into the air; his left hand's Space-Time Shock remains unretracted, while his right swings the Thunder God's Hammer, bolts of lightning erupting from his body and the hammerhead, all frozen, like a lifelike statue, oddly comical.

Everything within a few hundred meters comes to a standstill.

The raging flames seem to freeze, and the reborn Sa Bu La remains motionless.

The Lich calmly turns and faces the immobilized Lei En.

At this moment, Lei En's hammerhead is less than half a meter away; at Lei En's speed, a fraction of a second slower would mean being crushed by the war hammer.

Lei En's gaze shifts slowly, like an insect struggling in amber, desperately pressing forward.

Half a meter!

Yet that brief half‑meter is like a celestial chasm; a rift of time stretches between the war hammer and the Lich, preventing Lei En from crossing no matter how hard he tries.

The Lich's face remains expressionless.

His evil eyes fix on the hammerhead before him, the flame in his gaze flaring half a circle, revealing a shift in his emotions.

"Hm?"

The Lich's cold tone rises a few pitches.

He can't help but scrutinize the war hammer's details, his gaze sweeping along it to Lei En; massive thunder energy courses through Lei En's body, and a dazzling thunder armor forms over his heavy plating.

"Thunder God's Hammer!"

The Lich's tone is confident.

Immediately, a pale expression—whether scornful or astonished—appears on his face, without any pity or hesitation; his gaunt hands swing repeatedly, swiftly completing five spells.

Metal Melt!

Calm Mind!

Greater Enfeeblement!

Annihilation Technique!

Annihilation Sphere!

Metal Melt is a Five-ring Technique, not uncommon; many casters know it, especially legendary machinists, as it channels massive heat into metal to melt it, exposing an armored foe's body.

Calm Mind is only a Three-ring spell, a buff usually placed on oneself or an ally, maintaining a tranquil mindset and slightly increasing casting speed.

When applied to a target in a berserk state, it is harmful, ending the frenzy early.

Enfeeblement is one of the most terrifying negative spells, targeting physically robust enemies, drastically reducing their strength, resistance, stamina, and defense.

A strong ordinary adult, even when struck by the lowest Four-ring Enfeeblement, becomes frail as if bedridden by a chronic illness, or after three days and nights battling a horde of harpy‑like demons, legs so weak they can barely stand.

Greater Enfeeblement is a Seven-ring spell that can weaken a dragon to the point where even flight is laborious.

Annihilation Technique likewise targets physically sturdy foes and lifeless hard constructs; akin to an instant‑death spell, failure to resist shatters them into the finest dust.

Annihilation Sphere is a fist‑sized black orb, one of the most potent Arcane attacks; it compresses vast void energy into a tiny sphere that, upon contact, releases an instant, annihilating blast of terrifying destructive power, deemed unstoppable.

Armor Penetration, Calm, Weakening, Disintegration, Destruction!

Each of the five spells serves a purpose, all aimed at physically formidable foes; clearly, the Lich knows Lei En's capabilities well and comes prepared.

After the Lich finishes the five spells on Lei En, only three seconds have passed.

Then he no longer gives Lei En another glance.

He then casts on the frozen, unreborn Sa Bu La in the flames: successive spelllights flash, an ice‑blade field extinguishes the fire, magical stripping of protection is lifted, a binding ring seals the space, Death Finger pierces the soul, and finally a descending Destruction Hammer is added!

The five instant‑cast spells also consume three seconds.

The Lich remains cautious, giving the enemy no chance to interact with him at normal time flow.

When the final Destruction Hammer completes, a massive hammerhead formed of a black force field crushes down; as Time Stop nears its end, he triggers a Time Jump, preparing to leap ten seconds into the future.

Nine-ring Time Jump can leap six seconds ahead.

The casting interval of Time Stop is thirty seconds; the Lich, after countless effort and ages, fully mastered Time Stop, reducing its cooldown to fifteen seconds. Then, his Legend Grade staff—Time's End—shortened another five seconds, ultimately allowing a Time Stop every ten seconds.

That is precisely the farthest future he can jump to.

Each time he enters battle, regardless of the enemy's strength, number, or type, the Lich opens with Time Stop.

When the stop ends, he immediately jumps ten seconds ahead, neatly skipping the cooldown, re‑entering Time Stop, entering an endless loop.

The two Nine-ring Techniques perfectly coordinated, seamless in succession.

Unless one can break the temporal dilemma, no one can engage the Lich at normal time flow and stand in an invincible position.

This time, it is the same.

The Lich, over its long lifespan, has endured countless battles and is extremely confident in its casting pattern.

As long as it jumps ten seconds ahead, the two are certain to die.

However, at the instant it was about to jump, an unexpected event occurred.

Boom!

Another void beside it was shattered, and a tall figure burst out, clad in heavy blue armor, crackling with electricity, wielding a blindingly bright war hammer, identical to the Lei En that appeared seconds earlier.

"Mirror Image?"

The Lich's eyes widened in surprise, and it subconsciously halted the time jump.

With his eyesight, it should have been impossible not to distinguish the Mirror Image from the original, yet that is exactly what happened. When the first Lei En appeared, he did not realize it was a Mirror Image, nor did he even consider that possibility; his mind seemed to be interfered with.

Even with two Lei En, he still could not tell which was the Mirror Image; both seemed to be the original.

How could a battle wizard not even reaching Saint Rank deceive a caster above Thirty-level with a Mirror Image that confounds his sight?

This left the Lich extremely perplexed and surprised.

The second raised his war hammer, traversed the void, and entered the Time Stop zone.

It too was frozen by time.

But unlike the other, this Lei En was not completely frozen; before appearing, a strange radiance enveloped him, and his pupils contained a transparent worm forming an ancient gate, slightly offsetting the Time Stop and preserving his ability to think.

The Nine-ring Time Stop is not so easily broken.

This Lei En advanced as if stuck in mud, his war hammer could not reach the Lich, but that was enough.

"Heaven! Hall! Light!"

A strained roar loudly erupted from the second Lei En's mouth.

It was a Five-ring Divine Technique; as the words fell, a holy, vast radiance illuminated the dim little subplane, the white dazzling light warm and gentle, seemingly low in lethality, even pleasant, yet when it struck the Lich, sizzling white smoke billowed, its skin looking as if thrown into a hot oil pan, a sight too horrible to behold.

"Ah…"

The Lich let out a painful wail.

Heaven's Light is the bane of all evil creatures, especially the undead; some low-level undead turned to ash the instant the light touched them.

A Holy Soul Lich is naturally not so fragile; Heaven's Light is not lethal to him, its damage modest, yet it inflicts terrible pain comparable to a Soul-Cracking Technique.

The Lich never expected a Wizard could unleash a Divine Technique.

Caught off guard, he grew careless.

In extreme agony, the Lich's mind went blank, entering a brief daze; the time jump was forcibly interrupted, and it clutched its head, crying out in pain.

At that moment, the Time Stop ended.

The spell the Lich had previously cast engulfed the first Lei En and the soon-to-be reborn Sabbath Dean.

That Lei En's armor heated and melted, a weak energy strike hit his exposed chest, Blood Frenzy vanished, strength plummeted, the Collapse Technique made his whole body tremble, turning him into a speck of dust; immediately the Annihilation Sphere detonated on him, swallowing the dust into a dark void, leaving no trace.

The flames surrounding Sabbath Dean were dispersed by ice, his rebirth hindered and slowed; his newly formed body had not fully emerged from the fire, and defenseless, he was struck by Death Finger, his whole body stiffened, the Destruction Hammer falling from above smashed him to pieces, killing him instantly again.

In an instant, only the Lich and the second Lei En remained on the field.

Boom!

Boom!

Boom!

One after another, Lei En wielded the Thunder God's Hammer, shattering the void, weaving around the Lich; in an instant, the Lich was surrounded by four Lei En.

Seizing the Wizard's daze.

The nearest Lei En exhausted all its strength, swung its war hammer, and struck the Lich's head.

The other three Lei En each shouted loudly:

"Repent!"

"Heaven's Light!"

"Dispel Magic!"

Two Divine Techniques, one spell.

Simultaneously, a Lei En forcefully threw the magical scroll from his hand, not targeting the Lich but toward a direction away from the battlefield. It was a Flame Explosion Scroll, not meant for attack, but to create the conditions for Sabbath Dean's fiery rebirth.

The closest Lei En finally managed to hit the Lich.

However, just as it seemed about to strike the enemy, the war hammer appeared to sink in mud; the nearer it got to the Lich's body, the slower it moved.

"Ah!!!"

Lei En gritted his teeth and shouted, the lightning power within him and his strength raging wildly, the Thunder God's Hammer's weight surged beyond one hundred thousand pounds, the hammerhead finally advanced another inch, yet it still could not strike the Lich.

The final gap was less than a palm.

But no matter how Lei En gave his all, his hands gripping the hammer bled, and the war hammer could not move even a fraction.

The Lich was shielded by an invisible barrier, unseen to the naked eye, yet sturdier than any shield in the world, impossible to break.

Those few centimeters seemed to separate a distant world!

"Space Barrier!"

A name flashed in several Lei En's minds: the Nine-law Protective Spell, which folds the space around the body, forming an absolutely safe spatial distance.

The Lich's Space Barrier likely exceeds nine rings, possibly reaching Ten-ring!

One Lei En used Wish Spell to cast Dispel Magic; it was only Five-ring, unable to break the Lich's Space Barrier.

Repent and Heaven's Light, the two Divine Techniques, kept the Lich in a daze.

The nearest Lei En swung the hammer wildly a few more times; the Lich stood there, allowing the attacks, yet the war hammer could not reach him, remaining still.

No matter how strong the war hammer's power, it's useless if you can't hit the opponent.

If the war hammer won't budge, then cast a spell.

Several Lei En cast spells simultaneously; rainbow light rays, Electric Blast Orbs, and Rending Sky Swords strike the Lich, but the effect is worse than melee attacks—not even a ripple splashes; they are completely absorbed by a thin shadow, instead giving the Lich energy, and the blue flames in its eye sockets blaze fiercely.

"Nine-ring Magic Siphon!"

All the Lei En were desperate.

Magic Siphon is one of the strongest protective spells; it not only blocks magical attacks but also absorbs the enemy's spell energy and converts it into one's own casting energy.

With a space barrier plus Magic Siphon, the Lich just stands there, unable to fight back, and can't even be struck.

Such a terrifying foe, the strength gap is too great—there's simply no way to fight.

Several Lei En launch an attack, which not only fails to wound the Lich but actually snaps him out of his brief daze; however, he doesn't counterattack right away, but instead vanishes again.

He entered a time jump.

(End of chapter)