Chapter 874: Thunderous Might

"I've found you!"

Wei Ke La Ma Di Ya Ershi's speed rivals sound; his whole body merges with his sword, and the Soul‑Igniting Heavy Sword arrives almost simultaneously with his words, a blade of light raging to slash the void.

A silhouette is forced into view by the massive wind pressure created by the sword light, and it is Lei En.

The Nine-ring Imperial Armament grants Wei Ke La Ma Di Ya Ershi the near‑perfect ability to see through all disguises and invisibility; even a rainbow‑light cloak fails before his eyes.

However, Lei En shows no panic.

He does not dodge; instead he unfurls the massive metallic wings on his back, lightning crackling across them, his three‑meter‑plus frame like a thunderclap streaking across the sky, swinging his hammer toward the foe.

Clang!

The war hammer collides with the heavy sword, erupting in a deafening blast.

Below, amid the ruins and in Banbei City, countless onlookers stare at the sky battle, seeing a transparent spherical shockwave emanating from the clash, instantly expanding to a kilometer away, whipping up dust as it sweeps past, like a twelve‑level hurricane, its sound waves pricking the eardrums.

All spectators wear horrified faces; even from such a distance, the residual damage of the fight remains terrifying.

Even more shocking, the duel ends in a stalemate!

Lei En and Wei Ke La Ma Di Ya Ershi are both knocked backward simultaneously, the backward flight faster than their forward charge, tumbling at high speed in mid‑air until they stabilize a hundred meters away.

"This..."

The crowd widens their eyes.

Everyone has witnessed Wei Ke La Ma Di Ya Ershi's terrifying power at this moment; he's already beyond Thirty-level, while Lei En hasn't yet broken Saint Rank, a gap of over ten levels, yet he still holds his own.

A Wizard matching the tyrant in close combat is truly unbelievable.

"How is this possible?"

Wei Ke La Ma Di Ya Ershi shouts loudly, having poured all his strength into that sword; he thought even if he couldn't kill Lei En he could at least grievously wound him, yet it ended in a draw.

During the backward flight, he spots a clue at a glance.

That war hammer!

Lei En's war hammer collides with his own Soul‑Igniting Heavy Sword; not only does it sustain no damage, but at the moment of contact it releases dozens of times its weight.

The Soul‑Igniting Heavy Sword is a Legend Grade weapon, weighing six thousand pounds; few weapons worldwide can rival it, surely also Legend Grade! Intelligence gathered by a Guptha Kingdom scout notes that Lei En's primary weapon is a war hammer, an imitation of the Thunder God's Hammer.

A forged war hammer could not possess such power; it is not a forgery.

This is the genuine Thunder God's Hammer!

Wei Ke La Ma Di Ya Ershi instantly realizes, his mind freezing; the famed Thunder God's Hammer, touted as the world's most powerful Legend Grade weapon and the Oriense Empire's symbol of imperial authority, has been obtained by a young man of the Empire!

This is certainly a secret, implying far too many things.

As a ruler, Wei Ke La Ma Di Ya Ershi's political sense is razor‑sharp, and countless pieces of information flash through his mind in an instant.

Losing focus in battle is a grave taboo.

Lei En immediately seizes the opponent's minor slip; with a thought, the Thunder God's Hammer accelerates abruptly, a booming roar as it breaks the sound barrier in an instant, charging toward the enemy.

Simultaneously, four pre‑charged Mirror Images each unleash a Soul‑Eating Slash.

Wei Ke La Ma Di Ya Ershi's magical resistance is too high; Eight-ring and below spells are virtually ineffective against him, and the Thunder God's Spear is too slow. The Soul‑Eating Slash is currently the fastest method with appreciable damage, capable of harming him.

Sword qi whistles, tearing the sky.

Four Soul‑Eating Slashes, each dozens of meters long, attack from different directions; before they land, two Mirror Images launch Space‑Time Shocks, disrupting Wei Ke La Ma Di Ya Ershi's thoughts.

When he recovers from the tremor of the Space‑Time Shock, the Soul‑Eating Slash has already struck.

The sword light before his eyes flashes and vanishes.

Each Mirror Image gives its all, merging the Soul‑Eating Slash with a Thunder Slash; man and sword become one, swift as lightning, disappearing the instant it cuts, reappearing already a hundred meters away.

Wei Ke La Ma Di Ya Ershi lets out a painful cry; his tyrant armor is breached, four fine cuts appear on his chest, neck, abdomen, and back. Though they seem minor, they penetrate the bones, unleashing deadly poison, ferocity, extreme heat, and paralysis; the Soul‑Eating power seeps in, ravenously gnawing his soul, inflicting excruciating agony.

This torment from Spider Queen Ros is more dreadful than the pain of a Soul Transformation ritual.

Wei Ke La Ma Di Ya Ershi is hit, his mind blanks instantly, a howl escaping his mouth; although the Imperial Armament has repaired the armor's damage, at that moment he loses all resistance.

Then, Lei En strikes.

Boom!

The Thunder God's Hammer smashes solidly onto Wei Ke La Ma Di Ya Ershi's head.

With this hammer, Lei En pours everything he has.

The battle music enters its second loop; symbolic electro‑psyche, amplified by seven lightning entities, runs to its limit, infinite fury reaching its peak, boosting power tenfold. At the instant the war hammer strikes, Titan divine force expands his body over ten meters, and the Thunder God's Hammer's weight surges a hundredfold.

Thunderous Might!

A golden sun, a hundred meters in diameter, blooms in the sky, causing the spectators below to involuntarily squint.

Only then do they realize it's not a sun, but countless golden lightning bolts.

Each lightning bolt rivals a Seven-ring Technique; their sheer number causes the dense core to coalesce into a substantial blazing flame, radiating a ten‑thousand‑foot light, thus appearing sun‑like.

A figure falls from the sea of lightning, striking the ground like a cannonball.

Bang.

A massive crater forms in the palace ruins; even Banbei City residents miles away feel the ground tremor.

"This strike..."

The Empire Legion's three Saint Rank elites are all dumbfounded; Lei En's hammer seems more potent than the Nine-ring Technique!

Could a sub‑Level 20 transcendent truly produce this?

After the golden lightning dissipates, Lei En's silhouette appears in the sky, his towering three‑meter frame restored, war hammer in hand, feet on void, metallic wings encircled by lightning, a blood‑red cape fluttering, like a deity descending.

All who witness this scene will never forget it.

Yet Lei En merely pauses to steady his rhythm; with a booming roar, his whole form becomes a massive golden lightning bolt, striking down toward the crater at the palace's center.

During his descent, several Mirror Images act first.

Two rockets, a Rending Sky Sword summoned by Tim Kainan's demonic sword art, a Mind Blast, an Electric Blast Orb, and a gleaming iron spear of electric light launch from all directions, striking the crater ahead of time.

Amid the rampant explosions and energy, Wei Ke La Ma Di Ya Ershi rockets skyward, letting out a wild, maniacal laugh:

"Hahaha…"

His appearance was extremely tragic: half of his head had been smashed flat, the right side of his skull caved in, brain matter exposed to the air, yet not a drop of blood flowed; a black energy coursed over the wound, rapidly repairing the injury, regrowing bone and flesh, and within seconds he was as good as new.

The retreating Empire legion was horrified; could they not kill him at all?

"Ryan Augustus, is this all the skill you have?" Weikela Madiya Ershi raised his sword to meet the Lei En descending from the sky, sneering: "So the thunder—"

He meant to say, so the Thunder God's Hammer is no more than this.

"Heretic!"

Lei En's throat quivered violently, emitting a massive dragon roar.

Against Weikela Madiya Ershi's defense, the dragon roar's sound waves and draconic might were like a mere itch, having little effect; nevertheless, Lei En did not expect the roar to work, only to mask Weikela Madiya Ershi's voice so as not to reveal the Thunder God's Hammer.

If the situation were not urgent, Lei En would not wish to use the Thunder God's Hammer.

Even now, he has not activated the Thunder God's Hammer's most powerful enchantment "Thunder God's Rage", simply because he does not want to be recognized.

Without Thunder God's Rage, he can still conceal it afterward; even if suspected, there is no evidence.

Once Thunder God's Rage is triggered, many can tell that the war hammer in his hand is not a replica but the genuine Thunder God's Hammer.

"Heretic!"

Lei En shouted angrily, cutting off Weikela Madiya Ershi's words.

The Thunder God's Hammer crashed down with the sound.

Weikela Madiya Ershi, unafraid, raised his flame‑soul greatsword from below upward, meeting the hammer in a direct, unadorned clash.

Boom!

The hammer and sword struck, thunderous force unleashing countless bolts of lightning, a golden sun erupting upon the ground.

But this time, it was Lei En who was flung backward.

He descended from the sky, gaining a power advantage; Weikela Madiya Ershi fought from below, his strength surpassing his, and displayed exceptionally refined combat technique—by slightly angling his greatsword stance, he deftly controlled the block direction, sending Lei En flying sideways.

Lei En's body hit the ground, toppling countless broken walls and ruins, carving a trench hundreds of meters long through the palace ruins.

His titanium‑golden body remained intact, but his body was out of control; the Willpower of Truth kept him lucid amid the tumble.

Lei En's arms went numb, yet he still clutched the Thunder God's Hammer tightly.

"Level 20 Strength!"

His mind was as clear as a mirror; the final battle burned away a great deal of Weikela Madiya Ershi's life and soul power, raising his strength by another level.

The higher the Element of Strength level, the harder the increase.

After reaching Level 12 Legendary Strength, each subsequent level makes strength three to five times stronger than the previous. Lei En does not know exactly how great the gap between Level 19 Strength and Level 20 Strength is, but can surmise this level is a qualitative leap, possibly a tenfold surge.

Master Ouroin had once subtly revealed that Level 20 Strength is the mortal limit.

Above Level 20 lies the realm of the gods!

Lei En's thoughts shifted rapidly, activating his Titan Divine Power, Infinite Fury, Elephant Heart Electric Power, and battle music, yet he could only push his Strength from Level 15 to Level 18; the gap with Weikela Madiya Ershi was too large—two levels—so a direct clash would only be crushed.

Only by triggering Thunder God's Rage could he reach Level 19 Strength to barely contend.

But he does not wish to expose the Thunder God's Hammer now.

Weikela Madiya Ershi knocked Lei En back; his right leg left a dent in the ground, and with a rumble, his speed surged as he pursued.

A massive silhouette descended from the sky, blocking the path.

It was a Mirror Image of Lei En, which upon landing became a Titan Giant ten meters tall, like a wall, its huge war hammer smashing down.

"Die!"

Weikela Madiya Ershi could not bypass the Titan Giant; his flame‑soul greatsword paused, delivering an apparently unremarkable Angry Strike.

The greatsword unleashed terrifying power.

With a bang, the Titan Giant's war hammer struck empty air; Weikela Madiya Ershi leapt up by a hair's breadth, the greatsword slashing down, beheading the Titan Giant, which instantly turned to vapor and vanished.

The fourth Mirror Image was slain.

However, this also blocked Weikela Madiya Ershi's pursuit; Lei En's backward tumble finally ceased, and before the flame‑soul greatsword could slash, a mental leap propelled him into the sky, widening the gap with Weikela Madiya Ershi, and once again activating the rainbow‑light cloak.

Yet it was of no use; Weikela Madiya Ershi had already locked onto him.

As soon as Lei En's mental leap emerged, Weikela Madiya Ershi turned his head to lock on, ignoring the Mirror Image's various spell attacks, and swung his sword to chase.

"Can't hard‑fight for now."

Lei En was still pondering how to slay the enemy without exposing the Thunder God's Hammer, letting the remaining six Mirror Images take turns to entangle.

The Mirror Images, possessing only sixty percent of his own strength, were no match for Weikela Madiya Ershi.

In close combat, a single slip could lead to being cut down.

Lei En tried to keep the Mirror Images away from Weikela Madiya Ershi, alternating between mental leaps, Flash, and Electric Flash Teleport to maintain distance from Weikela Madiya Ershi.

Even the imperial armament could boost speed, but no matter how fast one runs, it cannot outrun spells.

Having lost Shadow Leap, Weikela Madiya Ershi's mobility decreased; each attack was always just a hair's breadth away from Lei En and the Mirror Images.

Weikela Madiya Ershi immediately switched targets, charging toward the retreating Empire legion, attempting a mass slaughter to force Lei En into battle.

However, as soon as he approached the Empire legion, he was subjected to a "Transposition".

The scene shifted, and he found himself swapping places with a Mirror Image, back in the middle of the palace ruins. After several attempts, a Mirror Image always used Transposition, preventing him from taking a single step out of the palace, let alone approaching an enemy.

"Damn it!"

Weikela Madiya Ershi raged to the point of madness; Transposition is a rare spatial spell, only Arcane techniques like "Temporal Distortion" can counter it. He had mastered some Divine Techniques granted by Ban Erke, but not Temporal Distortion.

Though he clearly possessed the power to crush enemies, he couldn't land a single blow, making him feel sick enough to want to vomit blood.

"Coward, is this your way of avoiding combat?" Weikela Madiya Ershi cursed, his tone dripping with contempt and extreme sarcasm.

"This is a Wizard's way of fighting."

Lei En replied lightly, disregarding the other's taunt. I am an upright Wizard; why should I melee you?

Weikela Madiya Ershi suddenly halted, standing in the middle of the ruins.

The anger on his face suddenly vanished, leaving him completely calm; his dark gaze swept over Lei En and the six Mirror Images, and he said in a low voice: "When the Mirror Images end, it will be your death."

Lei En felt a slight chill in his heart; this was indeed his own flaw.

The Eight‑ring Mirror Image Technique can last fifteen minutes; once the time is up it disappears, leaving only himself unable to continuously use Shift‑and‑Swap — either he must fight Wei Ke La Ma Di Ya Er Shi head‑on, or he must watch helplessly as Wei Ke La Ma Di Ya Er Shi slaughters the Imperial troops.

About thirteen minutes remain, and the Imperial army has withdrawn only a small part.

Even if they withdrew completely, they would not get far; as long as they did not retreat back to Fu Kong Cheng, Wei Ke La Ma Di Ya Er Shi could pursue and launch a massacre.

Three Saint‑rank powerhouses also realized this, and urged their troops to retreat faster.

Time passed minute by minute.

Lei En and Wei Ke La Ma Di Ya Er Shi faced off in the ruins, staring at each other to guard against a sudden attack, when a magnetic, ethereal noise sounded in his mind: "Mortal, do you want power like his? Serve me, and Wei Ke La Ma Di Ya Er Shi will become your spoil."

(End of chapter)