Chapter 3014: Assistance

At the intersection of the light, the hundred-meter-tall Youke Wude, glowing like a god, sat upon the throne woven from starlight and tree roots. He wore a pure white robe embroidered with gold thread, as if the brilliance of the Milky Way flowed across the fabric.

His long hair and beard, shimmering with a silver-white luster, hung down like a waterfall. His eyes, like the deep firmament, shone with the light of ancient wisdom, and every movement radiated a sacred majesty that could not be profaned. A massive clock dial floated behind him, with ancient rings winding around it; every rune, like a knot, contained the mysteries of time.

There were no fixed hands on the dial, only streams of light wandering silently, as if recording the birth, death, and flow of all things. The clicking sound was low and solemn, like the heartbeat of Time itself.

As for the giant tree behind the throne, its trunk was as thick as a mountain range, covered in natural textures and symbols as if writing the history of eternity; its branches were like the spines of giant dragons, extending in all directions to support the endless night sky; its canopy was lush, with leaves shimmering in a blend of gold and green, as if countless worlds were gestating among them.

The order of time became stable because of the appearance of the "Tree," but the canopy extending outward clearly made everyone in the clearing feel that it had truly covered the entire Vista Forest.

The clearing was still the same clearing, but this place seemed to be more than just the depths of the forest. This was any place in the Vista Forest; as the ancient one who supported the Vista Forest fully awakened, wherever he gazed became the concept of the Vista Forest itself.

The candle containing the power of the True Gods had been lit, but whether anyone could truly arrive here to provide assistance was hard to say. Streams of time flowed down from the canopy, and the five giant beings sitting on the thrones looked down upon the tiny mortals in the clearing amidst the sacred radiance.

Although the opponent was an enemy, the sacredness of this scene was still breathtaking, and the sense of power struck directly at the soul. Before the white-robed old man sitting on the central throne, it seemed as if all past, present, and future appeared tiny and fleeting. He was the guardian of the order of all things and the embodiment of Time itself.

Although they had thought that this enemy, even if not a god, would be formidable as an incarnation of the World Tree's remains, no one had anticipated that he would possess such momentum before even making a move. The "gaze" formed by the white-robed old man sitting on the central throne, even if just cast upon them, possessed power no less than the strongest strike of a Thirteenth-Ring sorcerer.

Whether this was the most powerful non-god-level enemy Xia De had ever faced was hard to say, but it was definitely the one with the grandest spectacle among all enemies below the level of a god.

The old man on the throne remained still from the waist down, leaned forward, and then opened a palm the size of a mountain to grab at the group. The clearing, originally the size of a plaza, had somehow become unimaginably vast. The group, who hadn't scattered, raised their shields together.

But the layered shields were easily pierced by the white-robed old man's giant hand like bubbles. However, before he could close his right hand to grab them, Vanessa urgently mobilized the power of the earth to shift their position. The high-ring sorcerers bombarded the giant hand with spells, but it merely waved, dispersing them like bubbles.

"Good, good, good! Let me see what other skills you have!"

The white-robed old man on the throne laughed and withdrew his right hand. At the same time, the fire demon, Disaster, completely shrouded in crimson flames, stood up from its seat. When the fifty-meter-tall demon stood upright, the oncoming heat nearly evaporated all the air.

If this were merely the fire demon, Disaster, the group wouldn't fear it at all. But as the roots piercing the demon's back injected a steady stream of green light into its body, the fire demon evolved to a strength it had never reached since its birth, without changing its size. Profane demonic runes constructed of flames coursed through its body, and black ash entwined with white mist to form black-and-white armor on its surface.

The whispers and murmurs of sin echoed in everyone's ears. Including the little unicorn, everyone felt as if their souls were being scorched. After being enhanced, the ancient evil spirit's passive ability to influence the spirits and souls of mortals became even more terrifying, but fortunately, they were far from the city, and the sorcerers present were no ordinary people.

After the demon stood up, black roots surged from its burning right hand, intertwining into a charred black hilt, and then the blade of a burning giant sword emerged from the hilt. A sea of fire like a tsunami rushed toward the group as the demon swung its sword.

This demon was definitely not something one or two Thirteenth-Ring sorcerers could easily block. "Lord of the Quiet Valley," Mr. Eldron, extended his right hand, letting the ring on his finger summon the power of the wind to break the sea of fire; "Green Shadow Walker," Miss Gaia Lisbrown, guided those demonic flames into the "Emerald Dream" to turn them into illusions; Sister Dafilene silently manipulated the flames to split to the left and right.

Others protected Emilia and retreated backward. While the Thirteenth-Ring sorcerers were busy, Xia De did not use the "Chloe's Echo of Ice" given by the ancient witch empress, but instead turned and ran backward. After a running start, he jumped directly into the forest and disappeared.

"?"

Vanessa didn't think Xia De was deserting, but guessed that he was about to use power inconvenient for others to see:

"He's going to incarnate as a god now? That's too hasty, isn't it? Shouldn't we test each other out first and wait until we've fought enough before making a move?"

The sea of fire was finally split by the three of them at the last moment, but behind the broken sea of fire, the burning giant sword came head-on.

Thus, amidst the rising earth, a rock giant appeared on one knee, blocking the giant sword with its arms. And just as the hastily summoned earth giant was shattered by the giant sword, dozens of figures appeared from the forest on the outskirts of the clearing:

"I'm here to help you!"

With skin like cast steel, the Dean of the Seksas Higher Medical College, "Steel Punisher" Professor Miller Stewart, led his team into the forest, then transformed into a silver-white steel giant dozens of meters tall with a roar, gripping the crimson blade of the demon with both hands, forcibly stopping the strike.

Transforming one's body for combat wasn't a skill unique to Xia De. The Dean, famous for his title "Steel Punisher," held the giant sword and withstood the crimson rays shot from the demon's eyes with his metallic body, only to be repelled by the flames spat out by the demon. A rock giant that appeared on the side blocked the demon's lethal follow-up strike, and then Vanessa manipulated the earth giant to self-destruct in place, which barely managed to repel the demon.

The flames scattered from the demon's body transformed into low-level elemental demons in the air, whistling toward Emilia. Except for Miss Olanode, who continued to protect Emilia, the Thirteenth-Ring sorcerers ignored the fire elemental demons and joined the battle against the ancient evil spirit enhanced by the ancient one.

At the same time, in the forest beside the clearing, as the softly chanted profane demonic language was drowned out by the sounds of battle, the black mirror reflected a scene not belonging to the forest.

Thus, Bill Schneider, who had been waiting in the clinic's study, put down his book and flowed out of the mirror as black liquid, reconstructing his body in the snow. His head formed first, and he immediately looked up at the sky:

"Good evening... oh, this is even more exaggerated than I imagined."

This place wasn't far from the battlefield, so as soon as Schneider appeared, his entire face was illuminated red by the flames. He looked up and saw the ancient evil spirit, completely different from his impression, dancing wildly under the siege of five Thirteenth-Ring sorcerers, and it seemed to be getting stronger:

"This is an acquaintance, but hasn't it already been defeated by us? I'm certain its essence was completely absorbed by me."

"Doctor, this is a time clone pulled from a certain point in the past by the ancient one. Can you counter it?"

Xia De put away the mirror, and Schneider smiled and nodded:

"It would have been hard to say before I completed that ritual, but now, at least dragging it out won't be a problem. Leave it to me. I'll hold it back for you. By the way, I appreciate you summoning me directly to the decisive battlefield. I was just worried I'd get lost in the forest at night."

Thus, as Xia De jumped out of the forest and rejoined the battlefield, a crimson ray shot out from the snowy forest, making a right-angle turn and hitting the ancient evil spirit directly, obliterating half of its left arm.

A darkness deeper than darkness, an evil more ancient than the evil spirit, appeared in the perception of all sorcerers on the battlefield at this moment. No one knew what this was, and even Miss Olanode couldn't help but turn to look in the direction of the ray.

The demon's reaction was clearly greater than that of the sorcerers and witches. It didn't even care about its regenerating arm, but roared toward the darkness in the south of the forest as if it had lost its mind. ===== CHAPTER 3015 =====

So as Xia De jumped out of the forest and rejoined the battlefield, a scarlet ray that turned at a right angle shot out abruptly from the snowy forest and directly hit the ancient evil spirit, further annihilating its small half-section of left arm.

Darkness deeper than darkness, evil more ancient than evil spirits appeared in the perception of all Ringed Shushi in the battlefield at this moment. No one knew what this was, and even Miss Oulannuode couldn't help but turn to look in the direction of the source of the ray just now.

And the demon's reaction was obviously greater than that of the Ringed Shushi and witches. It didn't even care about the arm that was struggling to regenerate after disappearing, and at this moment, it roared toward the darkness in the south of the forest as if it had lost its mind.