Undoubtedly, the familiar aura emanating from the firmament was none other than the Reproductive Hegemon who had been driven away by the Plague Hegemon before.
Just as Shinji expected, the Reproductive Hegemon had never actually given up on its remnant body sealed in the Six Rings World.
However, with Shinji guarding inside the Six Rings World and the Plague Hegemon entrenched outside, it gained no advantage facing Shinji within the spatial barrier, nor against the Plague Hegemon in space. Thus, it had to temporarily stay away.
If everything developed normally, the Reproductive Hegemon could only accept defeat. But Shinji's intervention caused unexpected changes in the situation within the Six Rings World. The giant black snake, which should have been the weakest among the three parties, actually swallowed the Plague Hegemon's grayish-white mist with Shinji's assistance, equivalent to biting a piece of meat off the Plague Hegemon.
In this way, the Reproductive Hegemon had the motivation to join the battle again. It didn't need to compete with the Plague Hegemon for the Six Rings World; as long as it could rescue the giant black snake formed by its remnant limb from the Six Rings World, it would be considered gaining an advantage this time!
Rumble...
Soon, bursts of explosions came from the firmament, sounding like thunder, and also like roars!
Shinji, tired of coping with numerous creatures possessed by the Plague Hegemon, looked up. The corners of his mouth curled slightly, and a smile finally appeared on his composed face.
Everyone in the Six Rings World heard the explosions from the firmament, but only Shinji truly understood what these explosions meant. Only he knew that outside the spatial barrier, the Reproductive Hegemon and the Plague Hegemon, old foes who had fought once before, started a great war again.
Just as Shinji secretly rejoiced in successfully luring the Reproductive Hegemon to act, he shockingly discovered that the creatures possessed by the Plague Hegemon began to retreat simultaneously.
Several 'Lampbearers' and all six Mage Towers were relieved of the crisis. The Supreme Mages and their subordinate mage corps breathed a sigh of relief. Shinji's shadow clones, rushing to protect them, also actively dispelled themselves one after another upon seeing this, dissipating into white smoke.
'Radiance' Alice said into the communicator: "All enemies on my side have retreated. How is your situation?"
Hengo: "Same here. I was almost done for. Fortunately, they retreated!"
The Old Warrior panted: "Mine retreated too!"
Hearing Hengo and the Old Warrior's replies, Alice waited for a moment, then frowned: "'Arcane', how is your side?"
'Arcane' did not respond.
Instantly, the three 'Lampbearers' realized something was wrong.
On 'Arcane's' side.
Unlike other war zones, the creatures possessed by the Plague Hegemon here did not retreat but continued hunting 'Arcane'.
Fortunately, Shinji was there, blocking the vast majority of attacks for 'Arcane'.
But there were simply too many creatures possessed by the Plague Hegemon, especially that Balrog with a body size of a hundred meters, causing Shinji endless headaches.
Swish...
A golden light fell, forcibly splitting the huge Balrog in half. Accompanied by a rumble, the Balrog's body turned into countless broken stones scattered on the ground!
However, in just a few breaths, these rocks gathered together again, reforming the Balrog's body.
"Tch!"
Shinji spat lightly.
He had repeated shattering the Balrog like just now three or four times, but no matter how strong the chakra he exploded, the Balrog would resurrect again.
While fighting and retreating, dealing with the attacking enemies, 'Arcane' shouted to Shinji not far away: "Captain, my teacher once mentioned to me that she suspected the reason why the Balrog can resurrect infinitely is that it hid its magic core in a secret place!"
"What?"
Shinji was stunned.
Where could he find the Balrog's magic core at this moment?
Just then, large patches of grayish-white suddenly appeared on the horizon. Shinji concentrated his gaze and then complained: "So they are all coming this way!"
Undoubtedly, these grayish-white patches appearing on the horizon were all creatures possessed by the Plague Hegemon retreating from other war zones.
Judging from the current situation, they were not retreating but wanted to gather all together.
Soon, Shinji's guess was confirmed. After approaching the battlefield, the grayish-white mist on these possessed creatures surging from all directions abandoned their original hosts and threw themselves into the Balrog's body all at once.
In just the blink of an eye, a large patch of soulless shells fell around the Balrog, while the grayish-white mist on the Balrog's body instantly became incredibly dense.
"This..."
'Arcane' stared dumbfounded.
Although he was only a high-level mage, being a 'Lampbearer', his perception was far stronger than ordinary people. So just by instinct, he felt big trouble!
Because the Balrog was originally a 'Six Paths Level' magical construct. After being possessed by one stream of grayish-white mist, its strength comprehensively surpassed 'Six Paths Level', reaching the level of 'Kekkei Mora' (Bloodline Encompassing), and it could resurrect infinitely. Now possessed by hundreds and thousands of streams of grayish-white mist, its aura skyrocketed, giving 'Arcane' the illusion that he was facing the Plague Hegemon directly.
Shinji also had a splitting headache.
The Balrog possessed by one stream of grayish-white mist was already tricky enough. Now with this development, his head felt twice as big.
Fortunately, it was Shinji's main body that rushed to 'Arcane's' side.
Because in his view, the Supreme Mages among the ten important targets were not the key. The real key was 'Arcane', the 'Lampbearer' of the Six Rings World. If something went wrong with 'Arcane', the Six Rings World would be completely hopeless.
As for Shion, with Hikari Uchiha, a 'Kekkei Mora', by her side, self-preservation at this stage was not a problem.
Roar...
The Balrog, whose aura had risen to the limit, suddenly let out a roar!
'Arcane' trembled all over: "Cap... Captain, what should we do now?"
Shinji waved his hand: "Run quickly!"
'Arcane' asked: "What about you?"
He had long seen that Shinji's aura was much weaker than when the battle just started, hence the question.
Shinji was speechless: "You still have the mind to worry about me?"
"Be careful!"
'Arcane' said no more, turned around, and sped away.
Shinji stared fixedly at the Balrog possessed by countless streams of grayish-white mist not far away, his expression incredibly solemn.
Just as 'Arcane' worried, his current state was very bad.
Even having advanced to 'Kekkei Shinra', Shinji was actually still a notch below a Hegemon. He must activate 'Divine Sovereign Mode' to barely catch up with the Hegemon's level. But 'Divine Sovereign Mode' consumed chakra heavily. Plus, his multiple uses of shadow clones made his speed of refining chakra far slower than the consumption speed.
However, having fought to this point, even in a bad state, he would not retreat half a step.
He pointed the 'Golden Wheel Reincarnation Explosion' in his hand at the Balrog possessed by the Plague Hegemon opposite: "We continue!"