Inside War Fortress No. 13, within Lynn's chamber.
Aestry's figure stood motionless, like a beacon connecting to a distant dream realm.
Suddenly, a dazzling golden light bloomed from the space before her graceful form.
Within the brilliance, the silhouettes of Lynn and Qi quietly emerged. As space rippled softly around them, the two staggered as they stepped out of the dream world and re-entered the physical realm appearing inside the wizards' fortress.
But barely had they returned before either of them could utter a word a sudden tremor rocked the heavens and the earth.
Boom!
A wave of pressure, like a tsunami, surged from the skies above. It descended with the weight of a collapsing firmament as if a god were descending into the mortal realm instantly bearing down on them.
The aura was as vast as a galaxy, yet carried a bone-chilling coldness, like an all-powerful entity casting its gaze over the entire battlefield.
Lynn's pupils contracted sharply. Qi instinctively shifted into a guarded stance, his body taut, all energy sealed within.
That terrifying aura locked directly onto them.
No, more precisely:
That overwhelming force was targeting the entire battlefield all living beings.
Whether it was the wizard legions or the goddess's divine forces, everyone was engulfed under the same icy pressure.
Lynn and Qi understood immediately who it was.
The Goddess of the Weave.
She had been pursuing them ever since their escape, and now even after they returned to the battlefield she hadn't relented.
Fortunately, both of them had their means of concealment. The moment they exited the dream space, they suppressed their auras completely.
A gentle blue-green glow from the Spirit of Azure within Lynn diffused across his body, while the golden balance floating above Qi shimmered faintly, covering him in a subtle radiance that severed any direct connection between them and the divine gaze.
In this way, the Goddess of the Weave could sense their reappearance on the battlefield.
She could not precisely locate them amidst the countless lifeforms and chaotic energies of war.
Among tens of millions of moving figures, they were but specks of dust indistinguishable.
And yet, the presence looming in the sky did not recede in the slightest.
On the contrary, she was searching.
She refused to give up.
That all-encompassing divine consciousness, carrying a will that transcended all mortal laws, descended from above, cutting through layers of magical barriers and waves of sorcery.
Sweeping through the battlefield in its entirety, trying to isolate that single trace she sought among the lives of tens of millions.
First to bear the brunt of the pressure were the two powerhouses suspended in the air: the Mech-Wizard Angus and the Mage Linge.
A tempest roared as clouds twisted and churned.
Beside Angus, a swarm of tiny metallic constructs rose into the sky like a cloud of metal wasps. Their wings buzzed as they formed a layered, three-dimensional energy shield.
Under the crushing weight of divine pressure, these shields endured the torrent of oppressive divine will shielding the Mech-Wizard from its full impact.
Countless points of light swirled around Angus, forming a living fortress that shielded him tightly at the center.
On the other side, Mage Linge hovered at the pinnacle of the void, his robes billowing, long white hair flowing wildly in the wind.
In his palm, the blue-white astral orb suddenly flared with a cold, radiant light. Sensing its master's peril, it automatically activated its divine protection.
Starlight fell like snowflakes, weaving a faint, shimmering domain that shielded Mage Linge from the goddess's overwhelming divine pressure.
Yet aside from those two, down below on the massive battlefield, the presence of the Goddess of the Weave descended like thunder.
Across the ten great battlefields drenched in blood and fire
When that divine aura fell like a blade from the heavens, time itself seemed to freeze for half a heartbeat.
Everyone whether wizards, divine priests, or charging knights stiffened, their expressions shifting in unison as they instinctively raised their heads toward the sky.
Some were confused, others shocked some even outright terrified.
Hearts pounded violently within their chests as if an invisible hand had seized their very souls.
They could all feel it a terrifying, indescribable presence approaching.
To their senses, it was as if the sky itself were collapsing a sense of heaven falling.
But in truth, it was the Goddess of the Weave, using her supreme will, sweeping across the masses in search of two elusive figures.
In her eyes, the chaotic battlefield below was no longer a warzone, but a vast chessboard and all living beings mere pawns.
Now, the two pieces that had slipped beyond the board were within her grasp and she would not let them escape.
Though the divine might of the Goddess of the Weave surged like a galactic torrent over the entire battlefield, the wizard faction was not without the means to respond.
This war was no solo performance ruled by gods.
The 13th Plane World was under the full strategic control of the City of Machines.
As a massive mobile war fortress spanning both high-level planes and the physical realm, the City of Machines had long since established a complex network of bases here. Countless war wizards constructed legions, energy nodes, and floating citadels maintained ironclad control over the heart of the plane.
Thus, when the Goddess of the Weave unleashed a surge of divine energy that bordered on the level of a law-grade phenomenon
The battlefield's other side reacted swiftly.
Wizard observation arrays, spatial scanners, psychic tracking cores, and divine ripple analyzers are an array of advanced arcane technologies activated simultaneously, capturing the apocalyptic flow of energy.
In the very next instant, alarm signals rang out across countless wizard towers, frontline camps, and command centers like war drums beating an urgent call.
"Hostile divine power detected! Plane-level interference confirmed!"
"Scan radius: full sweep of World No. 13! Divine will: in active targeting phase!"
"Notify the Floating Command Citadel immediately!"
And at the far edge of the sky within the 13th Plane World, an awe-inspiring floating complex hovered silently in the void.
It loomed over the plane like the Sword of Damocles suspended above the heads of the gods themselves.
This was no ordinary airborne fortress it was a masterpiece, fusing the pinnacle of arcane towers with the heights of mechanical civilization.
At its core stood a sorcerous spire piercing the clouds, its surface sheathed in flowing runic metal, its peak burning with eternal blue flame.
Surrounding the tower were colossal floating platforms, each a marvel of machinery where gears meshed and energy cores pulsed testaments to the identity of the mech-wizards.
This was a superstructure of war, capable of detection, annihilation, control, and support an ultimate fortress.
As the divine power of the Goddess of the Weave swept across the land, from the "perspective" of this floating citadel
That ribbon of blue-white divine radiance appeared like lightning tearing through the night sky, surging from the edge of the plane and streaking downward like a divine lash, enveloping all life below.
However, just as that divine light touched down upon the battlefield
BOOM!!!
A thunderous explosion erupted from the heart of the floating fortress, shaking heaven and earth like a tidal wave crashing down!
A massive black shadow like a bolt of obsidian lightning split from the heavens and blasted forth from the depths of the citadel, its speed and force unmatched.
This dark figure tore through the air, crossing countless spatial nodes in an instant.
The Goddess of the Weave, terrifying as she was, had disregarded the wizard faction entirely intervening directly on the front lines with her divine power the moment she awakened.
And so, the wizard faction's top-tier response was equally ruthless.
That black figure unleashed from the floating fortress had a precise target none other than the Goddess of the Weave's main base!
Its destination: the very heart of the goddess's domain.
There, at the center of the divine realm, rose a towering sacred mountain that pierced the skies shrouded in clouds and divine radiance, it stood like a sword suspended upside-down between heaven and earth.
Around this divine mountain stood seven colossal temples, each situated hundreds of miles apart, yet resonating in unison with the central peak.
This was the legendary Seven-Star Temple Complex.
They were not only the holy grounds of the divine legions but also fortresses forged by the seven Seven-Star Mages through divine rules.
Each temple possessed a portion of artifact-level power, forming a complete divine barrier around the central sacred mountain.
Atop the mountain's peak, a quiet and ancient temple lay hidden within a translucent barrier.
Here, wild winds howled and black clouds churned. Divine might condense into a tangible force.
The curtains swayed gently as a slender figure slowly emerged from behind them.
She wore a pitch-black gown, barefoot on the edge of the temple. Her skin was like snow and her figure graceful and lithe.
Her long hair flowed like the night sky, dancing with the wind. Though delicate in frame, she stood utterly unmoved, as if all the storms of the heavens bowed before her.
This woman, naturally, was the one interfering in the battle with divine force the Goddess of the Weave.
She stood at the edge of the temple atop the sacred mountain, her presence both serene and majestic.
Her features were as flawless as winter frost, her skin like snow, and her face so exquisitely beautiful it seemed all standards of beauty were born from her form.
Yet those star-like eyes now held a faint trace of distraction, her expression distant as if lost in a faraway vision.
Though her body stood within the temple, feet lightly touching the steps of the divine altar, her gaze and consciousness had already traversed endless space and distance to observe the complexities of the frontlines, searching for the person or object she sought.
"Hm?"
As she manipulated the battle with divine will, her power suddenly faltered for a moment.
Her eyes narrowed slightly like still, waters disturbed ripples spreading across the deep sea.
Slowly, she lifted her gaze toward the flawless sky above the temple.
It was azure and clear, sunlight cascading down as white clouds drifted by a serene and harmonious painting.
But just three seconds later
Boom!
The once-calm heavens were torn apart by an unstoppable force!
A black shadow suddenly pierced through the clouds, crashing down like a dark meteor from beyond the sky aimed straight at the heart of the sacred mountain where the goddess stood!
It wasn't flying it was falling.
With a thunderous roar, the air surged, space rippled, and the void along its path collapsed. The sky ripped like parchment wherever it passed, the world darkened, and rules twisted!
If this strike went unopposed, it would level the entire mountain even the Seven-Star Temples would be reduced to rubble!
Yet in the face of this sky-shattering, earth-crushing force, the Goddess of the Weave did not move.
She merely parted her lips and spoke her voice as clear as jade chimes, like spring water trickling or wind brushing through trees:
"Time, stop."
Just a few words yet they echoed like divine decrees.
This was a ninth-circle spell, already a pinnacle technique among ninth-circle mages.
But when cast by a deity, it no longer obeyed the basic laws of magic it became the manifestation of the Authority of Time.
If an ordinary ninth-circle mage had cast this spell, even with the Weave's support, it would have meant little in such a clash.
But this time, the one speaking was the Goddess of the Weave herself the very embodiment of the magical network's will.
As her voice fell, the entire mountain changed in an instant.
Three thousand strands of hair drifted like dreams, brushing past her shoulders and waist, flowing like threads spun from the night itself.
These strands moved like serpents, like spider silk cast into the wind, weaving a colossal net that stretched across the sky, boundless and infinite.
The Weave's origin made manifest.
This was also the source of the goddess's authority!
At that moment, the wind ceased.
The clouds stopped.
The entire world seemed gripped by an invisible hand locked in absolute stillness.
Even the black shadow that had descended was now suspended mid-air above the mountain frozen in place.
The world itself… held its breath.
Only now did the true form of that dark figure finally reveal itself?
It was a humanoid entity forged from an unknown alloy, its metallic surface sleek and seamless, crafted with the precision of a master artisan as if it had been born perfect.
It had no facial features; its face was smooth as a mirror. The entire figure seemed to hail from the end of civilization itself the ultimate fusion of divine craftsmanship and artificial intelligence.
It hovered silently in the air.
Then, in the dead stillness of the frozen world
It moved.
The metallic figure slowly raised an arm, fingers spreading open, palm facing upward.
And with just a gentle clench
Crack!
It sounded like ice shattering the void itself splintered.
The temporal web woven by the Goddess of the Weave gave a sorrowful cry as it fractured in an instant.
The frozen world collapsed the wind roared once more, the clouds churned again, and space resumed its flow!
In that moment, the sacred mountain was thrust back into the river of time, and the dark figure continued its descent the battle at a divine level had truly begun.
Far away, on the battlefield, the terrifying pressure that had descended from the heavens abruptly dissipated the Goddess of the Weave had been interrupted.
But to the many figures on the battlefield, the cause remained unknown. Had they not all sensed it at once, they might have thought they'd merely imagined it.
The Mech-Wizard, however, understood clearly someone powerful on their side had made a move.
"City Lord…"
He muttered inwardly. To disrupt the Goddess of the Weave surely, it could only be the City Lord of the Clockwork Metropolis.
Elsewhere, the Artifact Master Mage holding a divine artifact also showed a slight change in expression. He, too, had a rough idea of what had happened.
However, neither the Mech-wizard nor the Artifact Master Mage had any intention of engaging in battle at this moment.
On the contrary b, both of them stepped back, increasing the distance between themselves and the core of the conflict.
Below, the clash on the battlefield had also stalled, clearly confused by the sudden development.
Inside War Fortress No. 13, in Lynn's room
Lynn and Qi both sensed the overwhelming divine power vanish in an instant.
"A terrifying wizard has made a move," Qi said calmly.
Though he was an otherworldly being, his strength placed him on the level of a Morning Star wizard.
Lynn, on the other hand, was still relatively weak until recently, he had only been a first-level wizard. He knew less about the wizarding army than Qi did.
"To stand on equal footing with a god… What level of wizard is that?" Lynn asked, taking a deep breath. The pressure from earlier had nearly crushed him he had directly felt the terrifying might of a deity.
And now, a wizard of comparable power had made a move against a god leaving him both shaken and awestruck.
In his mind, images surfaced scenes he'd once read in ancient texts:
Those distant, fearsome legendary mages of old who once waged war across the realms, hunting down gods.
Who treated so-called "divinities" as mere specimens, dragging them back to the wizarding world for cold and merciless dissection and study…
Now, those mythic scenes that once existed only in legends seemed to be playing out before his very eyes.
Qi took a deep breath, then began to explain not withholding anything, as though trying to dispel Lynn's confusion:
"Even among deities, there are many levels. But in terms of wizarding realms a fourth-level Morning Star wizard… has already stepped into the domain of the gods."
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