The moment the battle erupted, Lin Qingyue truly grasped the essence of the phrase "gods clashing."
This was a realm far beyond their comprehension, let alone intervention.
BOOM—!
A deafening, soul-shattering roar reverberated through the air, threatening to tear their spirits from their bodies.
This wasn't the sharp clang of metal against metal, but the violent collision of two pure, destructive forces that violently detonated the air itself.
Each clash between Aeldara's silver longsword and Mograss's massive, door-sized battleaxe pushed the spectators' endurance to its breaking point.
Shockwaves radiated outward from the epicenter, carving a massive circular trench into the solid ground.
Ancient, towering trees surrounding the battlefield were brutally snapped in half by invisible air currents. Pulverized stone and soil were hurled hundreds of meters into the sky, forming a terrifying dust cloud that blotted out the sun.
Lin Qingyue and her companions staggered backward, overwhelmed by the savage shockwaves.
Lin Xiyue immediately let out a low roar and slammed her heavy shield, Immovable Mountain, firmly into the ground.
Buzz—!
The metal shield vibrated violently. Lin Xiyue strained every muscle to maintain the precarious barrier for the three behind her.
"Oh my god..."
Lin Xiyue gritted her teeth, her entire shield arm numb, her bones screaming in protest.
Even the aftershock of the clash far surpassed the full-force strike of the Stitched Abomination they had faced earlier!
At the heart of the battlefield, Aeldara used the momentum of her strike to glide backward, her heavy armor no hindrance to her agility. She moved like a bolt of black lightning.
Where she had stood moments before, the ground silently collapsed half a meter deep, its edges spiderwebbed with cracks.
"Ha ha ha! Aeldara! Your strength has waned!"
Mograss roared maniacally, his corded arm muscles bulging as he gripped his massive axe. He swung it down with mountain-splitting force, each earth-shattering strike carrying the power to crush all resistance.
This time, Aeldara didn't meet the attack head-on.
Her body blurred, her footwork ghostly as she slipped into Mograss's blind spot an instant before his axe cleaved the air.
But no sooner had she evaded the blow than a sinister black shadow erupted from her blind spot, stabbing silently toward her!
It was the dual-bladed Ghost Blade!
Moving with such speed that only afterimages remained, his venom-coated curved blades transformed into venomous fangs, striking with deadly precision for the gaps in Aeldara's armor.
Ding! Ding!
Two crisp, metallic clashes rang out.
Without even turning her head, Aeldara flicked five fingers of her left hand through the air.
The pure death energy coalescing at her fingertips instantly solidified into two palm-sized silver ice shields, blocking the treacherous assassination attempts with perfect accuracy.
Yet the moment the shields materialized, a soul-freezing incantation echoed from the heavens:
"Soul Wither!"
The Blighted, the Mage hovering in mid-air, had finally unleashed his attack.
On the Human Skin Grimoire in his hand, a contorted human face snapped open its eyes and emitted a silent, piercing shriek.
Chains of gray-black energy materialized from thin air, tearing through space as they coiled directly toward Aeldara's soul!
This was a vicious spell targeting her very essence!
"Hmph."
Aeldara let out a cold, disdainful snort.
Countless intricate runes on her pitch-black armor suddenly blazed to life, their luminous currents swirling into an impenetrable energy barrier that completely sealed out all the soul chains.
But this lightning-fast countermeasure left her momentarily frozen.
For a true powerhouse, this was a perfect opportunity to strike a fatal blow.
"Die!"
Dark purple light surged from Mograss's massive axe as he leaped into the air, merging completely with his weapon.
He transformed into a ravenous black Death Tornado, a vortex that devoured all light, and slammed down upon the briefly immobilized Aeldara!
This axe strike locked down space, cutting off all avenues of escape!
There was nowhere to retreat, nowhere to dodge!
"Danger!" Lin Xiyue cried out in alarm.
Su Wan and Xia Lian felt as if an invisible hand had seized their hearts, their breaths completely frozen.
Yet even facing this seemingly inescapable death trap, Aeldara remained unnervingly calm.
Instead of retreating, she advanced, facing the Death Tornado head-on. With deliberate calm, she raised her silver longsword.
"Silent... Judgment."
Two ice-cold words escaped her lips.
In that instant, the world fell silent.
Within a ten-meter radius centered on her, everything was stripped away:
Sound.
Light.
Moving air.
All of it was instantly drained and erased by an invisible, domineering force.
An absolute, deathly silence descended.
Mograss's raging Death Tornado froze solid upon entering this domain. Every swirling particle of dust hung suspended in mid-air, utterly motionless.
The seething destructive energy boiling on the axe blade dissipated at a visibly rapid rate, vanishing into the Void.
Then, a silver sword light, pure to the extreme, flared to life.
This light was not meant to illuminate, but to terminate.
It flashed through the Silent Domain without a sound or explosion.
The sword light sliced silently through the frozen Death Tornado, cleaved through Mograss's massive axe, and finally settled as lightly as a feather upon his silver scale breastplate.
The next moment, the Silent Domain dissipated.
Clang—!
A deafening metallic explosion, delayed for what felt like an eternity, finally erupted, its devastating sonic wave tearing through the sky!
Mograss, axe and all, was blasted backward, tumbling through the air a dozen times before crashing heavily into the ground, carving a massive, humanoid crater into the earth.
A deep, bone-deep sword gash ran across his chest armor.
Silver tendrils of Aeldara's pure death energy seeped into the wound, frantically corroding his flesh and preventing it from healing.
The sheer power of a single strike was terrifying beyond measure!
Lin Qingyue's heart pounded wildly as she watched.
Holy shit! A domain-type authority skill! Absolute stillness and conceptual slashes! This woman is too OP! Is this her true power? In a one-on-one fight, Mograss would have been vaporized in that instant!
But before her thoughts could fully form, the battle took a dramatic turn.
After unleashing that earth-shattering strike, Aeldara froze for a split second, her silver runes on her armor flickering rapidly, their light fading to near-extinction.
[ "Ultimate skill cooldown!" ] Alarm bells rang in Lin Qingyue's mind.
Ghost Blade, the dual-bladed assassin, seized this fleeting opportunity with deadly precision.
His figure instantly split into a dozen afterimages, attacking Aeldara's fatigue-exposed vulnerabilities from all directions simultaneously!
At the same time, the mage assistant, The Blighted, chanted anew, unleashing a corrosive barrage of acidic projectiles and shadow arrows that darkened the sky, raining down upon Aeldara like a violent storm.
Aeldara forcibly broke free from her frozen state, swinging her longsword in a whirlwind of silver, creating an impenetrable curtain of steel that deflected most of the incoming attacks.
But ultimately, two fists cannot withstand four hands.
Especially after expending her ultimate skill.
Thud! Thud!
Several attacks pierced through the sword screen, slamming heavily against her armor. She staggered, a thin trickle of crimson blood seeping from the corner of her mouth.
Meanwhile, in the distant crater, Mograss had already risen to his feet.
He let out a primal, furious roar. Wreathed in foul black miasma, the wound on his chest writhed and healed at an unnatural speed.
He raised his massive axe again, the crimson madness in his eyes burning even brighter than before.
"See this, Aeldara!" he roared, his voice dripping with mockery and cruelty. "Against true 'immortals,' your pathetic pride means nothing! We are undying!"
"But you... you will tire, you will bleed, you will die!"
Aeldara found herself locked in a grueling battle.
Her individual strength far surpassed that of any single opponent, but the three worked together with perfect synergy—main attacker, harasser, and ranged combatant—forming an unbreakable combat loop that pinned her at the center of the battlefield, relentlessly draining her stamina.
Meanwhile, the true crisis had descended upon Lin Qingyue and her companions.
The hundred silent, fanatical Death Knights had already surged past their commander, advancing like a black tide of steel—silent, swift, and perfectly coordinated.
Their target: the dozens of young Apprentice Knights under Aeldara's command, and the four who stood at their flank—Lin Qingyue and her group, who had barely managed to steady themselves amidst the battle's aftermath.
The Death Tide has arrived!