Rebirth of the Noble Mage Behind the Scenes

"I must admit, you are the most formidable opponent I have ever encountered, as challenging as a Stargazer himself.

But now, even with the enhancement of the Mechanical network's power, what can you do?"

Watching Anvis gathering some kind of attack, the Councilman shook his head.

"The human body has its limits after all. Even at the Ninth Rank Limit, the strength you can hold is still far from enough to elevate your power to the level needed to stop me."

As he spoke, he even took out a Magic Hourglass filled with flowing silver sand and casually placed it in the air beside him.

"I'm not afraid to tell you, Councilman Zast, that we have about three minutes left before His gaze truly descends upon this place.

Yes, if you can break through my Magic Array before the sand in this hourglass runs out, then maybe you really could stop me and execute your 'justice'."

Glancing at the silver-glowing Magic Hourglass next to the Councilman, Anvis chuckled, summoning his own Magic Hourglass with a thought while still gathering his attack.

"You need not trouble yourself, Councilman Far, I am still capable of judging the time needed to complete the ritual."

If one were to compare the two hourglasses, they would find that the sand in the Councilman's hourglass fell noticeably slower than in Anvis's.

"Very well."

Seeing that Anvis was not fooled, the Councilman somewhat regretfully took back the hourglass and began to manipulate the remaining power of the Defensive Magic Array, preparing for Anvis's attack.

His situation was actually somewhat embarrassing, as the core of the Summoning Ceremony must be maintained by him to continue providing directional guidance for the Master of Dreams, Ma'elim. He couldn't leave his post and had to face the challenge head-on.

Moreover, having lost the supply of power from the Mechanical network, the outer protective array was severely short on energy, now left with less than twenty percent of its full defensive capability and that was just for a one-time use.

Facing Anvis, who now controlled nearly half of the Mechanical network's power, the Councilman could only hope that Anvis's carrying capacity was limited and he could not gather an attack powerful enough to break the Shield in a short time.

After all, even without replenishment, the remaining strength of these shields was still enough to withstand several Limit-breaking Magic Attacks.

Under the mutually significant gazes of both men, as the sand in the hourglass flowed down mostly, Anvis finally completed his attack.

It was a round ball of white flame tinged with a faint blue color, its brilliance dazzling, reminiscent of the stars in the Starry Sky.

The Councilman's judgment was actually correct; though this body was reformed from the remains of a Ninth Rank Limit Professional by Anvis, it still couldn't bear an excessively powerful network strength.

Without further ado, feeling that the load on this body had reached its Limit, Anvis flicked his hand, and the Light Ball shot across a bright white arc, almost instantly colliding with the Magic Array.

"Buzz—Boom Boom Boom—!"

First, there was a short and mild sound of Magic Fluctuation; the next instant, with a terrifying Magic Fluctuation, a huge blue and white Light Ball violently burst in the Starry Sky, rolling up the entire Magic Array along with Anvis inside.

Strange snowflakes scattered across the sky were rudely pushed aside by the chaotic magic, and the purple-silver twin moons in the sky also became mere backdrops under the dazzling Light Ball. That bright blue-white Radiance was even clearly visible from Mankasi City thousands of miles away.

"Gods above... what is that?"

And hundreds of miles away from the battlefield, many Professionals stationed on the mountaintop looked at the frightening phenomena in the sky with trepidation.

Ever since that strange Alien Power descended from the night sky earlier, they had felt an intense sense of crisis, but due to their insufficient strength, they were helpless and could only pray that the Ninth Rankers could successfully defeat the enemy.

Fortunately, at this moment, what descended following the guidance of the Array was merely a wisp of Ma'elim's strength, and the affected range was not too large. Otherwise, not a single one of these people would be able to escape.

In the battlefield, Anvis, relying on the incessant power of the mechanical network, protected himself and remained unscathed amidst the explosion.

However, as the residual waves of the explosion's energy gradually dissipated, the protective array at the core of the explosion became visible once again.

This attack, which had pooled all of Anvis's strength, still failed to break the protective array surrounding the Councilman, although it had already dimmed to the point of nearly extinguishing, but it was still stubbornly holding on.

"Unfortunately for you, Councilman Zast, it seems that fate is on my side today."

Relieved with the outcome, the Councilman slowly exhaled.

Although the array was nearly drained, he had bought almost enough time. The remaining time was insufficient for the adversary to launch another overly powerful attack.

As for those ordinary attacks, although he could not leave the array, if he defended with all his strength, stalling the adversary for one minute was more than enough.

The situation had developed to this point, and he had already revealed all his cards.

He had initially anticipated that when the power of the Primordial Dream descended, all Ninth Rankers, except for the very first to escape, would fall into sleep helplessly.

He would then be able to successfully complete the entire ceremony and, with the aid of Ma'elim's power, shatter the Sky Peak Barrier and ascend to the Starry Sky.

What he did not expect was the emergence of an anomaly like Anvis, who not only preemptively hatched a plan to seize a significant amount of control over the mechanical network but also treated Ma'elim's power of Eternal Sleep as if it were nothing.

Fortunately, now everything was about to be settled once and for all.

"I believe we still have a little bit of time, Councilman Far."

Seeing this result, Anvis did not hesitate to strike again, preparing to quickly shatter the Councilman's "turtle shell" and destroy the array.

"...A last struggle before death."

With an indifferent demeanor, the Councilman categorized Anvis's actions, and as he watched the array about to shatter, he began to pre-emptively construct a spell.

Finally, when about thirty seconds were left until the completion of the ceremony, the array was completely shattered under Anvis's attack.

And just as Anvis's spell was cast, exposing a temporary weakness, the Councilman seized that fleeting moment and suddenly activated his spell.

A terrifying Dark Gold rule lightning instantly wound around Anvis's body, fiercely battling against the power of his mechanical network shield. Where the lightning touched, space itself began to show signs of unstable distortion.

This was not only aimed at inflicting harm but also to entrap the enemy. The Dark Gold rule lightning contained a tremendous binding force, capable of briefly interfering with the Mana flow of a Ninth Rank Limit.

However, just as the Councilman made his full-force move, clashing against Anvis, a shocking change occurred once more!

A figure shrouded in terrifying black Alien Power suddenly appeared soundlessly behind him.

A profound sense of decay exuded from him, and a great cloud of black mist swirled above his head, continuously obstructing the falling Eternal Sleep Snow.

Gazing at the Councilman who was also vulnerable due to unleashing a powerful attack, the figure wore a malevolently joyful smile, and his hands, swirling with the intense Power of Apoptosis, suddenly penetrated the Councilman's back!

"My old nemesis, how have you been? During these four thousand years of sleep, I have been thinking about you every single moment!!"