"What did you say?"
At this moment, the ruined courtyard was filled with surging multicolored magic.
Like abyssal whirlpools, they continuously gathered toward Viktor at the center of the formation.
A chaotic storm of magic swept through the space.
Layers upon layers of differently colored magic circles intertwined, endlessly absorbing the frenzied power.
The intricate patterns crossing the sky twisted together, making the very space they passed through appear severely distorted.
Beneath the overlapping vortexes of magic, Vega's puzzled voice came from Viktor's shoulder.
"A shared stone brain?"
Viktor waved one hand through the air, engraving ancient runes onto the ever-expanding rings of magic.
His other hand held the golden bird-headed staff as he drew powerful enhancement magic circles in the air.
[Major Magic Enhancement]
[Major Chant Speed Enhancement]
[Major Magic Conversion Enhancement]
With each enhancement spell he cast, the formations surrounding Viktor shone even more brightly.
The overlapping magic formations towered like a fortress floating in the sky, their sharp castle spires extending into the earth-brown heavens.
The massive body of the fortress pressed against the clouds, as though it would crush the entire sky.
Brilliant multicolored light mixed together as countless complicated formations flowed through the air.
The enormous fortress that pierced into the clouds seemed to come alive, continuously twisting and changing shape in the sky.
Its surface was covered with thick, interwoven patterns.
Like bundles of steel cables stacked together, they bound countless formations into one, twisting and pulling through the air.
Viktor's coat, burning with multicolored magic, fluttered in the chaotic winds.
The terrifying flames, as though transformed into five colossal beasts, were gradually swallowing the sky.
"Uranos, the Earth Calamity, is the most unique of all the Calamities."
"Because it remains underground and cannot move freely, it possesses an ability none of the other Calamities have."
"As long as there is land, it can appear from any patch of soil."
Even mountain ranges could become places where the Earth Calamity appeared.
Because of that, every inch of land could conceal the Earth Calamity's power.
Thought flickered through Viktor's eyes, but his voice remained calm as he explained to Vega.
The physical manifestation of the Earth Calamity's terrifying power was those rock giants rising all around the Royal Capital.
But the funniest part was this.
That was...
"No matter how many rock giants it summons, the Earth Calamity only has one brain capable of controlling its thoughts."
Having only one brain meant that when Uranos spread parts of its body throughout the Royal Capital,
it had to transfer its conscious mind into the bodies of the other earth giants to control their movements.
So after Uranos appeared on the surface, it could only ignore everything around its main body.
Because there was only one conscious mind capable of controlling a body, it couldn't process information from several bodies at once.
That was why even the strongest Earth Calamity, Uranos, still had a relatively simple strategy for players to defeat it.
Simply put, this was its weakness.
Distraction.
One group of players attacked Uranos's earth giants, forcing Uranos to transfer its consciousness over to control them and fight back.
Meanwhile, the main raid group gathered together, built up their strength, and prepared their attack against Uranos's main body.
Of course, when Uranos left its main body, it didn't remain completely inactive.
Just like now.
As Viktor's magical fortress grew larger and heavier, Uranos, sensing the threat, finally made its move.
It always left behind the most basic level of awareness to protect itself.
The moment it sensed an attack that could seriously threaten it, Uranos would recall its consciousness at the highest possible speed.
Just as it was doing now.
A chaotic arm of enormous stone hidden beneath the earth burst through the ground.
Towering earth-brown rock rose up along with clusters of yellow vines and branches that slammed into the ground, throwing up an unbelievably heavy wave of dust.
Beneath the rolling dust, mysterious compound eyes flickered faintly. Its incomparably massive body continued to rise, trying to emerge completely from the earth.
Its outstretched stone hand spread three pillar-like fingers, braced itself against the ground, and prepared to climb out.
But halfway through its movement, its enormous rocky body suddenly lurched forward as though it had stumbled.
The tremendous impact of the giant rock shook the surrounding space, whipping up violent winds as waves of dust shot into the clouds.
It was clearly under attack.
The instant its body tilted forward, the enormous health bar stretching seemingly for thousands of miles above Uranos suddenly dropped by a chunk.
Although it had only fallen by five percent, the corners of Viktor's mouth had already risen when he saw it.
"It seems someone has already won ahead of schedule."
And this was Uranos's second mechanic.
All of the earth giants were parts of Uranos itself, so when an earth giant was destroyed, Uranos was injured as well.
This was precisely the essence of the distraction strategy.
It took advantage of the fact that Uranos had only one brain, repeatedly drawing its attention back and forth.
By launching powerful, highly threatening attacks, Uranos's consciousness was forced to keep moving between the earth giants.
As a result, the giants left without conscious control could only be slaughtered.
So while Uranos was forced to suffer heavy injuries, the attack against its main body had already finished gathering strength.
"Unfortunately, even though you've realized it now, it's too late."
Viktor slowly raised his head. His eyes, flowing with dazzling magical light, stared fixedly at Uranos's six glowing eyes.
Beneath the waves of dust, Uranos's gigantic hand remained hidden, its orange gaze locked onto Viktor, who burned with multicolored flames.
Then, in an instant, Viktor's eyes, overflowing with layer upon layer of magic, suddenly blazed with light as his immense magical power surged.
The magical fortress, made from tens of thousands of formations, expanded wildly, as though it would burst apart the entire sky.
"Sky-Clearing Soul"
"Floating Thousand Hundred Secrets"
"Create Land"
"True Conveyance"
"Ten Thousand Colors Supporting the Sky"
"Unfallen River"
"Inverted Vacuum"
"Reincarnation Rose"
As Viktor softly murmured, one powerful spell after another continued to accumulate.
Each time a phrase fell, the ten-layer fortress glowing behind him became even brighter.
In the end, its radiance completely illuminated the clear sky, driving away every trace of the earth-brown color.
In Uranos's eyes, the fortress that had long been prepared had now fully burst into light.
Chaotic radiance pierced through the heavens, reaching the distant starry sky.
"Let's start with an appetizer."
At that instant, Viktor gently snapped his fingers.
Snap!
The light seemed to swell, erupting layer by layer from the center of the fortress...
———
In the central plaza before the royal palace, Cocotte, sitting atop a cloud, seemed to sense something and slowly raised her head.
"Th... that's...?"
The chaotic air was filled with surging magic. Even Oberli raised his head toward the place where the light was blooming.
Everyone in the plaza looked up.
From afar, they stared at the terrifying light piercing through the clouds.
The radiance spread across the entire Royal Capital.
Even Vladimir, standing in the street with a giant axe over his shoulder and wounds covering his body, slowly raised his head.
Looking at the rock giant that had suddenly gone completely still, he also seemed to sense that something had changed.
He couldn't help lifting his gaze toward the source of the dazzling light in the distance.
"Huh...?"
Vladimir narrowed his eyes. The blazing light stabbed painfully into them, and the utterly chaotic magic left him completely confused.
"What the hell is that?"
———
In the northern district, Claudia stood atop the motionless rock giant.
She also turned her head and looked toward the sky above the central district of the Royal Capital.
Bathed in wave after wave of brilliant light, she slowly removed her mask, revealing half of her face.
Her crimson eyes stared at the daylight-bright radiance, trembling without stop.
"A god..."
———
As the three sides watched in shock, only Gwen remained seated atop her icy warhorse.
With the faint clink of her cold iron armor, a blazing light illuminated the dark road ahead.
She sharply pulled the reins.
The icy horse reared onto its hind legs, let out a long neigh, and came to a stop.
Its white tail swayed in the wind, scattering tiny shards of ice.
As the horse stopped, the magic in the air began to swirl.
Through the gap in her helmet, Gwen's golden eyes looked toward the sky behind her.
At that moment, she saw it.
A gigantic tree of soaring light burst forth from the Dawn Fortress, reaching deep into the heavy earth-brown clouds.
Wrapped in layer upon layer of power, its countless branches flowing with multicolored light spread across the entire sky, as though tearing countless cracks through a vast sea of dark sediment.
The tangled patterns intertwined with one another, forming the giant tree's thick trunk as it pierced the heavy, lifeless clouds.
Ancient, obscure runes hung from the branches like leaves, continuously radiating terrifying magic.
All kinds of fantastical magical creatures swayed through the sky.
A lion with a goat's head, a whale whose forelimbs were wings, and an ancient dragon with nine heads all crouched around the trunk.
Their heads swayed and their bodies coiled, as though performing a mysterious and eerie dance beneath the clouds high above.
Light burst forth, attempting to pierce through the entire world.
At that instant, the magical storm that erupted nearly covered the entire Royal Capital.
Flowing fluorescent patterns formed a hurricane-like vortex, drawing everything within a thousand miles into it.
The long hair flowing out from beneath Gwen's helmet instantly rose with the storm.
Like a brilliant galaxy spreading across the sky, it shimmered with dazzling starlight.
Her silver Snow Mastiff armor reflected the passing streams of light with shifting colors.
The chaotic magical stars looked as though they had adorned the silver armor with countless differently colored souls.
Even the snow-covered earth stirred into swirling drifts.
Crystal-clear ice crystals rose into chaotic waves, covering the dull brown sky.
[Super-Tier Magic: Sacred Tree of the Soul Abyss's Radiance: Sky Soul Heavenly Cosmos]