Chapter 177: Time (2)
Whoosh—
A gust of wind swept past.
The falling shards of glass stirred in the wind, drifting upward against the air to return to the Pocket Watch before slotting themselves back into place on its crystal face.
The shattered Pocket Watch instantly restored itself, completely intact.
"A big one's coming."
Maesys said cryptically, though his voice carried a trace of inexplicable excitement.
At some point, a blurred apparition had materialized in the air before them.
It was a robed phantom standing fully a thousand meters tall.
It looked down from on high upon everything below.
Its eyes shimmered with a pale white glow. Its left eye resembled a clockface where the minute and second hands spun in opposite directions—one clockwise, the other counterclockwise.
In its left hand, the giant phantom held a massive set of scales, while its right hand grasped an unimaginably huge hourglass.
Beneath the shroud of this towering apparition, the wound on the opposing wizard's chest began to stitch itself together.
As time passed, the speed of this healing gradually accelerated.
However, his complexion also grew paler and paler until, finally, every trace of annihilation force and injury across his chest was completely gone.
This healing was not ordinary medical mending, but rather resembled a localized reversal of time.
Every drop of spilled blood, every torn edge of the wound, and every bit of annihilated flesh materialized bit by bit, slotting back together to restore the injury exactly as it was.
"The God of Time." Maesys sounded somewhat startled.
"It really is the God of Time! This Pocket Watch is connected to the God of Time! It is a fine treasure!"
Maesys said with a hint of greed.
"You must snatch that Pocket Watch away; that watch is a genuine treasure!"
"I know."
Lynn did not need Maesys's reminder to recognize at a glance that the Pocket Watch was undoubtedly extraordinary.
The problem, however, was not whether the item was good or bad.
The problem was how he was supposed to resolve the current situation.
The Attack Module he currently unleashed through his Wizard Tower—the Dalifen Fiend Annihilation—essentially represented the highest single-target offensive spell he could muster at this stage.
Yet even the Dalifen Fiend Annihilation could not kill his opponent.
What other trump cards did he have?
Lynn's expression remained entirely calm.
"Dalifen Fiend Annihilation!"
Lynn continued to issue the order to attack.
A flicker of light rippled across the surface of the Wizard Tower once more.
A beam of crimson radiance shot outward.
Yet as this ray of crimson light drew within a hundred meters of the target, its color grew increasingly faint. The closer it got, the paler the hue of the Dalifen Fiend Annihilation became.
"That was close. I almost got killed by you." The opposing wizard felt a wave of lingering relief.
A gloomy look settled over his face. If not for the mysterious Pocket Watch he had previously acquired from a ruin protecting him, he would have already been slain by the wizard opposite him. Ever since obtaining this Pocket Watch, he had tested it for a long time, discovering only two ways to use it over the years—one of which was to protect himself.
It summoned a gigantic clock apparition capable of maintaining time while also reversing it to a certain extent.
However, this sort of temporal reversal heavily consumed mental energy; if the mental energy within his body were completely exhausted, it would begin eating away at his life force.
For a wizard, unless they were trapped in a dead zone stripped of all energy, casting spells or using any item primarily drew upon the ambient energy in the air, leaving the consumption of internal magic power very low. The primary toll was paid in mental energy.
Still, as long as you cannot kill me, it is my turn to counterattack.
A cold glint flashed across his eyes. "Summon."
At a single thought, a massive summoning array materialized before him.
An enormous Wizard Tower rose from the ground, an oppressive aura radiating continuously from within its walls.
The moment the Wizard Tower was fully summoned, he could retreat inside to rapidly recover his mental energy.
A Wizard Tower was a natural fortress.
Remaining out in the open felt terribly unsafe, especially right in front of another wizard.
Once mental and magical energies were entirely depleted, one would find oneself in an extremely perilous position.
Lynn noticed that the aura surrounding the opposing wizard was also shifting constantly.
Because a wizard and a Wizard Tower shared a mutual resonance of mind, a wizard situated near their tower established a specific frequency synchronization between their internal magic and the structure.
This was the exact same frequency a wizard experienced when breaking through alongside their Wizard Tower to become an Official Wizard.
It was a distinct advantage.
How could Lynn possibly allow him to summon his Wizard Tower?
"Stop him!"
The corners of Lynn's mouth curved upward slightly. If such a treasure could be unleashed infinitely without consumption, fine, then I concede defeat and can only figure out a way to call for backup or have Maesys carry me away.
Yet looking at the man's pale complexion and frantic attitude toward summoning his Wizard Tower—why was he in such a rush to bring it forth? Because you feel utterly insecure!
"I will double-compensate you later for whatever divine power you consume. Kill him! No matter what price you have to pay, I will double it afterward." Lynn raised his head and spoke to the sky.
Hearing Lynn say this, Maesys—who rarely ever managed to take advantage of Lynn—was instantly tempted.
"My true body is sealed in the deep sea, so it is very difficult for me to come out—"
"Triple." Lynn cut him off.
"Who else could be such a fine cooperative partner?" Maesys said with satisfaction.
Opportunities to profit from this fellow did not come around often. In the past, it was always this kid taking advantage of him, so it was rare indeed to gain the upper hand.
"Leave it to me," Maesys declared.
A mischievous chuckle echoed in his ear. "You promised, remember—you'll compensate me for whatever divine power I burn through."
"Mm." The moment he agreed, Lynn felt a twinge of regret, realizing he hadn't asked exactly how massive that consumption might be.
It shouldn't... be too outrageous, right?
The next instant, a fissure tore open in the air before them, and uncanny divine runes outlined a complex magic array.
From the central region of the array, a tentacle stretched outward.
Blue-black in color, it was dripping with viscous fluid.
This was neither an avatar nor a phantom condensed from divine power.
It was his genuine, physical true body.
The very moment he laid eyes on that tentacle, Lynn knew what it belonged to.
The surface of the tentacle was coated in thick, viscous slime, while the cyan-blue appendage was riddled with horrific scars.
Even after countless ages, they remained unhealed, and a terrifying aura still lingered upon the healed-over keloids. Those chrysanthemum-shaped suction cups greedily drank in the ambient energy of the air like tiny, ravenous mouths.
With every single breath it took, the volume of the tentacle expanded by leaps and bounds.
Even with Lynn's mental energy, looking directly at the tentacle caused a mild sensation of nausea.
Not to mention the countless ordinary civilians down in the city; upon catching sight of the appendage, some people's expressions abruptly twisted into manic frenzies.
Among them were some of Lynn's own followers, including several goblins whose bodies shook incessantly. Some collapsed directly onto the ground, foaming at the mouth as bizarre marine biological organs sprouted across their skin.
Gods could not be looked upon directly.
If ordinary mortals gazed straight upon the true form of a deity, they would suffer unspeakable corruption.
These deities resembled great, terrifying sources of nuclear pollution; the longer one remained in contact with them, the greater the influence they suffered.
Upon seeing the tentacle, the opposing wizard's pupils dilated, his eyes filling with sheer disbelief.
As an experienced wizard, he understood precisely what manner of existence this was the moment Maesys's true body appeared.
A true god!