A Sorcerer’s Journey

Chapter 1277: Chapter 1278: Dominator’s Perspective

Inhale, exhale...

Inhale, exhale...

The abnormally powerful will of the Gaia Firmament made every single breath agonizing for the Ironblood Arbiter as he waited for the construction of the Firmament Shielding Device, as if a whole mountain were pressing upon his body, leaving him unable to breathe.

The two Ironblood Hunters were even worse; amid the ”clang, clang” of colliding metal, their bodies were actually trembling uncontrollably.

By contrast, those Scarred Iron Blood Warriors seemed utterly unaware, rigidly following Ironblood discipline as they assembled the Firmament Shielding Device and the Magnetower Launch Station.

”Something feels wrong. The Mystery Trickster Master has grasped such overwhelming Strength—why hasn’t he taken advantage of this moment to... huh!?”

Thud!

All of a sudden, the Ironblood Arbiter felt as if a Giant Hammer had slammed him head‑on; his whole body shuddered by instinct.

With a sharp ”shing,” the Ironblood Arbiter, at the cost of burning his source blood, shot to his feet in alarm, only to find that all the lower‑rank Ironblood Warriors had already been knocked sprawling, rolling and then struggling to rise with drilled precision. Behind him, the two Ironblood Hunters likewise burned their source blood in an instant, ”swish, swish,” and shot into the sky.

As the three of them got their bearings and cleared their heads, they realized that the ground had just violently jolted once!

”Where’s the enemy?”

A Falcon Mask Ironblood Hunter swept his Ironblood eyes rapidly in all directions. Finding no trace of anything, he kept spiraling higher into the sky, widening his search radius, attempting to catch some shred of the unknown enemy’s trail.

Yet the oppressive force of the Gaia Firmament was simply too great—so great it defied belief. Every single breath devoured vast amounts of his source blood. Now that the half‑completed Firmament Shielding Device had been damaged, their plan to fully descend upon this planet and merge into its native firmament would have to be postponed yet again.

After quite a while.

The Falcon Mask Hunter, having risen above the many Falcon Mask Ironblood Warriors circling at low altitude, hovered in mid‑air and spoke in a low voice to the Ironblood Arbiter and the other Ironblood Hunter: ”No sign of the Trickster.”

The Falcon Mask Hunter’s voice was grave.

In dealing with a Trickster, if the Mystery Mystery Altar could not be located quickly, the consequences would be catastrophic!

Yet at this moment, just as this Falcon Masked figure was speaking solemnly, he suddenly noticed that down on the ground, whether it was the Ironblood Arbiter, the Ironblood Hunter, or the other Scarred Iron Blood Warriors, they had all tilted their heads back—only, they were not looking at him, but at the sky behind him.

Behind me?

The Falcon Mask Ironblood Hunter was just about to turn and look when a crushing, unimaginable pressure from high above slammed him down.

With a startled cry, even though he burned his source blood to the utmost to stir his Strength, he was still forcibly pressed down by that vast, all‑encompassing oppression and smashed to the ground.

Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang...

One after another, the Falcon Mask Ironblood Warriors who had been circling at low altitude suddenly fell from the sky like raindrops, punching pits into the salt‑alkali ground before scrambling up in terror, staring at the heavens in horror.

”Th‑that is...”

A pair of sky‑shrouding giant hands, so immense they defied imagination, seemed to be formed from the boundless roving energies of this planet itself, silently reaching in from beyond the atmosphere. At this moment they were provoking a counterattack from the Gaia Firmament, which had been roused by the gathered will of all life on the planet. The Gaia Firmament, made manifest, bore the panic of the entire world as it exerted itself to the utmost, resisting these invading giant hands.

All the Ironblood Warriors, all the creatures on this planet, were lifting their heads and trembling—for that terrifying being who sought to force its way into this world, and who was about to bring unprecedented destruction to this planet’s fragile ecological balance!

”Open!”

A low roar came from outside the planet.

Crack, crack, crack, crack...

That was the death‑cry of Gaia’s will collapsing. Even the combined defensive will of every living creature on this planet was shattered by that unknown terror lurking beyond the atmosphere, leaving only scattered beams of solidified Gaia‑light, lashing back as they splashed faint Ripples across those gigantic hands.

A counterattack of no consequence.

Between those sky‑blotting hands, a dark rift was torn open, stretching all the way to the horizon. Accompanied by a humming, droning oppression, the entire earth shuddered; the salt‑alkali crust could no longer suppress the roiling magma below!

”Kekekekeke...”

A cold, violent, merciless laugh echoed from within the shattered black fissure in the heavens. Immediately, every living thing on Tamateils Star shuddered in dread, waiting for the unknown terror lurking behind that pitch‑black crack to reveal itself.

Within the dark rift, an impossibly vast shadow slowly emerged!

The all‑encompassing pressure left one unable to breathe. As the shadow gradually revealed its outline, it turned out to be an unimaginably colossal gray‑white face, bearing three eyes of different colored light and six pairs of eerie compound eyes that blinked incessantly. Amid its ”kekekeke” sinister laughter, it seemed to exult in its unrivaled oppressive dominion as it peered into every corner of this world.

”A Dominator... has descended!”

Propping himself up with his double‑bladed spear, the Ironblood Hunter gazed up at that nigh‑irresistible aura and recalled how the Ironblood Elders referred to certain powerful life‑forms from Aboriginal Worlds.

...

As a civilization that explores the illusory and seeks to break through dimensions, Wizards behold the Endless World in a way entirely different from the Ironblood Galaxy civilization.

No planets, no Gaia Firmament—only the rules of the World’s Veil and the will of the world itself.

Tearing aside the rules of the World’s Veil, Green looked down upon the tiny Ironblood Galaxy warriors below him. In Green’s estimation, there was only one Level Four Creature barely approaching Level Five among them, already crushed to the point of gasping under his oppression.

”So this is the vision of a Dominator—overlooking a world. Once, when the Seven Rings True Spirit Sorcerer descended upon the Tidal World to claim that Titan’s Ring of Loss, it was a Stigmata Sorcerer Cricket that held it up and personally presented it to the Seven Rings True Spirit Sorcerer.”

Ignoring these Ironblood Warriors, the Three-Colored Light Eyes beneath the Green Truth Mask pierced the shallow earth. Viewing everything in black‑and‑white dots and lines, he scanned; then Eagle’s Eye flitted ceaselessly, probing. As Green’s head, thrust into the canvas of the world, shifted and turned, he finally picked out his target from among the swarming little crickets.

”The Mystery Trickster Master?”

The lower‑grade Tricksters were automatically dismissed by Green. His gaze locked onto one Trickster, around whom floated an uncountable number of green straw‑ears, with circles of purple ripples spreading beneath his feet.

”Who are you?”

The Trickster questioned him with his own paltry will.

”Kekekeke, there are a few of your kin outside. Come out with me.”

The gigantic face flashed with delight and spoke as a matter of course.

”How do I know you’re not...”

Rumble, rumble!

Suddenly, a giant hand thrust down from the sky into the interior of the world; as it passed through layer after layer of world‑will’s attrition, it actually caught fire, blazing with fierce flames. A sky‑darkening doomsday calamity erupted along the distant horizon.

In an instant, the land shattered!

Boom, boom, boom, boom, boom...

Columns of volcanic magma speared into the sky, dyeing it a doomsday shade of dark red.

With a dull ”thud,” the corpse of that Ironblood Hunter who had, by Wizard standards, been rated as barely approaching Level Five, fell at the feet of this Mystery Trickster Master.