396: Chapter 396 Lin Yao's Magic Explosion

This felt all too familiar; the Organization wanted to replicate Yan Pojun's success by molding Lin Yao into a star player. To do so, they hadn't hesitated to drag Yan Pojun back just to serve as Lin Yao's stepping stone!

Utterly shameless!

Xu Biao said nothing.

He merely clenched his fists tightly.

That Lin Yao was purely a product of her background! His judgment hadn't been wrong at all!

But...

Asking himself honestly...

He looked at the girl on the screen, surrounded by thousands of figures, and then at the man standing with his blade, covered in cold battle armor.

Acting?

Was that tangible pressure, which felt like it would crush his chest, also an act?

Was that slash, which split the entire alloy arena in two and left a bottomless rift, also a special effect?

No.

Xu Biao's rationality told him that it was all real.

But precisely because it was all real, the scene before his eyes seemed even more absurd and incomprehensible.

His brain, once again, gave up on thinking.

On the arena grounds.

For the first time, a solemn expression appeared on Yan Pojun's face behind his metal visor.

The massive blade in his hand buzzed, and the jumping electrical arcs became somewhat erratic.

Like any veteran with rich combat experience, his first reaction was also...

An illusion?

No.

His combat instincts were screaming in alarm.

Every phantom carried a genuine energy fluctuation.

Though weak individually, with over ten thousand gathered together, that aura was enough to make his heart skip a beat.

He slowly lowered the blade he had already raised above his head.

This strike could not be swung lightly.

It seemed he could no longer hold back.

He looked at the girl opposite him.

The composure on her delicate little face had vanished, replaced by an expression of extreme seriousness and focus.

What was she going to do?

In the instant Yan Pojun was pondering, Lin Yao moved.

Or rather, the 'Lin Yao Legion' behind her moved.

There was no command.

There was no sound.

Over ten thousand figures crouched slightly at the same time.

In that moment, their classes switched instantly from robe-wearing mages to assassins clad in tight leather armor, wielding poisoned daggers!

In the next second.

Shua—!

Over ten thousand assassins simultaneously activated [Shadowstep].

Their figures blurred, turning into streaks of gray shadow. Without making a sound, they hugged the ground and surged like a tide toward the center of the arena, toward their sole enemy.

The entire process was incredibly fast and incredibly quiet.

The hundred thousand spectators could only see countless gray lines stretching instantly from one end of the arena to the other.

In just one second.

Over ten thousand assassins had already surrounded Yan Pojun so tightly that not even water could trickle through.

They stopped in their tracks, their figures shifting from ethereal back to solid.

However, the daggers in their hands did not strike out.

Yan Pojun's muscles tensed, and the light from the pale blue energy conduits flared brilliantly; he was prepared to face a thunderous storm of attacks.

However, the expected siege did not arrive.

The 'Lin Yaos' surrounding him switched classes again the moment they appeared!

The assassins' leather armor and daggers vanished.

In their place were magnificent mage robes and staves shimmering with lights of various colors.

While Yan Pojun had been showing off by splitting the arena, Lin Yao hadn't been idle.

She had already had every clone complete the most tedious and time-consuming incantations for high-power spells.

Now, it was time for the harvest!

Lin Yao looked at Yan Pojun, who was surrounded by her legion, her fair little face full of resolve.

Let this duel...

...reach its end with the grandest explosion of all!

On the arena, time seemed to stretch infinitely.

Ten thousand Lin Yaos, ten thousand staves, and ten thousand orbs of magic that had completed their incantations.

Their movements were perfectly synchronized, their expressions as cold and indifferent as emotionless deities.

On the high-altitude floating platform, the experienced host felt at a loss for words for the first time.

His mouth opened and closed, closed and opened, yet he couldn't produce a single meaningful syllable.

His young partner beside him was pale, clutching the edge of the control console tightly.

"Brother... Brother Chen..."

The young partner's voice was dry and hoarse, carrying a tremor he hadn't even noticed himself.

"Do you think... God Yan... he..."

He wanted to ask: could Yan Pojun still win?

Three minutes ago, the answer to this question was beyond doubt in the hearts of the hundred thousand spectators.

But now, it had become a question mark that no one dared to touch, filled with the unknown and fear.

The host known as Brother Chen did not answer.

His gaze pierced through that forest of death composed of light, staring intently at the man at the center of the storm.

Yan Pojun.

The man who had once defined the word 'powerful' through victory after victory.

At this moment, he just stood there quietly. His cold, dark-silver battle armor reflected a mottled and eerie light under the illumination of tens of thousands of magic orbs.

He gave up on attacking.

He thrust that wildly designed physical greatsword backward into the alloy floor in front of him.

Zila—!

The blade scraped against the floor, sending up a shower of blinding electrical sparks.

He raised both hands, holding them out to his sides.

Buzz—!

A thick, almost tangible energy shield instantly popped out from the surface of his armor, enveloping his entire body in a semi-transparent energy dome.

He was defending.

Facing an attack sufficient to wipe a city off the map, he chose the most reliable, and also the most helpless, way to respond.

At this moment, the scales of victory shifted subtly in everyone's hearts.

Just then.

On the field.

Lin Yao moved.

Or rather, those ten thousand 'Lin Yaos' moved simultaneously.

There were no slogans, no battle cries.

There was only a cold will, seemingly from the highest heavens, issuing a command simultaneously in the minds of all the clones.

[Release].

In the next instant.

The world lost all sound.

All the clamor, all the gasps, and all the discussions were completely swallowed up at this moment.

Ten thousand magic orbs that had been accumulating for a long time left the tips of the staves at the same moment.

They made no whistling sound, nor did they produce any air bursts.

Silently, they crossed the short distance, converging toward that single coordinate, toward that figure encased in armor.

Ten-Thousand-Foot Explosive Flame, Frozen Nova, Hurricane Dance, Composite Thunderstorm, Arcane Gatling...

Countless types of high-level magic lost their original forms and colors at this moment.

When tens of thousands of attacks converged on a single point, all physical laws were completely overturned.

They fused, collided, annihilated, and then erupted with the most primitive and pure energy.

It was an ocean of light.

A pure white ocean of light composed of destruction.

BOOM—!!!

After a full second of delay, a terrifying roar loud enough to tear eardrums finally descended!