The dark clouds in the sky were unusually deep.

The oppressive, dark clouds seemed ready to fall to the earth, and the air was thick with the stench of rot and decay.

Li Wei stood on the edge of the Floating City, gazing at the distant land below.

A white line appeared on the land.

The white line steadily advanced toward the Elemental Tower, painting the land white in its wake.

It was a Skeleton Sea, millions strong.

The Undead Army was coming.

HUMMM! RUMBLE!

The Floating City trembled, and great sheets of rock peeled away and fell to the ground, revealing its original foundation.

The markings of a Magic Array emerged on its surface.

The massive Floating City bared its ferocious fangs, transforming into a war fortress.

Rows of Magic Cannons deployed from apertures on the underside of the Floating City, aiming at the steadily approaching Undead Army in the distance.

Li Wei felt a little tense.

Everyone was tense, their faces grave and solemn.

The Elemental Tower had already gathered all Mages capable of fighting to face the coming Undead Army.

Before the Skeleton Sea could arrive, a sound echoed from the sky.

CAW! CAW! CAW!

A piercing, grating sound filled the air.

Countless grayish-white Skeleton Birds burst from the dark clouds, swooping down toward the Floating City.

"Tower Master, should we raise the Defense Barrier?"

"The Skeleton Birds aren’t a major threat. Not yet. The Barrier’s energy consumption is too high; activating it would affect the entire Floating City."

"Understood."

The order was relayed to the front lines: the Elemental Tower required everyone to focus their full power on annihilating the descending Skeleton Birds.

Most of the Skeleton Birds were Tier One or Tier Two; anything Tier Three or higher was rare.

In addition to the Mages, many of the smaller Mage Towers within the Floating City also activated their defenses.

The tops of the Mage Towers fired a barrage of Magic Beams, annihilating the Skeleton Birds falling from the sky.

WHOOSH! WHOOSH! WHOOSH!

A web woven from dozens of Magic Beams annihilated the majority of the Skeleton Birds.

A shower of shattered remains rained down from the sky.

A rain of bones began to fall over the Floating City.

The civilians had all taken shelter in their homes; the only ones moving about outside were Mages.

At least there was no need to worry about the rain of bones injuring anyone.

However, cleaning up the remains after the battle would be an incredibly tedious task.

The Mages raised their Magic Staffs, Casting spells to pick off the Skeleton Birds that slipped through the Mage Towers’ defensive net.

Li Wei casually tossed out a few small Fireballs, shattering several nearby Skeleton Birds.

He discreetly used his Golden Bone Ring, compelling the Skeleton Birds to fly into the Magic Beams in the sky like moths to a flame.

With few Skeleton Birds left in his vicinity, Li Wei had a moment to observe the Undead Army in the distance.

Valen approached, accompanied by Kuro and Diana.

He wore a Mage Robe, and the Magic Badge on his chest was inscribed with five stars.

Valen was a Tier Five Mage.

Next to the Magic Badge was another emblem.

The professional emblem of a Magic Puppet Master, marked with six stripes.

A Tier Six Magic Puppet Master.

This was the first time Li Wei had learned the true extent of Valen’s power.

Valen said, "Li Wei, I’m having Diana stay with you. She’ll ensure your safety."

Li Wei nodded. "Okay. Thank you, Master Valen."

Valen said, "The Tower Master has summoned us Grand Mages to the other side. There’s likely a more important task for us, so I won’t be able to look after you. Take care of yourself."

"Understood. Don’t worry about me, Master Valen. I’ll look after myself," Li Wei said.

Valen turned and left, leaving Diana by Li Wei’s side.

Li Wei turned his gaze back toward the distance.

The Undead Army had entered the attack range of the Floating City’s Magic Cannons.

The Magic Cannons had already begun to charge.

Suddenly, Li Wei saw the Skeleton Sea swell like a tidal wave.

Countless skeletons were tossed up like seawater, the crest of the wave climbing higher and higher.

Some mysterious power was about to slam the wave of countless skeletons against the Floating City.

The Radiant Magic Cannons on the underside of the Floating City fired.

Dozens of white beams tore across the gloomy landscape, slicing through the crest of the skeletal wave like impossibly sharp blades.

In an instant, they sliced the wave of countless skeletons to pieces.

Countless skeletons fell from tens of meters in the air, shattering on impact.

BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!

The Radiant Magic Beams landed in the Skeleton Sea, erupting in violent explosions.

FWOOSH!

Platinum-gold flames from the explosions spread across the Skeleton Sea.

The skeletons became fuel for the radiant flames.

Countless skeletons were incinerated in the platinum-gold flames.

Suddenly, the radiant flames, which should have raged until every last Skeleton Monster was consumed, were instantly extinguished.

It was as if the fire had been starved of air, its source of power severed.

The Radiant Magic Cannons kept firing their white Magic Beams.

The cycle of burning and being extinguished repeated endlessly.

Two powers were colliding, clashing, and vying for supremacy.

Just when Li Wei was thinking the Skeleton Monsters couldn’t possibly threaten the Floating City high in the sky, he saw massive numbers of Skeleton Monsters converging to form dozens of hundred-meter-tall Skeleton Giants.

The Skeleton Giants were formed from countless weak Tier Zero and Tier One Skeleton Monsters.

They strode toward the Floating City.

The Skeleton Giants only had to raise their arms to grab hold of the Floating City.

Countless skeletons were swarming up the bodies of the Skeleton Giants.

The Skeleton Giants were the army’s siege ladders—living siege ladders.

WHOOSH! WHOOSH! WHOOSH! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!

Under the combined bombardment of the Radiant and regular Magic Cannons, less than a fifth of the dozens of Skeleton Giants managed to reach the Floating City.

The Skeleton Giants reached out and grabbed the edge of the Floating City, their forms rapidly shifting into bridges of white bone connecting the ground to the sky.

Countless Skeleton Monsters surged across the bridges toward the Floating City.

"Destroy the Bone Bridges!"

The Elemental Tower issued the command.

Even without the order, everyone could see the importance of destroying the Bone Bridges.

But ordinary Mages were fundamentally unable to inflict destructive damage on the Bone Bridges.

Even Tier Four Spells smashing against the Bone Bridges failed to destroy them.

When a Bone Bridge took damage, it would rapidly repair itself.

As long as the Skeleton Monsters that formed them were not completely annihilated, the Bone Bridges would continue to be repaired.

Unless there was a power capable of destroying an entire Bone Bridge at once.

FWOOSH!

A roar echoed from the sky.

Li Wei looked up.

Meteors rained down from the sky, piercing the thick dark clouds to smash into the Bone Bridges.

CRASH! RUMBLE!

Under the bombardment of the Meteor Skill, two of the Bone Bridges collapsed.

Many other Bone Bridges were severely damaged, but they didn’t completely break.

The damaged sections were already being repaired at a visible rate.

The Bone Bridges were too close to the Floating City, and the Magic Cannons could no longer target them.

They could only be destroyed by the power of the Mages.

The Meteor Skill was arguably the most powerful form of Tier Five Magic.

Even a spell that powerful could only destroy a Bone Bridge if it struck one of its fragile points.

Magic below Tier Four posed almost no effective threat to the Bone Bridges.

What was strange was that, even though the Elemental Tower knew Magic below Tier Four couldn’t destroy the Bone Bridges, none of the Grand Mages made a move to do so.

It was as if that volley from the Meteor Skill had been their final gambit.

On another battlefield, the Grand Mages were facing a massive number of Tier Four and higher Undead Monsters.

The Undead Monsters outnumbered the Elemental Tower’s Grand Mages by more than ten to one.

The two sides had, by unspoken agreement, opened a new battlefield.

Li Wei stared at a nearby Bone Bridge and tried to use his Golden Bone Ring to compel the skeletons that formed it to break apart.

The skeletons did not respond to Li Wei’s command.

A more powerful command was controlling the Skeleton Monsters.