Black and purple energy dust swirled around Sira, her illusory cyan demonic head splitting from her face, her eyes greedy and wicked.
"What in the world is this?" Abao Xi'en stared at the girl blankly, his inner fear almost uncontrollable, for he sensed the energy of supreme black magic from within the darkness.
"No, I must stop her quickly." Abao Xi'en swallowed, then grasped a noble staff, channeling an overwhelming force, and pressed it down towards Sira from afar.
"Die!"
As Abao Xi'en roared, more and more dwarves overcame their fear and charged forward with roars, converting their fear into fighting spirit, vowing to defend the altar.
"Ah hahaha..."
Sira's cyan face let out a shrill laugh that tore through space. The power of black magic transformed into a mirror, reflecting the divine arts and weapons that the attacking dwarves unleashed back onto the altar.
Rumble!
Stones fell, and dust filled the sky.
The colossal altar seemed to be on the verge of collapse, causing Abao Xi'en's heart to ache. Desperately, he shouted to the sky, "Lord Veigar, please come quickly and help me!"
A shadowy figure of a black-cloaked mage appeared in response. He looked down at Sira and said with a grave voice,
"I'm coming right away."
"Before it's completely destroyed, you all must activate the altar and begin the ritual early!"
"It's the only way." Abao Xi'en gritted his teeth, "Four Elders, follow me to activate the altar."
"Though the strength of the resurrected heroic souls will be greatly diminished, it's better than not resurrecting them at all!"
"Yes!"
The four short, black gnome domain lords responded in a deep tone. They concentrated their minds, inserting their magical artifacts into the grooves in the center of the altar. Instantly, a strange light appeared, and the ten-thousand-meter-long grand inscriptions around the altar lit up like sparks.
An ancient and immense aura surged forth at that moment.
It flowed towards Sira.
"Ah!!!"
Sira screamed hysterically, her body breaking free of its seals with abandon. Her aura rose steadily, breaking through from stage three to four, and then from four to five.
The dark magical energy churned, and her grayish-cyan face became more solid, gradually forming a neck, a body, and arms. She seemed to be splitting away from Sira's face.
Or rather, she was using Sira's face as a boundary, about to be transmitted from some unknown異空間 (yi kong jian - alternate dimension) to this place.
"Lord Veigar, what is happening!" Abao Xi'en looked at Veigar's phantom image with surprise.
Shouldn't his altar formation, after being activated, have first resurrected the dead dwarven heroic souls? Why was the energy flowing towards Sira?
He also suddenly realized that Sira was Veigar's star disciple. Yet, Veigar had never mentioned her terrifying power. Now, her appearance at the altar, was it a coincidence, or was there another agenda?
"Veigar, what exactly are you doing!"
At this moment, the evil mage Veigar had revealed his true form in space. His body was a skeleton covered by a black cloak, with flames burning in his eyes.
"I am a black magic master, of course I must obtain the most powerful black magic."
Veigar said as a matter of course, pointing his staff at Sira. The latter instantly raised a black magic mirror in the sky that could reflect attacks.
"Ridiculous, you think this is all I can do to you?" Veigar sneered, "Don't forget, your black magic was taught by me."
Then, with the most evil and devout voice, he chanted black magic incantations. Instantly, the entire space was enveloped by an evil, grand path of darkness, and a bottomless vortex suddenly appeared before Sira.
"Your body will become the honored vessel for the Demon King. The black magic power from the異空間 (yi kong jian - alternate dimension) will truly descend upon this world. At that time, I will be the world's number one black magic master capable of controlling this energy!"
Hearing Veigar's frenzied laughter, Abao Xi'en realized something was wrong. His face changed drastically, and then he roared, "Veigar, you never intended to help us dwarves revive on the surface! This altar is fake!"
"You only realize it now? Too late!" Veigar laughed wildly. His phantom manifestation towered ten thousand meters high, and the curse power rained down on Sira like a deluge, instantly suppressing the Demon King's power within her, halting its ascent.
"Don't be in such a hurry to come out, old friend. I'll personally release you later, but at that time, you will have to obey my command, ahahahahaha!"
Abao Xi'en's face turned ashen. He was also affected by the curse, unable to resist Veigar.
So, the talk of using black magic, through the altar and human slaves to resurrect the dead dwarven heroic souls and return them to the surface, was all a lie.
Veigar's true intention was to use the altar's energy to control the Demon King sealed within the girl's body. And their black gnome race had been deceived for a full century!
"Xu Mu, help me quickly! This Demon King is a being on the verge of transcending the Human King level. If Veigar controls it, we will all die!" Sira's face twisted to the point of being unrecognizable. She roared hoarsely and in pain, begging Xu Mu for help.
"You think too highly of me! How can I help you in a battle of this magnitude!" Xu Mu shouted helplessly. He was already halfway up the mountain, clearly sensing the terrifying fluctuations of energy below.
To be blunt, even Hui Bai Tong couldn't change the outcome of this situation, because Veigar was an ultimate expert infinitely close to the Human King level. Even those powerful domain lord dwarves could only be slaughtered. What could he do?
"You can do something, and you can do more than enough."
At this moment, a familiar voice echoed in Xu Mu's mind.
"How? Did you break through to Domain Lord?" Xu Mu asked in surprise, then immediately shook his head, "Even if you are a Domain Lord, you can't possibly defeat someone at the half-step Human King level!"
"That's not necessarily true," Hui Bai Tong replied coldly. "And, I'm not a Domain Lord either."
Xu Mu was speechless. "Then what are you saying here? Don't cause trouble!"
"If such an existence is released, so be it. It won't destroy the world. The sky will fall and the tall will bear it. I can't hold on anymore!"
"Are you an idiot?" Hui Bai Tong snorted. "That creature is from an異空間 (yi kong jian - alternate dimension) and hasn't fully descended into this world. Meaning, it's a phantom, or in a state of divine soul!"
Upon hearing this, Xu Mu trembled slightly and then a possibility dawned on him. His eyes widened, "You mean... you want me to destroy it with my divine soul?"
"You can't," Hui Bai Tong shook his head. "Drag it into your Sea of Consciousness."
"I'll do it myself."
...