At the same time.

After shattering the swirling snow, Zhou Huai controlled his six Avatars like a sharp blade, thrusting straight toward the mountain peak.

As the distance closed, the figure in the white suit became clearly visible.

Zhou Huai's eyes were completely emotionless, filled only with cold murderous intent.

No time to waste on this watchdog.

A swift kill!

Positioned at the rear of the group, Gandalf offered not a single word of nonsense.

The moment he saw Kochi, the staff in his hand was already raised high.

At the top of the ancient staff, a dark green gem suddenly lit up, emitting a heart-palpitating eerie light.

An obscure and hurried incantation was completed on the mental plane in an instant.

【Forbidden Spell: Meteor Rain】!

Rumble—!

The sky, which had just regained its clarity, was torn open once again.

Over a dozen massive meteors burning with dark green flames trailed long streaks of fire, crashing down directly at Kochi with an aura that threatened to destroy everything.

Facing this world-destroying Forbidden Spell attack, Kochi, the Man in White Suit, remained utterly unfazed.

He didn't even move his feet, merely raising his right hand slowly and making a "lifting" motion toward the the void.

Buzz—!

An invisible ripple instantly spread outward.

Immediately after, an astoundingly jaw-dropping scene unfolded.

The meteors—carrying immense weight capable of leveling a mountain peak—actually ground to a complete halt in midair less than ten meters above Kochi's head!

It was as if a giant invisible hand held them all firmly afloat.

The dark green flames continued to burn fiercely with crackling pops, yet could not advance a single millimeter farther.

"Returning this to you."

The corner of Kochi's mouth curved slightly, and he swept his hand violently.

Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh—!

Hearing the command, the halted meteors instantly reversed direction and hurtled back toward Caesar and the others at a speed even faster than when they had arrived.

Facing the counterattacking Forbidden Spell, Zhou Huai's reaction was lightning-fast.

"Yasuo!"

A beam of golden lightning instantly broke away from the group.

Yasuo held his longsword, his form like lightning as he charged straight toward the roaring barrage of meteors.

Clang! Clang! Clang!

Sword lights wove together as thunder exploded.

The dozen-plus massive meteors were sliced into countless fragments in midair, dark green flames splattering everywhere, yet unable to harm Yasuo in the slightest.

At the exact moment he sliced apart the final meteor...

...the longsword in Yasuo's hand was not pulled back; instead, it pointed fiercely at Kochi in the distance.

【Seal of the Thunder God】!

Zzzzt—!

Yasuo's figure vanished from the spot in an instant.

In the next second...

...a blinding flash of lightning exploded right beside Kochi!

Teleportation!

This was Yasuo's most dominant entry skill: wherever his gaze fell, his blade followed.

"Slash!"

Carrying violent thunderous power, the longsword in Yasuo's hand swept toward Kochi's neck.

This sword strike was as swift as rushing thunder and immensely powerful.

Although Kochi was somewhat surprised by his opponent's eerie teleportation ability, as an SS-Rank Expert of the Dawnbreaker Guild, his reaction speed was equally terrifying.

His skill was 【Object Manipulation】—it could manipulate not only external objects, but also his own body.

At the split second before the blade touched his skin, Kochi's body lost gravity, shifting backward several meters at an extremely bizarre angle, narrowly dodging the lethal blow.

"That was close."

Kochi's eyes turned cold, and he prepared to counterattack.

Suddenly, an intense sense of crisis welled up from his spine.

It was the stench of death!

Without anyone noticing, Moria, who should have been far away, had used 【Shadow Leap】 to appear silently right behind him.

It was as if Kochi's own shadow had suddenly come alive.

Moria's pale fingers had already transformed into pitch-black claws, tearing viciously toward the back of Kochi's heart.

【Shadow Demon Claw】!

This strike was far too covert, far too sudden.

No matter how fast Kochi reacted, he couldn't completely avoid a sneak attack coming from his visual blind spot.

Rip!

The sound of claws tearing through cloth and flesh rang out.

Kochi's pristine white suit was instantly ripped open, leaving five bloodstains deep enough to reveal bone on his left arm as black blood splattered out.

"Get off me!"

A flash of violence gleamed in the injured Kochi's eyes.

He roared in anger, violently throwing his hands out to both sides.

Boom!

A terrifying repulsive force erupted with him at the center, forcibly knocking back Yasuo and Moria, who were preparing to give chase.

Clutching his bleeding arm, his expression was terrifyingly dark.

He was actually injured.

His noble body had been injured by two ants.

"Since you love close-quarters combat so much..."

"...then stay nicely inside the cage!"

Kochi clapped his hands together violently, then pulled them outward.

Buzz—!

The surrounding air instantly froze solid.

Countless transparent air walls appeared out of thin air, like invisible cages trapping Yasuo and Moria in layer after layer.

【Air Cage】!

Yasuo swung his sword to strike, but his Sword Qi collided with the air wall, making the sound of clashing metal and leaving behind only a faint white mark.

However, while he managed to restrict Yasuo, he couldn't hold Moria.

With a simple Shadow Leap, drawing upon the power of shadows, Moria easily escaped and launched another attack at Kochi.

Kochi frowned as a sense of absurdity welled up in his heart.

Something was wrong!

This was utterly wrong!

How could every single person here possess SS-Rank power?

Where did so many SS-Ranks come from??

As a core member of the Dawnbreaker Guild, he knew the world's high-tier combat forces like the back of his hand.

Every SS-Rank Expert was akin to a strategic nuclear weapon, with detailed records kept on them.

Yet these few before him...

The one manipulating shadows, the one manipulating thunder, and that archer off in the distance...

Except for the young man wearing the Star-Moon Robe who somewhat resembled Great Xia Nation's newly risen SS-Rank Forbidden Spell Mage, Gandalf, the rest were completely unfamiliar faces!

How could so many rogue SS-Ranks suddenly pop up out of nowhere?

And bunch up together like common cabbages?

Yet before he could figure it out...

...Gandalf's voice echoed from above.

【Forbidden Spell: Geocenter Gravity Field】!

By now, the Geocentric Gravity Field skill had received several rounds of enhancements.

Its effect had reached 50 times.

Gandalf slammed his staff heavily into the the void.

Buzz—!!!

A visible transparent ripple centered on Kochi suddenly descended from the sky.

It was no ordinary magical surge, but a distortion of reality's rules.

The space within a hundred-meter radius seemed to collapse in an instant.

The snowflakes that had been floating in midair were slammed down as if by an invisible giant hand, crashing vertically toward the ground at the speed of bullets.

"Ugh!"

Kochi felt as though Mount Tai had slammed down onto his shoulders without warning.

His straight back bent instantly, his knees creaking with a cringe-inducing crack, and his refined, expensive white suit was pressed tightly against his skin under the terrifying gravitational compression, leaving behind bloody welts.

Fifty times gravity!

What did that mean?

It meant that every single drop of blood, every bone, and even his eyeballs inside his body had to endure fifty times their own weight!

If it were an ordinary person, they would be turned into a pile of mangled flesh the instant this spell took effect.

Even though he was an SS-Rank Expert possessing a physique far beyond normal humans, right now he felt as if he had been dropped ten thousand meters deep into the ocean.

Kochi gritted his teeth, veins bulging on his forehead.

He tried to raise his arm, but that simple movement was now as heavy as a mountain.

Zhou Huai looked down at him from above, letting out a cold sneer: "Fond of telekinesis? Let's see if you can still use telekinesis under fifty times gravity!"