Several thoughts immediately shot through Shang's mind.
Had the enemy hidden themselves very well from Shang's senses, and they were actually closer?
No, the Starlight Queen would have informed Shang of that. Defenders nearly always stayed in the middle of the barrier, and if that weren't the case, the Starlight Queen would have told him.
Were there some contraptions that enlarged the enemy's Spirit Sense?
No, very unlikely. A Mage Lord couldn't attack from so far away. Seeing an opponent wouldn't make a difference.
Lastly, the sheer intensity of the feeling that the bandages were transmitting to Shang was enormous.
Yet, not even Emperors could look into the barriers. They were specifically designed to isolate all kinds of Spirit Senses.
How intense was the feeling of the bandages?
Very intense.
It felt about as intense as when the Starlight Queen looked at Shang.
Just based on the feeling, Shang knew that this was not someone he could fight against.
This was someone as powerful as a Mage King!
Was this what the enemy had planned?
They had sent a Mage King to kill Shang? But how?!
The barriers would immediately feel the presence of a Mage King and alert the outside while deactivating!
Yet, somehow, the three Empires managed to get a Mage King into this Defender Flag to fight Shang without alerting the Defender Flag.
"You've caused quite a lot of trouble," Shang heard in his mind.
The voice sounded like an old man.
Shang quickly took the pin from the Lightning Emperor and tried to reach him.
But it was impossible.
The Defender Flag was simply too good at isolating the surroundings.
Even more, every Defender and Attack Flag was jointly created by several Mage Kings, giving them enough power to even withstand one or two attacks from a Mage King.
Breaking out of the flag was impossible.
"Surprised?" the old voice asked. "I don't know how you did it, but I could see the moment you realized that this won't just be one of your normal fights."
Shang didn't answer.
"We now have an entire week just for us," the old voice transmitted. "Honestly, if our Empires hadn't agreed to take no risks, I would have probably taken that time to torture you."
"Sadly, there's nothing else I can do. Guess I have to end your life quickly."
Shang was still trying to contact the Lightning Emperor with the pin. He even tried to check if the pin had some kind of hidden functionality.
Sadly, there was nothing Shang could do.
He was stuck in the barrier with a Mage King, and based on the power the Mage King was emanating, this wasn't a new one.
This was probably a Mage King whose life would soon end due to old age.
Someone like that knew several level six Concepts.
Shang didn't even know a single one.
"How?" Shang asked.
"You mean the Defender Flag?" the old voice asked. "Well, this Defender Flag just so happened to be made by our three Empires."
"You should know that Defender Flags are made by three Mage Kings from different Empires at once, who have been chosen at random. And for this one, it just so happened that our three Empires were chosen."
"I didn't personally create it, but one of my friends did. He told me that he made this Defender Flag in case we need to kill the Lightning Emperor's secret weapon."
"Naturally, it can't be too different from the other ones, or the Mage Kings and Mage Emperors would notice that this is a different flag."
"So, we only changed two things."
"One, it checks the Mana density of someone's Aura instead of someone's body and mind. Like this, as long as I don't use Mana denser than what an Early Mage Lord can use, it won't see my true Realm."
"But don't get your hopes up," the old voice said with some amusement. "You probably think that you only need to force me to use more Mana to defend myself. Sadly, that's not true."
"You see, we've had enough of gambling. No, this time, I will attack with my full power, just to be sure."
"I've already accepted my death."
"And the other thing we've changed is that it will alert the others outside but not deactivate. So, even if the Lightning Emperor immediately notices it, he can't use too much power to destroy it. Otherwise, he might hit you."
"That means I get around two seconds of uninterrupted time with you. Isn't that great?" the old voice asked.
Obviously, the Mage King wasn't in a hurry. which was understandable.
After all, as soon as the Mage King attacked, he would die two to three seconds later.
Even though the Mage King acted like none of this was an issue, it was impossible for him not to be affected.
Shang wasn't sure how many more years the Mage King had left, but it was probably over a thousand.
"Any last words?" the Mage King asked.
Shang still couldn't see the Mage King.
Naturally, Shang knew that he wouldn't even be able to defend himself from his enemy.
His enemy was a Peak Mage King, after all.
That was someone with a fivefold Spirit Sense that was eight levels above him.
That only left one last possibility for Shang. He had to use Entropy.
"I want to see you when you kill me," Shang said coldly.
If he wanted to use Entropy, he had to see his opponent. Otherwise, he would most likely miss him.
"You want to see me?" the Mage Lord asked with a laugh.
Silence.
Shang's expression didn't change.
"You seem like you've got something planned," the Mage King transmitted. "I'm not sure what you could possibly do in your situation, but I think I won't do it."
Shang's expression didn't change, but he immediately used several Mana Steps to shoot forward.
In an instant, Shang reached the center of the barrier after nearly using up all of his Mana, but he couldn't see the Mage King anywhere.
Naturally, a Mage King was many times faster than Shang, and if he wanted to stay outside of Shang's Spirit Sense, it wouldn't be difficult.
"Oh wow, that seemed quite important to you," the Mage King transmitted. "You missed me by just a tiny bit."
"Anyway, time for you to leave."
The next moment, a black and white beam of intense Light and Darkness Mana shot at Shang.
It was just too fast.
Shang hadn't been able to react at all.
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