"What's happening? The alarm was sounded?"
In a lofty tall tower, all the Contenders who guarded over Ruba City woke up. Only those who were at least a Ninth-level Contender were qualified to enter this tower.
There were even a few real Sanctuary Contenders among them!
Swish! Swish! Swish!
Three figures flew out of the tower out of nowhere like a single beam of light. These three figures hovered in the air, eyes fixed on the huge tyrant raptor approaching from a distance.
"Tyrant raptor? It's a king-level beast according to the legends."
"Someone had actually tamed the tyrant raptor, but we don't know whether he's a friend or foe yet."
Each of these three figures seemed to be emitting a special kind of force field from their bodies. They stood in the air and stared at the tyrant raptor in the distance with bright eyes.
Only real Sanctuary Contenders like them were able to maintain their composure in the face of a king-level beast.
Swish!
When the tyrant raptor came to a stop, Merlin's gaze also landed on these three figures.
"Sanctuary Contenders?"
Merlin had finally met the real Sanctuary Contenders. Even without any external prompting, Merlin knew immediately that these three people stood at the pinnacle of this world. They were the Sanctuary Contenders.
This was because they were completely different from the ordinary people in the Mobata world. Judging from Merlin's perspective, he could tell at once that there was a special force field around these three people.
Among these force fields, one was chaotic, one was weighty, and one was about speed. This represented the different abilities of each Sanctuary Contender. The 'sanctuary' in Sanctuary Contenders denoted the special force field each of them owned.
Once somebody had been shrouded by a Sanctuary Contender's force field, their abilities would begin to weaken. This was also the most terrifying thing about the Sanctuary Contenders. Almost no one could stand against them under the influence of their sanctuary.
Merlin was observing these three Sanctuary Contenders. In turn, they were also observing Merlin as well. As real Sanctuary Contenders, they had naturally discovered Merlin's peculiarity.
"No, you're not a Sanctuary Contender!"
"But why is he giving off such a strong threat? And even a king-level beast has submitted to him?"
Although these three Sanctuary Contenders could see that Merlin was not a Sanctuary Contender, they were still perplexed as to who this 'uninvited guest' was due to the limitations of their knowledge.
"Who are you? Anyone who could tame a king-level beast is definitely not an average person. What is your purpose of coming to Ruba City?" one of the burly middle-aged Sanctuary Contender asked.
A faint smile appeared on Merlin's lips as he said softly, "Nothing much, but since the Sanctuary Contenders are the pinnacle of your world, I have merely come to take a look at you all. I also want to ask you some questions. That's all."
"Our world?"
There was a significant change in one of the Sanctuary Contenders' expression. He asked with a shocked look and a trembling voice, "So, you're not from the Mobata world?"
"Oh? You also know about the other worlds?"
The Sanctuary Contenders' gazes sharpened considerably when they heard Merlin's reply. A sliver of excitement crept into their terror.
"A foreign world. You're actually from another world It has long since been speculated that besides there must be a vaster world outside of this world. I can't believe it's actually true."
The Sanctuary Contenders were truly the pinnacle existence of the Mobata world. They were considered powerful even in the outside world. There were also many other civilizations in the Void Zone that could not produce a Great Legend. Hence, they were unable to step into the Void Zone.
On the other hand, these people had achieved the level of a Great Legend but were instead confined by the unusually sturdy space in this world. Therefore, they were unable to leave the Mobata world nor could they enter the Void Zone.
Based on the classification of civilizations in the Void Zone, the Mobata world would not be considered weak but a relatively powerful one. This was because although they had no Honored Legends, they had given birth to many existences that were comparable to a Great Legend.
Of course, they would turn out mediocre if they were compared to the powerful civilizations with ultimate existences. Once a civilization gave birth to an ultimate existence, they could be classified as a powerful civilization.
However, there were just too many civilizations in the Void Zone, maybe up to billions of them. Among these innumerable foreign tribe civilizations, how many powerful civilizations could there be?
Thus, giving birth to an ultimate existence was simply too challenging. The fact that the Spell Caster civilization managed to achieve this feat was considered a miracle among miracles.
"Yes, I belong to a foreign world. I came to your world by accident. This is quite a unique world, but it seems that you're not in a favorable situation at the moment."
Merlin admitted frankly because it would not matter much if he did not do it. These people could definitely see what was wrong. The three men before him were not as easily fooled as those Eighth- or Ninth-level Contenders.
"Someone from the foreign world So you must know about that vast world outside. We must go out. Only by going out, we'll be able to find our way. You're a guest from afar. You should've been a guest under usual circumstances, but the situation is too critical right now. Sorry about that. Attack!"
The Sanctuary Contenders actually attacked him on the spot. They wanted to break through the barriers of this world and find the vast world outside. All they wanted was to find a viable solution for the situation they were facing in this world.
If this were to persist without any miracles gracing them, then the Mobatans would soon be destroyed by the barbarians and the beasts. They were uncertain whether there was even a foreign world in the beginning, so how would they be willing to search for a solution there?
Nonetheless, Merlin's appearance seemed to have opened a wide window of opportunity for them, a window that they could not refuse.
Boom!
In an instant, a terrifying weight descended. The tyrant raptor underneath Merlin howled pitifully and fell heavily onto the ground. It seemed like an overwhelming power was needed to overcome this tremendous weight.
This was a weighted force field, which was also one of the most common force fields among the Sanctuary Contenders.
"Chaos!"
Another Sanctuary Contender had also released a force field. This chaotic force field of his had shrouded Merlin and the tyrant bird in the speed of light. It was as if an invisible force was tearing Merlin apart from all directions.
The tyrant raptor was suffering horribly.
It growled helplessly.
Nevertheless, the tyrant raptor was still a king-level beast. Although it did not possess any special force field, its physical attributes were no weaker than these Sanctuary Contenders. Therefore, it gathered all its might with a loud roar, stretched out its wings, and flapped them once.
Hoo... Hoo... Hoo...
A strong gale materialized out of thin air and gained momentum instantly. The surrounding buildings were all torn apart by this monstrous gale. Even the sturdy ground was lashed to the extent where spiderweb-like cracks appeared densely across the ground. It was an unbelievable sight.
"Laggard!"
The last Sanctuary Contender performed his special force field. Suddenly, the tyrant bird found it difficult to even walk. This was a force field that could slow everyone under its influence down to the maximum.
"Special force fields, how unique!"
Merlin was not flustered. He wanted to learn more about the uniqueness of this world's most powerful abilities which seemed to only be possessed by the Sanctuary Contenders. Indeed, it was quite astounding.
In fact, the main focus of their cultivation would be on these special force fields once they have become a Sanctuary Contender. A more powerful Sanctuary Contender basically meant a more powerful special force field.
The biggest difference between the Sanctuary Contenders and the king-level beasts was precisely these special force fields. Only the Sanctuary Contenders had special force fields, whereas the king-level beasts did not. Consequently, the king-level beasts were ultimately weaker than the Sanctuary Contenders in this respect.
However, there were just too many king-level beasts in this world, so even the Sanctuary Contenders were quite helpless against them.
"Almost there. Added with the power of these special force fields, they are probably on par with a one- or two-Maxim Legend. There might perhaps be stronger Sanctuary Contenders out there, but these three people certainly aren't them."
Merlin had already learned quite a bit. These Sanctuary Contenders were merely comparable to a one- or two-Maxim Legend at most. They posed zero threat to Merlin.
"Illusion!"
Merlin did not use his spells but had instead employed his Hallucinating spell. With his current achievement in the realm of Hallucinating spells, entrapping an ordinary Legend was a simple feat.
"Huh? Mind control?"
The three Sanctuary Contenders' faces went blank but recovered soon enough. Then, they let out a large roar together. The terrifying sound waves reverberated in every direction and had unleashed destruction of massive proportions.
Regardless, it seemed like they had some special technique to avoid being ensnared by Merlin's illusion.
"Interesting. I see that this world also has Hallucinating abilities like me. This is not the first time these people had come across an illusion."
Merlin was not too surprised. If he mobilized the Illusory World, he could easily trap these three Sanctuary Contenders in an illusion. Nevertheless, he abandoned the idea after some consideration.
Since he was here to search for Aruba's item, then he should let everyone know his true power and flaunt his authority as much as possible!
"Fire!" Merlin whispered.
In an instant, blazing flames appeared out of thin air. These pale white flames did not seem hot at all but contained a chilling aura that made the Sanctuary Contenders gulp in fear.
Chi! Chi! Chi!
The flames burned wildly. The weighty force field, chaotic force field, and laggard force field were all destroyed by the flames completely. Thus, the tyrant bird was freed.
The three Sanctuary Contenders were astonished. Their combined special force fields were actually unable to defeat Merlin. The thought of retreating entered their minds.
Nevertheless, retreating was not as easy as they thought.
"Ice Seal!"
A huge multi-colored Wizard Heart took shape behind Merlin. An overwhelming sense of oppression descended in an instant. The three Sanctuary Contenders could feel the substantive gap in power between themselves and Merlin now.
"Is this the power of the foreign world? Your body is incredibly weak and fragile, yet you possess a powerful ability that was comparable to us Sanctuary Contenders. No, you're even more powerful than Sanctuary Contenders!"
The moment they saw the multi-colored Wizard Heart behind Merlin, these three Sanctuary Contenders knew that they were defeated. The gap between them was simply too pronounced.
Ka-chak!
The three of them were imprisoned by solid layers of ice, and only their heads were left exposed. They were not even able to wield their special force fields. Falling onto the ground, they could only watch as Merlin drew closer.