With a thunderous crack of his footfall, Tahmas shot toward Silver Lamp at high speed, hurling his hand axe ahead of him.

At that moment, Silver Lamp knew her Miracle had failed.

During their brief exchange, she had already cast the Doppelgänger Doll upon the Blazing White Tiger, masking her own appearance beneath the guise of a Blue Flame Squirrel. Enhanced by the subtle tricks of an Illusion spirit, even a Sacred Realm sorcerer would have been fooled by the deception.

Yet the Crowslaughter had lunged directly for her real body. In fact, she had maintained the decoy throughout her Dragonblood cultivation ritual. Still, he had ignored the feint entirely, driving a lethal shockwave toward her vital points. Twice now, her illusions had proven useless. This was no coincidence.

After failing twice in a row, Silver Lamp abandoned any remaining hope that the crow-masked man had merely been lucky. She dodged his incoming hand axe and tried to re-establish her spiritual link with the squirrel. Before she could, four distinct voices echoed in her mind. Without hesitation, she called softly, "Strength. Wisdom. Life. Joy."

The authority of the Four Pillar Deities surged through her limbs, granting her power beyond the mortal realm....