Link, who was currently locked in battle with Beast Form Iyeta and also possessed a large amount of King's Blood within his body, was naturally affected as well.
The phantom of the evil beast that appeared behind him threw its head back and let out a long howl, almost breaking free of Link's restraints and launching an attack at Dumbledore.
Fortunately, Dumbledore's main target was not Link, and the King's Blood within Link was not in a completely active state like Beast Form Iyeta's. Therefore, the effect on Link was not yet great enough to make it unbearable.
As for Beast Form Iyeta, her situation was much worse.
The power of the King's Blood radiating from her surface was almost completely suppressed.
The flesh that had been recovering broke apart once again, causing her to return to her original appearance as a blood-red skeletal monster.
Of course, most importantly, she had once again lost the ability to move while still under such intense suppression and before she had adapted to it.
"Now, Link!"
Dumbledore shouted loudly. The veins on his forehead bulged, and his face quickly flushed red from overexertion.
This appearance was naturally because the technique he was currently using placed a tremendous burden on him.
Hearing this, Link first instinctively glanced toward Dumbledore's direction, wariness and killing intent hidden in his eyes.
He had never heard anyone mention that Dumbledore actually possessed a technique capable of suppressing those who possessed the King's Blood.
Although this technique seemed to consume a great deal of energy, and its suppressive effect on King's Blood possessors other than Beast Form Iyeta was not very strong, it still had some effect regardless.
And that raised a question.
Why hadn't Dumbledore used this technique when Hogwarts was attacked earlier?
During all this time they had been allies, why had Dumbledore never mentioned this to him?
What exactly was Dumbledore planning by keeping this card hidden?
Could it be that he intended to deal with him?
In that instant, countless doubts flashed through Link's mind, but in the end, he withdrew his gaze.
The most urgent matter right now was still to seize the opportunity to kill Beast Form Iyeta. As long as he could eliminate her quickly and track down No. 1's whereabouts, he would have plenty of opportunities to settle this matter with Dumbledore later.
Hiss!
A strange sound like steam spraying suddenly rang out.
The steam armor that had tightly wrapped around Link automatically peeled away from his body. Under the spray of high-pressure steam, it shot directly toward Beast Form Iyeta like a missile.
Seeing this, Dumbledore hurriedly gathered the platinum holy light and layered it around himself for protection.
The phantom of the evil beast behind Link also wrapped itself around him.
Such a level of protection might seem excessive to outsiders. After all, even during his fierce battle with Beast Form Iyeta just now, Link had not used the phantom of the evil beast behind him.
But in the eyes of the two people involved, it was not excessive at all.
It had to be known that the assisting attacks Dumbledore had been carrying out from the side earlier were actually indiscriminate.
In other words, the steam armor Link had just launched had to withstand not only Beast Form Iyeta's attacks, but also Dumbledore's high-frequency, low-intensity attacks.
The stacking of these attacks, combined with Link roasting it with Hellfire, as well as the armor shell made from the latest and highest-purity magic power combined with curse-property magic power, had created the most powerful steam bomb in history!
According to Link's preliminary estimate, once this steam bomb, which had been stacked with countless buffs, exploded, its theoretical power would be several hundred times that of the original steam bomb!
It was almost comparable to a miniature nuclear bomb!
Moreover, in actual combat, Link had also added a small amount of active cursed magic power similar in nature to the phantom of the evil beast. This gave the current steam armor a certain degree of intelligence. It could automatically correct its course, and after hitting its target, it would unfold its body, wrap around the target, and finally detonate.
After this entire process, the damage suffered by an enemy directly hit by the steam bomb would probably be far greater than that of being struck by an actual nuclear weapon.
Beast Form Iyeta, whose mental power was likewise extremely powerful, naturally sensed the enormous threat coming from the steam bomb.
This sense of danger was so strong.
It was so strong that not only did the King's Blood within Beast Form Iyeta instinctively use all its strength to drive her magic power in defense, even Iyeta's own consciousness, which had been suppressed to the deepest layer of the sea of consciousness, awakened and began assisting the King's Blood in defense with a terrified expression.
The crimson divine light appeared once again, projecting outward with a terrifying force capable of destroying everything, attempting to destroy the incoming steam bomb in advance.
Unfortunately, just as mentioned earlier, the steam bomb that Link had now improved and infused with a small amount of the phantom of the evil beast's magic power possessed rudimentary intelligence.
Under Iyeta's terrified gaze, the steam bomb merely relied on bursts of steam to perform several basic evasive maneuvers, easily avoiding all the crimson divine light. It then slammed into Iyeta and completely wrapped around her.
The next moment, the snow-white steam bomb began expanding rapidly, while dazzling light flashed from it.
BOOM!
The scorching steam broke through the restraints of the outer armor and exploded with tremendous force!
The power was so terrifying that even though Link and Dumbledore had already put up sufficient defenses, they were still blasted unconscious for a brief moment.
At the same time, the Auror allied forces and the Sky City defense force, who were engaged in fierce combat in the inner city, also heard the sudden loud explosion.
Many people instinctively raised their heads, only to see that at the very center of the inner city, a huge opening had suddenly been blasted through the top of the gigantic building connecting the "Heavenly Realm" and the "Earthly Realm."
White mist surged into the sky from the opening, and this white mist seemed to possess powerful corrosive properties. The exterior facades of the buildings it came into contact with, along with the "Magic Heavenly Realm" reflecting the night sky, all began to dissolve.
Accompanied by continuous strange "hiss hiss" sounds of corrosion.
The huge "Heavenly Realm" covering the entire Sky City had finally been melted through, creating a huge opening.
It was currently afternoon outside, and the bright sunlight was like a sharp sword, shooting straight through the opening and forming a beam of light that plunged directly into the ground of the inner city.
At this moment, almost everyone stopped their attacks.
Everyone raised their heads together, mouths hanging open, too shocked to speak.
Immediately afterward, thunderous cheers erupted from the position of the Auror allied forces.
They knew very well that their commander had already entered the headquarters building of the International Confederation of Wizards, and the spectacular scene before them was clearly a magnificent sight created by their invincible commander!
In stark contrast to the cheering Aurors were the despairing members of the Sky City defense force.
They were all natives of Sky City's inner city, true Heavenly Realm people who had received elite education.
And precisely because of this, they understood even more clearly how difficult it was to penetrate the headquarters building of the International Confederation of Wizards and the "Magic Heavenly Realm."
They were all super-strong buildings constructed from top-grade anti-magic alloys!
Even if Sky City's own spatial fragmentation devices were used to forcibly dismantle them, it would still take a terrifying amount of time.
Yet now, these buildings had been breached in an instant!
What kind of overwhelming power was this?
The reason they were still desperately resisting was because they believed that their newly appointed ruler of Sky City could repel the enemy.
But now, in the face of such a powerful enemy, did they really still have any hope of victory?
Negative emotions continued spreading through the Sky City defense force. Many members lowered their wands with sorrowful expressions.
They had already seen that although the opposing Auror allied forces were fierce, in reality, they were carrying out a strategy of capturing as many people alive as possible.
This meant that even if they lost, they probably would not have to worry about losing their lives.
If that was the case, then why shouldn't they surrender?
More and more people began to waver. The commanders of the Sky City defense force warily watched the surrounding members, each of them sweating nervously, afraid that these members might tie them up and surrender to the enemy at any moment.
They knew that these people were perfectly capable of doing such a thing.
Just then, the white fog drifting out from the breach in the headquarters building of the International Confederation of Wizards gradually dispersed, and a small figure finally appeared before everyone.
The figure looked humanoid, but its entire body was blood-red. When enlarged with magic, it was even possible to see that all the flesh on its body had melted away, leaving only its bones and a small amount of internal organs intact. At this moment, it was rapidly falling from the sky.
"Hey! I'm saying... could that be the newly appointed Grand Elder?"
A member of the Sky City defense force spoke in disbelief.
Hearing this, looks of terror also appeared on the faces of the surrounding members, while even more people tightened their grips on their wands and looked toward their commanders.
Unfortunately, before they could actually make a move, the figure falling through the sky suddenly stopped.
She was like a skeleton model used in a classroom, her head tilted to one side as she floated loosely in the air, her limbs still swaying with the wind, without the slightest trace of life.
But in her eye sockets, a crimson divine light that was difficult to describe was flickering.
Anyone who looked at her could clearly sense the vitality contained within those eye sockets, as well as an intense and strange feeling.
This sensation made their hairs stand on end, as if some kind of natural enemy were greedily watching them from those eye sockets.
"Oh..."
Skeleton Iyeta opened her mouth. Although she no longer had any vocal organs, a non-human roar still came from her mouth and echoed throughout the entire Sky City.
Every Sky City resident who heard this roar could not help but stop whatever they were doing. They raised their heads to look at Iyeta in the sky, and an indescribably strange feeling also rose in their hearts.
At this moment, they actually felt an urge to kill themselves for Iyeta!
The roar continued, and this feeling deepened bit by bit.
Finally, the first person to take his own life appeared.
It was a Sky City defense force member at the very front line.
His eyes were bloodshot. Without relying on any weapon, he used his five fingers to tear open his own throat.
The sight made an old hunter facing him click his tongue in amazement, but the man seemed completely unable to feel any pain. A happy smile spread across his face.
His appearance was like the first domino falling in a formation.
More and more people began taking their own lives.
Their methods of dying were all kinds of strange, but without exception, smiles were on their faces.
This left the Auror allied forces at a loss.
What they did not notice was that every time a Sky City resident took their own life, an invisible blood-red point of light would emerge from the corpse and rapidly fly toward Skeleton Iyeta.
The points of light continuously gathered on Skeleton Iyeta, actually reconstructing Iyeta's physical body.
Her body was so perfect that the Auror allied forces below were all stunned.
Only her pair of eye sockets remained completely empty, with no physical objects inside.
The crimson divine light continued flickering within them, making anyone who looked into them feel a sense of joy and greed.
At the same time, Link and Dumbledore finally walked out of the ruined Supreme Elder Council.
Although they had blocked most of the attacks with various defensive measures, the shock wave from the steam explosion had still caused them considerable injuries.
Especially Dumbledore.
His body could not compare with that of a young man like Link. At present, he was walking unsteadily, looking as though he had suffered a concussion.
But when they saw Iyeta rapidly recovering below with their own eyes, they could no longer spare any thought for their injuries.
"That was a nuclear-weapon-level explosion!"
Link said through gritted teeth.
He really could not believe what he was seeing.
After suffering such a terrifying attack, not dying would have been one thing, but how could you possibly recover so quickly?
"To be precise, she really did die." Dumbledore said gravely. "The individual known as Iyeta has completely died in the explosion just now. Even the King's Blood residing within her nearly perished completely because of the previous explosion."
"Then why..."
Link was about to continue questioning him, but before he could finish, he heard Dumbledore continue:
"The problem is that there was too much King's Blood inside Iyeta, and the explosion just now failed to eliminate all of it. So now, it can rely on sacrifice to replenish itself rapidly."
"Sacrifice?"
"Yes, sacrifice."
Dumbledore's expression grew increasingly solemn. "The King's Blood can increase. The first method is to use one's own soul and body to nourish it, allowing it to slowly grow. The second method is to directly kill and plunder the King's Blood within another person's body.
These are also the methods you and Voldemort often used before.
But in fact, besides these two methods, there is a third method.
That is sacrifice.
You should have seen this kind of sacrifice twice before."
Dumbledore turned to look at Link, his expression extremely complicated.
Link gritted his teeth and said:
"If you want to say it, then say it all at once. Don't play riddles. If you don't want to say it, shut up and focus on recovering so we can fight another round with Iyeta!"
Hearing this, Dumbledore was stunned for a moment, and the corners of his mouth could not help but lift. But the next moment, as if he had remembered something, his expression became serious again.
"Do you still remember Riro? The professor from Beauxbatons. When he fought us, he used a power he called 'love and wishes' to make many Beauxbatons students take their own lives. That was the so-called 'sacrifice.' This is the second time you saw 'sacrifice.'"
"As for the first 'sacrifice' you saw, it should have been on the night your father died."