561 Shameless Sorcerers (1/2)
The one who was fighting against Oliver, the Hand of Annihilation, was a third rank divine knight named Saint Anthony who owned the bloodline called Light. He noticed that, under the increasing power of Paradise on Earth, the grand arcanist's legendary spells, including Annihilation Ball and Cage of Destruction, were becoming weaker and weaker as the oppressive power on Oliver had increased. Therefore, Oliver was slowly moving towards Hathaway, the Lord of Elements, who had gained an edge fighting the two saints.
Saint Anthony knew that, through the power of Paradise on Earth, Saint Anasta and Saint Augusta were by no means Hathaway's rivals, as most of their divine items, except those top ones, and even parts of their bodies had all been completely destroyed or at least severely damaged by Luxury Cracking and Elements Resolve - The fight had cost them an arm and a leg. If it had not been for the holy light covering them, they would be shamefully fighting naked right now in front of the followers in Rentato.
Saint Anthony knew that once Oliver went to Hathaway, his edge would be gone.
Anthony had to stop Oliver, but he was afraid of the power of Luxury Cracking and Elements Resolve. It was true that once the grand arcanists gathered together, the Pope could perhaps be able to kill all of them with one strike, however, Anthony knew that he was totally unable to bear the cracking spells. Facing those spells, only few divine spells could resist the power, including the legendary one called Blessed Realm, but he was a divine knight, and he was not able to use it.
Comparatively speaking, Oliver was obviously much more ”adorable” as an enemy as he could not cast Luxury Cracking. Anthony was able to barely bear the power of the ninth circle spell, Cracking (Advanced), on his own with his magic resistance.
At this time, Anthony had noticed that, on the other side, Hellen, the Witch of Iceland, was also approaching Hathaway. Meanwhile, Saint Melmax was pushing the Lord of Storm to move towards Hathaway as well to make the sorcerers gather together.
Anthony thought to himself that since Saint Melmax had been a top legendary for many years. Although he might not yet be as powerful as Douglas, defeating Fernando should just be a matter of time. If he could stay closer to Melmax, Melmax will be able to help them defeat the sorcerers earlier than expected. Also, as all of the sorcerers were now getting closer to each other, Hathaway might be prevented from using Luxury Cracking, as it was a range spell unable to tell enemies. Even if they could not defeat the sorceres instantly, they would be able to control the situation and wait for the Pope's arrival.
His plan changed, Anthony slowed down his attack and let Oliver get closer to Hathaway.
Four grand arcanists against five saints, the wild war started.
Anthony got the blessing power from Saint Anasta and Saint Maria, so his strength, speed, force, and defence level had been further improved.
Although magic spells were much more spontaneous and unpredictable than divine power, when it came to giving blessing effects, magic spells were nowhere close to divine power. Therefore, the side with a saint cardinal always benefited greatly in a team fight. Both Anthony and Melmax were exerting their power, Light and Morning, to the extreme. The whole area had been lit up. The four grand arcanists were badly disadvantaged.
To Oliver and Hellen, however, the situation had been temporarily eased thanks to the support from Hathaway. However, this had increased the burden on Fernando and Hathaway who were now controlling the situation with great effort.
Fernando's eyes lit up with bolts of lightning and storm. He shouted,
”Storm Barrier!”
The area of the thunder hell suddenly expanded. It sucked the five saints in where there was devastating black storms, thick bolts of lightning, extreme high temperatures and freezing ice and snow.
Under the storm, meanwhile, the space suddenly fell into utter darkness. The horrible power of strong magnetic field had made the space distorted and the fierce wind was blowing like bitter howling - all to prevent the five saints from leaving. Meanwhile, Oliver, Hellen, and Hathaway were flying upwards.
This legendary spell was one of the two most fundamental spells derived from his demiplane!
”What are they doing? Is Fernando trying to kill himself?” Melmax was slightly shocked. Within ten seconds, he and the five saints would be able to kill Fernando completely as he had been left alone using Light of Judgment!
Out of the battlefield, Oliver and Hellen were standing in the air opposite towards each other, casting the short spell,
”Space Shackle.”
Silently, out of the darkness distorted by the great magnetic field, the space started freezing like transparent crystal.
Hathaway was standing a bit higher than Oliver and Hellen. Her cold, silver-grey eyes looked down upon the darkness below without any emotions.
”You break the barrier! Anasta help me kill Fernando!” Melmax sensed something dangerous, and he made the decision immediately.
......
Inside the Parliament of Nobles in the Nekso Palace.
All the nobles had stopped talking, waiting for Her Majesty's speech.
Natasha's clear voice now sounded deeper, delivering the dignity and prestige of a queen.
”I, Natasha Violet, the queen of Holm Kingdom, the Lord of the Sword of Truth's Knights, the Lord of Verdict Knights, the Lord of Saint Cross Knights, have decided to cooperate with the Congress of Magic to abandon the radical Church and respect the moderates as the belief of the kingdom!”
Leaving no space for negotiation, Natasha's decisive tone made many noble members start to feel hesitant. They habitually followed the majesty, and leaning towards the Congress of Magic would do them no harm. A new balance would be able to take shape.
By now, many of the liberals had made their decision: They would follow Natasha.
Meanwhile, Natasha kept going on,
”I don't want my people to worry day and night that they might be killed by a radical night watcher at any time!”
”I don't want my people to lose their energy and wealth because their mind is trapped by the Church. Each one of us has the right to interpret Cannon on our own, and each of us shall be able to directly connect to Lord when we pray!”
”I don't want the Kingdom of Holm to return to the most uncultured, primitive, and darkest period of time. We human beings should, and are totally entitled to enjoy a better life, by illuminating the places we live using magic crystal lights, by making the kingdom smaller when we call each other, when we listen to the radio. Look around, we're using alchemical items, and the path in front of us has already joined that of the congress!”
”What is your choice, my people?”
All of the nobles remained silent. They were struggling, deep in their minds.
Meanwhile, those nobles who were listening to Natasha's speech in Colette, Brianne, Colette, and the rest of the kingdoms were still having difficulty making their decision. They had indeed benefited a lot from the alchemical items in their much more luxurious life, and it was absolutely horrible for them to go back to their previous life. On the other hand, they had never been through the fear of an assassination given by a night watcher, nor were they worrying about offending the majesty - they all had their own king or queen or a lord.
Bedrenka, Hammer of the Void, and Basor, Knight of Disasters, exchanged a look between each other and both slightly shook their heads. Something was still missing in Natasha's speech, something that was powerful enough to persuade most nobles.
In Nekso Palace, Duke Rex, the president of the parliament, first stepped out and said it out loud, ”I am against it!”
”Before all nobles reached their agreement, Your Majesty should not make the final decision first!”
”At this moment, the decision is a matter of life and death. A lord who goes against the will of most nobles is a betrayer, and is thus no longer suitable for being a lord!”
Rex was denying the decision-making power of the queen. And he wouldn't stop here,
”The Pope might be coming back very soon. Are we gonna rush so bad to make our decision?”
”You want to fall into hell and forever look up at Mountain Paradise?”
His words instantly won the support of at least one third of the nobles present, while the rest of them remained silent as they were still waiting for the offer.