Chapter 27 (2/2)

But Lorde, in the midst of the Lesser Hailstorm, couldn’t see Link. In fact, he had been attacked viciously once he reached the tower.

A glittering sword of blue crystal had stabbed at him. It was astoundingly fast. Halfway through the attack, tight-knit sparks of thunder and lightning gathered around the incoming blade.

The attack was horrifyingly powerful!

Huh. Who is this? Lorde, taken by surprise, had no choice but to bring his sword up to meet it.

Ting! An explosion erupted from the collision. Lorde felt his wrist go numb, but he managed to repel his opponent’s sword. Celine was not as strong as he was.

Having had the upper hand in that exchange, Lorde finally passed through the hailstorm and onto the archer tower.

The Level-2 Lesser Hailstorm was just normal wind and frost to him—it was completely unable to breach his defenses. Its only function was to obscure his vision, which it had done.

Where is the Magician? Lorde was confused.

Only a human maiden of inhuman beauty stood there facing him. She held the sword that had stopped him earlier.

“And who are you?” Lorde asked curiously.

Celine didn’t answer, but instead cast her Bloodline Talent, the Level-5 Obsidian Shield. As a type of bloodline magic, it was engraved deeply in every drop of blood that flowed within her. She cast it almost instantaneously, the strong crystal shield enveloping her within less than one-tenth of a second.

Lorde was stunned. Holding off a blow then hiding within a turtle shell? What type of combat style was this?

Throughout this exchange, a dark blue beam of light shot across the night sky, landing squarely on the archer tower.

Boom!

Another earth-shattering Flame Blast split the air.

The archer tower on the city wall was swallowed up by sparks and flames.

The fire raged, rubble shooting out of it; two figures shot out from within the chaos.

One of them was Celine. Her Obsidian Shield had protected her from most of the impact, allowing her Demon Aura to easily handle the rest. She had been prepared for the Flame Blast’s explosion. She put as much distance between Lorde and herself with the momentum borrowed from the explosion.

The other figure was, naturally, Lorde.

Faced with the ambush of the Flame Blast, he had been forced to defend against it by fully unleashing his Battle Aura again, using up a large portion of his remaining power.

As he fell through the air, Lorde felt his aura plummet to less than a third of what it was before; he broke out into a cold sweat.

He would run out of aura at any moment. It wasn’t enough for him to carry on his attack on the city. He would have to stop—otherwise, he might just die in Gladstone due to the depletion of his aura.

If that really happened, his name would be smeared for eternity.

As a Warrior, he could die fighting, but not a shameful death like that.

As he fell, he finally caught sight of the Magician who had vanished earlier.

Like him, the Magician was ‘flying’. However, the Magician was already about to land. From the trajectory, it seemed as if the young spellcaster would land on the city walls.

The Magician was looking at him too. Those deep dark eyes unfathomable. Lorde could see no ripples or emotion within them.

A Magician with absolute calm. I never stood a chance! With that one glance, Lorde’s thoughts of slaying the Magician were extinguished.

But the Magician wasn’t about to just let him go.

Blue light condensed around the Magician’s staff, forming a Flame Blast that shot at Lorde from more than 130 feet away.

Lorde’s heart raced. The Flame Blast didn’t travel in a straight line; Lorde was completely unable to predict its path.

“Damn it!”

He didn’t dare use his Aura Scythe due to its high consumption of power. If he used it, he would have almost no aura left. Furthermore, if he missed, and the Magician used another Flame Blast on him, he would be in mortal danger.

He couldn’t use his Aura Scythe on the Magician even if he had enough aura anyway. They were too far apart. A little over 150 feet lay between them, and the range of Lorde’s Aura Scythe was only 100 feet!

Lorde was left with no choice but to brace himself against the attack.

Boom! The Flame Blast smashed into Lorde. It was as if a sun had appeared—the light of the flames lit up the entire battlefield.

Lorde’s body shot out like an arrow through the waves of flame, landing heavily with a loud thud 200 feet away.

He sustained some injury with each Flame Blast he took. This time, he had used up almost all his aura. When he landed, he tasted something bitter at the back of his throat. Unable to control himself, he opened his mouth and vomited a decent amount of blood.

Dark Elf Warriors gathered around him instantly. Their faces were dark at the sight of their Marshall in such a state.

“Marshall, are you okay?” Lorde’s closest aides walked up to him and helped him to his feet.

“I’m fine.” Lorde stopped his aides and climbed to his feet on his own. But this time, his movements were slower and his voice weaker. His injuries weren’t light.

After he stood, he looked towards the city walls of Gladstone where the Magician stood silently.

The Fire Crystal Staff he held glimmered with flames as his robes seemed to flow, glowing with the clear light of magic. The spellcaster’s face was stoic and expressionless.

At that moment, the young Magician looked just like a God above the clouds!

Suddenly, deep horn blasts rang out from the northern side of Gladstone City. The sound, though bleak and desolate, pierced the hearts of the human soldiers. They rejoiced while the Dark Elves’ faces filled with panic.

The humans’ reinforcements were here!

At the same time, the darkest part before the dawn ended. A golden ray of light broke out from the horizon, bathing Gladstone’s city walls in gold.

Dong. Dong. Dong. The bell sounded. It was five o’clock sharp in the morning.

The long night had finally ended, bringing forth a new day.

“Retreat!” Lorde cried. He heaved a long sigh, his pride replaced by a sense of deep resignation.