Chapter 852 - Forced Retrea (1/2)

As the Fallen Ark fleet stopped firing, their millions of spaceships turned into streams of light and left Planet Lighthouse, disappearing without a trace in the blink of an eye. It was clear that they were familiar with betraying their teammates and were experts at it.

As the EsGod’s fleet departed, the situation of the battle changed instantly.

Without the powerful exterior help, the number of battleships on the Arcane Church’s side reduced by almost half. By this point, the Planet Lighthouse army had already recalled all its fleet. The number of battleships on both sides was even; the Arcane Church could no longer obtain the upper hand.

“Damn it…” Sagman looked at this with clenched teeth, but his heart was filled with helplessness. He was not in the mood to even blame EsGod for breaking their alliance.

He knew that although they were working together, the Arcane Church upper echelons did not have much hope in EsGod. It was indeed because these upper echelons were confident about EsGod’s negative reputation that they gathered six Beyond Grade As to attack with the Ten Thousand Deity Scepter. They planned to be done with the battle before EsGod arrived all along.

In fact, according to the Arcane Church’s calculations, the success rate of this operation was indeed exceptionally high. It was a battle of six versus three to begin with, and if they had rendered Milizaus incapable of fighting with the Ten Thousand Deity Scepter, the plan would have already been eighty percent complete. It was not impossible to capture three Beyond Grade As of the dynasty at that point.

However, what they did not expect was Austin’s appearance, which turned the six against three situation into six versus four.

Although it was just one more person, it greatly reduced the strength advantage of the six Arcane Church Beyond Grade As.

More importantly, the powerful destructive weapon, the Ten Thousand Deity Scepter, was countered by Black Star using a strange method and was even sealed!

If not for that, we would have already captured Black Star, obtained the Evolution Cube, and retreated with the fleet by now… This thought flashed through the minds of Sagman and the four others, making them frustrated.

Observing the disadvantageous situation, Sagman could only feel a strong headache.

If it was just EsGod retreating, the six of them would actually still have had a chance at completing the mission.

After fighting for so long, Milizaus was heavily injured, Austin’s Palace of Hidden Spells was damaged, and Beyoni was not in a good state. Black Star was the only one still hanging on strong… but his mechanical army had also suffered enormous damage.

Comparatively, the six of them were in good states. If they continued to fight, they would still have a high chance at winning.

However, now that Dylan had been captured by Black Star, Sagman’s plan completely went to waste.

In this battle, Black Star had once again showcased new abilities that no one knew of. Sagman had no choice but to admit that he did indeed fear Black Star for the fact that he did not know what other trump cards this guy was hiding.

Ninjia frowned and asked in the psychic communication network, “What now?”

Sagman looked at the enormous battlefield and saw that the Arcane Church’s fleet was now at a stalemate with the enemies, not able to prevent the dynasty fleet from assembling their stargates.

“Inform the commander, we’re retreating!” He squeezed out the words from between his tightly clenched teeth.

“You’re giving up Dylan?” Psyker’s eyes looked hostile.

“Sagman is right.” Ninjia nodded. “Dylan has been captured, and EsGod has retreated. It’s now five against four, and they have a hostage. The plan of quick attack has failed. There are only two paths ahead of us—continue fighting or retreat.

“They’re not in a good state. We will no doubt win if we continue to fight. However, time is a problem. Having lost two combatants, we won’t be able to settle the battle quickly. Don’t forget, the Flickering World is the dynasty’s territory. We have no base here, and the secret stargate is our only way of retreating. The longer we fight, the higher the risk.”

“Also, EsGod wants to use us to secure his retreat,” Taylor added. “We can’t let him have his way.”

“Dylan…”

“The risk of saving him is too high and will very likely make Black Star kill him. We have no choice but to leave him behind. That way, at least he can stay alive. The only way is to have the Arcane Church negotiate with the Crimson Dynasty afterward.” Ninjia shook his head. Even if the dynasty was willing to exchange the hostage, the Arcane Church would definitely bleed for it. Furthermore, the dynasty might not even be willing to.

Psyker was in an extremely bad mood. His good friend was in Black Star’s hands. God only knew what the dynasty would do to him, but there was nothing he could do.

“While the dynasty is still building the stargate, we’re retreating.” Sagman paused before saying with resignation, “Inform the upper echelons that this plan… has failed.”

Everyone’s mood was down after hearing this.

Six versus four, yet one of them was captured. This was beyond embarrassing!

They had failed an almost infallible mission, and the Ten Thousand Deity Scepter was sealed. How would the Arcane Church upper echelons see them?

Almost every step that led to the tables turning had been caused by Han Xiao.

Although they did not want to admit it, they knew that they were forced to retreat by Black Star!

Psyker exchanged looks with the heavily injured Dylan faraway. His eyes were filled with apology.

Seeing Psyker’s eyes, Dylan knew that he had been abandoned. He felt a sting in his heart; it did not feel good to be abandoned. Thinking of how he would be treated as a captive, his heart kept sinking.

The effect of Esper Silence had already worn off, and Dylan’s Esper Ability had recovered. However, a round of attacks including True Damage had all landed on him earlier. Without the defense barrier from his Esper Ability, he had been critically injured. If not because Han Xiao wanted to capture him alive, he felt that he would have been killed directly. Fear still lingered in his heart.

At this time, Han Xiao was right behind him. Han Xiao’s arms that were wrapped around his neck had explosive power. Dylan was no Pugilist. Although his body was much stronger than Calamity Grades, it was nothing worth noting at the Beyond Grade A level. With all kinds of mechanical traps, Dylan could not escape at all. Resisting was playing with his own life.

Sagman and the other four retreated to the Arcane Church’s fleet and entered the spaceships. The Arcane Church fleet then started to retreat orderly.

Relying on superior mobility, the Arcane Church’s fleet gradually distanced themselves from the dynasty’s fleet.

Milizaus and the other two came to Black Star. Beyoni had a feeling that he had just evaded death.

“Luckily, you captured one of the enemy Beyond Grade As, or they would not have retreated this easily… This guy is the Arcane Church’s ‘Sea Spirit’ Dylan. He’s not weak. What did you do to capture him so quickly?”

Han Xiao gave Beyoni a strange look. “Trust me. You’re no stranger to this ability.”

Back when they fought EsGod alongside each other, Beyoni had been hit with the authentic ‘Esper Silence’ and still remembered that feeling vividly. Only, he did not know that Han Xiao was talking about that.

Esper Silence was the nemesis of Espers. There were probably not many Espers in the entire universe who could beat EsGod one on one. Han Xiao’s EsGod Character Summon Card had two usages.

He had used one on Dylan, and he planned to use the next one on EsGod.

Before the start of the battle, he obtained two Blank Character Summon Cards from the Random Reward. However, he did not use them on EsGod. After all, EsGod had way too many Esper Abilities; the chance of getting Esper Silence again was too slim, and the other random abilities were not too useful to him. He needed to use them to obtain Reynold’s Perfect Mechanical Sense.

On the other side, Milizaus watched as Sagman and the others retreated. He then asked with a deep voice, “They’re fleeing—should we chase?”

“Don’t count me in on the chase,” Austin said calmly. “Black Star, I’ve returned the favor. You now owe me a big favor.”

“Got it.” Honestly, if not because Austin maintained his moral principles and kept his promise, someone on the dynasty’s side would definitely have died.

Austin nodded with satisfaction. He then turned to look at his Forbidden Sorcerers, who had suffered heavy casualties, and felt a heartache. These were all his elites and were very tiring to train.

As for the heavily damaged Palace of Hidden Spells, Austin did not care at all. He just had to spend some time to repair it, and the material fees for that were nothing to him. To a Mage at his level, earning money was as easy as breathing.

Austin was not a dynasty ally, so Milizaus could not ask him to do anything. He then looked at Beyoni and asked, “What about you?”

“Don’t come to me again for something this risky.” Beyoni rejected him on the spot.

After finally surviving this lethal threat, he was not planning to throw himself into danger again. He much preferred to stay there and wait for reinforcements.