The first arrow served as a signal. Immediately afterward, a dense barrage of colossal arrows rained down from the sky, each one unerringly aimed at everyone present.
Feidric reacted swiftly. His incantation was so rapid that his lips seemed to twitch momentarily. He thrust his hands skyward, shouting, "Force Field Shield!"
A clearly visible crimson shield materialized around Feidric, Aria, Douglas, Cipher, and Dio. The fine gold arrows were razor-sharp, and their high-altitude trajectory further amplified their destructive power. Even the sturdiest metal armor would shatter under such an assault.
An ordinary Shield Spell would likely crumble instantly, but Feidric's Force Field Shield was different. While a Shield Spell created a magical barrier to block attacks, the Force Field Shield wove an invisible repulsive field of Magic Power, deflecting all incoming physical projectiles.
As the massive arrows approached the crimson shield, they behaved like magnets repelling each other, or like a fist striking a smooth, slippery bar of soap. The arrows veered sharply aside, clattering onto the ground around Feidric.
This magic was the bane of ranged physical attacks, but it had its limitations. It offered no protection against magical attacks and was only marginally effective against melee strikes, making it a highly specialized defense.
Feidric's magical shield had a limited range, and the White-Bearded Old Mage and his two students were too far away to be protected.
The attack had come suddenly. The Old Mage, lacking Feidric's absurd reaction speed and casting velocity, watched helplessly as a fine gold arrow hurtled toward his head. But in his final moment, the Old Mage did something unexpected: he reached out and placed a hand on each of his students' shoulders.
Boom!
The fine gold arrow slammed into the ground. But there was no blood, no corpses. In the blink of an eye, the Old Mage and his students had teleported ten meters away, completely unscathed.
A Fifth-Level Divination Magic spell: Trigger Spell.
The caster selects a specific condition and "stores" a prepared spell. For example, an old mage might set the trigger as "when he is attacked" and store a Fourth-Level Conjuration School spell like Mass Teleportation.
When the trigger condition is met, the Trigger Spell activates instantly, unleashing the pre-prepared and stored spell.
In essence, this is a divine technique for preventing ambushes, a must-learn for all wizards. However, being a Fifth-Level spell, it's notoriously difficult to master, typically only achievable by Gold-tier wizards or higher.
"So it wasn't going to be that simple after all?" A voice echoed from above. Cipher looked up to see over a dozen armored figures riding two-legged dragons, led by the Imperial Commander she had previously encountered in Cloudsea City.
Douglas whispered urgently, "This is the Empire's Two-Legged Dragon Reconnaissance Unit! One of their most elite forces!"
In many games, scouts are often depicted as weak and disposable, with low attack, defense, and health—dying at the slightest touch. Their only utility seems to be their speed and ability to reveal the map. In reality, however, scouts are among the most elite forces in any army.
Cipher observed that not only were the soldiers clad in full regulation armor, but even the two-legged dragons they rode had metallic armor protecting their heads, chests, and claws.
These creatures, known as two-legged dragons, were genetically degraded sub-dragons. Despite being considered "degraded" and "sub-dragons," they possessed formidable strength. Two-legged dragons could fly at incredible speeds and wield immense power, capable of seizing prey more than ten times their own weight.
However, two-legged dragons were notoriously vicious and unintelligent, leaving Cipher baffled as to how the Empire had managed to tame them.
The Imperial Commander in the air blew a whistle. Soon, more dark shapes swarmed in from the distance, so numerous that they blotted out the sky.
Douglas added, "A standard two-legged dragon reconnaissance unit consists of a thousand soldiers. It seems a full regiment has arrived."
A thousand soldiers might not sound like much at first, especially considering the massive battles involving hundreds of thousands or even millions of troops that Cipher had witnessed in her past life. But seeing them firsthand, a thousand soldiers was actually quite a formidable force. These airborne scouts, maintaining significant distances between each other rather than standing shoulder-to-shoulder like ground troops, created the illusion of a dense, overwhelming presence that blotted out the sky.
Seemingly awaiting reinforcements, the Imperial Commander refrained from launching a second attack after his initial ambush failed. Instead, he addressed the group: "Thank you for neutralizing the Travel Book's effect. Now, if you willingly surrender the book to us, I might consider letting you leave."
Before Aria and the others arrived, Imperial soldiers had already been observing the area. Using magical devices called Amplifying Stones, they could amplify their voices or enhance their hearing. The soldier who had eavesdropped on their conversation earlier had used just such a device.
Having learned the full story, Dio understood why the Imperial Commander had assassinated the Old King: to prevent him from activating the Travel Book's effects in a desperate attempt to stop them from seizing it. With the King dead, Dio believed that the book's record of "Hunger, Decay, Death" would naturally cease to exist.
Of course, the Imperial Commander wasn't truly afraid of the book's power; he simply considered it a troublesome complication. Now that someone else had eliminated this problem for him, what could be better?
Dio immediately rejected the Commander's offer, his expression grave. "You ambushed us just moments ago, and now that your sneak attack has failed, you try to persuade us to surrender?" he asked sternly. "Don't you find your own words ridiculous?"
The Imperial Commander shrugged, unfazed. He changed the subject. "Speaking of which, the Old King was worried about an Imperial invasion? How unfortunate. We've never had any intention of invading this place."
To be more precise, the Empire had never even noticed the insignificant Grand Duchy of Kandela. The Commander's reconnaissance mission with his unit was primarily focused on scouting the Alliance's border defenses.
The Empire's presence in the Grand Duchy of Kandela was purely for reconnaissance, to assess its suitability as a supply depot for their advancing armies. The logistical demands of a large-scale military campaign were astronomical, and any opportunity to "requisition" supplies along the way would significantly alleviate the strain on their supply lines.
The Empire had never considered invading Kandela or declaring war upon it. Their sole intention was to "pass through" during their war with the Alliance and "opportunistically" seize what they could.
In other words, Kandela was simply too insignificant to warrant inclusion in the Empire's strategic plans. The Old King had spent five years fantasizing about a formidable enemy, only to be completely disregarded by the Empire.
"What? You call this a country?" the Imperial Commander might have scoffed. "I thought the General had pre-stocked some granaries for us."
Given the overwhelming disparity in power, this perspective was perfectly understandable. A single reconnaissance force—perhaps even without soldiers, just a thousand two-legged dragons—would likely be enough to conquer the Grand Duchy of Kandela.
In short, due to the famine ravaging the Grand Duchy of Kandela, the Imperial Commander had originally planned to request a change of route from his superiors, bypassing this desolate wasteland entirely. Instead, he was falsely accused of being an assassin, and now they found themselves in this predicament.
Dio turned to Cipher and the others, his face grim. "Outrunning the Empire's aerial forces on the open plains is nearly impossible. Cipher, you're our only hope. Given the speed you demonstrated earlier, you must take the Travel Book and flee alone. Under no circumstances can we allow this Divine Artifact to fall into the Empire's hands."
"I'll use my magic to hold them back as long as I can," Dio continued. "Run as far as you can!"
Aria, Douglas, and Feidric remained silent, but their gazes converged on Cipher, clearly endorsing Dio's plan.
The White-Bearded Old Mage sighed. "I knew something like this would happen, but I couldn't suppress my curiosity... Well, it's done. These Empire bastards wouldn't spare me anyway. I'll help you one last time."
The Old Mage removed a ring from his finger and offered it to Cipher. "If you manage to escape, please deliver this to..."
Everyone present had resigned themselves to sacrificing their lives to buy time. Under normal circumstances, this would have been deeply moving, but these were far from normal circumstances!
The Imperial Commander was waiting for his troops to fully assemble, wanting to secure victory with overwhelming force. Cipher, however, was also waiting for the enemy forces to finish gathering—and for good reason.
Before the White-Bearded Old Mage could finish speaking, a terrifying aura materialized out of thin air. Like a violently erupting volcano, it instantly filled the entire surrounding space!
All eyes turned upward to see a colossal red "spear," hundreds of meters long, piercing through the clouds and hurtling straight down toward the massing Imperial troops!
"What is that thing?!"
"Get out of the way!"
From a distance, such a colossal attack often appeared deceptively slow. In reality, however, the spear descended with incredible speed, striking the ground with a deafening boom that shook the earth.
Imperial soldiers unlucky enough to be merely grazed by the spear were instantly pulverized, exploding into clouds of bloody mist in mid-air.
The massive shockwave generated by the spear's impact swept across the battlefield like a tsunami, engulfing everyone.
Imperial soldiers riding two-legged dragons in the sky instantly lost their balance and plummeted from the heavens like dumplings tossed into boiling water.
"Hold on!" On the ground, Aria and the others fared slightly better. Everyone lay flat, clutching desperately at anything they could grab. Douglas plunged his Great Axe into the earth, gripping its haft tightly with both hands, while Aria and Feidric clung to the gaps in his armor.
Douglas grimaced in pain. "Don't pull there! It's going to snap!"
The White-Bearded Old Mage cast a Shield Spell, while Cipher, ever prepared, had already taken cover behind a nearby stone outcropping.
As the gale gradually subsided, Douglas, his face coated in sand and dust, laboriously raised his head. The sight that greeted him would be seared into his memory forever: the terrain had been utterly transformed by the single strike. A colossal chasm now split the earth, and the scattered remains of the Imperial soldiers lay motionless across the landscape like broken dolls.
It was clear that falling from a height of several dozen meters while clad in full armor—a "tin can" plummeting from the sky—would be anything but a pleasant experience.
Even though it wasn't a straight drop—the two-legged dragons had struggled mid-air, cushioning the soldiers' landings—the fact that any of them survived the impact spoke volumes about their absurdly robust physical condition.
Then, Douglas spotted a figure leaping lightly from the tip of the massive red spear, over a hundred meters above. The man plummeted to the ground like a cannonball, landing with a thunderous boom. He knelt on one knee, his right fist planted firmly on the earth, striking a classic and undeniably cool landing pose.
Slowly, the man rose. A dense web of cracks radiated outward from his impact point, spreading several meters across the ground. The sheer force of his landing was evident, yet he appeared completely unscathed.
The Imperial soldiers riding the two-legged dragons had nearly been crippled by their falls. This brutal landing should have been even more devastating. How could this man emerge unscathed? What kind of ludicrous physical resilience did he possess?!
The man's short, pale golden hair, tinged with red at the tips, danced wildly in the gale. He crossed his arms, the golden bracers on his forearms scraping together with a crisp sound. "I heard there's a Divine Artifact here," he said impassively. "Mind if I join the party?"
Unsurprisingly, it was none other than Mydei.
However, the current situation wasn't quite what he'd envisioned. His original plan had been to conjure a spear with his powers, hurl it from afar to smash into the ground, and then descend dramatically from the sky with dazzling effects, pulling off a perfect "Grand Starfall" cosplay—utterly badass, right?
(SpyNote: Pantheon Ult from League)
But as he prepared to conjure the spear, Mydei paused. Wouldn't a normal-sized spear be a little underwhelming? After all, his goal was to seize the attention of everyone on the battlefield with a grand entrance, not to sneak onto the scene like a spear-tossing extra.
So, he put in just a little extra effort and made the spear... just a tad bigger.