“You guys, pull yourselves together! Have the civilians evacuate through the path we opened. There are still people trapped in some of those houses who haven't made it out yet—send teams to rescue them!”
Aila shouted to the nearby soldiers as she wiped the hot dragon blood from her face after finishing off another purple hybrid dragon.
Though neither of them held any military rank, their terrifying performance on the battlefield instantly bolstered the morale of the struggling Church Army. They immediately followed Aila's advice, shifting from offense to support.
“There are more people trapped over here! I need some hands! Aila, watch your position!”
Midir waved his hand, using magic to shift a collapsed building. After helping the soldiers pull out the survivors, he noticed Aila had pushed too deep and was being targeted by three sub-dragons.
In the moment of crisis, Midir didn't hesitate. He transformed Starflame into a streak of blue light and hurled it with precision at the sub-dragon attempting to ambush Aila from behind.
The massive impact pierced the creature instantly, pinning it firmly to a nearby wall amidst a shower of shattered stone.
Midir then flickered to Aila's side. He slammed his hands onto the ground, causing the hard pavement to crack as several sharp rock spikes erupted, skewering the remaining two sub-dragons.
The sudden, violent impact knocked the two sub-dragons off balance. Before they could recover, Aila was already upon them. Her long blade became a series of silver lightning strikes, slicing accurately into their vitals.
Already weakened by the initial magical assault, the sub-dragons were defenseless and died instantly under Aila's blade.
Meanwhile, Midir didn't let up. He quickly approached the sub-dragon pinned by Starflame and delivered the final blow. As he pulled the sword out, it trailed a brilliant blue light before returning to its dormant state.
“I could have handled that without your help, but thanks anyway~”
Aila lightly shook the dragon blood off her blade. A bead of sweat rolled down her slightly damp temple as she turned to thank Midir.
“It doesn't matter how many sub-dragons we defeat here. We can only cover one direction. The ultimate problem lies with those pureblood dragons. Look at them—most of the purebloods haven't even joined the fight yet,” Midir said, glancing at the giant dragons still circling in the sky.
“I told you, pureblood dragons are clever. They brought so many hybrids specifically to use as cannon fodder to wear us down. By the way, how many did we just take out?”
Aila also scanned the sky. Seeing that the dragons were at a distance far beyond her reach, she spoke with a hint of helplessness.
“If I haven't miscounted, we've killed thirteen along the way. But against a thousand of them, how long will it take if we just keep fighting like this? Shouldn't we be taking out the leader? What is your Uncle Roland doing? The city is being torn apart, and he still hasn't shown his face?” Midir looked around at the devastated streets, his voice tinged with frustration.
It was only then that Aila realized something. She looked into the sky in surprise. “You're right. The Holy Church of Light's headquarters should have at least one or two Saint Rank experts on guard, right? Why haven't we seen anyone? Midir, can you take down that big guy up there?”
Midir frowned as he looked at the blue dragon, which was nearly twice the size of its kin. It was clearly the center of the dragon swarm.
Even from a great distance, its unique pressure was as conspicuous as the sun. If measured by human standards, it possessed strength at the very top of the Saint Rank.
“In a normal one-on-one, I probably could. But with so many of its kind around it, going up alone would be suicide. We have to bring them all down first. However...”
Midir trailed off. His thoughts suddenly turned to the Transcendent Power Phoenix had mentioned. If he could master its use, forget that one dragon—even several more wouldn't be a problem.
He still couldn't fully control that Power of Destruction that annihilated everything. If he used the Power of Creation instead... how should he go about it? Midir lowered his head and began to think.
“Aila, keep an eye on our surroundings. I'm going to try something I'm not yet practiced in.”
With that, Midir closed his eyes. The elemental energy around him seemed to respond to his call, receding like a tide and returning to his body as he recalled the sensation of the rose-red ocean from his dreams.
To Aila's astonishment, a power she had never felt before began to emerge from Midir, accompanied by a beautiful rose-red light.
Although she had seen Midir release a sliver of this unknown energy back at the Azure Fortress, the shock of seeing him exert it with full force was incomparable.
Unlike Aila's War God Battle Qi, which was filled with combat intent and violent aura, the rose-red light surrounding Midir emitted a serene and profound power. It was like a vast, boundless sea that one couldn't help but be mesmerized by at a glance.
For Midir, it was a completely different experience. This was his first time mobilizing the Power of Creation on such a large scale. He felt his entire strength being frantically siphoned away as if by an unfathomable vortex; even with his current power, he wouldn't be able to hold out for long.
This feeling was entirely different from using single-element magic. As someone who could naturally manipulate multiple elements, even if Midir exhausted one type of element, he could still use others to continue fighting.
However, the Power of Creation before him was like a greedy monster, mercilessly absorbing all the mana in his body and fusing it together with exquisite precision.
In just a few seconds, Midir's forehead was covered in fine beads of sweat, showing the immense burden he was under.
Seeing his pained expression, Aila grew anxious. She desperately wanted to help but didn't know where to start, fearing her intervention might disrupt Midir's critical attempt.
Just as she hesitated, nearly on the verge of calling out to him, a massive magic array suddenly bloomed beneath Midir's feet. It was like a brilliant lamp lit in the darkness, instantly drawing everyone's gaze—even the dragons soaring in the sky couldn't ignore it.
The dragons' sharp instincts for magic immediately alerted them to the potential threat of this array. It carried a sense of oppression far greater than the previous anti-magic barrier.
After a brief moment of hesitation, the dragons identified Midir as their primary target. With furious roars, they dove from the sky, determined to crush this potential threat in its infancy.
“No way!? They're all coming!” Faced with such a sight, even Aila was terrified. She immediately drew her longbow to fire.
As dozens of pureblood dragons plunged into the Emerald City barrier in an instant, the several arrows Aila fired in succession did nothing to slow their descent. Just as she was about to activate her War God Battle Qi for a life-or-death struggle, two figures rushed in front of her almost simultaneously.
Rate on N.U.
