As Lian’s words echoed through the area, the air around them seemed to become colder, and the pressure suddenly became several times stronger.
It was not only the Cindari who were overwhelmed by fear, even the Awakeners trembled in fear for a moment after hearing those words.
Then they remembered that the person who had said those words was actually a human just like them, and was also on their side, which made them let out a sigh of relief.
But the Cindari were still trembling in fear, those words had entered their very being like a blade and made their entire minds shake.
All the motivation they had to fight was gone, they wanted to lower their weapons and surrender.
Did they even have a chance to win at this point? They were facing a monster they had no hope of defeating.
At best, if they surrendered now, they could at least keep their lives, but if they were stupid enough to continue fighting, they would lose even that.
The Cindari looked at each other and had already made their decision.
Lian looked at them, this was the last chance he was giving them.
He could open Bloodborne Calamity Domain, he could kill all the soldiers around him in a short time and end the resistance forever.
But his goal was to capture Ashfall, not massacre all the Cindari in the city.
He could see that they had decided to surrender, so now was the best time, he raised his right hand.
[Thunder Calamity.]
Mana and lightning gathered from his body and the space around him, no real cloud appeared.
The huge ceiling of Emberroot roots and the buildings of Vhalaris covered the sky.
But lightning did not need clouds to appear, blue and white branches came out from around Lian’s hand.
First one branch.
Then five.
Then dozens of strands of lightning spread above the bridge.
The Cindari officer still had not lowered his sword when Lian closed his fingers.
The lightning fell, each branch hit one of the bows, weapons, armor, or firing towers.
The bows exploded before they could be fired.
The arrows fell from the strings, some weapons were knocked out of their owners’ hands, the bodies of the archers shook under the pressure of the lightning and collapsed onto the platforms.
Several branches hit the bases of the towers and shut down the firing systems.
Lian had controlled the power of the attack, the lightning could have burned the hearts and brains of everyone on the towers in an instant.
But instead, it only stopped their nerves and muscles from working for a while, the commanding officer also screamed when the lightning hit his sword.
The weapon fell from his hand, he dropped to one knee and then fell unconscious onto the ground.
A heavy silence spread across the Cindari army.
First, one shield fell to the ground, then a spear was dropped, the sound of weapons hitting the stone floor continued one after another.
Some soldiers still wanted to resist, but when they saw their companions lowering their weapons, they also stepped back.
"We surrender! Please, have mercy on us!"
"We are ready to put down our weapons! Please, leave our people alone!"
The Awakeners came forward from inside Ashfall.
The Tanks and Warriors separated the prisoners.
The human archers were still ready on the rooftops to fire if the Cindari betrayed them.
Cassian ordered several groups to collect the soldiers’ seals, Potions, and weapons.
Marcus sent the defensive forces to both sides of the bridge.
«I told you beating them was better than running away.» Ethan moved through the prisoners with a big smile.
«It’s not over yet.» Rindo passed beside him.
The first encirclement army had almost been defeated, Kael had been captured, and two Ballistas had been destroyed.
The line of Rootbound Wardens had fallen apart, and most of the smaller officers had left the battlefield.
Ashfall was truly on the verge of becoming a fortress of the humans.
No one really thought everything would happen this quickly, everyone had expected longer conflicts, a bloodier battle with more casualties.
Especially the Awakeners, they had even expected that they might be the ones who lost in the end.
But the result was far beyond what any of them had expected, a complete victory without a single casualty on their side.
Perhaps the only person whose expression was not the same as usual at this moment was Seris, because she realized that the distance between her and her rival... was growing larger very quickly...
The Student Council President raised his hand to give the order to completely capture the bridges.
But before a single word could leave his mouth, the ground under everyone’s feet shook, it was not a vibration caused by an explosion, nor the collapse of a building, it was as if all of Vhalaris itself had reacted.
The red lines inside the walls, bridges, and towers went dark for a moment.
Then they returned with a golden light, the huge roots that the buildings and streets had been built on began to move.
The stone floor of the bridge moved up and down, the walls of Ashfall shook like parts of a living creature.
The wooden barriers moved aside, the defensive towers changed their angles.
The surrendered soldiers raised their heads, fear and despair on some of their faces turned into hope.
Kael gave a weak smile despite his blood and injuries.
Lian removed his foot from his chest.
Predator’s Instincts reacted.
This time, the warning was not short, a constant, heavy, and serious pressure spread through his entire body.
A danger approaching from the center of Vhalaris was different from every enemy he had seen until now.
Mana pressure spread from Rootspire, the golden roots of the city shone brighter with every step of that presence.
Tharos was stronger than Kael.
Kael was stronger than most of the commanders in the city.
But the power that was approaching now was on another level.
«Enough.» It was only one word, but the Cindari soldiers immediately lowered their heads.
Even the injured Rootbound Wardens tried to get down on one knee.
The remaining army lines on both sides of the main bridge moved aside, golden roots came out from under the stone floor.
They twisted around each other and formed living stairs in the center of the bridge.
Golden light moved between the roots, a man stepped onto the battlefield from inside that light and heat.
Maelor, the main Rootwarden of Vhalaris.
He was not wearing full battle armor.
A heavy black and gold cloak rested over his shoulders, and only a few metal plates covered parts of his chest and arms.
Even so, every step he took made the entire city react.
The roots opened a path for him, the light became brighter with his presence.
The air around him was heavy, not like Kael’s violent pressure, more like Vhalaris itself was present in the form of a person.
Maelor’s eyes first moved over the unconscious and captured soldiers, then stopped on the destroyed Ballistas and broken bridge.
Then he saw Kael, the border commander was lying among the ruins with his armor broken and his body paralyzed.
Finally, Maelor’s eyes stopped on Lian, there was no clear anger on his face and no surprise either, only a heavy calm that was more dangerous than any shout.
Lian gathered the remaining lightning around his fists again.
The defeat of Kael had only taken a few minutes, of course, he had expected this man to interfere and knew that he was the greatest threat.
After all, he was the only Level 30 creature present in this city, and he definitely had enough power that even Lian had to take him seriously.
"We accepted you as guests, and this is your answer?" Maelor said coldly, and he no longer had the kind expression he had before.
"Guests? Don’t you think that’s a stupid joke? Did you think we didn’t know your real goal? Did you think we didn’t know that you wanted to use us to find a way to escape to our world?" Lian also said with mockery.
At this point, there was no need to lie or hide the truth.
The city lord became silent, as if he had not expected the humans to know the truth...
"What? Don’t you have anything to say?"
"So you know the truth... then there is no need to hide it anymore... If you understand nothing about kindness, I will force you to tell me the way to your world with strength." Maelor added after a few moments of silence.