Chapter 898: Joining the Barriers
Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation
Benjamin could only give up the chase.
He was flying in the air, with Worchester behind him. This city was the only stronghold they had in the kingdom; the civilians, soldiers, mages... Countless people had gathered there, in the densely packed blocks that led to the seaports. At this moment, all of them had lifted their heads, watching in unison at the dozens of white light streaking across the night sky.
Not everyone would be able to escape in time. Even more so, not everyone wanted to escape.
At least two thirds of the buildings would be razed to the ground the moment the artillery fell, and the lives of a few hundred thousand peoples would be reduced to fine powder. No one had imagined that the Church would make such a brutal move; they were going to destroy what they could not conquer. Furthermore, judging by the speed at which they acted, this was definitely a back-up plan they had prepared beforehand.
"Quick! Disperse the crowds! Run as far as you can!" Within the limited amount of time left, Benjamin suddenly opened his mouth and yelled at the mages behind him in a thunderous voice.
Having said that, he flew straight up, and blocked the forward trajectory of the cannonballs of Holy light.
There was no other way. The two mages who had been guarding the Runic Defense Technique had been affected and forced to join the battle, due to the breach of the north city gate. Thus, they had not yet been able to fix the Defense Technique now. He could only rely on himself, as his intention of using the gigantic barrier to resist the incoming artillery had already turned into bubbles.
No matter what it was, he could not let the incoming artillery destroy Worchester like that.
Benjamin immediately activated the Descending of Water and summoned the water elemental sprite, while using his fingers to expertly draw out that string of runes.
"Elemental Order - Defense!"
The cannonballs of Holy light were not flying too fast, but this bit of time was just too short for a city that was about to be destroyed. Benjamin had no time to think about anything else; he unreservedly controlled the water elements that he was able to direct, and pulled out the few pieces of Water Elemental Crystals left in his pocket as well, crushing and tossing them out as much as he could...
He racked his brain in that brief period of time, using every trick and technique he could think of to build as strong a barrier as he could in the airspace above Worchester.
However, it was at this moment that he suddenly felt an enormous wave of magic oscillation coming from behind him.
Benjamin turned his head to look, only to see numerous familiar faces. Joanna, Frank, Morris, a student that he could not remember the name of but often greeted him in the Academy, Tony, the Boss Lady of the textile shop that had long become a production mage... He did not know when, but almost all of the mages in Worchester had flown up. Runes were appearing and flashing in their eyes as elements of various types interwove and converged with each other, gathering in the airspace above Worchester like streams of rivers flowing into the ocean.
Every one of them were casting spells to create shields through condensation, blocking the forward trajectory of the cannonballs of Holy light. Piece by piece, the barriers were stacked and fixed together, using Benjamin’s barrier as a foundation. They were quickly pieced together to form an extremely spectacular barrier that spanned across the entire city, like an extensive and magnificent curtain with patches of various colors.
In the distance, the retreating Grant turned his head to see this sight. His expression changed. After a moment’s silence, he finally released a cold harumph.
"Hmph... A bunch of fools."
At the same time, Benjamin had turned around to look at the group of mages behind him, stunned.
"You guys..."
"What’s the point if all the limelight is focused on you?" Morris sat on a wheelchair suspended in the air, watching the incoming cannonballs without shifting his gaze like the others. He laughed as he casted his spell, saying, "We want to be heroes too."
Benjamin did not know whether to laugh or cry.
This bunch of people...
In actual fact, he could always rely on his intangible form to dodge a bullet no matter how frightening this round of attack was. The mages’ involvement now had caused his stress to increase instead. He had to block all of these cannonballs, or all the mages would be wiped out here. Other than him, no one would be able to survive.
However, he could not muster the slightest sliver of blame in his heart. In fact, he seemed to be more energized.
He carefully considered it; if he were forced to enter his intangible form, that would mean Worchester’s definite destruction under the attack of artillery. Then... how would that be different from defeat?
He... Oh, no, they could not accept defeat.
"Artillery battalion! Return fire as violently as you can for me! Don’t let them expect to have it so easy!"
Benjamin turned his head and, in a haste before the cannonballs of Holy light reached impact, yelled towards his own artillery battalion by amplifying his voice. In the next second, before he had the chance to see the cannonballs of Holy light rise up from the middle of the City Square, over sixty cannonballs from the Church directly struck the barrier they had structured and built.
Bang!
With the distance between them being so short and practically nothing to separate them, they could feel the power of the cannonballs of Holy light even more intensely this time. Great amounts of light elements surged in an inward collapse, before exploding violently in the blink of an eye. The heat and force of impact released by the explosion had already far exceeded those of the legendary Forbidden Spell. The light was so dazzling that there was no point in them putting on dark glasses. All they could do was to shut their eyes tightly and turn their heads away; no one was able to see the sight of the collision between the two things.
Furthermore, by the time that blast of energy had spread out on the barrier, a sharp, excruciating pain exploded in the head of every mage, as though someone had drilled a hole through the back of their heads. The unbearable pain caused many to almost fall from the sky; some of them even had heavy flows of blood gushing out from their nostrils and ears immediately.
However... the immense amount of spiritual energy interweaved and converged as before, surging forwards. It rushed towards their barrier relentlessly.
Meanwhile, the citizens of Worchester beneath them had already walked out from their homes. From the beginning of the streets until the end, from adults to little children... The streets of this city had never been so crowded in the past few days. In the brightly lit night, they gathered together in clusters of families. Everyone lifted their heads to gaze at the sky with narrowed eyes; fear, anxiety and hopelessness were amongst the mix of expressions that appeared in that moment, so complicated that it was beyond the limit of what words could express.
Other than this, six cannonballs of Holy light had risen from the middle of the City Square, flying over them at a lower altitude and slowly descending towards the retreating royal army. If Benjamin and the others were unable to stop the barrage of artillery, then this would be a final, furious roar from the city before its destruction.
"Motherfucker... They won’t stay still even when they’re about to die."
Within the royal army, General Press followed his men as they withdrew. He turned his head to watch this sight and could not help but curse secretly in his heart. However, even though he saw the cannonballs falling closer, there was not much panic in his heart; all he did was ride his horse and follow the retreating team of priests closely from behind.
With His Highness the Pope here, how could these few cannonballs hurt them?
Indeed, just as the cannonballs were about to arrive, Grant flew up from amongst the crowd. Numerous priests converged Holy Light and directed it towards his body. All he did was lightly point towards the cannonballs; six runes slowly drifted over, and with a bang, the cannonballs exploded. Right after that, they were gradually reduced into nothing.
"His Highness the Pope is truly awesome! Now things are really looking good for that bunch of reckless mages eh? Not like they don’t end up all going down to hell anyway," Press hurriedly shouted, trying to throw in some flattery.
Nevertheless, Grant did not seem to hear him. He stayed floating in the air, fixating his eyes stubbornly in the direction of Worchester.
Seeing that, Press was startled, and turned his head.
All he could see was Worchester on the coast, well and unharmed. The vast and magnificent barrier that had been protecting the city in the airspace above it was looking slightly broken at the moment. Meanwhile, under the colorful barrier, the numbers of the mages were still dense and packed... As many as there were before the artillery had hit.