Kapitel 10: Forced Back
Samuel's words had a greater impact than he expected, directly calling forth almost all of the magi on board the Oasis Seeker.
But unfortunately for him, there were not many powerful magi on board.
It might have been a different story if this ship was headed towards the Master Realm, but sadly, this was a ship that was returning to Green Realm.
Among the passengers, most of them were businessmen who had trades going on between the two realms, and thus were forced into making the long journey. Naturally, few among them were considered learned in the art of magic.
Any capable mage would have stayed in the Master Realm in order to search for greater opportunities, so why would they return to Green Realm?
After all, there were not many who were like the Pierce Family, having the luxury of visiting the Master Realm just to attend the banquet of a noble!
And even for the group hailing from the powerful Pierce Family, only a small handful of them were actual magi. The rest of them were merely servants who had been brought along only to tend to their daily needs.
But there was one thing going for them – the existence of a man named Anthony Pierce.
On top of being the Head of the influential Pierce Family, Anthony Pierce also wielded the strength to match his lofty status!
After hearing Samuel's words, the many magi on board heeded his call, making their way to the ship's deck to check out the situation. In fact, even without Samuel saying a word, many of them had already been heading to the deck after feeling the ceaseless rocking of the ship.
Anthony Pierce was not the first to arrive, but when he did, he appeared in a grand manner.
Despite already having lived for more than a hundred years, Anthony Pierce looked to be only in his forties. Walking out with steady steps despite the violent rocking of the ship, he emanated a commanding aura that forced the weak-minded into submission!
Even without knowing his identity, everyone instinctively realised that he was not a person who could not be trifled with!
"Father!" Samuel hurriedly made his way over when he noticed his father's arrival.
"Greetings, Family Head!" Rachel was right behind Samuel as well.
"Damned extremists! Hurry up and tell me exactly what is happening!" Anthony Pierce frowned as he looked grimly towards the griffins flying around the ship.
When the FADAI riders first appeared, they had sent a message echoing throughout the ship to announce their arrival. Thus, Anthony Pierce had also realised that the ship was under attack.
However, he did not know the exact details about what happened after the attack commenced, or how the Defence Team was faring. But seeing that the attack had not ceased, he could roughly surmise that something must have gone wrong with the defence of the ship.
Not daring to disobey, Samuel quickly filled him in on the situation.
"Those useless trash! Follow me! I don't believe that with the strength of our Pierce Family, we will be unable to chase off these imbeciles!" Anthony Pierce snorted before lifting off into the air.
Samuel and Rachel shot each other a quick glance before they nodded and followed after the Head of the Pierce Family, joining the many other passengers who were magi. Together, they gathered in the air behind the members of the Defence Team who were already busy fending off attacks.
"I am Count Anthony Pierce of the Pierce Family, Vassal of King Mansor of the Star Empire! With the authority bestowed upon me, I hereby command you to stop your aggressive actions immediately!" Anthony Pierce bellowed in anger after coming to a stop beside Ice Fist.
"Hahaha! Are you an idiot or something? Who gives a shit about you and your shitty king? Just sit tight and prepare to die along with the rest!" the leader of the riders shouted out in response, once again evoking laughter from the rest of the riders.
"Not knowing what is best for you!" Anthony Pierce sneered in disdain. "Take them down!"
On his cue, the magi of the Pierce Family, along with the other stray magi, all started attacking simultaneously.
Coupled with the attacks from the Defence Team, this time the rain of projectiles was impossible for even the agile griffins to evade completely.
"Guard!" the riders shouted out in unison as they once again fired projectiles of their own to intercept those from the ship passengers.
However, the combined attack from the passengers and the Defence Team was truly too powerful for them to handle this time.
That was especially the case for the huge ball of fire that came from Anthony Pierce himself. It ploughed through the attacks from the riders like cotton, heading straight for the leader of the riders!
"Die!" Anthony Pierce's eyes were ice cold as he watched the ball of fire charge forward without obstruction.
Since that rider dared to mock him with such audacity, he would let the rider pay with his life!
However, even as the ball of fire approached, the leader of the riders was not fazed in the slightest.
"Guard X!" he commanded once more.
Upon hearing his command, all the Blast Griffins immediately stopped their assault on the ship. Instead, each of the griffins turned to fire a bolt of energy at the fireball, causing it to explode with a loud bang!
"Weaklings! Having to rely on the power of mere beasts!" Anthony Pierce mocked in disdain. "Continue the attack!"
Encouraged that the previous wave of attack almost successfully reached the opponent's leader, everyone enthusiastically attacked, trying their best to overwhelm the riders.
However, no matter how close they came, with the help of the Blast Griffins, they were simply unable to overcome that last hurdle.
With that, the situation slowly drew to a stalemate.
The two sides were evenly matched!
No, that was not it.
After the griffins halted their attacks on the ship to join the battle, the riders had taken the upper hand, gradually pushing back the combined effort of the passengers and the Defence Team!
This sent a wave of disbelief through the magi who were defending the ship.
Still, it already took all they could muster in order to get to this stage, so what else could they do?
They could blame how prepared the other party was, sending out such a big group of Blast Griffins and their magi riders!
At this point, many of the magi were already starting to hesitate.
If they really were to fail here, then under the other party's continued assault, it was only a matter of time before the Oasis Seeker fell.
When that happened, they would need all the magical energy they could muster in order to ensure their own safety!
If the result was going to be the same either way, then was it not a waste of energy to continue fighting against the riders here?
With that thought in mind, many of the stray magi started to attack with less zeal, sneakily trying to conserve their own magical energy in case they needed it to survive later.
They were already on the losing end before this, so how could the defence hold up when people started contributing less?
The balance of power crumbled quickly, and the passengers and Defence Team were forced back onto the deck, under the cover of the ship where they were temporarily safe from the might of the riders.
At the same time, the full assault of the FADAI riders smashed into the defensive enchantment, causing the entire ship to tremble violently!
"You damned selfish lot! This is not the time to only think about yourselves!" Anthony Pierce roared in anger at the other passengers, obviously aware about how their magical output suddenly reduced.
No one answered him, but that was also to be expected.
By answering him right now, it would effectively be admitting to their own selfishness, so why would anyone do that?
Even so, there was no way that they would sacrifice themselves for the sake of the ship!
Seeing the current situation, even Samuel Pierce was at a loss, gritting his teeth in frustration.
Did they really have no choice but to flee and save only the important people from the family?
While everyone was still at a loss, Rachel was already anxiously looking around, trying to come up with a proper solution. And it was then that she was struck by a sudden realisation!
That Kyle!
He was nowhere to be seen!
Wöchentlicher Energiestatus
-- Power-
Rangliste 
-- Power-
Stein