Chapitre 494: Siege on Yongtein: Breakthrough (1)
The battle commenced immediately, giving the kingdom zero time to think or talk. Their enemies would not grant them that mercy. The first course came in the form of arrows and crossbow bolts which assaulted the kingdom from all sides. The soldiers raised their shields in defense, except there were too many angles to attack from. It was impossible to defend against them all. Without any barriers or strategy, they were as helpless as an infant. They began dying at a meteoric rate! The Platoon Captain in charge ordered a retreat in the direction of the vanguard army fighting, but Elizabeth thought this was a mistake. The vanguard was already fighting against three thousand and soon another five thousand. They were heavily outnumbered. Elizabeth's unit joining theirs would simply add to their burden and compromise their flank. It would lead to both parties dying. Instead, it might have been smarter to lure their enemies to where they had the locational advantage. Too bad, that was easier said than done. Elizabeth glanced at Freon and the Ten Dawns, who returned with nods of acknowledgement. Everyone knew what had to be done.
Elizabeth drew a deep breath and extended her bow. Normally, there would be too little Magic Energy in her Core to do anything, but there was one way to get around this: World Energy! She had to admit she was nervous. Although she had used World Energy before, she played with fire every time. It was volatile, unpredictable, and dangerous. It was her very lifeforce after all. The slightest mistake could lead to a massive backlash and cripple her in return! In the worst case, she might even die, like Ten Dawn Krogan had in the Battle of Liguang. It was not something that should be carelessly used. However, the current situation was dire. They needed a way to turn things around and quickly too.
She closed her eyes and began constructing a Magic Circle. Using World Energy was not as simple as breathing or walking. There was no predefined method and the Zino Kingdom outlawed research into it as well. That meant the process of using World Energy was largely subjective and everyone had different ways to doing it. Elizabeth, for example, visualized a pitcher of water and a cup, where the pitcher of water was her World Energy, and the cup was her Magic Circle. She then had to pour precisely enough water to fill the 'cup' to the brim without a single drop spilling out. If this were real life, then it might be trivial, hardly worth the fear that World Energy invoked. No, in this visualization… the pitcher was shaking, the cup was crooked, and both were leaking! Everything reflected the uncontrollability of the situation. Her limbs began to weigh more, her breathing became harder, and her head started to swell. It felt like her body and mind were being torn apart! Nonetheless, she persisted, feeling every precious 'drop' wasted.
Her spell, along with everyone else's, was approaching completion except… this caused the three Imperial Sentinels to smile. After witnessing the destructive power that their spells brought, the Imperial Council would be foolish not to consider any countermeasures. Elizabeth had fallen for their trap. Everyone knew that casting a spell was a delicate art. It required high focus to execute, and stronger spells required proportionally greater effort. It was not an exaggeration to say that Peak Gaseous Fog and Low Condensed Drop spells were on an entirely different level to those on Low Gaseous Fog. That was the compromise for their great power over Martial Energy! This difficulty would only multiply when one added World Energy into the mix. Therefore, what would happen if they were precisely disturbed at that time? What kind of backlash would they face? The Imperial Sentinels were eager to see it.
To trigger their backlash, every nearby archer and Perception Realm was ordered to focus their assault. Almost a hundred arrows, crossbow bolts, and flying strikes converged on Elizabeth, Freon, and the Ten Dawns in a fierce, deadly storm! Everyone wanted to stop them! Shields were raised in response, as the Royal Guards and Sir Winstin stepped in. A beautiful dance of defensive techniques unfolded to repel every projectile headed their way, showing how well-defended Elizabeth and the others were. They stood in the middle of a gigantic fortress! But, despite their apparent success, that was for normal projectiles like arrows only. Flying strikes, on the other hand, required magic barriers to defend against. Since every Arcanist was exhausted, this thus became a fatal weakness.
Whoosh! Blood splattered as multiple soldiers died in a single strike. The flying strike simply went through their bodies, armor and all, with zero resistance. It was like cutting air! The people nearby screamed in terror. How horrifying it was to see the people who were standing next to them reduced to a bloody mess. The sight would probably haunt their eyes forever. The flying strikes continued unabated, eviscerating the entire frontline and cutting their way forward. The soldiers could do nothing to stop them. Had it not been for the enemy's weak mastery over Martial Energy, then everyone would have died already. That was how one-sided it was! Sadly, Elizabeth, Freon, and the Ten Dawns embarked on a road with no return. They could not simply dispel their spells now that they used World Energy. They had to press on and stabilize it otherwise they risked the energy going out of control and backlashing. That would be the worst possible outcome! This meant they had to leave their defense up to the soldiers and focus on completing their spells as quickly as possible. However, Sir Winstin and the Royal Guards showed ugly expressions because they had foreseen the end. Their enemies only had to disrupt the Arcanists' focus and there were a million ways to doing so. Injuring them was actually not necessary at all!
No one knew who slipped first, but someone eventually did. Their Magic Circle fractured and cracked until boom! It exploded in a humongous backlash of raw World Energy! The ensuing violent eruption of energies tore through the backline, blasted everyone back, and triggered a series of backlashes. One by one, all seven Arcanists, including Elizabeth and Freon, had their spells blow up in their faces! The force of which knocked everyone off their feet, broke multiple bones, injured organs, and sent blood spewing out their orifices. It was horrifying!
Elizabeth landed on the hard ground, slammed her spine into a rock, and consequently felt another wave of pain. Her Core and Channels rampaged inside her body like a million crazed horses, while her arm was almost shredded like a ragged cloth. It looked and felt gruesome! Her vision spun, giving her nausea and making her puke a vile combination of food and blood. She should feel lucky that she survived at all, but the pain kept her from thinking straight. She almost wanted to die, she felt that awful. Losing her pseudo-Core in the Battle of Liguang might have saved her life here, since it stopped her from building up an unnatural amount of World Energy. Her backlash would have been magnitudes stronger had she used it.
On Freon's side, he fared worse since he was casting a fire-type spell. That accumulated energy had rebounded on him in a frightening monsoon of flames! It was a good thing that it was unguided, otherwise, he might have been incinerated by his own spell. Regardless, his clothes were scorched, his hair was burnt, and his skin was painful to the touch. It also felt like there was a fire raging in his chest! In terms of painful experiences, even including his beatdown by Reverent Monk in the Battle of Liguang, this had to rank near the top. And like Elizabeth, he chose not to use his Bloodline Ability. The added complexity would have intensified his backlash, almost guaranteeing his death!
Their injuries were major, but medical aid was quickly rendered. All things considered, it could have been a lot worse; however, no one was in a condition to fight anymore. Their enemy's scheme worked beautifully. They opened with ranged attacks and presented themselves an easy target to lure Elizabeth, Freon, and the Ten Dawns into using their strongest means. They would then disrupt their spellcasting and cause them to backlash. The fact that Elizabeth and the others were using World Energy was an unexpected, but welcome surprise. Everything then unfolded as predicted. Finally, their enemies could act without fear! The three Imperial Sentinels led the charge into battle as five hundred soldiers followed behind. The huge skirmish began!
État de l’alimentation hebdomadaire
-- Classement
Power Stone 
-- Power
stone