The soldiers awake in the camp did not notice as the swarms of aerial gliders drew closer to the docked Alzar ships. There were several hundred ships of varying sizes, making it a daunting sight from afar. Together, they occupied an enormous section of the bay, mixing water with wood. However, they were unmanned, dark, and anchored in position. The Xingyuu soldiers flew over and dropped hundreds to thousands of containers. As the containers rained down, they exploded to cover countless ships in a strange substance. The noise drew many confused gazes over, but they had no time to investigate.
When the Xingyuu soldiers flew away, another loud horn echoed from far away. This time, it was from the Xingyuu Empire! The next second, a tremendous storm of arrows came raining down from the hillside. Like bright stars in the night sky, their silhouettes were illuminated against the dark sky by their fiery trails. They were blazing arrows! The Alzar guards and soldiers began to panic as they realized it was an enemy attack, but the Xingyuu Empire was swift and decisive. Some of the arrows landed in the middle of the camp, sending the camp into chaos, but the majority went towards the docked ships. As soon as the arrows hit the black substance, it ignited with explosive might! Countless ships were engulfed in flame. In no time at all, the fleet was covered in fire, brightening the entire bay like the dusk of day!
From the time that the scout commander heard the emergency signal to now, barely three minutes elapsed. That was how fast the Xingyuu Empire acted! By now, the entire camp was abuzz as soldiers and officers alike were roused awake. They hurried to gather their armor and weapons and report to their superior officers. The fires in the camp were quickly suppressed. There was order in this chaos.
Near the center of the camp was Lord Korogin's personal quarters. Without waiting for approval, Sir Winstin stormed inside to alert Korogin of the new developments. He was fully clad in his Royal Guard plate armor with his famed glaive strapped to his back and a longsword in his hands. His aura and senses were ready to burst out at a moment's notice. Before he stepped in, his Perception Realm senses fully swept out to reveal any threats. He knew that in a chaotic time like this, the strategy of beheading the snake's head was powerful! Korogin was actually in the most danger!
Inside, Korogin was already awake and unharmed, providing much relief to Winstin. The knight explained everything that happened in detail as the Master of Strategy began wearing his armor and weapons. Throughout the explanation, Korogin had a grim expression. In fact, prior to hearing it, he already had an idea of what was going on. The Xingyuu Empire was cutting off their path of retreat! This could only mean one thing, that they were fully prepared in taking down the Alzar army. More importantly, this meant that the Royal Assembly or the Quinvoren Army was truly compromised! Not only were they traitor to the Alzar Kingdom, but they were allied with the Xingyuu Empire!
But he realized this was not the time to consider such things. While the soldiers were scrambling to assemble, the Xingyuu Empire would be tightening their net around the army. Before they succeeded, the Alzar Kingdom had to act! He gathered the Ten Dawns and several Arcanist platoons. Together, they were the army's full Arcanist force. General Gordon saw everything and coordinated seamlessly alongside the Master of Strategy. He called upon the army's archers and cavalry to gather as well. Their actions helped calm down the scared soldiers.
Korogin nodded and gave permission to the Arcanists to act. Tengon and Nassandra swallowed their saliva and tightened their hands on their wands. They took a deep breath as everyone focused on them. The two opened their eyes and looked ahead, raising their wands in a specific direction. Their actions were perfectly synchronized. Magical Energy began to rampage out of their bodies like a flood as an intricate multi-layered magical circle appeared. At first, it was small, but as the energy supplied kept increasing, it naturally grew in size and radiance. Gradually, the magical circles grew larger until it became like a small wall of light. The spell drew in the cold air of the area around it, bringing the feeling of danger for everyone to an all-time high. Even Sir Winstin and the Royal Guards felt jumpy.
The spell was none other than a large-scale tactical spell named Torrential Blizzard! It was a special unique magic developed by the two, only possible through the combination of both Ten Dawn Nassandra and Tengon's specialities! For example, Nassandra had mastered water magic, whereas Tengon mastered wind magic. Combining the two created ice! As expected, much to the shock and amazement of everyone, hundreds to thousands of icicles were formed in the air. The spell was already hundreds, if not thousands of times more impressive than Freon's own feats in the Yunyun Stronghold. This was the true power of the Zino Kingdom, the Ten Dawns of the Celestial Council of Magic! A tremor passed through the pair as the spell was unleashed! Alongside this, the Arcanist platoons and archers also attacked!
The sight was enough to leave anyone tongue-tied and stricken with horror, much less for the Xingyuu side. The Xingyuu soldiers watched as the wall of snow and ice, amongst hundreds of other spells and arrows, rush toward them. The blizzard cut a trail of icy devastation as it tore its way across the land, blasting hundreds of enemy soldiers off their feet. Then came the icicles, which flew inside the frighteningly powerful winds. The effect… was pure destruction. The icicles were strong enough to pierce through metal, turning trees, rocks, and soldiers into nothing more than art pieces. Armor did nothing to stop it. The thousands of icicles slaughtered everything it touched without exception. The lucky few who escaped were killed by the spells and arrows from the army, effectively cutting a huge hole in the Xingyuu Empire's net.
Silence. Silence reigned across the battlefield. Time seemed to pause as everyone went mute. The carnage before them was enough to strike fear into everyone as the land itself was turned into an icy wonderland. Even as the spell faded away and the ice vanished, the trail of destruction remained. For many, this was their first time encountering a large-scale destruction spell. After all, it was the trump card of the Ten Dawns, and how many Ten Dawns existed in the world? There were only ten! To use such powerful spells required two of them to act together and heavily deplete their magical reserves. Tengon and Nassandra were so weak and their Cores were nearly empty. Furthermore, the tremendous outpouring of Magical Energy lingered in the area, transforming the ambient World Energy into a mess. The result was that no more spells could be used here until the interference faded!
Korogin and the generals were thoroughly impressed. General Gordon gave his command to the cavalry, causing them to rush out and secure the opening. Hundreds of horses charged out in well-organized ranks and began slaughtering the dazed Xingyuu soldiers. The screams and bloodshed prompted the soldiers to return to their senses and flee in fear. Korogin gave the order for the infantry to begin marching out! Thousands of soldiers moved as one into the gap, cleaving their way out of the encirclement! They were on the verge of turning the tides!