Aurora

“What? You mean you can also use light magic?” the leading priest asked in astonishment after hearing Midir’s words.

The people on the wall had only seen him use water and fire magic at the start. As for that shimmering, multicolored magic sphere, everyone had assumed it was just some special type of spell formulation. After all, reaching such a high level of mastery in just two elements was already incredible enough.

Now, being told that he could also use light magic powerful enough to pierce through the Void Demon swarm was enough to make the priests’ jaws drop.

“Yes. Is there really a need to be so surprised? Enough small talk, I’ll need your assistance.”

Midir looked up at the array overhead, which was still emitting a continuous, ear-piercing screech. He ignored the priests’ shocked expressions and began to condense elemental energy on his own.

Enveloped in a dense white light surging around him, he seemed draped in a layer of holy radiance. His entire presence became otherworldly, radiating an aura that inspired instinctive awe.

Witnessing this, the priests felt a shock and awe beyond words. Even many high-ranking members of the Church of Light could not reach such a level.

However, the current situation left no room for the priests to dwell on it. They quickly pushed the incredible sight to the back of their minds.

They sat on the ground around Midir, surrounding him in an ancient and mysterious formation.

To an outsider, the formation might have looked random, but it contained hidden profundity. Each priest occupied a specific position, with the distance and angle between them meticulously calculated to ensure they could gather and guide the power of the light element to the maximum extent.

As the priests closed their eyes and concentrated, a warm and soft glow began to permeate the air on the wall. Through prayer and meditation, they established a deep connection with the light elements in the atmosphere.

Under their guidance, these light elements seemed to be granted life, slowly converging toward the center where Midir stood.

Midir could feel this power surging into his body—pure and potent—merging with his own magical energy to form an unprecedented force.

He took a deep breath and channeled this power between his hands. A dazzling light gradually took shape in his palms, as if it were about to explode with world-shattering power.

After roughly estimating the time, he shouted toward Blake and Ronald.

“Ronald, at what angle do you need to launch? I need about a minute here. In one minute, have Blake open the array in front of me, and I’ll clear the path for you!”

Upon hearing the reminder, Ronald immediately climbed onto Iron Man No. 23. He stuffed the tube filled with green powder into one of the mecha’s cannon barrels and shouted back at the top of his lungs.

“Just open a path for me at about a sixty-degree angle into the air!”

Blake then used the amplification device to shout to the soldiers ahead, “Attention, Sector 9 array! Re-open in one minute! Be ready to close on my command!”

“Ten... five... three...”

As Blake’s countdown reached its end, the light emanating from Midir’s body grew increasingly intense.

At the exact moment the defense array opened, the entire space seemed to be torn apart by an invisible force. Immediately following, a blinding, swirling vortex of light erupted from Midir’s body.

That light rotated and expanded, instantly illuminating everything around it as if it were broad daylight. His low and steady voice echoed through the air.

“Aurora Sky!”

With that low murmur, the world seemed to respond to his call. An unprecedented, brilliant radiance suddenly exploded above the fortress walls.

It was so intense that everyone on the wall couldn't help but close their eyes. They felt a warm and powerful energy envelop their entire bodies, as if the whole world were being purified by this light.

When the light dimmed slightly and everyone opened their eyes again, they saw a golden “sun” rising above the wall. It wasn't a real sun, but the manifestation of the ultimate light released by Midir.

Bathed in the golden light, Midir seemed to become the center of the world, holding his blue longsword.

In the next moment, under Midir’s control, a white spear hundreds of meters long condensed at the tip of Starflame. It shimmered with dazzling light, rotating and whistling like a golden dragon as it pierced fiercely into the black swarm surging through the gap in the wall.

Wherever the golden spear passed, the swarm met with total disaster. They were instantly pierced by the light and turned directly into ash, vanishing into nothingness.

This violent strike blasted a circular hole over ten meters wide through the swarm pouring in from the gap.

Seeing this opening, Ronald’s pupils constricted slightly inside the cockpit, and he shouted out.

“Now! Fire!”

As he pressed the button in his hand, Iron Man No. 23 immediately launched a small rocket from its cannon port.

Trailing a long blue tail of flame, the warhead pushed the container filled with emerald-green powder through the hole and high into the sky. After several seconds of flight, it detonated in the high heavens.

The mineral powder refined by Ronald turned into a great green rain above the swarm. The crystalline emerald powder scattered under the force of the explosion, drenching the swarm outside the fortress.

Just as he had predicted, the locusts that had been twisted into Void Demons had their primal instincts strongly triggered the moment they touched the powder.

They may have lost their reason and memories, but that natural repulsion and urge to flee from harmful substances was like a brand carved into their genes. They scattered and fled in all directions amidst the green rain.

Soon, the black swarm shrouding everyone began to recede like a tide. The blue sky and dazzling sunlight reappeared outside the defense array.

But while the soldiers on the wall were cheering and jumping for joy at having driven away the swarm, Aila noticed something was off.

“Why were there only so few insects overhead? According to my original estimates, the swarm should have been far more numerous than this!” She stared up at the sky that should have been thick with the swarm, her voice full of confusion and doubt.

Midir, who had just stepped out of the strange formation of priests, felt a spark of inspiration upon hearing Aila’s question. He suddenly realized something, took a deep breath, and slowly voiced his guess.

“Your suspicion makes a lot of sense. These locusts... they might not have gathered outside the barrier to attack directly from the start.” Midir’s tone was heavy. “Perhaps they were just a means for the Void Demons to deceive us—to block our sight and perception, making us mistakenly believe they were the entire force.”

Just as Midir finished speaking, a violent tremor came from beneath the wall. Everyone rushed to the edge of the battlements, looking down at the situation below.

At some unknown point, a row of massive creatures had quietly gathered at the base of the wall—black beetle-type Void Demons. There were many of them, with a rough estimate of no less than several hundred.

Each one was a terrifying ten meters in length. Their black shells gleamed in the sunlight like pieces of meticulously carved obsidian, radiating a cold and profound luster.

The heads of these Void Demons were set with sharp, peerless black horns. Not only were they of staggering length, but they also shimmered with a heart-stopping cold light.

At this moment, they were frantically swinging these lethal weapons, launching wave after wave of fierce impacts against the defense array outside the wall.

They were lined up in a straight line, like thousands of giant battering rams. Every collision was accompanied by a deafening roar that made the outer face of the wall tremble slightly.

This dense, highly penetrative attack was far more powerful than anything the locust-type Void Demons could muster. After only ten seconds, the defense array on the wall could no longer withstand the immense pressure. Cracks began to surface, and it wobbled precariously, as if it would collapse at any moment.