Burns V's cold gaze followed the two as they escaped the range of his gravity magic. He slowly raised his hand once more and clenched his fist in the air—
Boom!
A terrifying, invisible force slammed into the Shadow King out of nowhere, causing him to cough up a violent mouthful of blood!
Yet, suppressing his injuries, the Shadow King dared not pause for even a fraction of a second. He continued to drag the Frozen King along as he fled frantically out of the ruins.
Burns V watched their retreating figures, then slowly withdrew his gaze and stood up from his Snowtower stone chair.
With a flick of his right hand, a magic staff engraved with intricate mana patterns appeared in his grasp.
Burns V swept his gaze over the surrounding court, which had grown ancient and dilapidated after being washed by thousands of years of time, a hint of emotion touching his face.
But soon, this brief emotion quickly vanished, returning to its usual state of absolute, unruffled calm.
The majestic mana within his body surged and poured into his staff, forming a necromantic magic spell so complex that just a glance at it would make one dizzy:
“Rise, my warriors.”
The necromantic magic rippled outward, sweeping across the ruined walls and broken pillars of the Burns Merman Court.
The earth, which had been silent for a millennium, began to tremble as buried skeletons broke through the soil one after another.
Under the powerful authority of the necromantic magic, flesh and blood rapidly grew and filled out over the withered bones. Deep blue soul fire ignited within their hollow eye sockets, and their long-extinguished consciousnesses were awakened once more...
Within moments, a newly reborn and highly disciplined army of merman undead assembled.
Clad in the dust of ages, their eyes flashed with the sharp edge that belonged to the Burns Merman Court from a thousand years ago.
They bowed their heads low, offering the most vulnerable back of their necks to their emperor.
Just like the Burns Merman Court at its peak a thousand years ago.
...
Stormveil City, southern gate.
“Are the magic towers fully charged yet?”
“Hurry up and load the alchemical ballistae! Those dragons are about to reach the gates!”
“There's another gap in the defenses over there! Quick, get someone to fill it!”
When Leon and Miles arrived at the southern gate, they saw Viscount Finn already standing atop the city wall, commanding the city's guards and warband warriors.
“Viscount Finn, what's the situation?”
Leon and Miles walked over and asked.
Seeing that it was the two of them, Viscount Finn quickly explained:
“The situation is relatively stable.”
“Although these dragons have gone wild, they haven't completely lost their minds. Once they sensed the magic towers and alchemical ballistae on the walls, they stayed outside the defensive perimeter and didn't charge in.”
Leon nodded in understanding and asked further,
“Do we know why these dragons are attacking Stormveil City in packs?”
Viscount Finn shook his head.
“The mages in the city speculate that the previous mana surge might have disrupted the mana inside these dragons, causing them to go wild.”
“But dragons are not ordinary magical beasts, after all. Even if they were affected by a mana surge, they should have only suffered minor effects. Normally, they shouldn't have fallen into such a crazed state.”
Miles chimed in, saying,
“That's exactly what puzzles me as well.”
“Perhaps there was some other special power hidden within that mana surge that affected these dragons?”
Listening to their back-and-forth speculation, Leon interrupted,
“Speculation without evidence is meaningless.”
“Viscount Finn, Bishop Miles, our primary task right now is to shoot down these dragons looming outside the southern gate.”
Hearing this, Miles and Viscount Finn followed Leon's gaze, looking up at the dragons in the sky. The beasts hovered in a crazed state, yet retained just enough sanity to know they should not approach the walls.
“True,” Miles agreed. “Shall we split up?”
Leon nodded. “Bishop Miles, I'll leave the pack of dragons on the right to you.”
“Viscount Finn, you can handle the dragons on the left, right?”
“As for the remaining dragons, leave them to me.”
Having divided their targets, the three quickly leaped into action.
Since the dragons were circling outside the southern gate and refusing to draw near, Leon and the other two would take the initiative to attack.
Two Gold rank transcendents, plus Leon—a bug-like Silver priest—were more than enough to clean up the dragons outside.
Under the burning gazes of the warband warriors and city residents, the three stepped out of the gates to face the dragon pack.
The ones Leon had to face were four dragons, each about fifteen meters long—two blue dragons and two green dragons.
The reason dragons were known as a high-tier race was that from the moment of their birth, they could tap into their own bloodline to unearth their draconic heritage, mastering powerful Dragonic Magic.
Furthermore, they had no need for training or cultivation. As long as they ate and drank well, their strength would naturally grow with age.
The fifteen-meter-long dragons before him were likely in their juvenile stage, possessing strength at the Silver rank.
However, despite being only Silver rank, their racial stats were so exceptionally high that their actual combat power far exceeded that of ordinary Silver rank transcendents.
Generally speaking, facing a single dragon required a party of at least four transcendents of the same rank to successfully hunt it.
But obviously, Leon did not belong to the "generally speaking" category.
Stepping out of the southern gate, his cold gaze swept over the four dragons in the sky. His mental power surged from his mind, pouring into his priest's scepter.
【Light Prayer】 + 【Healing Art】.
【Sacred Light Shield】
【Bemis’s Protection】
【Moonlight Cloak】
【I Name This the Mental Power Boost Divine Art】
【Long-Range Enhancement】
One Divine Art after another was unleashed from his scepter. Leon's expression remained unchanged as he activated the 【Silver Comet】 worn on his index finger.
Fully prepared, Leon raised his priest's scepter once more, and a massive silver longbow materialized by his side.
Under the control of his giant Hand of Thunder, the silver longbow was drawn back like a full moon. The invisible, transparent "arrow" aimed straight at a red-eyed blue dragon in the sky.
Thrum!
The bowstring snapped. The crescent-shaped bow recoiled with a clear, resonant hum, and the Hammer of Sacred Light charged upon the string shot forward like a bolt of lightning!
High in the sky, before the red-eyed blue dragon with its remaining sanity could even react, a tearing, agonizing pain erupted from its neck.
Rip!
Deep blue dragon scales shattered, and boiling hot dragon blood splattered across the sky!
A bloody hole nearly half a meter wide had been blasted directly into the blue dragon's neck.
It was a mangled, shocking sight!
“Roar!”
The blue dragon let out a tragic, agonizing roar. Its massive wings could no longer support its heavy body, and it fell helplessly from the sky.
An instant kill!
Witnessing this, the warband warriors on the walls and the residents inside the city intensely erupted into a deafening cheer.
The other three dragons near the blue dragon were also shaken to the core by this sudden turn of events. They frantically flapped their wings, soaring higher in hopes of putting some distance between themselves and the ground.
But Leon would not give them the chance.
“I declare that the next three arrows shall not miss!”
As soon as the words left his mouth, a brilliant light burst from the silver longbow.
The giant Hand of Thunder pulled the silver longbow, drawing it back into a full moon once more.
Thrum! Thrum! Thrum!
The bowstring vibrated, its crisp twangs echoing throughout Stormveil. Transparent giant hammers shot out amidst a roaring boom!
“Roar!!”
The three remaining dragons—two green and one blue—were about to ascend rapidly when their bodies suddenly froze in mid-air. In the next instant, they let out heart-wrenching shrieks and plummeted from the sky!
With three layers of 【Long-Range Enhancement】 stacked, the power is at least twice as strong as before...
The silver longbow faded from his side as Leon thought to himself.
Every buffing Divine Art could enhance any linked Divine Art.
The buff from 【Long-Range Enhancement】 did not just apply to the Radiance Longbow; it also enhanced the Hammer of Sacred Light that served as the "arrow," as well as the Sacred Light Shield that imbued the arrow with an "armor-piercing" effect.
“Back when I was eighteen, standing there like a nobody...”
Leon recalled his time in Soleneum, when the three bell tolls rang out. Even under everyone's protection, he had nearly been assassinated in a sneak attack by a treacherous baron.
But now, as the three bells tolled once more, he had completely transformed.
“Next time the three bells toll... Actually, never mind. Let's not raise any death flags.”
Rate on N.U.
