Stormveil City, southern gate.
The four dragons circling above the gate were shot down in an instant. After a brief, stunned silence, the city's residents erupted into an earth-shattering clamor once more.
On the other side, Miles had not even begun to make his move when he suddenly heard the commotion from within the city.
The four dragons in Leon's sector plummeted from the sky like cannonballs.
“Truly incredible...”
Miles sighed in deep admiration.
The strength Leon was displaying now was far greater than what he had shown during the previous punitive expedition against the Mad Shark King.
And to think, it had been less than half a month since that battle...
“Come to think of it, isn't the competition for the God-chosen about to begin?”
The thought suddenly occurred to Miles, but he quickly shook his head.
“Well, I can only wish the other God-chosen competing against Priest Leon the best of luck.”
Reining in his thoughts, he turned his gaze to the dragons in his assigned sector. His mental power surged outward like a rising tide.
A moment later, several dragons plummeted from the sky at the same time, slamming into the ground and turning into heaps of mangled flesh.
Meanwhile, Viscount Finn's battle also drew to a swift close.
As a bloodline warrior, he could not use a Flying Divine Art like a Gold rank priest, but he possessed immense physical strength.
Leaping high from the city wall, he vaulted onto the back of one dragon and used it as a springboard to strike at the others.
Within a mere three minutes, Viscount Finn rampaged through the sky.
He endured the fiery breath of two red dragons head-on, bringing down all five of his targets.
“Priest Leon, Bishop Miles, thank you for your assistance.”
Viscount Finn, with embers still smoldering on his body, approached the two with deep gratitude.
Fortunately, both Leon and Miles had been in the city when the dragons attacked.
Otherwise, handling such a large number of dragons on his own would have been an incredibly difficult task.
Leon cast the faint glow of Light Prayer over Viscount Finn, saying,
“Viscount Finn, if you uncover the reason why these dragons went wild, please send a letter to Eldenborg to let me know.”
Viscount Finn nodded. “I will, Priest Leon.”
Leon discussed the matter further with the two, agreeing that they would share any information the moment the cause of this mana surge was uncovered.
Afterward, he took Alicia—who had just restocked her lollipop supply at the Coo Coo Merchant Association—and the Falcon warriors who had been left at the Cathedral of Sacred Light, and departed Stormveil City for Eldenborg.
This mana surge had been far too sudden. Let alone small villages and towns, even Stormveil City had only realized it after the surge hit and the dragons attacked.
Under the influence of this mana surge, the magical beasts in the nearby mountains and the Dusk Sea would likely go wild as well, potentially launching attacks on nearby towns and villages.
With Aleph-One, an Epic rank powerhouse, guarding Eldenborg, Leon was not particularly worried about his home base.
What worried him more was the "Evelyn" ruins beneath the Zachary Manor in Jellyfish Town.
According to their detections, there was a mana focus within the Evelyn ruins.
The mana surge was highly likely to affect this mana focus, which could lead to all kinds of anomalies.
Leon needed to quickly lead his people back to Eldenborg, resupply, and then head to Jellyfish Town.
...
Eldenborg.
“Young Master, you're back! Something is wrong with the Elden ruins!”
The moment he arrived at Eldenborg, a figure eagerly stepped forward to greet him. It was Ratahn.
He quickly walked to Leon's side and reported concisely:
“Young Master, about two hours ago, a massive amount of mana mist suddenly erupted from inside the Elden ruins. This mist is continuously spreading outward along the underground passage.”
“The alchemical golems driven by the leaking mana have also begun emerging from the ruins as the mist spreads.”
“They are too numerous for the remaining men to handle, so I made the call to immediately withdraw everyone from the underground passage and seal off Zachary Manor and the surrounding area.”
“After that, I deployed scouts to monitor the spread of the mana mist and rushed back to report to you immediately.”
“Due to the urgency of the situation, I was unable to ask for your permission beforehand. Please forgive me for leaving my post without authorization, Young Master.”
Hearing Ratahn's report, Leon's anxiety instantly dissipated. He patted Ratahn on the shoulder and said,
“Your quick thinking was excellent. You did the right thing!”
Looking at Ratahn, whose clothes were still stained with mud and water, Leon could not help but marvel. This casual promotion of his had actually turned out to be an SR card!
Any other guard would have either stubbornly held the underground passage to the death or panicked when the mana mist began to spread, unable to figure out what to do.
That Ratahn could handle it to this extent made Leon highly satisfied.
After briefly explaining Stormveil City's detection of the mana surge to Baron Pierce, Aaron, and the others in Eldenborg, Leon quickly set off for Jellyfish Town with Ratahn.
However, just as they reached the place where they had previously fought the Three Sword Guild, a sudden wave of apprehension washed over Leon.
At the same time, Alicia, who had been walking by Leon's side, suddenly changed expression.
“Watch... out!”
Arcane power erupted from her body, instantly constructing a thick shadow barrier to Leon's side.
Bang!
A dull, heavy blast echoed as a long, spiral bullet slammed violently into the shadow barrier!
The front half of the shadow barrier was completely pierced, and the back half was also mostly penetrated.
Fortunately, the resistance of the front half had absorbed the bullet's kinetic energy entirely. The spiral bullet ultimately failed to break through the final layer to hit Leon.
“I'm fine!”
Leon met Alicia's gaze, speaking even as he summoned his silver longbow.
He was protected by his Sacred Light Shield at all times, and he even made a habit of casting it before every battle just to be sure.
Thus, even if the bullet had pierced through the shadow barrier, it would not have caused him any harm.
After reassuring Alicia, Leon's gaze quickly swept toward the direction from which the attack had come.
It was a patch of elevated farmland about three hundred meters away. Atop the field stood a monster about a meter tall with a long, pipe-like cannon mouth. Black smoke billowed from it, resembling the smoke of burning gunpowder after artillery fire.
As it emitted the black smoke, the creature began to retreat, its greenish-brown body gradually losing color and turning transparent.
“A Turret Kama!”
Leon recognized the monster at a glance. It was a Turret Kama, exactly like the one he had captured before!
And just as Leon recognized the Turret Kama, images rushed into his perception field.
Over a hundred bizarrely shaped Kama were using their light-refracting invisibility to rapidly close in on Leon's group!
On the surrounding high ground, one Turret Kama after another deactivated its invisibility, aiming their long, pipe-like cannons directly at Leon's party.
They had been systematically surrounded by a swarm of Kama!
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