Desperate Situation

But no matter the circumstances, reality always had a way of turning in the opposite direction.

Just as the people of the Kingdom and the Empire were working together to fight the Abyss, a sudden anomaly occurred below as over a hundred figures flew rapidly toward Hogg's group.

They were clad in black robes, completely unconcealed in their radiating abyssal mana.

By the time anyone could react, the enemy's magic was already upon them. Caught guard, several mages in the group were struck directly and plunged from the sky.

Although the others managed to defend themselves, the enemy was not weak. Coupled with the sudden ambush, their formation instantly fell into chaos, and the area slipping past the rift rapidly expanded.

They moved in perfect coordination, maintaining a considerable distance from Hogg while using long-range magic to attack the other mages. Furthermore, they never lingered in battle, scattering in all directions the moment they faced a counterattack.

Their objective was clear—to stall.

The pressure on Venus's side surged once again. After watching Hogg's situation from afar, she hesitated for a few seconds, gritted her teeth, and dove toward the black-robed mages.

With a roaring dragon, she crashed into the crowd with unrivaled momentum. Some black-robed mages were smashed to pieces by sharp claws mid-cast, while a few were swallowed whole.

Behind her, the silver-white knights also engaged the enemy.

Having reached the midst of the crowd, Venus raised her longsword high. Her eyes narrowed as her mana suddenly surged, her gaze brimming with murderous intent.

【Battle Technique—Army Breaker: Slash】

In the next instant, she swung her longsword, executing dozens of consecutive slashes in all directions with zero blind spots in less than a second.

Each slash sent a pale blue flying blade from the edge of her sword, locking onto all the black-robed mages within range with pinpoint accuracy.

Wherever the blue blades passed, the black-robed mages had no escape—they were sliced in half in the blink of an eye, and some were even shredded directly by the violent mana.

Severed limbs and broken bodies rained down from the sky like a torrential downpour.

With just a single strike, she had halved the number of black-robed mages. If not for the need to avoid friendly fire, she could have wiped them all out instantly.

Meanwhile, Hogg was still fighting the Abyssal Rift with all his might. The remaining mages surrounded him, doing their best to block the enemy's magical attacks.

At this moment, Venus felt a wave of exhaustion wash over her. Maintaining the 【Fearless Knights】 had consumed most of her mana, and that was on top of her continuous charging and usage of other battle techniques.

Even as a Heroic Spirit Rank expert, she found it somewhat strenuous. Needless to say, Hogg had it even worse; he had not stopped casting spells from the very beginning, and most of the abyssal monsters were being annihilated by his magic... and he had been outputting at full power the entire time.

“This mana... is truly incredible.”

This caused Venus, who had always prided herself on not being inferior to anyone, to sigh in genuine admiration. In terms of pure mana capacity, Hogg was indeed a notch above her.

Sighing softly, she gripped her longsword tightly again and patted her dragon's neck. The Red Dragon understood her intent, turning once more to fly toward the other black-robed mages.

But—

“Got you.”

As the voice rang out above her head, Venus snapped her head up. She saw the Eldest Princess of the Kingdom reaching her right hand straight toward her, fingers splayed as dark purple mana rapidly gathered in her palm.

Venus instinctively wanted to raise her arm to block, but she was a step too late—

【Deprivation】

The palm gently touched Venus's chest. This seemingly powerless contact produced an effect where Venus, along with her dragon, shot downward like an arrow released from a bow, falling from the sky at a speed barely visible to the naked eye and smashing into the ground.

A few seconds later, a dull thud echoed from below.

Gorman stared in the direction Venus had disappeared, her eyes filled with confusion. Looking at her palm, she wiggled her fingers slightly and muttered in puzzlement,

“This time I definitely grabbed her heart directly, didn't I? What happened?”

She hadn't felt the other party's heart shatter in her palm, which was somewhat unexpected. After thinking for a moment, she finally shook her head in distress and sighed,

“Heroic Spirit Rank... are indeed hard to kill. Oh well~”

In the next second, she switched to a cheerful expression and closed in on Hogg's position, smiling quietly as she looked at the mages struggling to hold their ground.

Gorman did not rush toward Hogg immediately.

She hovered in midair, raising her hand to condense a dark purple sphere of mana. The sphere was only the size of a fist, but upon its appearance, the surrounding air warped briefly.

Below, a continuous stream of abyssal monsters continued to fall from the edges of the rift.

Hogg was still outputting magic with all his strength. Wherever his staff pointed, fire, frost, lightning, and wind blades intertwined to seal the rift. Had he not been using magic to forcibly suppress it, the tear in the sky would have completely spiraled out of control long ago.

But Gorman clearly had no intention of letting him maintain this defensive line in peace.

With a gentle flick of her finger, the mana sphere flew silently toward a court mage standing in front of Hogg.

The moment the mana sphere drew near, a gap instantly caved in on the surface of the magic shield. In the next instant, several Shadow Arrows pierced his body from all directions.

Accompanied by a scream, he plunged from the sky.

Hogg glared in anger, but he did not dare stop the mana flowing into his staff.

Gorman raised her hand with a smile again, and a second mana sphere flew out.

This time, the target was an imperial mage. The person reacted quickly, layering two 【Mana Shields】 in succession.

Yet, they still failed to defend against it, and both shields shattered almost simultaneously.

Seizing this opening, the black-robed mages rained down fire and wind blades. The imperial mage was blown away, falling straight down toward the royal capital.

A third, a fourth...

Gorman casually threw out one magic sphere after another. With every attack, Hogg's side lost another person.

The mages had initially been able to support one another using their formation, but as those around them fell one by one, hesitation finally appeared on the faces of the survivors.

Some began to retreat subconsciously, while others couldn't help but look at Hogg, as if waiting for him to issue a new command.

It was precisely this split second of hesitation that caused a breach in the defensive line.

The black-robed mages' spells struck instantly, taking down several more mages.

Hogg gritted his teeth tightly, the veins on the back of his hands bulging, but he couldn't stop—

Once he stopped, the monsters in the rift would pour down like a flood, and everyone in the royal capital would be dragged into the mire of the Abyss.

But if he didn't stop, the people around him would be killed off one by one by Gorman.

Hogg's breathing grew heavy, and the light on his staff flickered slightly.

Gorman seemed to see through his struggle, the smile on her face growing more pronounced.

She raised her hand once more, a dark purple mana sphere forming in her palm.

This time, the target was the court mage closest to Hogg. The man's face was already deathly pale, and the staff in his hand was trembling, yet he still gritted his teeth and stood to Hogg's rear-flank.

Gorman flicked her finger gently, and the mana sphere shot out.

Hogg ultimately couldn't hold back anymore. He abruptly withdrew part of the mana covering the rift, turning his staff as lightning suddenly flared at its tip.

Almost at the exact moment the mana sphere flew out, a bolt of lightning tore through the night sky, heading straight for Gorman's chest.

【Lightning Strike】

It was incredibly fast, but Gorman was well-prepared. With a flash of her figure, she flew backward dozens of meters.

The lightning grazed past her front, piercing through a black-robed mage's body before exploding in the distance.

Gorman stopped in midair and patted her chest gently, her smile growing even wider.

“Is the Royal Preceptor planning to abandon the millions of citizens below? A wise choice.”