Hundreds of thousands of fire crows glided across the sky, letting out ear-piercing caws that shrouded the whole campsite. Under Corina’s command, the elves hurriedly activated the enchanted field that was prepared long ago. Shortly after, a dozen green rays of light emanated from the verdant trees, intertwining to form a thin, crystal-like barrier that protected and enfolded the campsite.
But the enemy apparently came prepared. Right after the defensive enchanted field was set up, Corina discovered that the sturdy enchanted field flickered in dazzling magical radiance, which proved that someone was attempting to break the enchanted field. Looking at this scene, the corner of Corina’s eye twitched instantly. The elves’ magical enchanted field couldn’t be dismantled that easily. Judging from a certain degree, elves’ spells and demons’ spells were the same; unique only to their specific race and ordinary spells couldn’t possibly remove their effects. But now, the elves’ magical enchanted field was obviously disrupted. This meant that the enemy was well prepared for this scenario!
“Replenish the power. Maintain the enchanted field. The rest of you will be in charge of wiping out the lurking enemies!”
Corina yelled her orders and sprinted up the city wall. She clutched her bow in her hand and aimed at the sea of flames ahead. Shortly after, arrows coalesced from magic spells were released, scattering from the middle, where she stood like a violent storm. Upon hearing Corina’s command, the elves quickly got to work. They climbed up to a tall height, aiming their arrows at the fire crows ahead from between the gaps of huge leaves. As the elves let go of their arrows, the fire crows circling in the sky exploded one after another like fireworks.
But it was a pity that their efforts were utterly inadequate.
“Heh, heh.”
Gazing at the elves from a distance, trying their best to defend the stronghold, a pitch-black, shadowy figure let out an eerie laughter. If Corina were here, she would immediately recognize this person who was dressed almost exactly like the black-cloaked mage earlier. The only difference between them was that he didn’t seem to own a physical body. An illusory, ghostly, and pitch-black darkness represented his body instead. Looking at the elves above, the black-cloaked mage let out an unpleasant and hoarse laughter before raising his right arm. Along with this action, a shriveled, pitch-black arm was revealed from under this sleeve. A mysterious black fog surged from his arm and coalesced into a black drop of water that fell on the ground, fusing with the blazing flames.
The instant that unknown black drop of water touched the ground, the conflagrations transformed all of a sudden.
“What happened?”
Corina put away her bow, staring alertly at the burning forest below. A few seconds ago, the raging forest changed entirely. The scorching heat that burned her skin turned bone-piercingly cold in an instant. The flames were clearly burning and yet, it felt as though there was a snowfield of 10,000 years below, leaving her shivering. Not only that, but she also sensed an unnatural and hateful energy.
What exactly is…
Before Corina reacted, several streaks of flame that were several meters tall surged into the sky right before her very eyes, metamorphosing into a towering, flaming giant that was at least 10 meters in height. The flame giant had enormous limbs coalesced from raging flames. Its face that resembled a malicious spirit was so terrifying that one would lose consciousness out of extreme fear. The flame giant let out the fierce bellow of a wild animal, sauntering toward the encampment in big strides, where not even the towering trees were able to stop the terrifying giant. The moment the flame giant extended its arm, the trees crumbled to the ground like fragile matchsticks and lit up in flames immediately. In just a few seconds, the flame giant turned the lush forest entirely into ashes. Not only that, but Corina also noticed the instant the trees perished to the fire, the flames returned to the flame giant’s body as though they were attracted by some unknown force. Along with the return of the flames, the flame giant instantly increased in size.
“Attack immediately! Destroy it!”
Looking at this scene, Corina commanded and felt a chill run down her spine. She raised her bow and released several streaks of dazzling arrows that shot straight at the flame giant. At the same time, the remaining three elf mages in the encampment lifted their cypress canes and chanted spells loudly in unison. Shortly after, a gigantic, icy cone appeared in the air, under the elf mages’ control, striking at the enemy ahead.
But all was for naught.
There was no doubt that Corina’s arrows hit the target. The magical arrows should have exploded the instant they came into contact with the target, dealing incredible damage where even elemental monsters couldn’t avoid the explosion and powerful magic torrent. However, the arrows didn’t seem to cause any damage to the flame giant at all. After they penetrated the flame giant’s body, they were like raindrops falling into a pond; apart from causing ripples, there were no other effects. Not only that, but the icy cone that the elf mages summoned also didn’t stop the flame giant one bit. Looking at this scene, the elf mages quickly changed their battle strategy. They tried to forcefully null the contract of this elemental monster to drive it back to its world. However, it was equally pointless. The flame giant was indifferent about the runes that were filled with mystical powers hovering before it. It continued to stride forward like a robot, stepping closer and closer to the elf encampment.
Corina tried all ways to slow it down, but nothing worked. As the flame giant blazed the forest and took in more flames as it advanced, it grew to around 18 meters, where Corina had to lift her head to see its head even as she stood above the wall of vines. Its eye sockets coalesced from flames were filled with darkness on the inside. It was like a form of terrifying, disorderly, and soul-piercing wrath.
At that moment, the elf mages’ incantation spell was completed.
“Mnas!”
The elf mages yelled out the spell command and the runes hovering in midair shook abruptly. A mysterious energy began to gather and after a few seconds, the powerful force exploded, attempting to drive everything that didn’t belong to this world back where it came from. This time, the flame giant finally came to a halt. Its body trembled and warped abruptly. But shortly after, it returned to its original state. Not only did the incantation fail to drive it away, but it also added fuel to the fire of its rage.
“———!”
The flame giant snarled, raised its tightly-clenched fists, and hammered the magical barrier above the encampment. This massive impact was unbearable, causing some of the elves to lose their balance and falter to the ground. The magical barrier protecting this encampment dimmed under this assault and it seemed like another two to three punches would be enough to shatter it completely. When that happened, a catastrophe would fall upon the whole campsite.
“Damn it!”
Corina scanned the entire battlefield but was disappointed to not be able to find the hidden mastermind who was manipulating the flame giant. Not only that, but she also spotted another two to three flame giants emerging from other parts of the blazing forest. It was obvious from their appearance that they came with ill intentions. At that moment, the elf young lady couldn’t hesitate anymore. She jumped over the city wall and darted toward the altar in the middle of the encampment: a circular fountain. Just like every other building of the elves, the fountain was also entirely natural. The only thing unique about it was the emerald-green, oval gem hovering above the middle of the fountain. At a glance, it looked like a tiny seed. Corina grabbed the gem and lifted it up high. Upon noticing her action, an elf who was defending against the fire crows couldn’t help but turn pale with fright.
“You want to seek help from the ancient tree? Madam Corina, it…”
“If it isn’t willing to wake up, it can only wait to be burned to ash!”
Corina answered and tightly grabbed the gem in her hand. Shortly after, an emerald brilliance erupted from the oval gem, shooting straight at the ancient tree at the back of the encampment. Shortly after, the immobile ancient tree trembled. The ground shook and huge, complicated roots burst out of the soil. Its towering trunk twisted and straightened gradually…
Boom!
At that moment, the flame giant attacked, thoroughly shattering the tattered enchanted field. The flame giant gazed at the elves who were retreating frantically and revealed a greedy, sinister smile in response. It stretched out its arm, attempting to satisfy its greed by munching on these delicious little bugs. But at that moment, a thick, enormous palm appeared out of nowhere and grabbed the flame giant’s extended hand.
The ancient tree stood to its feet, releasing a thick, humid mist from all over its body to dampen the blazing flames spreading from the flame giant. At that moment, it accepted the calling of life and awoke from its hibernation, becoming the most reliable guardian.
The ancient tree snarled and broke the flame giant’s arm, twisting it in the other direction. Shortly after, flames burst out of the wound tenaciously, attempting to light up the ancient tree. However, the damp ancient tree that had absorbed enough water disregarded the clarity of flames. It raised its right arm and slammed its palm down with force, striking the flame giant in its head.
“Phew…”
At that moment, Corina retreated haggardly. She had used up almost all her power to awaken the ancient tree. Right now, all she could do was observe the battle and pray for the final victory. But shortly after, she discovered a whole new threat.
Even though the flame giant’s attack was stopped, due to the shattered magical enchanted field, the fire crows spiraling in the sky swooped down at the elves. Although the elves repelled these terrifying elemental creatures with their arrows, there were just too many of them. From time to time, elves could be seen flying back in the impact of loud explosions. In an instant, the entire encampment was in total chaos.
“Are reinforcements here yet?”
Corina raised her bow and released arrows to eradicate three fire crows, before turning to the back. Reinforcements were yet to be seen. Her heart sank as she became increasingly anxious. The elves were showing signs of defeat and even Corina began to hesitate if they should retreat.
At that moment, a white radiance descended from the sky.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
Meteor-like white brilliance enfolded the sea of fire crows, catching them off guard instantly. The fire crows cried and dispersed in all directions. But even so, most of them were eliminated by the brilliance.
“This is…”
Looking at this scene, Corina couldn’t help but feel startled. She turned around and quickly saw an unexpected petite figure on the other side. She wore a psychic robe and a flat, wide, and white triangular hat. The young lady held a golden staff and along with her movements, she let out a crisp call.
Corina was taken aback, but it wasn’t surprising that she was bewildered. Because even though she didn’t know this young lady well, she couldn’t be considered unfamiliar with her either.
Isn’t that Miss Lesa? Why is she here?
Gazing at the young lady, Corina couldn’t help but question. She could accept the fact that Gracier and Madaras came to their help, but was astonished as to why Lesa arrived too. After all, she wasn’t an elf. After spending some time in the Land of Atonement, Corina learned that Lesa was a psychic from the Astral Temple and that was all she knew about her. But why did Lesa show up in the battlefield?
Upon detecting Corina’s gaze, Lesa turned around and nodded slightly.
“Apologies for arriving late,” she said.
