Seeing that the situation might escalate into a pointless war of words, Fode temporarily suppressed his dissatisfaction and shouted, "Lady Modera and ladies, please land. Let's discuss this properly. Knight Unas means no harm."
"No malice? Are you deaf?!" The woman who had been arguing with Unas earlier snapped, showing no mercy. She rode on the back of a golden Firehawk, her bright red hair matching her fiery temper.
Insulted in this way, young Arnold could no longer contain himself and shouted angrily, "What a filthy shrew! Get out of here if you're not going to!"
That statement was quite damaging; the red-haired woman was so angry she almost jumped off the Firehawk. "You foul-mouthed pretty boy, die!"
A beam of red light, as thick as an arm and carrying terrifying heat, hurtled straight toward Arnold. The young mage raised his staff and uttered a short incantation, and a circular shield of flames appeared before him—a fire-based defense against fire.
The ray struck the round shield, seemingly absorbed instantly. Arnold then chanted another incantation, and the round shield transformed into a fireball, rapidly retaliating.
His magic control skills were quite superb. Although he was only an apprentice of Fode, no mage who could enter the enforcement team was an ordinary one.
The spell she had just cast was instantly blocked by her opponent, leaving the red-haired woman flustered. Although she had prepared a magical shield to ensure she wouldn't get hurt, she was bound to be blasted into a disheveled state by the fireball, and she didn't want to lose face.
At that moment, the black-haired female mage riding on Chimera beside her lightly raised her staff, "Fire Elemental Disjunction."
An invisible beam of light shone on the fireball, breaking it down into a scattered cluster of sparks that quickly dissipated into the air.
"You want two against one? Heh, I'm in for it!" Arnold raised his staff again.
Unless it's a life-or-death battlefield, duels between mages are generally considered to be one-on-one, and the woman on the Chimera clearly crossed that line.
"Wait, don't fight your own people," the black-haired woman gestured for a ceasefire. "Avril acted impulsively and accidentally hurt herself. I apologize on her behalf, young enforcer."
Seeing the dark-haired woman's subtle attack, Arnold knew she was a formidable opponent, so he wisely withdrew, saying, "I take back what I said; that was far too rude to a lady."
Unas was slightly disappointed. Had his aggressive display of power really backed down so easily? He had thought it was going to be a spectacular duel between mages, but his opponent had actually backed down and apologized. It seemed he wasn't so confident after all.
The black-haired woman had her own unspoken grievances. She deduced that her superior intended to give the other party a hard time, so she subtly hinted to her hot-tempered younger sister, Avril, to stir up trouble and not to be polite to the Paladin.
However, a sharp blade, while useful, also carries the risk of self-inflicted injury. Avril was quite ruthless, but she targeted the wrong person, actually getting into a fight with the enforcement team. Dalaran's own people fighting each other—wasn't that just making them a laughingstock for outsiders?
She could only stop it immediately. If the one who attacked Avril was Paladin, she would have subdued him even if it meant resorting to Blackhand, and she would never apologize.
Fode was quite satisfied with his apprentice's performance, and even his bad mood was somewhat dispelled by joy. He continued to act as peacemaker, "I am Forde Hanas of the Kirin Tor Enforcement Team, and this is my apprentice, Arnold. Have you all come in response to Merlin's warning? Unfortunately, he has passed away. If you have any questions, please come down, and I will answer them one by one. What do you say, Lord Modera?"
The Archmage on the Elemental Wind Dragon, who had remained motionless throughout, finally nodded, and a deep female voice rang out. "Fall."
The female mages then controlled their flying beasts to descend to the ground, a distance of over a hundred meters from the people on the shore, indicating that they were still very vigilant.
Soon, the black-haired woman's voice came through, addressed to Mati'gosa, "Your Excellency Blue Dragon, I am Thorn of the Rose Rachel Adams. May I ask why you are here?"
"In my search for my companion—the child of a Red Dragon —I witnessed the deaths of the mage Merlin and his apprentice Gunsel, and I can testify for the Knight Unas that his actions were all for justice."
Mati'gosa made her position very clear: she had not actually witnessed Merlin and Gunsel's deaths; she said this only to make her words more convincing.
Rachel Adams tried to smear him. "I'm afraid you've been misled. Unas-Lawugade has the nickname 'Executioner,' which shows he's a bloodthirsty man. It's no news that someone like him enjoys indiscriminately killing innocent people."
"I also have the titles of Holy-favored and Demon Slayer, why don't you mention them, Master?" Unas immediately retorted.
"Hmph! You dare call yourself Demon Slayer after barely managing to kill a mere little demon? You have no shame." This time it was Avril's voice.
Unas realized that the other party had not given up provoking him at all. Having failed in the air, they were preparing to try again on the ground. Their goal was definitely to provoke a fight and then use force to overpower the other party.
As mentioned before, organizations that claim to be righteous must do everything with a legitimate reason. The female mages flew all the way from the Canyon to the Forest, and of course they saw all the various armies of Unas. This made Modera and Rachel hesitant. If they took down the Paladin without asking any questions, it would definitely arouse great hatred from the army.
Therefore, there must be a plausible reason. Deliberately provoking trouble is to find a reason to deal with him. If the two sides fight because of a verbal argument and the Paladin is defeated, the soldiers will only feel that their commander has lost face, and shame will outweigh anger.
The opposing side had an extremely powerful Archmage and seven renowned battle mages. Unas knew the consequences of defeat and suddenly thought: Why can't I be more tactful and outmaneuver them? Talking is pointless.
So he didn't retaliate, but instead said to the Fode monks beside him, "I suddenly have something urgent to attend to and need to go down to the lake. Go and explain the situation to them in detail."
He then ordered the soldiers to return to camp to rest, asked Blue Dragon to look after Marcus's hundred men, and turned to leave, diving into the lake with a splash.
It all happened so fast; the Paladin vanished in a flash, Modera and Rachel stunned, as if they'd punched air.
Avril, wore a smug smile, thinking she had accomplished a great feat by driving the other person away. "What a coward! How can someone like that be called an executioner? Is he an executioner who slaughters ants? Haha!"
Big breasts, no brains.
Rachel couldn't help but use such a sexist term to describe her little sister in her mind, because she couldn't find a better adjective.