Chess Pieces

The Flying Magic Beasts had clearly not expected such an attack. After plunging into the icy mist, they visibly slowed, and frost began forming on their feathers. Several of them even lost their balance and came wobbling down.

"Now!" the commander shouted. The archers on the city wall seized the opportunity, concentrating their fire on the affected Flying Magic Beasts. This time, their arrows finally pierced the creatures' defenses, inflicting considerable damage.

However, before Jialan could breathe a sigh of relief, he heard an earth-shaking roar. Turning his head, he saw a leader-class magic beast, far larger than the other Flying Magic Beasts, diving straight toward him. Intelligence gleamed in its eyes; it was clearly no ordinary beast.

"Watch out!" the two apprentices cried.

Jialan reacted swiftly. He retreated while rapidly forming hand seals. However, the leader-class magic beast was too fast. In the blink of an eye, it had reached him.

Just as Jialan was about to use a scroll, a dazzling beam of light suddenly shot in from the side and struck the magic beast dead-on. It let out a pained screech and was forced to change direction.

Jialan turned and saw Anna standing nearby, a staff radiating holy light in her hand. She nodded at him.

With Anna's support, Jialan's burden immediately eased considerably. The two full-fledged mages worked together seamlessly, and before long, the Flying Magic Beasts on the city wall had nearly all been cleared out. The rest saw the situation turning against them and flew away.

The battle lasted more than three hours. When the final magic beast withdrew amid low growls from deep within the forest, everyone on the city wall finally let out a breath of relief. Jialan leaned against the wall, feeling as though every bit of strength had been drained from his body.

The two mage apprentices had long since exhausted their mana and sprawled on the ground, gasping for breath. Their mage robes were soaked through with sweat, and their faces were full of exhaustion.

"We... we held them off..." the Fire Element apprentice said with difficulty, disbelief in his voice.

The earth-element apprentice nodded, without even the strength to speak.

Jialan and Anna were not much better off. As the main force in the battle, they had consumed an enormous amount of mental energy. Jialan felt that his Mana Pool had run dry; he could not even cast the simplest spell. Anna's face was as pale as paper, and she could barely hold her staff steadily.

"Well done, everyone." Albert's voice suddenly rang out. The old mage had appeared on the city wall at some point. Though he looked somewhat tired as well, he was clearly in far better condition than they were.

"Mage Albert..." Jialan tried to stand, but the old mage pressed a hand to his shoulder.

"Rest. You did very well." As Albert spoke, he took several mana recovery potions from his robes and distributed them among the group.

Jialan accepted a potion and drank it in one gulp. The warm liquid flowed into his body, and he felt his dried-up Mana Pool slowly begin to recover.

"Where are the other full-fledged mages?" Anna suddenly asked. "Why were none of them around when the battle was at its fiercest?"

Albert's expression turned grave. "They are handling something more important. But now is not the time to discuss that. You need to rest."

Just then, a squad of soldiers approached. Their eyes were filled with awe and gratitude.

"Lord Mages," the leading soldier said respectfully, "please allow us to escort you back to rest."

Jialan nodded and rose to his feet with the soldiers' support. He looked back at the city wall. Under the moonlight, traces of battle were everywhere. Bloodstains, frost, scorch marks... all of it spoke of the fierce battle that had just taken place.

"Let's go," Anna said softly. "There will be even more waiting for us tomorrow."

The sight inside the fortress left him with mixed feelings. Wounded soldiers were everywhere. Some were being treated by healers, groaning in pain; others had closed their eyes forever, becoming sacrifices of this battle.

A young soldier lay on a stretcher, his right arm nearly torn apart by a magic beast, yet he still smiled at the companion beside him. "At least we held the wall, didn't we?"

Hearing those words, Jialan felt terrible. He knew this was no ordinary magic beast siege. These soldiers believed they were fighting to fend off magic beasts and protect their homes, never realizing they were merely pieces on the chessboard of powerful figures. Their sacrifices, their glory—perhaps, in the eyes of those who stood above them, they were only necessary costs to achieve their goals.

He lowered his head and looked at his ragged, disheveled mage robe, then suddenly laughed at himself. Was he not a chess piece as well? Only slightly larger than these soldiers.

After returning to his quarters, Jialan did not rest immediately. Sitting beside the bed, he recalled everything that had happened recently: discovering the White Dragon Horse, the military's intervention, and then this mysterious fortress... Every thread pointed toward a vast conspiracy. He thought of Albert's evasive attitude, the full-fledged mages who had never shown themselves, and the heavily guarded areas within the fortress...

Suddenly, a light knock interrupted his thoughts. Jialan rose warily and asked softly, "Who is it?"

"It's me, Anna." The gentle voice of the female priest came from outside the door.

Jialan opened the door and found Anna standing outside. Her face was still somewhat pale, but she seemed much more alert.

"I noticed your room was still lit," Anna said. "So I came to check on you. Are you all right?"

Jialan hesitated for a moment, then stepped aside to let Anna in. "I was thinking about some things."

Anna entered the room, glanced around, then sat in a chair. "About the battle?"

Jialan nodded, then shook his head. "Not just this battle. I've been thinking—what exactly are we fighting for? These soldiers believe they are defending their homes, but we both know things are not that simple."

Anna fell silent for a while before speaking softly. "I've been thinking about that too. While treating the wounded today, I heard some... strange rumors."

"What rumors?" Jialan asked at once.

Anna lowered her voice. "Some soldiers said that, when the battle was at its fiercest, they saw strange flashes of light deep within the fortress. Others said they heard low rumbling coming from underground..."

Jialan's brows knit tightly. These rumors confirmed his suspicions—the fortress truly was conducting some secret activity unknown to others.

"What do you think those full-fledged mages are doing?" Anna asked.

Jialan shook his head. "I don't know, but it is definitely nothing simple. Mage Albert clearly knows something, but he is unwilling to tell us."

The two fell silent for a while, each lost in thought.

At last, Anna rose. "No matter what, all we can do now is fulfill our duties. Protect these soldiers and guard this fortress. As for everything else... when the time is right, the truth will naturally come to light."

Jialan stood at the door, watching Anna's figure disappear at the end of the corridor. Moonlight streamed through the window onto the floor, lengthening her shadow and the melancholy in Jialan's heart.

A deep weariness suddenly washed over him—not physical exhaustion, but exhaustion of the soul. It came from his longing for the truth and his helplessness, from his confusion and unease about the future.

"Perhaps... it would be better to leave this place? To become a wandering mage..." Jialan murmured. He returned to the room and took the mysterious Little Green Bottle from his Spatial Bag. The liquid inside shimmered with an unusual light beneath the moonlight, as though it were whispering of some unknown possibility.