Sneak Attack

These trees exuded a sacred aura of Light, yet also a subtle, eerie strangeness, like... like a deformed fusion of Light and Dark.

"Collect them carefully," Argyle ordered the three soldiers.

The soldiers cautiously approached the fruit trees. The moment the first soldier's hand was about to touch a fruit, Jialan suddenly felt a powerful magical fluctuation.

"Wait! Don't touch..."

His warning came too late. As soon as the soldier's finger brushed against a Sun Fruit, the entire tree began to tremble violently. The golden patterns on the trunk instantly turned dark red, and the roots pulled themselves from the ground, coiling around the soldier's legs like tentacles.

"Ah..." the soldier let out a piercing scream. His skin darkened and shriveled at a visible rate, as if all his vitality were being siphoned away by the roots.

Argyle immediately drew his sword and charged forward, his Light Battle Qi erupting at full power. But something even more terrifying happened. As the Light Battle Qi approached, the rift vortex suddenly spun faster, and two barriers lit up with blinding light simultaneously.

"Stop!" Jialan shouted, "The Battle Qi will stimulate the barriers!"

Argyle forcefully halted his attack.

Just then, Albert's urgent voice came through the Communication Crystal: "Argyle! Be careful of the Aus Empire's..."

The voice cut off abruptly, replaced by a burst of ear-splitting static, followed by a chilling scream. While Albert's screams still echoed in the Communication Crystal, Jialan's side was suddenly attacked. Two pitch-black arrows tore through the air, whistling ominously as they flew straight for Jialan's throat.

"Careful!" Argyle's warning sounded almost simultaneously with the whistling of the arrows.

The Arrow Protection spell on Jialan immediately took effect. The elemental force field surrounding him warped slightly, altering the trajectory of the arrows. The two deadly black shadows narrowly missed him, the wind they generated stinging his skin. They embedded themselves in the tree trunk behind him, their fletchings still trembling.

"Enemy attack!" Argyle roared, drawing his sword, his dazzling Light Battle Qi erupting like the midday sun. The remaining two soldiers quickly formed a formation, shielding Jialan in the center.

The enemy numbered five, emerging from the surrounding shadows. An archer stood on a distant rock, already nocking a second arrow; a Mage held a dark red staff, at the tip of which danced eerie black and red flames; three Warriors advanced in a fan formation, their weapons glinting coldly. Leading them was a burly High Warrior, whose Aus Empire insignia on his chest gleamed under the moonlight.

Jialan's gaze, however, was fixed on the Mage. Although the opponent wore the standard robes of the Aus Empire, the fire element flowing through him was mixed with ominous dark element particles. This was an extremely rare Dark Flame Element Spellcaster, and the Dark Council was known not only for necromancy but also for Dark Flame magic.

"The Aus Empire has actually colluded with the Dark Council..." Jialan murmured, a chill crawling up his spine.

Argyle had clearly recognized the enemy's origin as well. His voice was as if laced with ice: "Betraying the Border Treaty, colluding with the Dark Council – do you know what this means?"

The High Warrior sneered, "Treaty? It seems you truly know nothing!"

"What do you mean by that?" Argyle's heart sank. "Just be a clueless ghost!" The High Warrior suddenly lunged, his sword wreathed in dark red Battle Qi, cleaving down.

The battle erupted instantly. Argyle and the High Warrior clashed, their Light Battle Qi and dark red Battle Qi colliding fiercely, each exchange sparking blinding flashes. The two soldiers engaged the other two Warriors, and though they were at a disadvantage, their teamwork and the advantage of their silver weapons allowed them to hold on for the moment.

Jialan faced the Dark Flame Mage, while also having to deal with occasional sniping arrows from the archer in the distance. Every swing of the Dark Flame Mage's staff unleashed black and red flames that were not only extremely hot but also corrosive, capable of melting even rock. Jialan could only dodge continuously, his situation extremely unfavorable.

A black and red fire snake hissed towards him. Jialan hastily conjured an ice cone to meet it. The collision of ice and fire produced a large amount of steam, obscuring their vision. In that flash of lightning, a dark arrow pierced the steam and shot directly at Jialan's back.

With no time to turn, Jialan directly pulled a Frost Shield Scroll from his Spatial Bag and tore it open. A thick, ice-blue shield appeared just in time to block the fatal blow.

"A scroll?" The Dark Flame Mage narrowed his eyes. "Let's see how many you have to waste!"

The ensuing battle turned into a war of attrition. Whenever Jialan was in danger, he would tear open a precious Magic Scroll, over seventy percent of which were his specialty, Frost Shield. These life-saving measures, usually kept for dire emergencies, were now being thrown out as if they were free.

"That's the seventh one!" The Dark Flame Mage roared in fury, "You little brat, how many scrolls do you have?!"

Jialan didn't reply, merely taking out another stack of scrolls from his Spatial Bag. This was his entire savings over the years, plus preparations before heading to the fortress. In total, he had dozens of them, each worth a considerable sum, yet he tore them open without hesitation. The archer in the distance was also infuriated by this "inhumanly extravagant" fighting style, his arrows repeatedly blocked by expensive defensive spells.

The battle reached a stalemate. Fine beads of sweat appeared on Jialan's forehead. He knew clearly that this couldn't go on. Although his scroll reserves were ample, they would eventually run out. Worse still, his Mana Pool was already depleted by more than half, while the enemy seemed to be taking it easy.

After dodging another fireball from the Dark Flame Mage, Jialan keenly noticed a strange phenomenon – no matter how fierce the battle, both sides instinctively avoided the strange trees bearing Sun Fruits. The Aus Empire warriors even deliberately skirted around the fruit trees when moving.

"Could it be..." Jialan's mind flashed with inspiration, "They came for the Sun Fruits too?" This thought made his heart race. If his guess was correct, then these fruit trees might be the key to breaking the deadlock.

He quickly formed hand seals, and a dense, ice-blue mist instantly spread out from him. This was his improved Ice Mist Technique, with a trace amount of mana-interfering components added, greatly obscuring others' vision. The mist quickly enveloped the entire battlefield, forming a hazy barrier.

"Tricks!" The Dark Flame Mage sneered, waving his staff, and black and red flames formed a rotating wall of fire. But to his surprise, the ice mist was exceptionally stubborn. The flames could only push the mist aside temporarily before it was quickly swallowed by the re-gathering ice mist.