Could all their efforts have been in vain?
Under Buck's watchful gaze, sparks soon rained down across the entire courtyard!
[Holy Word—Shield]
Having broken free from the effects of [Soul Shriek], Aaron immediately cast a protective divine spell.
A semicircular shield of white light appeared in the air. As the scattered sparks fell upon it, they immediately corroded holes through the light shield.
Even magic remnants weakened a hundredfold possessed such power?
If that giant fireball had struck him directly earlier, Aaron was certain he would never have been able to block it!
Just as he was stunned, agonized screams rang out throughout the castle. Aaron turned to look, and his entire body froze.
Unlike the Priests who cultivated divine spells, the guards had yet to recover from the impact of [Soul Shriek] when sparks had already landed on their armor, shields, bows, exposed limbs, and faces.
The terror of White Phosphorus Fire revealed itself the next instant. The faint flames rapidly spread upon touching matter. Leather pauldrons and gloves burned through with gaping holes, while yellow-white flames seemed drawn to flesh, seeping straight into the skin beneath.
"Ah!" A shield-bearing soldier desperately slapped at his chest, trying to extinguish the spreading White Phosphorus Fire. Yet his arms caught fire as well, and within a few breaths, half his body had become a blazing torch...
His companion beside him suffered an even crueler fate. Tiny flames had fallen directly into the gaps of his armor. The temperature of over a thousand degrees made him scream uncontrollably. He tore off his armor with all his strength, then thrust his right hand into his own body and actually pulled out a bloody chunk of flesh still burning with fire...
Flesh and corpses were the finest fuel for White Phosphorus Fire, and the blaze spread rapidly.
A sea of burning flames, billowing white smoke, soldiers twisted into horrifying deaths—this scene was like hell descending upon the mortal world...
"Devil! This must be the devil's power, flames from hell!"
The horrifying sight utterly broke the elite guards of Nordland Territory. The first-ring divine spell [Remove Fear] had completely lost its effect. A Priest lucky enough to avoid the sparks screamed himself hoarse, threw away his scepter, and fled without looking back...
Joanne and the others were equally dumbstruck, nearly forgetting Lynn's instruction to hold their breath and use magic to draw oxygen from the air.
"What kind of magic is this?" Buck shuddered deeply. Merely getting a little closer made him feel pain as though even his marrow were being scorched.
"This is Fireball. You know it too, don't you? I just improved it a little!" Lynn explained when he noticed their astonished stares.
That was called a little?
Buck's expression became extremely strange. He felt that Lynn's understanding of that word might differ from his own.
Joanne, meanwhile, began to suspect that Lynn had already broken through that barrier and become an Official Wizard.
But Lynn had only been exposed to magic for half a year. That was far too absurd... Besides, their teacher Coru had always been destitute. Where could he have gotten enough money to buy a Source of Magic Power?
Compared with the conflicted Joanne and Buck, Barton's thoughts were much simpler. So Wizard Apprentices could be this powerful when they joined forces!
Barton even felt that as long as everyone worked together, dealing with the Church's pursuit might not be all that difficult.
Just as he thought this, a dazzling white light flared in the distance, breaking through the wall of flames and striking at the Wizard Apprentices.
Distracted, Barton saw only his brother Buck opening his mouth anxiously and saying something to him. Then he felt as though a powerful impact had sent him flying. His frail body was torn apart in midair, and after tumbling several times, he crashed to the ground like a rag doll, falling silent in an instant.
The sudden change froze the expressions on Joanne and the others' faces. Buck's features gradually twisted as he screamed himself hoarse.
"No, Barton!"
Lynn had acted the moment the white light appeared. Twelve [Magic Missile] spells circled around him, tracing strange arcs through the air as they shot toward the end of the corridor.
In the end, more than ten Magic Missiles were blocked by an invisible wall. Only ripples sprang up at the point of impact...
Lynn's heart immediately sank. He stared intently at the other side of the sea of flames. He understood that the person he had been waiting for had finally appeared, and that his strength was far more terrifying than he had imagined!
Suddenly, a melodious hymn rang out within the castle. An invisible force gradually enveloped the entire area, and rain actually began to fall inside the sealed room!
This was the third-ring divine spell—[Hymn of Life]!
The green raindrops contained incomparably powerful divine power. Even these terrifying flames that seemed to have come from hell were gradually being suppressed!
The endless White Phosphorus Fire, which seemed ready to burn everything to ashes, rapidly receded. Antioch, clad in a white robe embroidered with gold, slowly walked in.
"Lord Bishop!"
Aaron, who had reacted the fastest and had also fortunately escaped the range of the falling sparks, shouted excitedly. Yet a trace of resentment and hatred lurked in his voice.
Antioch's timing was far too perfect. How could Aaron fail to guess that Lord Bishop had been watching all along?
Clearly, he and the elite guards of Nordland Territory had merely been tools to test the enemy's strength and hidden cards!
Aaron's heart turned cold. He understood that once this matter was over, he, as the field commander, would inevitably face an extremely severe punishment.
Antioch paid Aaron no heed. He swept his gaze over the guards on the ground, nearly half dead or wounded and their will completely shattered. Then his pupils contracted, because the flames that had supposedly been extinguished showed signs of reigniting the instant the divine spell [Hymn of Life] ended!
That was White Phosphorus Fire. As long as the oxygen in the air had not run out and there was still something that could burn, it would never stop!
"Don't get drawn into a fight. Retreat!"
After the feint with [Magic Missile] failed, Lynn made his decision without hesitation.
That giant fireball, which had required more than five seconds of casting earlier, had already used up nearly all the white phosphorus he had created. What remained was not enough to defeat the Bishop before them, who was wielding such a powerful divine spell.
Joanne and White Dove also knew full well how terrifying Antioch was. Though Barton's death pained them deeply, they understood that fleeing was their only chance of survival.
But Buck, who had lost his own brother, had gone mad. He opened his mouth in an enraged roar, grabbed a relatively intact guard's corpse from the ground as a shield, and charged straight at Antioch.
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