Stalemate
The five-man squad, like sharp daggers, continued to thrust into the core area of the arrow tower.
Roland had just cleaved a Sauron overseer, who was trying to stop him, in two, weapon and all, splattering him with warm blood.
Just as he was about to take a step forward, a sudden change occurred!
An ominous Magic Power fluctuation suddenly emanated from the night sky above, and the air seemed to freeze and become viscous in an instant!
A thick, inky black mist descended from the sky like a meteorite, carrying a suffocatingly evil aura, and hurtled toward the center of the squad at an astonishing speed!
"Watch out above!" Master Andrei's warning rang out almost simultaneously with the attack, but it was already a beat too late!
The black mist slammed into the ground, but instead of making a loud impact, it unleashed a silent yet destructive dark shockwave!
Roland, who was the first to be hit, felt an irresistible force slam into his chest. He was thrown into the air as if he had been hit by a battering ram, and crashed heavily onto a pile of wood several meters away. He felt a sweet taste in his throat and spat out a mouthful of blood!
If he weren't Second-Order Knight whose body had been tempered by Battle Qi for many years and was far superior to that of ordinary people, this blow would have been enough to shatter his internal organs!
"Ugh..." Roland endured the excruciating pain and struggled to get up, his heart filled with horror. It was clear that the other party had planned this ambush in advance!
The black mist slowly dissipated, revealing one of the figures.
The newcomer wore a dark gray hooded robe embroidered with dark red patterns. He was tall and thin, and his face was hidden in the shadow of the hood, with only a pale chin and a cruel smile visible.
He was holding a ball of dark energy that was constantly spinning and absorbing the surrounding light. It was the same Sauron sorcerer who had easily annihilated the guards' rockets a few days ago! He had indeed been lurking nearby, waiting for his prey!
"The game is over." The sorcerer let out a hoarse, cold laugh. The dark energy ball in his hand suddenly expanded, emitting an even more dangerous aura, and was about to be hurled at the squad members who had just been hit and whose formation had been scattered!
The destructive energy contained in that energy sphere sent a chill down the spines of Roderick and the others, who were still some distance away, as if their souls were about to be sucked away!
At this critical moment!
"Frontline defense!" Master Andrei roared thunderously!
His entire body erupted with a dazzling silver aura of Battle Qi, a manifestation of Third-Order Knight condensing his magical power to its limit! He did not choose to dodge, but instead stepped forward without hesitation, using his broad body to resolutely block the dark energy ball from the other members of the team!
He shielded his face with his left arm, and the powerful silver Battle Qi instantly condensed into a thick, semi-transparent energy shield in front of him!
Almost the instant the shield was formed, the dark energy ball in the sorcerer's hand shot out!
"Boom--!!!"
The energies of darkness and light collided violently! There was no deafening explosion, but instead a sharp shriek that seemed to tear space itself apart!
The black energy flow, like venomous tentacles, frantically eroded the silver shield, while the silver light stubbornly resisted and dissolved the darkness.
The dissipated energy caused spiderweb-like cracks to appear on the surrounding ground, and nearby wood instantly turned to dust!
The stalemate lasted only a moment before the silver shield finally succumbed to the pressure and shattered, but the power of the dark energy ball was also largely neutralized.
The residual impact sent Master Andrei staggering back several steps, a trickle of blood seeping from the corner of his mouth. But he managed to withstand the fatal blow thanks to his powerful physique and willpower!
"What!" The sorcerer under the hood exclaimed in disbelief.
He never expected that this seemingly ordinary knight could withstand his Magic Ball head-on and survive!
In the instant that the sorcerer faltered in shock, Master Andrei's eyes flashed with a sharp light!
He suppressed his surging blood and qi, and once again poured his Battle Qi into the sword. He transformed into a silver lightning bolt, breaking through the energy turbulence that had not yet completely dissipated. The tip of the sword, like a poisonous dragon emerging from its cave, pierced straight into the evil sorcerer's heart!
This sword strike was swift, precise, and ruthless, containing all his anger and determination!
The sorcerer, being an experienced battle mage, remained calm despite his initial shock.
He instinctively raised his left hand, Magic Power surged instantly, condensing into a magical shield made of shadow energy in front of him!
"Clang!"
The sword tip pierced the magic shield with a deafening clang like metal striking metal! The shadow shield trembled violently, yet successfully blocked the deadly strike.
But Andre's attacks were relentless, like a tidal wave! The sorcerer simultaneously made a grasping motion with his right hand, and a [Magic Blade] formed instantly from pure dark Magic Power took shape, carrying a chilling aura that could tear apart the soul, and slashed back at Andre's neck!
Without flinching, Andre flicked his wrist, and his longsword drew a perfect arc, precisely blocking the [Magic Blade]'s strike!
"Clang!"
Sparks flew! The light Battle Qi and dark Magic Power clashed fiercely once again, producing a piercing hiss.
The two instantly engaged in a fierce battle!
Andre's swordplay was expansive and powerful, as steady as a mountain. Each strike contained the power to shatter mountains and split rocks, and the silver aura of his Battle Qi qi illuminated the surroundings in a flickering light.
The sorcerer's movements were unpredictable and elusive, his [Magic Blade] appearing and disappearing unpredictably, sometimes transforming into whips to entwine, sometimes into heavy hammers to strike, accompanied by various insidious curses and mental attacks, attempting to disrupt Andre's mind.
This was a bloody battle between the knight's ferocity and the mage's unpredictability! Sword energy crisscrossed, magic raged, and the energy shockwaves from their clash continuously destroyed the surrounding fortifications and materials, forcing Roland and the others to retreat repeatedly, unable to intervene in this high-level battle.
Just as Master Andrei and the sorcerer Sauron were locked in fierce combat, their Magic Power and Battle Qi clashing violently, the surrounding situation was rapidly deteriorating!
The Sauron soldier and overseers, who had been reeling from the night raid and the Molotov cocktail, finally managed to recover from the chaos after the sorcerer appeared and held off the strongest enemy.
Under the officers' vehement rebukes and the honking of the Supervisory team, they began to regroup, attempting to form an encirclement.
In the distance, more torches are moving in this direction, clearly indicating that reinforcements are on their way.
If this continues, the entire team will be surrounded and unable to escape!
"Captain! The enemy is closing in! We have to retreat!" Roderick shouted anxiously to Andre as he took down a Sauron soldier who tried to approach with his carbine.
With his extensive experience, he could tell at a glance that things were beyond saving. The plan to assassinate the sorcerer and completely destroy the arrow tower had failed. The most urgent task was to preserve the team and break through to retreat!
Andre naturally heard the commotion around him, but he was tightly entangled by the sorcerer and couldn't break free at all. He didn't even have a chance to give an order, and if he was distracted for even a moment, his head might be sliced off by that strange [Magic Blade].