The stars glittered in the night sky. Brando stared toward the rooftops of the Noble Council Hall and the Merchants' Guild building for several minutes. Only after those leaping harpies had descended for the third time did he finally give the order. "Do it."
A flash of ghostly light flickered between Fro's five fingers. A hundred meters away, four harpies were each pierced through by a dark-blue arrow. The arrows passed straight through their hearts, instantly transforming them into ice sculptures with a series of cracking sounds. Battle mages could draw spells from spell rings and cast them extremely quickly, but Spirit Callers were half a beat slower. Tia's reaction was even slower. She painstakingly finished reading every spell byte, then thrust both hands forward. Everyone saw an invisible ripple sweep across the entire square, passing over the bodies of the fleeing harpies. In an instant, they were torn to pieces, transforming into a rain of blood that fell from the sky.
Tia had not expected her spell to produce such a tremendous effect, and she could not help sticking her tongue out apologetically at Brando.
"Agas Stormblade," Brando muttered. "Using a seventh-circle spell against three harpies—is that really necessary...?"
By then, the Cave Dwellers in the square had already been alerted. Although they could not see, they could hear. The Cave Dwellers at the temple entrance frantically grabbed the weapons at hand. Just then, a volley of crossbow bolts flew out of the darkness. The poor creatures collapsed in a heap as though they had crashed into an invisible wall. Before the remaining two or three Cave Dwellers could react, the White Lion Guard swept past and pierced their hearts with their swords, leaving them sprawled on the steps.
Next to suffer was the patrol. Yuta intercepted them personally.