Barn's team was led by Gideon, as always. Thick, ochre Earth Pulse armor swirled around him, and his massive bear paw carried tremendous force. With one swipe, he sent the Sanctuary warrior at the very front flying. The sound of cracking bones rang clear as the man crashed to the ground, gravely injured and out of the fight.
Those at the very front were among the strongest of the attacking Sanctuary warriors. Those who followed were weaker by the moment.
Blair's slit pupils flashed faintly as gray Soul Freeze rays shot out one after another. Each struck a Sanctuary warrior, freezing him in place and trapping his soul, leaving him a lamb for the slaughter. Julia wielded a Divine Artifact longbow, its string vibrating without pause. Purple-gold lightning arrows tore through the air, never missing their mark. Each shot precisely wounded a Sanctuary warrior, and the weaker ones were killed outright.
This kind of defensive battle left Barn and Declan with little room to show what they could do.
After combining Water Element with the Water Body Technique, Barn grew even faster. At times his body became flowing water; at others, it solidified into flesh. Following behind Gideon, he relied on his extraordinary speed to intercept Sanctuary warriors trying to bypass Gideon and sneak into the orchard to steal fruit. Declan split off two clones and slipped underground, launching surprise attacks from beneath the earth now and then to drag the Sanctuary warriors at the front underground and kill them. His stealth, combined with his Shadow Clone technique, made his attacks impossible to guard against.
Meanwhile, the other two teams were defending just as well.
The squad from the fallen Royal City family worked in perfect harmony, and each member had exceptional talent. Together, they could hold back more than a dozen attackers. The full-sized squad had members from all walks of life, but every one of them was a hardened survivor who had lived on the edge of death. They, too, held their ground.
More than fifty attacking Sanctuary warriors were being held at bay by just eighteen people, unable to advance a single step beyond the orchard.
Who could have imagined that the Sanctuary powerhouses, revered by countless people on the Yulan Continent, would now be locked in a brutal fight around ten frail little trees? They were fighting just to protect a hundred or so sour, unappetizing fruits. Such an absurd scene was unfolding right there on the despairing land of Gobada.
Countless starving Sanctuary warriors stared at the distant orchard, their eyes filled with greed and madness.
They knew how sour and hard to swallow the fruit was. They also knew that a single fruit could buy them, at most, a hundred years' worth of food—or a chance to serve at the side of a Godlevel and barely stay alive. But even that tiny hope was enough to make them stake their lives.
In Barn's eyes, however, the attacking Sanctuary warriors were far too weak.
Even the strongest among them were only at the level of the second tier of Sanctuary warriors, nowhere near the Sanctuary peak. The rest were weaker still, mostly dying prisoners who relied on their Spiritual Energy to draw on Gobada's scant elemental power just to maintain their fighting strength.
Just then, a Sanctuary archer hiding behind the crowd saw that they could not break through from the front. He quietly drew his longbow and, using the chaos as cover, sent an arrow wrapped in Dark Magic Power flying silently toward Barn's back. He had seen how fast Barn was and realized he was key to the defense. He hoped to catch him off guard and eliminate this major threat.
The Water Element energy around Barn stirred slightly, and the Water Body Technique activated at once. His body turned into flowing water, allowing him to easily evade the arrow. But he did not stop. His gaze turned cold, and with a flash, he appeared in front of the Sanctuary archer.
The man clearly had not expected Barn to be so fast. His face filled with astonishment. Before he could draw his bow again, Barn lightly tapped him with the Mist Hidden Spear.
The Sanctuary warrior collapsed stiffly without even a chance to scream.
Barn turned and plunged back into the battle.
The battle remained deadlocked, but the balance was already beginning to tip toward the defenders. For the Sanctuary warriors, having only twice as many fighters could not make up for the gap in strength.
Just then, a roar erupted from the distant battlefield of the gods: "If I can't have it, I'll destroy it!"
At the sound of the command, its Divine Power spreading far and wide, the Sanctuary warriors who had been fighting desperately to break through the defensive line suddenly paused. Then they all retreated, no longer trying to breach the line. Instead, they used their ranged skills to attack the orchard.
"Jasper! What are you doing?!"
A furious roar rang across the sky. It came from Haywood, the orchard's owner, a Midgod of the Earth Element who had Refined a Godhead.
A wildly arrogant voice echoed back, as violent as a raging fire. "Haywood, I've been sick of this after all these years of fighting! Before I leave, I'll give you one last 'gift'!"
The two were old rivals.
Jasper, a Midgod from Azure Fire Royal City, had also become a god by Refining a Godhead. But the Godhead he had Refined contained a little more insight into the Profound Mysteries, making him slightly stronger than Haywood.
The difference between them wasn't great, though. With the help of two or three Lowgods, Haywood could comfortably drive Jasper back.
For all these years, the two had fought a battle of attack and defense every few decades.
Sometimes Haywood managed to hold his ground. Other times, he would "voluntarily yield" some of the fruit to save face for his opponent. It was an unspoken rule along the border of Gobada.
But no one had expected Jasper to completely break with that tradition this time, determined to destroy the entire orchard at any cost!
"Everyone, hold the line! Don't let their magic hit the fruit trees!" Haywood shouted, issuing his command without regard for anything else as he swung his massive hammer at his opponent. "After this, I'll give every squad a Divine Artifact!"
Great rewards brought forth men willing to die.
The Sanctuary warriors who had been barely holding on suddenly lit up with excitement, their spirits surging. The temptation of a Divine Artifact was powerful even for those at the Sanctuary limit.
Barn narrowed his eyes and looked up.
A rain of arrows surged through the sky. Their opponents had clearly prepared in advance: every Sanctuary warrior was equipped with arrows, while the Holy Magi and magical beasts had already begun focusing and gathering their magic. The elemental fluctuations in the air grew increasingly violent.
"Holy Magi, prepare defensive magic and protect the orchard at all costs! Everyone else, charge with me and stop every arrow!" The Sanctuary captain of another squad shouted first, leaping toward the torrent of arrows. Several Sanctuary warriors followed close behind, using their bodies and weapons to force a first line of defense into place.
Barn didn't hesitate either. His figure flashed as Water Element and the Water Body Technique fused completely, turning him into a pale blue streak of light. In an instant, he appeared before a Holy Magus of Sanctuary who had his eyes closed, preparing a spell.
Without hesitation, he thrust out the Cold Reflection Spear. Its tip carried fierce Water Element power and pierced straight through the man's chest as he stared in shock.
But Barn had never expected this Holy Magus to be a mage-warrior. With the last of his strength, the man clutched the shaft of the Cold Reflection Spear, the magic at his fingertips desperately eating away at it in an attempt to bind Barn's movements.
Seeing this, five nearby Sanctuary warriors immediately closed in. Blades slashed, fists and palms struck, and a dense storm of attacks came down from all sides. With no choice, Barn activated the Divine Artifact Chainmail and took the whole barrage head-on. A sharp, tingling pain ran through his arm before he suddenly forced the spear free of the corpse.
But that brief delay was enough for the five Sanctuary warriors to surround him completely. They worked in perfect harmony, their defense airtight. Even with his extraordinary speed, he couldn't break through their encirclement in an instant.
"Barn, hold on!"
Julia's voice rang out as she fired three lightning arrows in succession. They tore through the air and struck one of the Sanctuary warriors surrounding Barn squarely in the shoulder, gravely wounding him and sending him to the ground. But several defensive Sanctuary warriors in the opposing squad stepped forward and raised layer upon layer of shields, blocking every subsequent ranged attack.
Barn was growing anxious. He was confident he could break through their encirclement, but in the distance, the enemy Sanctuary warriors' magic had already begun to descend.
Before you continue