Aerial Assault

As the small black dot on the horizon grew larger, not only Fran, but also the rest of the group knew that it was heading this way.

At the same time, Gillian's expression suddenly changed, and she said:

"Run... no, raise your shields!"

She wanted to run out quickly because she heard the small black dots in the sky slowing down and intense magical fluctuations emanating from them.

Gillian had encountered this type of flying unit from the Alliance Battle Mage Corps at sea, and she still remembered that unit slowed down upon approaching before unleashing a powerful magical attack.

But she looked around and knew that if she were alone, she might be able to run away, but behind her were the followers of the Goddess of Ocean Currents, and she couldn't just abandon them and run away.

Fortunately, her team had already prepared Collective Prayer, so she decided to set up a shield and resist from the spot.

Before the crowd surrounding the castle knew what to do, the Goddess of Ocean Currents's forces quickly erected shields.

Pakrick stared at the azure shield, only managing to shout, "Run!"

He rushed straight out of the crowd, and some Mercenary had already noticed the abnormality and had run away.

Even on the orc side, Benedict quickly directed everyone to move closer to the Goddess of Ocean Currents's group, hoping to mitigate some of the damage.

Many people didn't even realize what was happening and remained frozen in place, unsure of what to do.

Weren't you guys confronting that mage in the castle? Why are you setting up shields? And why did the people behind me run away?

The air force's attack finally came down when the scene descended into chaos.

Because Fran had informed the air force that the castle was under siege, Zane, who was in command of the air force, immediately ordered an attack after seeing the people surrounding the castle.

Flying units would naturally need to use cluster casting in such situations to amplify the power of spells.

Since they were in the Northern Territory, where ice elementals were most active, they chose the second-tier spell [Blizzard].

Of course, not everyone in these flying units knows this spell; it only needs to be a small group. The others can probably inject their Mental Power.

In short, their cluster spellcasting created a powerful magical fluctuation that moved along with the flying units.

As the commander of this air force, Zane knew the information he received: the outside world was full of enemies, and the thing they were looking for was inside the castle.

Those outside the castle could clearly sense their arrival, so their first attack was essentially the most effective.

In this situation, instead of instructing the entire army to further enhance the spell, he directly shortened the channeling time, unleashing [Blizzard] in just five seconds.

Gillian tilted her head back to the sky, focusing her attention on the impending magical attack. She clearly felt the terrifying magical fluctuations stop moving; they had already cast their spells.

"It's coming!" she reminded everyone to be prepared for the impact and not let it interrupt their prayers.

The next moment, everyone present felt the sky darken a bit, and when they looked up, they could clearly see a large white object appear out of thin air above them.

This 'canopy' didn't cover the entire Snow Bear City, only slightly obscuring the area next to the castle. Even so, those who saw it were still terrified.

The 'sky curtain' plummeted downwards rapidly, and almost in the next second, this white 'sky curtain' covered the entire area surrounding the castle.

From another angle on the ground, the castle appears to be enveloped in a layer of white objects, which are falling from the sky in such a dense manner that it is almost impossible for onlookers to see what is happening inside.

The white object cascaded down like a waterfall, showing no sign of stopping.

At the same time, Gillian, who had raised her shield, also saw this scene, and her pupils contracted slightly.

"These mages' group casting is still so powerful." Gillian felt the swaying shield and felt helpless. Her mission was probably going to fail. These the Alliance mages really came.

She looked at the crowd outside who were still unaware of what was happening. The moment the blizzard arrived, they were bent over by its weight, and then the true nature of the blizzard—the ice elements—would unleash their power.

She looked at the crowd outside, who were frozen into ice sculptures almost instantly. Then, the blizzard pelted the ice sculptures, chipping away at them. If they were lucky enough to thaw, they would find that they were missing something.

This is the power of ice. After freezing a person into an ice sculpture, as long as the ice sculpture is broken, instead of being heated by fire, the person will shatter along with the ice sculpture.

These ice elements, enhanced by magic, became incredibly ferocious.

Gillian looked out from behind the shield she had erected, where the orcs were huddled together, using their bodies to drive away the ice elementals.

Despite her efforts, the results were clearly minimal. She shook her head as she looked at several orcs whose bodies were already covered in ice crystals. If the blizzard continued, none of these orcs would survive.

Such a blizzard was also a burden for the mages in the flying unit. Zane estimated that the spell's duration had reached its predetermined time and immediately ordered it to be canceled.

Their mission was to retrieve the azure box from the castle, a task assigned to them by the Transmutation Studies. They also had the headmistress's order to protect Fran, the girl she had introduced.

When Zane was preparing to cast the spell, he noticed the Magic Identification Tag on Fran's body inside the castle, which reassured him that he could then perform the spell without worry.

Magic Identification Tag is a marker that can only be imbued with Mental Power by specific individuals to function as an identifier. Mages use this method to distinguish friend from foe on the Battlefield.

Zane commanded the air force to assemble at the castle gate, where a clearing had been cleared after the earlier commotion, with only the shield erected by the Church of the Goddess of Ocean Currents still gleaming.

As soon as the Battle Mage landed, he quickly activated the magic device on his body. Countless magical lights flashed around him, causing Gillian, who was on the other side, to break out in a cold sweat.

Zane looked into the castle. Although he had deliberately avoided the castle while casting his spell, some snow still fell on it.

This resulted in one corner of the castle collapsing, reducing the passageway at the gate to only half its original size. Through the gate, Zane could see Fran standing there.

This relieved him; it was good that the person he was protecting was alright. Moreover, the fact that Fran was standing there unharmed meant that the item was still very likely inside the castle.