Magical Defense

"Whoosh...""Aah!!!" An Earth Spike punched through a soldier's thigh. It rose more than three meters into the air, lifting him upside down. His shield and sword had already fallen from his hands, and the searing pain in his leg tore a scream from his throat. "Splurt!" The Earth Spike withdrew, hurling the soldier to the ground. By then, the wound had spread from his thigh to his waist. Death was the only end awaiting him, but before it came, he still had to endure endless agony.

"Kill me! Please, kill me! Kill me! Aaaah..." The soldier begged his comrades to put him out of his misery. But the third rule of military orders forbade attacking soldiers on their own side, and violating military law meant certain death. His comrades couldn't bear to watch, but there was nothing they could do. They steeled themselves, looked away, and charged forward with all their strength. Yet even without looking, the soldier's agonized cries filled them with fear...

Just then, Lushute led the remaining mages as they hurried to the front of the formation. He shouted, "Cast Earth Wall! Target: the ground beneath our feet!" At once, the yellow crystal atop the foot-long staff in his hand lit up. He swept his right hand, and a vast stretch of ground ahead of the army was instantly covered with earthen walls a foot thick!

Lushute's idea inspired the other mages. The remaining earth mages followed his example, laying thick earthen walls across the ground as they ran at full speed!

The other mages behind them took the hint. The ice mages froze the earthen walls with ice elemental magic, making them even sturdier, while the fire mages subjected the rest to intense heat. Under the flames, the spreading earthen walls soon hardened into something like brick and stone, greatly strengthening their defenses!

Ye Wang watched the twenty-person squad's tactics from the sky and relayed what he saw to the Zerg Hive. At once, the ten Lurkers at the edge of the mine turned their attention to the mage squad!

"Whoosh, whoosh... whoosh, whoosh..." Earth Spikes burst frantically from beneath their feet. But the walls, hardened by fire or frozen solid, were exceptionally tough. The spikes eventually broke through, but it took them half a second to pierce the defenses. For mages, whose power rested on their formidable mental strength, that half-second was enough to save their lives!

The attacks were no longer without warning; they had become delayed strikes. The mages spread their mental energy over the ground and shifted their bodies the instant they sensed an Earth Spike beginning to emerge. Over the full five hundred meters, the mage squad and the soldiers charged through without a single death!

Ye Luo watched the battle at the front through the live feed in his mind. The mages' strength had surprised him. Looks like I can't underestimate even this continent's mid- and low-level fighters. Ye Di, it's your turn.

Ye Di wasn't beside Ye Luo. He was at the edge of the mine, yet he heard Ye Luo's command clearly from hundreds of meters away. In the sky, one of the two Overlords floating alongside Ye Wang immediately transmitted the view of the front line into Ye Di's mind.

Ye Di dropped into a half-crouch. His body reverted to its true form, like a sword-backed dragon. His tail plunged into the earth, and his eyes flashed brilliantly!

At the front, Lushute wore a satisfied smile. They had already advanced eight hundred meters and were drawing ever closer to the mine. Not one of them had fallen along the way. Their ingenuity had once again proved the power of magic. And once they took the Zerg Hive and returned to the capital, Dieter would report the battle to the king. Lushute was certain the Magic Guild would give him high praise!

War? The Keren Kingdom had been at peace for far too long—so long that even its finest soldiers seemed to have forgotten what war felt like. But war's theme was death, and military glory was the part that drove men onward! Lushute could practically feel the Magic Guild's generous rewards awaiting him when he returned. They might even be enough to help him break through to the next level!

"BOOM!"

Suddenly!

An explosion shook the heavens and earth!

Lushute was flung into the air in an instant!

As he soared, he saw grief-stricken expressions on his comrades' faces and terror in the soldiers' eyes!

Only then did a sharp pain strike his chest!

His keen senses seemed to have vanished in an instant, only returning belatedly now!

A massive Earth Spike had pierced him from between the legs and emerged through his chest. He could even feel his spine, though it had already gone numb...

How is this possible...? Why was there no warning this time? Why was this attack so powerful? Why...?

No one could answer Lushute's questions, because he could no longer voice them. The combination of ice, fire, and Earth Wall magic had indeed been an obstacle for an ordinary Lurker. But against Ye Di, a level-four hero, it was no more than paper!

"Boom! Boom!" Ye Di's Earth Spikes were not only tremendously powerful, but also far thicker than those of ordinary Lurkers. Each time one emerged, it shattered the entire stretch of magic-reinforced ground. After Lushute, two more mages died at his hands in quick succession!

"Mages, all of you, fall back!" Dieter shouted from the middle of the army, his heart aching. Mages were nothing like warriors. One person in three could cultivate battle aura, but among a hundred people, there might not be even one with a talent for magic. These mages had all been recruited from the Magic Guild. If any were killed, he would have to pay a large sum to their families, as well as an even larger compensation to the Magic Guild!

Besides, with the mages' help, they were already less than two miles from the edge of the mine...

"Two miles left! Every soldier, charge through this stretch, and we'll find that damned Demon Beast! We'll tear them to pieces and avenge our brothers! Kill! Kill! Kill!" Dieter raised the greatsword in his hand. Fueled by battle aura, his voice rang across the sky!

"Kill! Kill! Kill!" Morale was a strange thing. When soldiers faced an unknown danger, the fear inherent in being human took charge of their thoughts. But amid thousands of people, one man's fervor could quickly spread to the rest, turning those who had been ready to save themselves into fearless heroes in an instant...

With their lives on the line, the last two miles became the soldiers' final charge. Their general had told them that if they could cross this final stretch, victory would be theirs. They would not only have a chance to live, but would return to their homes as heroes!

The soldiers erupted into action. Their physical prowess was on par with that of Earth's special forces, and once they broke into a run, two miles were over in the blink of an eye!

In the sky, Ye Wang watched the ant-like soldiers charge wildly toward the mine like a black tide, drawing ever closer...

At the bottom of the mine, the right corner of Ye Luo's mouth slowly lifted. It was clearly a smile, yet Angelina beside him felt a chill to her bones...

"Ye Luo, I'm begging you. Please, don't hurt my father..." Angelina looked utterly haggard as she gazed at him with pleading eyes.

Ye Luo sighed and gave an almost imperceptible nod. A thought stirred in his mind!

"Rustle, rustle, rustle..."

When the soldiers who had crossed the killing zone saw the enormous stone creature, shaped like a sword-backed dragon, they were overjoyed. They knew they had made it. Without waiting for anyone to give an order, they charged toward the Demon Beast, eager to use its blood to honor their fallen comrades. But just then, the soldiers at the very front suddenly felt the ground beneath their feet begin to tremble...