As the bone blade drew closer and closer, Dick's mind reeled:
I can't dodge this blow. Is today the day I die?
Dick was nearly spent, his strength draining away, and his steel sword seemed to be caught in the monster's bones. The longsword he could ordinarily withdraw with ease would not budge.
Ferocity surged within him. His eyes widened, and with a furious roar, he clenched his fist and swung, ready to fight the giant mantis to the death.
Before the two could make contact, a soft whoosh sounded. Flames wreathed the giant mantis's translucent wings, and it slid to the ground.
Its entire body was charred black. It lay on the ground, wailing in agony, accompanied by the distinctive aroma of cooked insect flesh.
Dick looked to the side:
Not far away, a pale-faced girl was looking at him with determination in her eyes.
She held a fist-sized fireball in each hand. In front of her, two soldiers held shields, watching their surroundings nervously as they guarded her.
Dick was overjoyed. "Xiya!"
She offered little response, saying only, "Watch out."
She hurled the two fireballs in her hands.
Dick ducked slightly, and the fireballs struck the two giant mantises trying to attack him.
Naturally, Dick would not let this opportunity slip. He had discovered that these giant mantises truly feared fire, catching alight at the slightest touch. If he wanted to deal with monsters like these, it seemed he ought to upgrade his Fire Signs as well.
As he thought, he seized the chance to pull his steel sword free and, without hesitation, swung twice.
Sword light flashed, and the two giant mantises were beheaded.
The last remaining giant mantis swooped down again, but with support from Xiya's fireballs, this monster soon followed its companions.
Panting heavily, Dick slowly walked over to the apprentice sorceress, his face full of concern. "Xiya, are you all right?"
"Dick, you don't need to look at me like that. I'm not a child.
"Although I exhausted myself saving you earlier, I gained something from it too.
"Don't let how I look now fool you. It's only because I haven't fully recovered yet."
"What did you gain?" Dick asked in surprise.
"You could say I made a breakthrough in the heat of battle. After saving you in your courtyard-before, I could only communicate smoothly with lightning elements, but now I can also communicate with these lovely fire elements..."
As she spoke, she snapped her fingers, and a small flame appeared.
The flame slowly circled the girl's index finger.
"Look, they've submitted to me too. I'm now a dual-element sorceress of fire and lightning."
"Then congratulations. But..." Dick changed tack. "You should still run!"
"Why do you say that, Dick?"
"We can't hold the gate. The soldiers defending the city have been almost completely wiped out, and hardly anyone can still fight, while the Jatu army still has several hundred men."
No sooner had he finished than a series of bangs and clangs rang out beyond the gate. The remaining Jatu were battering it down.
"Run, Xiya! If they catch you, you're done for. I don't want you to die."
"In your condition, you can't possibly escape. If you won't leave, neither will I." Xiya's expression was resolute.
"You..." Dick could not help growing agitated, yet he also felt the ice in some corner of his heart slowly melting.
He reached out and stroked the girl's head. She did not shy away.
Dick said softly, "Meeting you was the greatest blessing of my life. In that case, let's stay here together."
Just then, Kebi came downstairs too. Fully armed, he actually led over a horse from nearby, mounted it, and couched a lance at his waist, facing the gate.
He was going to charge once the Jatu entered the city.
"Dick, Xiya, it's an honor to die alongside you!" Kebi shouted solemnly.
Then the girl actually burst out laughing.
Kebi looked back bitterly. To think the apprentice sorceress would mock him in the final moments of his life, though he did not know why.
Dick was puzzled. "Xiya, is dying together really that funny?"
The girl merely shook her head without speaking.
The battering outside the city continued. Kebi tightened his grip on his couched lance and steadied his breathing;
Xiya, however, looked ahead with a smile, making no preparations, as though she had everything under control.
Meanwhile, Dick's witcher hearing also picked up something unusual:
There seemed to be earthshaking shouts coming from outside the city, accompanied by the neighing of horses.
As he was thinking, the battering outside the gate abruptly ceased, while the ground beneath his feet began to shake.
"Is this..." Dick turned to the apprentice sorceress. "...Have reinforcements arrived?"
"That's right." Xiya nodded. "So you don't need to be so nervous."
"What's going on?" Kebi asked, delighted.
Xiya smiled. "Dick, actually, after I finished making the Dimeritium Bomb for you that night, I contacted my master through the communicator. Fortunately, its energy stone still had enough power for one call, and the reinforcements set out then.
"My master was with the grand master of the Order of the Falcon at the time. Judging by how much time has passed, it should be the Order of the Falcon out there.
"Of course, if you hadn't held out until now, and the Jatu had breached the city, reinforcements arriving too late would have meant nothing."
"The Order of the Falcon! Wonderful, wonderful! Dick, Dick, come out of the city with me."
Kebi simply dismounted and walked toward the gate.
Dick raised an eyebrow at the apprentice sorceress. "So you were teasing me just now?"
Xiya merely pressed her lips together in a smile.
The two soldiers cautiously peered through the gap in the gate, then opened it with delighted expressions.
Feeling the tremors beneath his feet, Dick gazed into the distance:
Dust swirled wildly beside the Jatu camp, obscuring everything within.
At one point, the swirling dust was quelled, and a blue ocean surged out of it, swiftly engulfing the panic-stricken Jatu.
It was a force of fully armed cavalry, clad in pale blue armor and riding fully armored warhorses.
Led by a tall knight at their head, they advanced in a triangular formation and, like a sharp blade, drove a vicious thrust into the Jatu's flank.
That single thrust shattered the entire Jatu formation!
In an instant, the Jatu howled and fled in every direction. Some tried to make a desperate stand, only to be effortlessly skewered and flung away by the oncoming cavalry's lances, each over ten feet long.
These cavalrymen maintained a clear order, keeping uniform distances between those ahead and behind. Each held a deadly lance couched at his waist at a set angle, charging swiftly forward with the momentum of his warhorse.
Lance thrust!
Whether Jatu soldiers clad in leather armor or Jatu officers encased head to toe in heavy plate, all were pierced effortlessly with a single thrust.
Beneath the lance, all were equal!
"I knew it! I knew we could hold! The Order of the Falcon is here! The grand master has come in person!" Kebi pointed at the knight with the covered face leading the charge and shouted excitedly.
Only then did Dick learn that the tall knight at their head was the grand master of the Order of the Falcon.
Seeing this, the dozen or so soldiers guarding the Jatu commander at the rear of the Jatu force mounted their horses and began retreating swiftly.
"They're trying to escape! We can't let the Jatu commander get away. He killed so many of my men. I'm going to kill him!" Kebi shouted.
"No need," Xiya said softly beside him.
"Why do you say that, Xiya?" Dick asked.
"Look..." Xiya pointed several dozen meters behind the Jatu's central headquarters:
A hooded figure riding a white horse appeared. She seemed to be murmuring something.
Even so, her voice rang across the entire battlefield, clear to everyone.
Dick realized it was a sorceress's incantation-that person was a sorceress.