Entering the Trap

Everything is normal.

The closer Kane got to Casablanca City, the more anxious he became. He took several deep breaths and sent soldiers to search the area, but he still couldn't find anything to worry about. Perhaps the only thing he was worried about was that there was nothing to worry about at all.

Am I being too sensitive and anxious?

Kane shook his head with a wry smile. Perhaps the tension of the ministers before he came here had infected him, making him somewhat paranoid. However, this was, after all, a dead city, and no one knew what might happen. Although the soldiers inside had reported that there was nothing unusual (which was itself very unusual), Kane still decided to camp outside the city and not rush in, but to observe the situation inside first.

The leaders of the other units were clearly dissatisfied with this order. Although Kane was the de facto commander-in-chief, nominally it was at least a "coalition," which gave the other commanders the illusion that they were on equal footing with Kane. Therefore, they were generally reluctant to accept Kane's orders. Moreover, the fate of Casablanca City was intertwined with their own, and seeing Kane issue such a passive order only fueled their anger towards this general from the royal family. In their view, quickly figuring out what had happened was the most urgent task, and Kane's approach was nothing short of passive-aggressive. After all, for these royal officials, it wasn't their own soldiers who had died, so they naturally didn't care.

Therefore, shortly after Kane issued this order, the commanders of the other armies quickly came before him.

"Your Excellency Kane, I would like to ask, what exactly is your intention in issuing such an order?"

"Given the current unclear situation, I believe we should proceed with caution."

Looking at the general before him, Kane replied grimly that he disliked this kind of conversation. As soldiers, they should obey orders; raising objections was the most unacceptable thing to do.

"I don't care what you think, I am now the commander-in-chief here, so I have complete command authority. You must obey my orders, without exception."

"I refuse to accept such an order!"

Another commander stepped forward, his face ashen, staring angrily at Kane.

"What we should be doing now is thoroughly exploring this city, finding out exactly what happened, and how we should prevent it, instead of wasting time here pointlessly!"

"I am the commander-in-chief; I have command over all the troops here."

Kane clearly had no intention of continuing this conversation.

"I don't think this will be easy, but now, gentlemen, I hope you can recognize the situation. The enemy hasn't shown up, and none of our cities have received any reports of them leaving. Right now, there's not a soul in sight. All of this is very unusual, and we should be even more cautious—if they were able to kill all the residents of Casablanca, they certainly have the power to pose a threat to us!"

"That's because it wasn't facing 100,000 fully armed and well-trained soldiers!"

Clearly, the commanders were unwilling to accept Kane's explanation, and Kane was losing patience.

"This is my order. If you refuse to obey, I will report this to the Royal Family."

"We don't need royal constraints. How could you bunch of old men who only know how to sit in warm rooms and sleep with women possibly understand our feelings!?"

Clearly, the other party and the book were also quite unhappy with Kane using the royal family to pressure them.

"Don't think you're so great just because you're the commander-in-chief. Let me tell you..."

Before he could finish speaking, a deafening roar erupted as a blinding bolt of lightning struck down, hitting the commander who was arguing with Kane squarely. The lightning came and went even faster; everyone only saw a blinding flash before their eyes, and then all that remained was a charred, unrecognizable corpse.

"This is...!"

Kane instinctively looked up, and finally, a flash of light emanating from the dark clouds above caught his attention.

This doesn't seem like ordinary thunder. What happened?

Just as Kane frowned, a lazy voice came from not far in front of them.

Welcome everyone.

The voice was deep, yet it reached everyone's ears clearly, as if it were speaking right next to them. As soon as the voice came out, almost everyone turned their heads and looked in the direction of the voice.

"To be honest, I've been waiting for a long time, and I didn't expect you all to be even slower than I anticipated."

Despite being in the public eye, Li Lin felt no discomfort. Neither Nia, Anna, nor Angela were by his side. Maintaining such a relaxed attitude in the face of such a large, dark mass of soldiers was by no means an easy task.

Finally, Li Lin stopped and slowly looked from left to right, then from right to left.

Although his gaze was not specifically directed at anyone, almost everyone felt a chill run down their spines, as if this man was specifically watching them, making them feel uneasy.

"Although I feel it's pointless to say it, I still have to say it."

Li Lin coughed once, then slowly began to speak.

"Ladies and gentlemen, you have already set foot on the territory of the Magic Empire. Now, in the name of the Arcane Mage, I demand that you leave this place immediately, or else... you will be killed without exception."

"..."

Faced with Li Lin's words, everyone was at a loss for words. Absurd? It was indeed absurd. They were standing on land they had owned for hundreds of years, and now, suddenly someone came out and declared it to be the territory of another country... Had he lost his mind?

However, beyond the absurdity, there was also a sense of unease.

Clearly, the other party wasn't insane; his tone was deep, and he made his request quite formally. This perfectly polite approach, ironically, made the people of the Xialuo Kingdom somewhat uneasy—sometimes being too normal is also abnormal, and even more dangerous.

I knew it would turn out like this.

Li Lin shrugged. He was just asking anyway; after all, in a war between two countries, the proper ceremony had to be carried out thoroughly and formally. He wasn't one of those terrorists hiding in the mountains who only hijacked passenger planes for suicide attacks. As the ruler of the Magic Empire, he had to be more respectful of etiquette and tradition.

Then he stretched out his hands.

"Therefore, according to the border defense decree of the Magic Empire, anyone who intends to invade the territory of the Magic Empire —shall be killed without exception."

A thunderous roar resounded.

The hundreds of thunderclaps that rang out at the same time almost deafened everyone, and their vision blurred, unable to see anything except for a pure white light.

What followed was screams and groans.

When they opened their eyes and saw the scene before them clearly, almost everyone immediately broke out in a cold sweat.

Before and after them, or in their wake, vast areas were cleared away. Only charred corpses lay on the ground; some of them were not yet completely dead, still enduring the agony of the lightning's intense heat piercing their bodies. This time, the lightning, which had been hidden in the clouds, finally revealed itself completely, like white serpents of light weaving through the thick clouds, covering every visible area, boundless and limitless.

"Attack! Attack now!!"

No one hesitated any longer. Although the mage's first attack hadn't caused much damage, its deterrent effect far surpassed that of a large-scale assault. Looking at the lightning serpents constantly appearing and disappearing in the clouds above, the soldiers could barely hold their weapons. But soon, the military order, accompanied by the heavy beating of drums, forced the soldiers to move. They raised their spears and swords high, while the knights spurred their swift horses, charging towards the lone mage before them.

Almost everyone understood at that moment that they had to win this war.

Otherwise, there is only one way out: death.

Lightning struck again, as if the white torrent of destruction had been completely unleashed in Li Lin's hands. Tens of thousands of thick bolts of lightning struck simultaneously from different areas, relentlessly exploding and engulfing the bodies of the soldiers. Under the influence of the intense heat, the storm, and the immense force, they were reduced to fragments or ashes. The immense destructive power firmly protected the Arcane Mage's body, destroying everything that tried to harm him. Then, the world was once again enveloped in white light.

"Damn it! Stop attacking! Retreat immediately, get out of here!!!"

The relentless torrents of lightning finally made Kane abandon any hope of continuing the fight with the mage before him. He had never seen a mage possess such power; he even sensed that the mage seemed to control the lightning of the entire world, now wantonly destroying the continent, and not just his own 100,000-strong army. However, even Kane himself wasn't sure if his orders had been issued. The continuous thunder had drowned out all other sounds; even if he shouted at the top of his lungs, those nearby probably wouldn't be able to hear him. The entire army was in complete chaos. They had never encountered a magical attack of such scale. Swordsmen desperately raised their shields, trying to withstand the terrifying light of destruction, but to no avail; they were blasted away. Knights brandished their longswords, urging their horses towards Li Lin, but were pulverized before reaching him. As for the soldiers wielding spears, they were even more unlucky; they became human lightning rods, and the best targets for attracting lightning.

The 100,000-strong, well-armed army, full of high morale, collapsed completely after being bombarded by lightning only three times.

"Get inside the city! Use the city walls and houses to protect against the lightning strikes, quick!!"

Faced with the situation, Kane quickly made a decision. If the soldiers continued to run around aimlessly, they would all be wiped out by the terrifying lightning. The only way to protect them was to enter the city and rely on the buildings. He couldn't let the soldiers continue to scatter.

Seizing the opportunity during the lightning's roar, Kane ordered his commander to sound the siege horn.

Upon hearing the bugle call, the soldiers, who were scattering in all directions, were startled. They didn't understand why their commander would issue an order to attack the city at this critical moment. But soon, some of the more astute soldiers understood Kane's intentions. They hurriedly turned around and rushed towards the breach in the city wall. No matter how powerful Li Lin was, he was only one person, not an army of thousands, and naturally couldn't withstand everyone. They could simply avoid Li Lin's direction and rush into the city. Although this was also risky, it was still far more terrifying than running across an open plain with no cover, staring at the net of lightning hanging overhead.

As the soldiers changed direction and ran, a smile appeared on Li Lin's lips. This legendary spell, originating from a powerful arcane Arcane Mage, wasn't actually as powerful as it appeared. Even Li Lin at this moment could only borrow its form, not truly master this powerful spell. In fact, he had merely modified the Temporary Mythal into a form that "attacks any intruder with lightning" and activated it at the appropriate time. He didn't expect this similar legendary spell to wipe out an army of 100,000 in one fell swoop, but as long as he could create panic among them, his goal would be achieved.

Because someone will help him complete the rest of the work.

A soldier, running desperately toward the breach in the city wall, suddenly collapsed to the ground. Cursing his misfortune, he tried to get up and continue running toward the distant breach—simply to increase his chances of survival. But then he realized that someone was holding his foot tightly, and he couldn't move. When he turned around, he saw a lifeless face, long since dead.

Then, sharp teeth bit through the poor soldier's throat, drowning out his last struggle in the roar of lightning.

Long before Casablanca City fell, Angela had already ordered the Ghoul to go to the edge of the plains and bury themselves in pits. This served two purposes: first, to prevent them from being destroyed by the sunlight, and second, it was also part of the ambush. Since the 100,000-strong army entered the plains, they had been surrounded by the undead army. Li Lin's lightning was merely a smokescreen to demoralize the troops; under the cover of these lightning bolts, the undead creatures that had been hidden deep within the earth awoke at Angela's call and began to surround these unfortunate soldiers.

Their fate was already decided at that moment.

Although the number of Ghoul is far less than that of this army of 100,000, for them, companions are the easiest thing to increase.

"Great, everything went smoothly."

Watching the panicked soldiers fleeing, and the relentless pursuit and slaughter by the undead legion, Li Lin withdrew his magically powerful hands, letting the light of the runes flicker between them, growing weaker and weaker. He looked down at the light in his hands, a graceful smile playing on his lips.

"Now it's up to you, Angela, Anna, Nia. Make sure our guests are entertained and don't get bored."

"Huff... huff... huff..."

Hidden in a gap between buildings, Kane gripped his longsword, warily surveying his surroundings. He no longer cared about the other soldiers; the blinding flashes and deafening roars made everything impossible to hear. After giving the order to attack, Kane, protected by a few guards, charged into Casablanca City. Although he was closest to the mage, the mage showed no intention of harming him. Even the officers, except for the unlucky ones killed in the initial attack, were all unharmed and entered the city safely.

Although he wasn't attacked at all, Kane could feel the mage's gaze directed at him.

It was a mocking look, and a look that seemed to be waiting for the show to begin.

This made Kane's mood even worse.

He knew he had fallen into a trap from which he could not escape. Although he was still standing here safely, it did not mean that he could leave.

And who knows, I might die here.

Now, all he can do is cower in the shadows, trembling, waiting for it to end.

After an unknown amount of time, the sound of lightning began to gradually subside. Kane opened his eyes wide and cautiously peered upwards through the gaps, discovering that the lightning bolts that had been lurking in the clouds were indeed growing weaker and weaker. This temporarily relieved him.

"Alright."

Once he was certain that the most intense attack had passed, Kane quickly turned around and stared intently at the few remaining guards around him.

"What we need to do now is to immediately gather the remaining troops in the city and leave immediately! We have lost this war! We must return immediately and report the situation to the royal family!!"

No one raised any objections; even the officers who had spoken earlier fell silent. The power of the Arcane Mage had far exceeded their expectations, and this was no longer just a simple war.

"Very good, then let's proceed immediately..."

With that, Kane turned his head and took a step forward—but quickly stopped.

Just in front of him, a petite figure blocked everyone's path.

"The lowest of the low."

Angela snapped open her fan, her eyes gleaming even brighter. She stared at the group of fully armed soldiers before her with a cruel, excited gaze, and couldn't help but lick her lips with amusement.

"You have trespassed on your master's territory, and now you intend to leave? I will not allow it. Are you prepared to pay the price for your foolish actions?"