Hidden Trump Card

Since the start of this war, not a single mage has dared to stand in Li Lin and Angela's way. The reason is simple: mages have never been well-regarded by the people and officials of the Five-Nation Alliance. The emergence of the Magic Empire has pushed this distrust to its peak. Under Li Lin's deliberate actions, almost all the mages within the Five-Nation Alliance are now isolated or semi-isolated. The people despise and hate them, and the mages themselves have changed their previously cautious approach due to the Magic Empire's presence. In many cities, battles between mages and civilians are commonplace. While many cities have eliminated the mages, they have also paid a heavy price. However, all of this was within Li Lin's calculations. In his view, regardless of who wins, it won't harm him.

Logically speaking, if the invaders of the Five-Nation Alliance were mages, then the Five-Nation Alliance would never allow mages to help them defend their cities. Moreover, whether the mages would even be willing to accept their demands is also a question.

However, now the problem has become a reality.

Should we charge?

Although this sudden change was unexpected for both of them, Miu'erkasi still asked. For her, whether there was a mage on the other side was completely irrelevant. As the Seven Ring Spirit Envoys created by Arcane Mage, their Magic Power resistance had reached the limit of their weapons; apart from Arcane Mage, no spell could affect or harm them.

"Need not!"

Angela stared fiercely at the smoke-shrouded city walls, her face as cold as ice.

"I'd like to see just how strong that fellow really is!"

As she spoke, Angela stretched out her finger again, put it to her lips, and whistled.

A sharp, piercing whistle blew, and the churning earth swelled up again. Miu'erkasi's eyes widened slightly as she watched in astonishment as hordes of Ghoul emerged from the soil once more. They seemed to be hiding even deeper than the undead from before, yet they displayed the same fury and killing intent. One by one, the Ghoul rose to their feet, nimbly climbing out of the pit. They stood firmly on the crumbling hillside, awaiting command—before charging downhill once more.

It was still a chaotic, reckless charge, a meaningless assault. But this time, the enemy's tactics began to change. The flames that had been burning on the tree trunks suddenly began to spread automatically in all directions, using corpses, dead wood, and anything else that could burn to engulf the entire battlefield in front of the city. The raging red fire illuminated the sky, and the scorching heat could even be felt by Miu'erkasi in the distance.

The hot wind from the flames billowed the young knight's cloak, and her long, bright red hair seemed to float in the air like a ball of fire. However, Miu'erkasi remained expressionless, simply gazing quietly at Angela while pondering the meaning of her actions.

As a Ring Spirit Envoy had actually led troops in battle during the Magic Empire's era, Miu'erkasi was well aware of Angela's tactics. Angela intended to rely on overwhelming numbers to completely crush the enemy's offensive and will from the front. Angela had just acknowledged this to her. However, this tactic only made sense if Mulcass's forces outnumbered the enemy's by several times. Otherwise, it was impossible to simply "crush" an enemy with equal numbers. Miu'erkasi had roughly calculated that Angela had summoned approximately ten thousand undead creatures in her two consecutive summons, and even adding her own four thousand undead knights, they could only manage a maximum of fifteen thousand. Meanwhile, the opposing forces... Although the city wasn't large, it still had about 20,000 soldiers defending it. In a siege, the attackers needed three times the number of defenders to gain an advantage. Now, even though her undead subordinates were all burned to ashes, it was no different from being killed in action. In Miu'erkasi's view, Angela had made a foolish choice, ordering her men to pointlessly die without any results. Now, those undead who "fearlessly" jumped into the sea of fire were in the same boat. Because the fire spread too quickly, the undead couldn't escape the engulfing flames of destruction. They entered the fire and then disappeared without a trace, without screams, without any sound, like pebbles thrown into a deep well, leaving no response.

The flames continued to burn, and the undead creatures were once again completely wiped out.

Miu'erkasi continued to wait, though no one knew what she was waiting for.

Moreover, Angela's expression remained unchanged, or rather—she seemed to be smiling even more happily.

"While I must admit, the magic of this world is quite interesting."

Angela gazed silently at the sea of fire and then spoke.

"But, as fun as it is, that's all it can do... Setting off fireworks is nice, though."

As she spoke, she raised her right hand and stretched it towards the sky.

Miu'erkasi watched the girl curiously. The young knight couldn't understand a word she was saying. Could it be that Angela was also a mage? But judging from her appearance, she didn't seem like one. She wasn't wearing a mage's robe, nor was she carrying any spellcasting materials or incantations. Moreover, Miu'erkasi had always thought that Angela was a physical mage. Although she sometimes did things that resembled magic, those were just her special abilities and couldn't be considered true magic. And the incantation that Angela recited next also left Miu'erkasi somewhat bewildered.

"Awaken, souls tormented in the darkness! Shed your rotting shells! I am here, in my name! I command you, you immortal slaves who crave life! Rise and destroy everything before you!"

As Angela her inexplicable incantation, the ground suddenly turned crimson. Beneath the sea of fire, a light far more vibrant than the flames appeared, and a massive, crimson pentagram magic circle materialized on the earth, slowly rotating. Then, an even more astonishing scene unfolded.

The undead creatures that had already been annihilated in the sea of fire would naturally not be resurrected, but their black bones, under the influence of some unknown force, began to gradually gather and assemble. Soon, in Miu'erkasi's eyes, a skeletal monster taller than a city wall was born from the sea of fire. Its body was covered with incomplete, black skeletons, and in its black eye sockets, two bright red flames flickered erratically.

This time, Miu'erkasi was truly stunned.

Although she was essentially a knight and had little knowledge of magic, Miu'erkasi was, after all, Weapon Spirit created by Arcane Mage. She understood perfectly well that what she was hearing wasn't a spell at all. In fact, it was no different from the little guy's usual speech. The only difference was that, along with her words, certain things that were not supposed to be affected had been completely altered.

The flames weren't particularly hot; while they were enough to destroy the flesh of undead creatures, they seemed somewhat inadequate against bones. Of course, extremely high temperatures could turn bones to ash as well. However, whether it was due to the opponent's insufficient strength or the reduced temperature of the flames in this environment, the bones remained intact.

Faced with this terrifying and enormous monster, the soldiers on the city wall began to panic. Although they fired rockets at the enemy again and again, these small arrows had no effect on the skeletal behemoth, whose entire body had been scorched by flames and from which not even a sliver of flesh could be found. It simply waved its hand casually, deflecting all the arrows away. Some of the rockets even deflected back into the city and set several houses ablaze.

But this is only the beginning.

It wasn't until a nauseating stench accompanied by a hot wind swept over her that Miu'erkasi noticed a dark, unidentified liquid slowly seeping from beneath the skeletal behemoth's feet. Strangely, despite the monster's entire body being nothing but bones, the origin of this repulsive liquid was completely unknown. It slowly spread outwards, quickly extinguishing the burning flames. Soon, the flames around the skeletal behemoth were completely extinguished. What followed was even more despairing—as the black sewage seeped in, another identical monster slowly rose from the ground.

"A single Godzilla only requires the bones of a few hundred people."

Angela, with her characteristic arrogant and smug sneer, relished the terrified expressions on the soldiers' faces on the city wall.

"I'd like to see how long they can hold out!"

This is Angela's hidden trump card. There are 20,000 undead lying there now, which means there are 20,000 skeletons that can be used for construction. Although it is unknown what kind of magic could produce this effect, it is clear that Angela is not using the magic of this world.

"The rest is up to you, Miu'erkasi."

Upon seeing the third skeletal monster struggle to its feet from the black water, Angela took two steps back, snapped open her folding fan, and covered her mouth.

"Be careful, these idiots don't distinguish between friend and foe. If you want to avoid them, you'll have to rely on yourself."

"I understand, Miss Angela."

Clearly, the black liquid not only increased the number of companions the skeletal monsters could have, but it also had the special effect of extinguishing fires. In the blink of an eye, the land that had been ravaged by flames had returned to calm, and apart from the black smoke, there was no trace of any flames to be seen.

"And you?"

"I must go and see... who has the audacity to defy their master."

The shadowy figure attacked again, a thin mist enveloping Angela's body before vanishing.

The commander-in-chief leaving the battlefield and going to the front line is not something to be praised for, but Miu'erkasi didn't say much. She rode her mount to the top of the hill, remained silent for a moment, and then forcefully swung the reins.

The white unicorn transformed into a streak of light and hurtled down, followed closely by countless death messengers.

This was the Black Edge Knights' first expedition, and under Miu'erkasi's leadership, they displayed an unforgettable performance.

Unlike the undisciplined and disorganized undead army that Angela had previously sent out, the Black Edge Knight formed a complete and distinct formation. Although they were somewhat disorganized when they charged down the hillside, by the time these undead knights crossed the tree barriers and stepped over the corpses of their comrades to reach the city walls, they had formed square formations with an error margin of no more than centimeters.

At this moment, Miu'erkasi was also caught up in the chaos. She paid no attention to the nauseating black water beneath her feet, nor did she have time to notice the enormous, monstrous creature above, attacking the soldiers on the city walls. She was focused on controlling the four thousand Black Edge Knight to ensure maximum effectiveness in the shortest amount of time.

Then, led by Miu'erkasi, the Black Edge Knight passed through the skeletal behemoth's body, raising their spears in unison and slamming them heavily against the solid city wall.

"Boom!!"

The sudden impact caused even the sturdy and thick city walls to tremble slightly, and the soldiers on them looked equally puzzled. They couldn't understand why anyone would use knights, a type of troop used for plains warfare, in a siege—but they soon experienced firsthand the unprecedented terror this had ever witnessed.

The hardened knight's lances, made of magical metal, had been driven deep into the cracks in the stone by the impact. At that moment, they all emitted a bright flash, and then the enormous magical power stored within them began to erupt uncontrollably, piercing through the entire city wall.

A deafening roar resounded once more. This time, faced with the immense power of magic, the city walls, which should have been incredibly sturdy, began to shatter like eggshells. Large chunks of stone were blown away by the magical force, and the soldiers standing on top didn't even have time to react before screaming and falling to the ground. Many died instantly from the fall, and those who managed to escape did not survive long either.

Under Miu'erkasi's command, the Black Edge Knight's iron hooves trampled the soldiers beneath them, using their flesh and blood as beacons, transforming them into sharp blades as they charged into the city.

"Damn it, damn it!! Cast the spell now!!"

Standing atop the tower, gazing at the breached city walls, the city lord's face was ashen. He loudly complained while issuing orders to the man beside him. The man was middle-aged and appeared quite ordinary, with nothing particularly remarkable about him. If it weren't for his mage's robes, people might mistake him for a farmer or a laborer.

"I... I've already been trying my best, Lord City Lord!"

The middle-aged mage, his face contorted in a grimace, gritted his teeth and unleashed another massive Fireball Spell at the skeletal behemoth that had emerged into the distance. This was the highest-level spell he could currently master. However, when the fireball struck the skeletal behemoth, it didn't even flinch, nor did it suffer the slightest harm. Then, the monster raised its hand again, sweeping a group of soldiers off the city wall.

"Continue, until you die! You must stop them!! Immediately send all the soldiers to stop those cavalrymen charging into the city. They absolutely cannot be allowed to leave alive!"

The city lord's face was ashen as he issued orders to the mage while simultaneously mobilizing his army.

"Where are the reinforcements? When will they arrive?"

The city lord's question went unanswered; instead, a clear, pleasant voice reached his ears.

So that's where you were hiding.

The city lord and the mage turned around in surprise at the same time. Standing in front of them was a little girl with silver hair and red eyes. Although she looked very innocent and cute, the scene seemed rather discordant with two headless corpses in the background.

"Master... I've finally found you."

Angela glanced at the man in the mage's robes and gave a cold smile.

"Who... who are you?"

Sensing the danger was so close, the mage instinctively took a step back, but unfortunately, there was nowhere left for him to escape.

"To answer my question, Venerable Master."

Angela's voice was like a block of ice that had stood for millennia.

"Why do you stand in my way and the Magic Empire? As a mage, why do you help these lowly commoners? Answer me, mage. Don't your spells come from the Magic Empire? Do you really think that you can dare to defy your great master with this stolen knowledge?!"

"..."

"Utterly laughable, you useless piece of trash, answering my question."

As she spoke, Angela's eyes narrowed slightly, revealing a chilling killing intent.

Why do you help those who persecute, fear, hate, and destroy Dharma Masters? What drives you to make this choice?

Perhaps because he realized he could no longer escape, or perhaps because people often unleash unusual potential when facing death, the fear on the mage's face gradually disappeared after hearing this. He straightened up and looked at the girl in front of him.

"That's right, I am a mage."

He answered in a deep voice.

"But before that, I was a human. I learned magic to protect my homeland, my land, and the people I love. I don't care if these people hate or despise mages. But I know I have a duty to help them, even if they don't believe me, even if they hate me... I'm willing to accept it all. I can't stand by and watch humans die, watch them be killed by undead and turn into corpses! I can't accept such an ending!"

"Well said."

Upon hearing this, Angela's lips curled up slightly, revealing a smile. This was much better than her previous coldness, but it also gave off an even more terrifying and evil aura.

Look into my eyes!

Angela's voice seemed to possess a certain Magic Power. The moment they heard her speak, the city lord and the mage reflexively looked into Angela's eyes, and then they were unable to turn away.

Deep within those crimson eyes, a ray of golden light flashed, and the two people being gazed upon by this golden light were astonished to find that their bodies were no longer able to move. They could not speak, could not move their limbs, and could not make any of the actions they wanted to do, as if this body no longer belonged to them, but existed completely independently.

Now, turn around.

At Angela's command, the two turned around and gazed at the town before them, wondering what this terrifying girl wanted to do.

"Although I could have killed you all outright."

Angela's voice came from behind again.

"However, someone's words just now reminded me... Since you don't want to see them die, then I'll make you watch anyway... Now, watch closely, watch the destruction of this city, and see with your own eyes how the people you're supposed to protect die in agony."