Chapter 44

Chapter 44

Chapter 44

Chapter 44

Approximately a dozen Red Tower Purifiers waited at the front. Dale, observing them firmly from his mount, immediately noticed the violent bloodlust emanating from their crimson fire spells.

“Raaaargh!”

Supporting the mages, hundreds of orcs on their mounts were fiercely chasing Dale’s cavalry forces, which numbered nearly three hundred riders.

The outlook looked extremely adverse.

Sending a line of riders straight toward the Red Tower sorcerers represented a suicidal act; it was equivalent to giving them the opportunity to devastate everything with their destructive magical power.

The true effectiveness of the knights lay in the discipline and coordination of their formations. Precisely, the danger of the Red Tower lay in its skill at breaking said cohesion. It was not for nothing that the Red Mages carried the reputation of being called “Gods of War.”

On the other hand, if they decided to divide to avoid the magic, they would remain completely unprotected against the harassment of the orc riders.

“This has become too complicated,” Dale reflected to himself, just as he prepared to deal with the pressure of the “tentacles” that were imprisoning his chest.

“Get off the horse, Dale.”

The instruction came from Sephia. The elf sorceress expressed herself with her usual calmness and balance. Without hesitation, Dale obeyed immediately, aware of the value that the words of a sixth-circle elf mage held.

Following Dale’s signal, the horse-mounted contingent dispersed and he set foot on the ground, closely escorted by his constant knight, Charlotte.

“All remaining riders, follow my instructions!”

Dale invoked toward his troops, who appeared confused by their leader’s surprising maneuver. Instantly, both the hosts of orc riders and the Purifiers charged against the unprotected “Black Prince.”

“Ice crystals.”

Faced with the enemy’s advance, Sephia pronounced those words in a whisper.

Being in the sacred territories of the Saxon family, acting in her role as a snow elf and sixth-circle water dominator, she assumed the task of safeguarding her student by standing up to the threat.

“Release.”

Sephia’s tone rose clearly and crystal-clearly, possessing a pure and unparalleled resonance.

Suddenly, the environment seemed to freeze in time.

From the ground they were stepping on, a violent gust of frozen fragments erupted.

Zas!

The huge number of wolves and orc riders that were lunging ended up trapped by the icy whirlwind that was born from Sephia, remaining petrified like frozen vestiges of a glacial age.

The exception was a few Purifiers, who managed to shelter themselves from the frost using their “Fire Armor.”

“Take the young knight with you and retreat, Dale.”

Surrounded by the winter blizzard, Sephia insisted.

“However, my mission is to guard Dale…”

Charlotte, capturing the gravity of the matter, gripped her weapon firmly.

—Charlotte.

Dale made a slight gesture of refusal with his face.

“It is a direct order from your lord.”

“……”

After a brief moment of hesitation, Charlotte accepted the instruction.

“Mount immediately and hold the reins tightly.”

Following this, Dale provided support for Charlotte to get onto the mount, entrusting her with a crucial task.

“Go to the agreed passage zone and update my father on what is happening here.”

“I will do so.”

Charlotte nodded, perfectly assimilating the relevance of the commission received.

The moment Charlotte galloped away, the so-called “Flame Shadows” emerged from the icy blizzard. Standing firmly, they wore protections forged with burning fire. There were twelve Red Tower Purifiers in total, a very respectable number.

In parallel, Dale’s horse-mounted forces, already scattered, were in charge of decimating the remaining orc riders.

“What is the reason for the Red Tower collaborating with the demonic forces?”

Dale inquired.

“……”

The Fire Shadows maintained absolute secrecy.

The Purifiers.

Fervent individuals who worship the fire of the Red Tower, capable of consuming themselves in their own devotion. Their absolute goal consisted of reducing to ashes anyone who opposed the Red Tower.

For these militants, the learning of spells was reduced purely to methods for incinerating rivals; any magical discipline that did not involve extermination was seen as an unnecessary ornament.

They did total honor to the nickname of “Red Tower Knights.”

Although their individual magical capabilities did not rival the level of Sephia, the respected figure of the Blue Tower, their true danger lay in their ability to operate in a block, just as their nickname of “Red Tower Knights” indicated.

The Flame Shadows raised their hands in unison. The mysticism of blood-tinted hue that emanated from their palms began to fuse, increasing their strength exponentially.

They planned to manifest a devastating fire to eradicate both Dale and Sephia in a lightning-fast manner.

“Resonate.”

However, Sephia performed a new snap with her fingers.

A clean chord, although loaded with tension, accompanied the gesture.

“…!”

That devastating fire that threatened to bury them vanished like a weak candle wick, dissolving completely in the middle of the whirlwind of melted snow.

It was predictable, given that the main virtue of the Blue Tower consisted of containment and neutralization tactics.

Annulment… Dissipation of spells.

Multiple flashes of bluish essence sprouted from Sephia’s hands, spreading across the area.

Said flashes interfered with the mystical flow of the enemy, crumbling the base of their spells and canceling them before they were born, an iconic maneuver of the practitioners of the Blue Tower.

《Blue Dissonance》.

Upon realizing the scenario, Dale acted immediately.

“Saxon warriors, this is the precise moment!”

With the complex spells completely neutralized by “Sephia’s Dissonance,” a sorcerer’s options in front of a squad of charging riders were drastically reduced.

“Advance!”

Thus, the Saxon Black Cavalry recovered the formation and initiated the massive attack.

In parallel.

The orcs persisted in their attempt to cross the water pass, while the main contingent commanded by Duke Saxon sustained a violent resistance.

The warriors provided with heavy metal protections consolidated an impassable barrier that the orcs sought to break down at all costs.

The Black Duke and the veteran members of the Black Tower contemplated the actions from a distant promontory, escorted by a large number of necromancy apprentices from the Black Tower.

“Eris.”

“Tell me, tower leader.”

The Black Duke pronounced in a subdued tone while evaluating the course of the confrontation.

“Lead the young ones toward the crossing sector guarded by Baron Kennet and the mercenary leader, Yones.”

He pointed toward a section that was experiencing great pressure due to the orc onslaught.

—Understood, tower leader.

Eris, the personal assistant to the Black Tower Leader, affirmed with her head calmly.

“The young ones.”

The novices of the dark arts belonging to the Black Tower, who were standing still, began the march. For the adepts of the Black Tower, the battlefield represented an unbeatable school. The loss of lives was felt in every corner, and the mystical certainties were extracted directly from it.

As the different leaders summoned under the banner of Duke Saxon fought with determination, the confrontation acquired an extremely critical nuance.

“… The time has come.”

Finally, the Black Duke spoke. He turned his gaze toward the most skilled dark sorcerers of the region, the members of the Black Council, who wore robes of absolute black, prepared to deliver the final blow to the contest.

He was about to issue the decisive directive.

“Your Grace, Duke Saxon!”

Just at that instant, young Charlotte arrived bringing with her the news sent by Dale.

The horse-mounted squad began the onslaught and, faced with this, the twelve Purifiers reacted immediately.

They moved forward with haste, unleashing flames everywhere.

It was a swift and improvised invocation that managed to evade the effects of Blue Dissonance. All in all, it possessed the necessary strength to repel the advance of the riders who were rushing at them.

“…!”

Burning gusts emerged from the Purifiers’ fiery covers, charging at the riders. With speed, Dale and Sephia raised a frozen barrier to contain the attack. Although the sudden icy obstacle brought their cavalry’s charge to a screeching halt, the maneuver avoided human losses.

A pair of water users, favored by this sacred territory, structured the frost defense. It was strengthened to tolerate the high temperatures of the Purifiers through immediate cooling patterns, while Dale optimized the icy structure by adding fragmentation and burst dynamics.

The horses’ advance had been nothing more than a diversionary maneuver.

Shard Magnum.

The imposing structure of frost exploded with violence, scattering countless blades that propagated like projectiles. These went straight toward the fiery armors that covered the Purifiers.

However, the frozen splinters ended up being consumed by the heat before touching the burning Fire Shadows.

“…!”

Fire arises from the interaction between temperature, fuel, and oxidizer… Temperature represents the level of particle agitation in an element.

For its part, cold is equivalent to the decrease of said agitation, seeking a cessation of movement.

Despite this logic, the fire armors undid even the frost generated under Sephia’s patterns.

“This defies logic.”

They were not fighting on the arid soils of a desert territory. How was it possible that they managed to project such intense flames capable of dissolving the ice of a main figure of the Blue Tower, while in the icy expanses of Saxon? How did they manage it?

The explanation did not take long to manifest before their eyes.

Once the frost barrier protecting the riders dissipated, the twelve Purifiers distributed themselves throughout the sector. The bulk of the group was left unprotected against the onslaught of Dale’s troops, but a few managed to evade the defensive line, approaching dangerously close to Dale and Sephia.

And at that instant, it happened.

“Shadow Bullet.”

A projectile of darkness immune to the action of fire struck fully, causing one of the Purifiers to collapse injured.

Right in front of Dale.

The garment covering him moved, revealing a face that bore great similarity to a block of burning embers, showing charred tissue and a bone structure on the verge of collapse.

“What is it that you are looking for?” questioned Dale to the Purifier who lay prostrate on the ground.

“He, he, he.”

Deep down, he knew perfectly well that he would not obtain a sane statement.

“There is little left for the entire planet to be consumed by fire…!”

As suspected.

“The environment will be scorched and, from the remains, they will make their arrival…!”

The deformed grimace and the deranged expressions persisted.

Boom!

Suddenly, a detonation of such magnitude was unleashed that it completely affected the surroundings.

“A method of destructive immolation!”

Dale understood it immediately. At that point, all the pieces fell into place. These were not protections forged with fire.

The Red Tower Purifiers were consuming themselves internally from the start of the actions. They did not wear an external armor; it was their own bodies, fluids, and bones that served as fuel.

Assimilating that reality caused a sudden shiver inside Dale.

The shockwave devastated every element within its reach, reaching Dale’s riders fully, and neither Dale nor Sephia managed to stay out of the impact.

And that represented only the first of the twelve potential detonations.

Chapter 44