The army continued its advance, as their guild banners rose above them. Leon was facing the three surviving masters, but none moved to attack.
Varek’s body lay behind them, and the absence of his presence left a gap in the formation they had maintained throughout their battle.
"You have no idea what is coming," Darian said. "The guilds have brought their full strength. Stop now, and you might still-"
Leon shifted his attention as he gazed towards their back at the approaching army and Darian fell silent. Serik had already begun retreating, and Odran followed after a brief glance at Varek.
Their injuries needed attention, and fighting Leon in their current condition would be life threatening. They would recover, and return again while the army will keep Leon busy.
Darian lingered a moment longer, but Leon never looked back at him. At last, he withdrew with the others. Leon let them go as his attention settled towards the huge army which covered the whole forest ahead.
Most of them were at the harmonized Vessel stage, while the Manifestation and Soulforge cultivators occupied positions throughout the ranks.
At the center of each guild army stood a guild commander who had reached Nascent Convergence. Their spiritual pressure was formidable, but their advantage lay in their combined formations and runes.
At a signal from the commanders, runes illuminated the ground. Lines of light linked thousands of members at once and drew the spiritual essence from them. They raised their weapons together, merging the attack into a single condensed beam and directed it towards the city where Leon was.
Leon watched the attack come towards him. He moved before it reached him, summoning a violent surge of wind to carry himself above its directed path.
The attack struck the ground and a deep crater formed and reduced the streets, buildings and lastly whole city to ashes in an instant. The shock wave from the impact rippled outwards as it destroyed everything in its path.
Leon landed on a edge of the crater as the surrounding was hot from the impact. He glanced towards the guild army and their formation remained intact.
Three convergence stage cultivators separated, and advanced towards Leon, their cultivation was minor stage below Leon’s but their combined strength, supported by the army’s formations, made them dangerous opponents.
A spear of essence thrust towards Leon. He deflected it with a blade of condensed essence, only to meet another cultivator’s heavy strike against as the impact drove him backward.
At the back, a third cultivator completed a series of seals, and earthen restraints closed around Leon’s legs, pinning him, and allowing the other two to attack without fear of a counter.
Leon shatters the restraints, using erosion element. He caught a spear’s shaft, dragged the wielder forward and struck his chest with a fist, condensed with lightning with a sharp edge.
Leon’s hand went through the cultivator’s throat, channeling his lightning essence all over him. He was charred as Leon threw him and he was sprawled on the ground motionless.
Leon withdrew just as the second fighter’s blade came down. The weapon collided on the ground as the cultivator gazed over his dead companion, before attacking again.
The third one was manipulating the terrain to assist the other one whenever he tried to attack them. Leon broke their rhythm by sending a concentrated gust across him. The dust obstructed through their view.
Leon used the brief confusion to slip past the second man’s blade and drive his spiritual weapon through his abdomen, and sliced it vertically upwards cutting all the way through the head.
The third cultivator seeing this, abandoned his seals and retreated toward the main formation. Leon wanted to pursue after him, but a wall of condensed essence rose between them.
More opponents were joining to hold him in place while the army prepared another coordinated attack so he stopped pursuing.
He had seen enough of their tactics to understand where their strength originated. Each guild maintained its own formation, but their runic channels connected everyone and those connections allowed the commanders to redirect spiritual essence and support whichever section faced the greatest pressure.
Rather than attack the new reinforcements, Leon floated up and channeled his lightning and wind element, summoning a storm across the forest. The commanders seeing this, ordered their soldiers to maintain formation.
"Hold the formation!" one of them ordered.
Leon sent a bolt toward the back of the army. The commanders diverted their defenses backwards, but before they could redirect their joint essence, Leon sent another attack towards the front, striking the main runic points and the runes shattered.
Across the battlefield, the flow of spiritual essence between the five guilds broke, severing the connection that had allowed them to fight as one army. They could still draw upon their own reserves but the loss of their shared essence left gaps in their defenses.
Leon descended toward the nearest formation, and struck their front ranks with lightning, scattering the soldiers before they could reorganize. A sweep of wind carried him through the opening, and his condensed blade flashed between the legions.
A Convergence stage cultivator charged from behind, aiming a spiritual blade at Leon’s neck. Leon parried the strike, but the impact numbed his wounded arm as the man forced him back.
As a second attacker lunged from the side, Leon ducked and dodged the attack, and seized the first opponent’s wrist, surging lightning through his defenses.
The cultivator screamed as the current shattered his protection, allowing Leon to drive a blade through his chest. And turning instantly, Leon unleashed a sharp gust of wind that broke the second fighter’s stance, cutting him down before he could recover.
Beyond the frontline, the surviving commanders struggled to restore order. One gathered his strongest cultivators, and shielded a formation master, hoping to restore the connection.
But Leon’s lightning struck the junction before they could restore the formation. The resulting blast tore through the gathered cultivators, killing several and scattering the rest.
From a distance, Darian, Serik, and Odran watched the battlefield. They had withdrawn to treat their injuries, expecting the army to keep Leon occupied. Instead, nearly the entire forest was swallowed by the storm.
"Get up," Serik said, already reaching for his blades.
Darian tightened his grip on his sword. Whatever remained of their injuries would have to wait. The three masters returned toward the battlefield as the army’s lines continued to collapse.
By the time they reached the surviving ranks, nearly forty percent of the force had been killed or incapacitated.
Leon stood beneath the raging storm, noticing the three familiar auras approaching. He was surrounded by broken formations and fallen cultivators, and his breathing heavy while blood of the enemies darkened his clothes.