With such a massive force on the move, the sounds of horse hooves and footsteps converged, making it seem as if the entire battlefield was trembling.
Riding his warhorse, Dominic quickly galloped to the very front of the legion, meeting up with the Sixth Legion’s "King Dowson" Samuel and Scholar Vincent.
He gave a specific warning, "Be careful of that Slime. That thing is a Golden Tier Demon Lord."
Samuel, glittering from head to toe in gold, had originally wanted to greet Dominic enthusiastically. Hearing this, his expression changed in surprise. "A Golden Tier Slime? Dominic, have you lost your mind? How can a Slime reach the Golden Tier?"
"Dominic isn’t wrong." At his side, Scholar Vincent, clad in a magnificent mage’s robe, spoke in a steady voice as the arcane light in his eyes faded. "My True Knowledge Skill tells me that Slime contains immense Magic Power and an unbelievably vigorous life force, far surpassing even those Extraordinary Warriors known for their constitution and endurance."
Samuel swallowed hard, his gaze involuntarily shifting to the shocking, massive breach in the walls of Storm Fortress. "You’re not going to tell me... that huge hole in the fortress was made by it, are you?"
Dominic didn’t respond, but his silence was a tacit admission.
"What the hell..."
Samuel cursed under his breath, but a moment later, a glint like a merchant seeing gold lit up his eyes. "Still, this is an exceptionally rare Golden Slime. If we could capture this thing alive and send it to the Wuwan Port Alliance’s auction house... those filthy rich merchants and collectors would definitely pay an incredible price."
In an instant, the shock from the breach in the wall was replaced by a lust for gold. In Samuel’s eyes, nothing was more captivating than shiny Gold Coins!
Dominic shot him a look one would give a country bumpkin, fighting the urge to look away from the man’s blindingly bright Enchanted Armor. He coldly assigned their tasks, "I will engage and pin down Raven Arevalo. Scholar Vincent, you will take command of the overall situation and be responsible for dealing with Princess Louisa."
He looked at Samuel. "As for you, King Dowson, Allen will assist you in dealing with that Slime. Be extremely careful. It’s not as simple as it looks."
Vincent nodded slightly. "Rest assured, Captain Dominic. Although Her Highness the Princess is also an Extraordinary Mage, she is young, after all. She is no match for me. To be on the safe side, I will be ready to assist King Dowson with the Slime at any time."
"Excellent! Scholar Vincent, you’re a true friend! I’ll give you ten percent of the auction proceeds!" Samuel laughed heartily, pulling a High-Level Magic Scroll flashing with a cyan light from his waist and unfurling it without hesitation.
[Blessing of the Swift Wind]
WHOOSH!
A stream of cyan wind poured from the Scroll, swiftly enveloping all the knights and their warhorses behind him. The entire Knight Order’s charging speed skyrocketed.
They were like a cyan blade of swift wind, cutting through the tide of demons at an even greater speed as they rapidly closed in on the retreating Demon Legion ahead.
Chen Yu knew this was bad.
This retreat had directly exposed the Demon Legion’s greatest weakness.
Until now, the legion had mostly experienced positional warfare, either sieging or defending fortresses. They only needed to establish tight defensive formations to handle most enemies, and had thus neglected marching speed and rapid maneuverability.
Whether it was the slow-moving Secret Magic Ancient Trees or the Ripper Cannons that required numerous Beetles to pull them, both severely slowed the legion’s retreat, leaving the entire army at a complete disadvantage against the pursuit of elite enemy cavalry.
The Arevalo Clan’s Knight Team, which had previously been covering the Demon Legion’s rear, had long since used their horses’ speed to overtake the legion and were now far ahead.
Now, the Demon Legion was about to face the pursuing Elite Knight Order head-on.
"Beet, intercept," Chen Yu ordered through the Gel network.
Legion Commander Beet rose into the air, commanding the Blood Legion’s swarm of Poisonous Sting Bees to counterattack. Countless dark-red Moldable Blood Balls rained down like a torrential storm on the pursuing Knight Order, attempting to slow their charge.
Facing this overwhelming barrage of blood balls, Scholar Vincent, at the front of the Knight Order, merely gave it an indifferent glance before raising the Magic Staff in his hand.
[Force Wall Skill]
Arcane light flashed. Complex Magic Patterns spread across the sky above the Knight Order, then vanished into thin air.
The blood balls slammed into this invisible area as if hitting a transparent wall. They either exploded on impact, their blood energy absorbed by the force wall, or were deflected to the sides, completely unable to harm the Knight Order below.
Celeste, carrying Princess Louisa, flew past on the flank, trying to find an opportunity to attack.
Louisa lowered her body, her gaze fixed solemnly on Vincent below. At the same time, she communicated with Chen Yu in the legion via the Gel network, "Be careful, Scholar Vincent was trained as a court mage..."
Before she could finish her sentence, the Magic Staff in Vincent’s hand once again shone with a brilliant arcane radiance, and his entire body, buoyed by Magic Power, slowly levitated into the air.
[Multiple Projections]
His figure blurred, and then, three magical projections identical to his real body appeared simultaneously in three directions: north, west, and south.
These four "Vincents" perfectly encircled the retreating Demon Legion and the Arevalo Knight Order.
They raised their Magic Staffs in unison and began to chant an ancient, obscure incantation in low voices. Four faint purple Magic Beams shot out from the tips of their staffs, converging high in the sky.
[Demon-Banning Barrier]
A blinding light erupted from the point where the beams converged, and a faint purple Magic Barrier rapidly descended, covering the battlefield below.
SCREECH!
Celeste’s soaring figure suddenly faltered. She felt the surrounding Magic Elements become stagnant and difficult to manipulate. Her transformation magic was severely disrupted, and she uncontrollably reverted from her Giant Eagle form back to her human form in midair, falling from the sky while holding onto Louisa.
Even when Louisa tried to cast a spell within the barrier, she could feel a palpable stagnation. Manipulating her Magic Power became difficult, and even the chanting of her spells seemed to be slowed by an invisible force.
It took her half a second longer than usual to summon a thick Magic Tree Vine to catch them, gently lowering them onto Peggy’s back below.
Clutching her still-pounding chest, she warned Chen Yu, "It’s a Demon-Banning Barrier! Within the barrier’s range, the operation of Magic Arrays will be disrupted or even nullified, and conventional Magic Attacks and protections will be weakened."
"Be careful, they’re about to launch an all-out attack."
Just as she predicted, the mages accompanying the Knight Order received the signal the moment the barrier fell and immediately began chanting in unison.
Fireballs, ice shards, Wind Blades, Holy Light Arrows... Magic of all elements rained down upon the Demon Legion inside the barrier.
’A Forbidden Magic Domain?’ Chen Yu looked up at the faint purple barrier covering the sky, his round body bouncing a little in confusion.
’But the thing is, the Demon Legion doesn’t even use Magic Arrays.’
’The Shield of the Realm looks like a Magic Array, but it is in fact a Magic Array from the Void Profound Heaven. The source of its energy and its principles of operation are fundamentally different from this world’s traditional Magic Arrays.’
Vincent floated in midair, looking down on the Demon Legion within the barrier. He waited quietly, as if he could already see them descending into chaos upon discovering their defensive barriers had failed.
But just then, something completely unexpected happened. From the center of the Demon Legion, several brilliant silver pillars of light shot toward the sky.
A sudden Energy Barrier unfolded before the legion, blocking the entire torrent of Magic Attacks unleashed by the Knight Order’s mages.
’The magic-banning effect failed?!’
The calm and confidence on Scholar Vincent’s face instantly froze, his expression turning to one of bewilderment.
The old mage’s knowledge and experience told him that the scene before him was impossible.
And yet, reality was laid bare before his eyes, forcing him to believe.
’This Demon Legion is far stranger than I had imagined.’