The giant stone sword descended cleaving the air, slashing straight aiming for Aeliana's head. The Elf girl could only close her eyes, resigning herself to welcome death.
However, right at that most critical second, the silver pendant Zareth had given her hanging on the Elf's chest glowed blindingly. The magic embedded within it, [Tier 6 - Guardian Barrier], responded to the lethal threat and activated automatically. A thick and transparent magical protective dome was instantly created, enveloping Aeliana's body.
BAM!
The giant stone sword slammed hard against the surface of the magical dome and rebounded with an ear-piercing hum.
The impact of that collision sent Aeliana's body flying backward, falling into a seated position on the dirt. The girl shrieked in despair. She gasped for air, while tears of terror streamed heavily down her cheeks.
The Gargoyle did not give her time to process what had happened. Realizing its attack was blocked, the stone giant showed no frustration. It raised its stone sword again and slashed down for a second time with full force.
CRACK!
A long crack instantly appeared on the surface of the barrier. Without the slightest emotion, the monster swung its sword and delivered a lethal third slash.
That blow shattered the spell. The high-tier protective dome broke into pieces, turning into particles of light that faded into the air.
Right as the stone sword was about to be swung down to end Aeliana's life, a loud shout was heard from the sky.
"Aeliana!"
A bright blue lightning strike, twisting to form the shape of a giant serpent, struck down from the clouds. The lightning slammed squarely into the Gargoyle's body.
The stone monster was severely electrocuted. The high-voltage electrical current forced its stone joints to spasm stiffly, halting its movements for a few crucial seconds.
Utilizing the time window he created himself, Zareth Caldris swooped down at full speed. The Tower Master snatched Aeliana's body off the ground and immediately flew away, heading toward the direction of the city walls visible in the distance.
While pushing his flying speed to its maximum limit, Zareth looked down with a facial expression filled with deep concern.
"Are you hurt, Lady Aeliana?" he asked anxiously, embracing the petite body.
Aeliana stared at Master Zareth's face with cheeks wet with tears. Her gaze was blank and shattered, losing all the sparkle of her innocence.
"They..." she sobbed desperately, her voice trembling violently. "Everyone... is dead. There is no one left."
Hearing that despair, Zareth's jaw hardened. However, he had no time to grieve. As he looked back to check the distance, his heart sank.
The Gargoyle had fully recovered from the paralysis effect.
The creature unleashed a deafening roar. It flapped its stone wings forcefully, shooting through the air catching up to Zareth's position with a terrifying flying speed, far surpassing the Tower Master's magical capabilities.
Realizing his flying speed was outmatched and the distance between them was shortening, Zareth had no other choice. He pulled out a stack of Magic Scrolls from the [Magic Bag] at his waist.
While continuing to fly backward with a face covered in cold sweat, his free hand moved quickly in the air triggering all the scrolls simultaneously.
"Eat this, you damn monster!" Zareth cursed.
He tore all the parchments in his hand.
A barrage of magic exploded in unison in the air.
[Tier 3 - Fireball], [Tier 4 - Lightning Strike], [Tier 3 - Wind Blade], [Tier 3 - Ice Spear], and [Tier 4 - Light Burst] were fired relentlessly like a rain of bullets. All those magical attacks bombarded the pursuing Gargoyle's body. Consecutive explosions occurred, filling the sky with thick, black smoke.
However, as the wind swept away the thick smoke, Zareth's eyes widened in disbelief.
That barrage of combined magic, which should have been more than enough to level a platinum adventurer party, did not leave a single scratch on the surface of the Gargoyle's obsidian stone skin. The monster possessed an incredibly high magical immunity.
Ignoring all those lethal explosions as if it were merely struck by a gentle breeze, the Gargoyle successfully closed the distance. The monster hovered right above Zareth and Aeliana's position, then swung its stone sword straight down.
Zareth did not have time to dodge. He could only complete his final defensive magic pattern right on time.
[Tier 5 - Aegis Wall]
A thick wall of light materialized right above their heads.
CLANG!
The stone sword slashed the wall of light with all its might. The surface of the wall instantly cracked. The pressure from that slash was so heavy that it forcefully canceled the stability of Zareth's flying magic.
Losing their lift, the Tower Master and Aeliana were thrown into a free fall from the sky, hurtling heavily toward the ground.
The ground's surface approached rapidly. At the final second before his back hit the earth, Zareth nimbly aimed his free palm downward. The old man focused his mana and unleashed a mild shockwave from his hand.
The repulsive force created by that shockwave instantly reduced their falling speed drastically. It dampened the landing momentum, allowing Zareth and Aeliana to fall and roll safely onto the dirt without suffering broken bones or fatal injuries.
Zareth coughed, yet he forced himself to stand up immediately. From the sky, the Gargoyle was diving sharply straight toward him, crossing its stone sword preparing to skewer them both straight into the ground.
Zareth's brain spun searching for an escape. In the seconds before death arrived, the Tower Master scattered all of his remaining Magic Scrolls onto the ground.
When the tip of the Gargoyle's stone sword was only one meter away from the protective wall, the silver ring on Zareth's index finger glowed brightly. He triggered his final life-saving Magic Item.
[Tier 5 - Blink].
Zareth and Aeliana vanished from that spot instantly, teleporting backward dozens of meters away.
A blink of an eye later, the Gargoyle slammed into the ground where Zareth had stood previously. The impact triggered all the magic scrolls that had been prepared. A deafening boom occurred as dozens of scrolls exploded simultaneously, swallowing the monster's body in a giant pillar of fire soaring high into the sky.
Zareth, who had just appeared at the closest teleportation point to the city walls, refused to give his enemy time to breathe. He turned toward the lines of soldiers preparing atop the walls.
"Fire now!" Zareth shouted with a voice that boomed across all directions.
Receiving the attack signal from the Tower Master, Captain Cedric gave the cue and the Wealden soldiers immediately pulled the artillery control levers. The metal muzzles atop the walls lit up incredibly bright.
BDOOOOM!
A portion of Wealden city's Mana Stone reserves was drained entirely in one shot. Pillars of destructive light shot out with lightning speed, slamming into the center of the pillar of fire where the Gargoyle was located.
A follow-up explosion, possessing a destructive power far more massive and terrifying, shook the entire plain in front of Wealden, creating a burning new crater.
Holding back his irregularly heavy breathing, Zareth tightly hugged Aeliana's violently trembling body in his embrace. The old man tried to regulate his heartbeat, convincing himself that the combined explosion of magic scrolls and magic cannons must at least be enough to cripple any target, no matter how tough.
From behind the thick smoke billowing from the explosion crater, which had yet to thin out, a fireball shot out in lethal silence. Its speed was unexpected. The fireball slammed into Zareth's [Tier 5 - Aegis Wall] shield, which was already severely cracked from before.
The defense shattered into pieces. Zareth instantly hugged Aeliana's body tightly, bearing the impact of the destruction with his own back. The next second, the pushing force of the explosion launched them both far into the air.
While he was still thrown mid-air, the hairs on the back of Zareth's neck suddenly stood up. His instincts screamed a warning. A dense killing intent had locked right onto his back.
Having no room to think, let alone cast magic, Zareth made one decisive decision. He released his embrace, then threw Aeliana's body forcefully to the side so the girl would survive.
A moment after Aeliana was thrown away and rolled on the ground, something cleaved through the explosion smoke. It was the Gargoyle's giant stone sword, thrown like a javelin.
The blade of the stone sword slammed into Zareth's back. The sound of ribs and spine crushing was heard cracking loudly.
The giant sword pierced through the Tower Master's chest, tearing his vital organs, and continued sliding until it lodged firmly into the dirt.
"Master Zareth! Nooooo!"
Aeliana's piercing scream cleaved the air. Her voice cracked and trembled violently until her throat stung. Tears instantly spilled, flooding her face. The Elf girl's emerald eyes widened in horror, seeing the tip of the stone sword blade protruding from Master Zareth's chest.
The old man who had protected her all this time was now pinned lifelessly to the ground.
The death of the Tower Master—the person considered the strongest pillar in Wealden City—had an immediate impact on the troops' morale.
Atop the city walls, Captain Cedric's face went deathly pale. The blood seemed to have completely drained from his head. His lips trembled violently seeing the absurd sight down there. Panic spread rapidly like a plague.
The clinking sound of falling metal was heard consecutively. Swords and spears slipped from the grips of violently trembling soldiers' hands. Their sanity shattered, replaced by screams of terror that instantly erupted and echoed atop the walls.
"Master Zareth... he was killed?!" a soldier exclaimed with eyes wide open, stepping backward subconsciously.
"What kind of monster is that?!" another soldier shrieked hysterically, grabbing his own head in despair.
"There is no more hope! Run! We will all be slaughtered here!" another soldier yelled, completely swallowed by horror.
Thump...
Thump...
Amidst that panic, the sound of heavy footsteps was heard from behind the billowing smoke of the Magic Cannon explosion crater.
The Gargoyle stepped out, piercing through the smoke. The combined attack of the magic scrolls and Magic Cannons previously was not entirely in vain. The giant obsidian stone body was now covered in deep cracks. The majority of its wings and chest were charred, emitting thin smoke.
However, the monster's killing intent was not reduced in the slightest. It continued to step forward at a constant rhythm, as if pain and physical damage did not exist in its mind.
The monster stopped after a few steps. It extended one of its hands toward its sword.
The giant stone sword pinned to the dirt vibrated for a moment, then flew rapidly back into the Gargoyle's grip. The Tower Master's body was dragged up into the air along with it.
Without the slightest respect for its fallen enemy, the monster flicked its sword roughly. Zareth's body was thrown loose from the stone blade, flew, and fell rolling onto the dirt.
Aeliana fell to her knees on the ground, gripping her robe tightly with both hands trembling violently. Sobbing uncontrollably, she shut her eyes tight. She gave up, waiting for death to come pick her up.
The Gargoyle leaped lightly into the air. Its giant figure eclipsed the scorching sun, casting the shadow of death over Aeliana's body. Without mercy, the monster swung its stone sword straight down to cleave the Elf girl's body in two.
However, right before the stone blade touched Aeliana's blonde hair strands, the air in front of her rustled.
A figure suddenly appeared in just a blink of an eye. The figure displaced through space without triggering massive fluctuations like ordinary teleportation magic.
CLANG!
A high-pitched metallic clink exploded, creating a shockwave that blew away the dust around them.
The figure did not dodge. He raised a slender, double-edged straight sword and parried the giant stone sword's slash head-on.
The ground beneath the figure's feet cracked, spreading like a spider's web. Yet bizarrely, his body posture did not shift or waver a single inch. The thin sword successfully withstood the strength of the giant monster.
Not stopping merely at defense, the mysterious figure immediately responded.
He twisted his hips rapidly and unleashed a straight forward kick. That kick slammed into the Gargoyle's stone chest.
BAM!
The giant body was lifted off the ground. The Gargoyle was thrown backward through the air dozens of meters away, before finally falling and dragging, creating a long trench across the battlefield dirt.
The wind blew, sweeping away the dust enveloping the area.
Standing upright with his back to Aeliana, a proportionately built young man gazed calmly toward the Gargoyle struggling to stand up in the distance.
The young man's appearance was striking and foreign. His hair was jet black and long; the top portion was tied into a neat topknot, while the rest was left loose, flowing freely blown by the wind down his back. He wore a pitch-black Wuxia outfit adorned with glowing red cloud embroidery patterns—a clothing aesthetic entirely not native to the civilization of the Orion continent.
Calmness ruled his body. His left hand held the sword scabbard relaxed at his waist, while his right hand gripped a Jian sword firmly without the slightest tremor.
The young man turned his head slightly over his shoulder, glancing at Aeliana who was still sitting frozen with her mouth agape in confusion.
The young man's lips curved, forming a confident smirk amidst a sea of despair.
As if he were merely taking a stroll in his backyard, the young man spoke with a smoothly flowing voice.
"A woman will look far more beautiful..." he said casually, "...when she smiles."