Chapter 172 – Interlock

=========== City Dwellers’ POV =========

It was the fifth day of the Wolves of Calamity, and the sky was still dark—

Heavy rain that blocked visibility was pouring down at the Green Tower’s area. All the watchtowers’ Fire Seeds around the city, regardless of whether they were near or far, had been extinguished. The surroundings were pitch black, with the exception of the purple lightning flashes that occurred and cut through the darkness, as well as lighting up the rain to make it a sea of silver.

The wolves had broken past the final barrier outside the Green Tower. The snow-white Winter Wolves and the Blight Wolves with their festering hides leaped past the stacked corpses of the Druids and Tree Elves, appearing in front of the Green Tower’s natives.

The throng of wolves covered the earth like a flood. Their sharp claws dug into the ground and brought the dirt up, stepping into murky rainwater intermixed with blood, and they passed through the rainstorm with speed.

There were rows of people lining up in the rain, filled with both genders, young and old. The elderly held back their emotions on their faces, while the youths had fear and uneasiness written on them. Rain slid down from their heads to their throats. Lips were parted slightly, but no one dared to utter a sound, and they gripped the weapons in their hands subconsciously.

One of the senior Druids stood behind such an ‘army’. He wielded an oak staff with a strict expression. In his eyes, this group that was mostly comprised of youths was the Green Tower’s last bastion, and perhaps the final and future hope of the Druids in this area. Under the threat of death, they had no choice but to participate in the defense.

The Druids were already in place at the Green Tower’s lowest rung, the Great Hall of Autumn, and they would try to bar the wolves from invading the inner city.

Everyone could hear the combined footsteps of the wolves, which seemed to be even louder than the rain falling over the surroundings. The Fire Seed in the Green Tower shook as though it was afraid of the terrifying army.

Perhaps, the darkness in front of them would remain for all eternity.

The thousands of dwellers in the Green Tower would be swallowed up by the monsters. History would remember them as numbers who perished, and who would stop to think that these numbers used to be a husband, a son, a friend, a lover? The brilliance of these relationships would be gone forever.

The first batch of Winter Wolves emerged from the darkness. Their strength had been reduced to the lowest they had ever been by the Green Tower’s Fire Seed. They would be rated as intermediate Iron-ranked monsters, but their frightening numbers still made the people in the Green Tower tremble.

It was this aspect that made them feel despair. No matter how brave and heroic they were, they would succumb to exhaustion in the end due to the endless attacks.

The wolves might have suffered casualties that were tens of times, perhaps even a hundred times more, than the Druids and Tree Elves, and yet they came relentlessly and crashed into the defenders.

It was as if there was no end to the creatures.

The wall of brambles held back the first wave of wolves, but the second wave pushed forward without any care to the former. Sharp thorns pierced through the Winter Wolves’ hides, staining their white fur with their black corrupted blood. As more and more wolves collided into one another with their charge, the first wave of wolves was reduced to crushed bones and mangled flesh. Eyeballs popped out of their cracked sockets and eventually exploded.

The dying Winter Wolves screamed with pain, but their frenzied howls merely filled the defenders with terror, as the monsters started climbing upwards on their dead to surmount the obstacle before them. Blood and flesh were torn apart as the claws of the wolves dug down deep into the ground of corpses to find a better foothold. Soon enough, the white wave of monsters went past the wall and rushed straight towards the Tree Elves’ formation. A hole appeared in the formation as a tremendous impact struck at it. The Winter Wolves bit and dragged the defenders away, and sharp cries could be heard throughout the area.

================ Druids’ POV ================

The awful din from the rain covered all other noises.

The Druids of the Blackthorn Council were standing outside the Fire Seed’s courtyard. The situation was dire and everyone knew it, but they could do nothing but wait for Brendel’s news. The Great Elder glanced once at the Fire Seed. The flames were flickering unsteadily against the Mana of Chaos. Even though the old man appeared calm, he was filled with anxiety.

Brendel should at least have shown some indication that they had reached their destination. Or perhaps Quinn or Wydall would do so in his stead. The Great Elder could not help but look at Sifrid who was holding on to his hand. The little girl had not spoken at all since Brendel left.

“Great Elder, it’s about time,” one of tall Druids said.

But the old man shook his head after thinking for a moment.

Suddenly, vibrations ran through his heart. It was not only him; the other Druids felt it as well—

=============== Archmagi’s POV ==============

“It’s a huge Mana Wave that’s rarely seen,” William said.

He stood on one of the courtyards between the Green Tower and the Great Hall of Autumn. The rain that fell over him hit an invisible barrier, which turned into a layer of water vapor.

In the eyes of the people around him, there was an invisible barrier in the shape of a perfect sphere that covered the legendary wizard from the Silver Alliance. The barrier had a radius of one meter, and it even made the ground to be perfectly dry, with the rainwater forming a small stream around it instead.

The elderly Archmage supported himself with a silver staff, with six Runestones hovering around it. If Brendel were there, he would have blurted out its name; the Legendary-ranked staff, the Mithril Brilliance, Legacy of the city Kanagi’s current reigning lord, one of the symbols that represented William’s identity.

He lifted up his staff and randomly threw out several bolts of lightning, striking the few Winter Wolves that had gotten past the Tree Elves’ defensive lines.

“Hmph. Haru said in the council meeting that this Mana Wave was nothing more than routine business. But what did the Silver Candle Association tell him early on? They informed him that their Star Seers discovered several stars out of place when they were observed the Constellation of the Twilight Dragon, and that fool disregarded their warnings.”

The old man who was next to William snorted as well, lifting his white eyebrows. There was also a barrier around him that blocked the rain, but it was not as exaggerated as William’s and did not dry the ground.

“And you came here because of this matter?” William turned to the old man and asked.

“Indeed, if something is wrong with the Loop of Trade Winds, the humans would have to abandon all the cities south of Seale Ampere. Aouine is still half of my homeland.” The old man replied as he stared into the dark sky. “I originally wanted to observe the situation, but it seems like it’s far more serious than I imagined. Indeed, it’s even worse than the recorded history of the Holy War. If my rationality is not with me, I would have suspected that Mother Marsha’s Law ‘Tiamat’ has a flaw in it.”

“I don’t like cold jokes like this,” William said as a lightning flash lit up his gaunt features white, “what do you intend to do, my old friend, Tulman, kill all these monsters and protect them?”

“Jest all you want, but I don’t have the capabilities to do so.” Tulman shot him a glare and took out a crystal ball from his sleeves: “If these men are capable of defending this place, it will be a happy ending. But if they can’t defend it, I’ll transfer the Blackthorn Council to another safe location. If I am to use their words, ‘As long as there is a seed, a tree would grow and lay its roots’.”

“A Sphere of Teleportation,” William lifted his eyebrows, “you actually brought this thing here.”

“It’s called being prepared, old friend.”

“You’re mocking me again. I already told you, I came here not because of these messy affairs, but only to meet up with an old friend.” William smiled and wagged a finger that was like a dry twig.

“You’re still talking about the Lionheart?” Tuman showed a mysterious smile: “You know that thing isn’t here.”

“No, and I said this before, the important thing is not the sword, but the person behind it. Erik did not become who he was because of the Lionheart, but the sword’s brilliance is due to my old friend.”

“Indeed, its brilliance was due to a man. Was Erik ever a Scholar? That boy he had chosen lied to me early on, saying he wished to walk down the path of a scholar. Once I confirm the news of the Sage Slate, I’ll settle the score with him.”

William could not help but laugh.

“There are moments when you get fooled?”

“That boy isn’t someone simple. You should be careful if you ever deal with him, or I would be looking at a future joke.”

William did not take heed of Tuman’s warning. He looked at the struggling Tree Elves and changed the subject: “How long do you think they can last?”

“An hour.”

“And then?”

“The Tree Elves and Druids should have another batch of elites, and the Centaurs in the town could form another group of guards. But their defense will only last a day at the longest.”

“A day.”

Tuman was not wrong, the Druids had done their best. Even if they were to choose a more strategical place, like fighting the Winter Wolves in the city alleys, they would only last a few more hours.

William stared towards the south. There were a few pillars of light still shining in the distance. The legendary wizard’s thin lips moved a few times as though he was thinking about something. Suddenly, his eyes widened—

He turned to Tuman and saw the same reaction on his old friend’s face.

It was a massive Mana Resonance.

A powerful golden pillar of light connected the earth and sky in the southern Dark Forest, piercing through the clouds and dispelling them before it reached for the stars.

The Druids next to the Fire Seeds looked at it in shock: “What is that?”

But another shocking thing happened. It was not even a second later, when another golden pillar of light shot out from the Loop of Trade Winds.

[Another Mana resonance!]

“That boy!” Tuman said immediately and frowned.

William found this scene to appear familiar to him. He glanced at Tuman before he took a step forward and disappeared into thin air.

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