Chapter 289: The Maelstrom from Above

  To fully unleash the destructive power of this combined Light and Fire Forbidden Spell required a considerable amount of magical power. Although Harlan's magic couldn't compare to a dedicated Archmage, and his swordsmanship was weaker than the other few Temple Knights, in terms of overall ability, he was the most suitable choice among the Temple Knights.

  But in the end, he was just a hair's breadth away, just a hair's breadth from completion, and it seemed this final hair's breadth was a gap he could never cross. He truly had not thought that the Beholder Chieftain's perception could be so acute, that this invisibility spell, which had fooled all the other Evil Eyes and Beholders, would be seen through by him. But once discovered, he could find no opening to use the scroll.

  Slaughtering the densely packed Harpies around him in a frenzy, Harlan prayed frantically in his heart, praying to the Lord in heaven for a miracle to appear, a chance for him to use the scroll. Even though he had been praying for over thirty years without ever witnessing a single miracle from the Lord.

  But this time, it seemed he finally saw one. When he saw the expanse of brilliant light illuminate everything before him, and the Harpies around him being incinerated into charcoal amidst their screams, he almost truly believed it was the Lord in heaven displaying a miracle to vanquish evil.

  The dazzling light illuminated the entire massive cavern. An orb of light, like a small sun, erupted downwards, spraying out astonishing heat and light from the sky. It grazed the Harpy swarm at an angle and hit the ground, melting a large pool of red magma into the rocky surface. Whether it was Harpies or the floating Evil Eyes, anything that approached the orb was completely carbonized by the high temperature.

  Loralei let out a sharp screech like a madwoman, her eyes so red they seemed about to spurt blood. This single spell had turned at least half of the gathered Harpies into charcoal. And even those not directly incinerated had their feathers set ablaze. The screams of hundreds of her kin felt like a knife twisting in her heart.

  The Beholder Chieftain also let out a strange cry. The Harpies weren't the only victims; dozens of floating Evil Eyes were also burned to ash under the power of the orb.

  Their eyes, along with High Priest Tima's, immediately shot to the top of the tall cavern. This orb had fallen from above at an angle, and they could all see that this was clearly no miracle; it was Blazing Might Shot, the pinnacle of Fire magic.

  The ceiling of this vast cavern was nearly a thousand meters above the floor. High Priest Tima had just used this terrain to cast a spell that seemed like Meteor Shower. And now, as they looked up, they saw it starting to snow from the very ceiling that had just rained fire.

  Countless snowflakes condensed from the moisture in the air, then clustering together, growing larger and colder. In this cavern space, where strong air currents should have been impossible, a powerful, rotating wind suddenly appeared out of nowhere, raging with these snowflakes and a cold current. The other Harpies and Evil Eyes still in the air were immediately tossed about by this strange, massive blizzard.

  "A blizzard? A mage? Is there a cavity in the ceiling above?" The sudden snowstorm obstructed High Priest Tima's vision, making it hard to see clearly, but he immediately figured out what was happening.

  No mage could cast a Blazing Might Shot and immediately follow it with a blizzard. These were top-tier spells from the Fire and Water schools respectively; without a doubt, a magic scroll was used. The blizzard, which now shrouded almost the entire battlefield, was clearly not just cast; it was being controlled by a mage who specialized in Water magic.

  The ceiling had just endured a Meteor Shower. Let alone the Temple Knight's accomplice, not even a fly could be hiding up there. The only possibility was that above the ceiling of this cavern was another cavern. This kind of overlapping cavern terrain was not uncommon in Nighon, but for it to be discovered only at this critical moment was truly fatal.

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  There was no time to consider how the Temple Knights could have known about this terrain, which even he himself was unaware of, and set up an ambush there. The most important thing was still that Temple Knight and the scroll in his hand. That scroll must not be cast, no matter what.

  "Don't let him use the scroll!" High Priest Tima roared, his massive body flashing out as he charged towards the Temple Knight, no slower than a Harpy. Loralei and the Beholder Chieftain immediately followed.

  After the wave of scorching heat passed, the Harpies that had been densely swarming around him were either burned to charcoal or fell, screaming, with their entire bodies ablaze. If not for the considerable elemental resistance of his Radiant Battleplate, Harlan would have also been injured.

  In an instant, a blizzard began to fall from the sky again, making Harlan, who had been nearly in despair, almost truly believe it was the display of a miracle. But now was not the time to delve into the specifics of this miracle. The interference around him was gone, and the tide of Minotaur warriors was still some distance away. This was truly a perfect opportunity for him to cast it. He flicked his wrist, took out the scroll, and was about to unfurl it.

  "Lord Harlan, get up here!" a voice from above made him pause. He looked up.

  In the midst of the flying blizzard, a spherical curtain of water, like a giant blue gem, enveloped a misty elemental giant that was descending from above. On its back was a blonde swordswoman.

  "Knight Talise?" Harlan's hand, which was about to unfurl the scroll, hesitated slightly. To cast Purgatory of Paradise in this situation would only burn her to ash as well.

  Just then, a violent elemental fluctuation came from the ground. Harlan leaped into the air. Dozens of thick stone spikes, like sharp weapons, shot out from the ground with a rumbling sound, crisscrossing to form a web where Harlan had just been standing.

  Harlan leaped high into the air. The air elemental had already swiftly flown to his side. Talise, on the elemental, reached out a hand, pulled him into the water curtain, and landed him on the elemental.

  "Knight Talise, what are you doing here?" Harlan asked the knight, looking at her with both surprise and joy. He couldn't figure out how his savior, who had appeared like a miracle, could be this disciple of Lancelot who was supposed to be away on a journey of training. The underground of Nighon was certainly not a place for casual travel.

  Talise's expression briefly turned strange. She didn't answer directly, just controlled the air elemental to rise and said, "This isn't the time to talk about that. Let's leave first."

  Harlan had no mental energy to spare on these matters. His hand took out the Forbidden Spell scroll again. His current magical power was just barely enough to fully release this spell.

  "All forces, retreat! Leave this place..." High Priest Tima's roar reached the ears of every Minotaur. Whether they were scattered across the battlefield or rushing towards this direction, they all scrambled towards the various passages upon hearing it. They had already understood from the High Priest's roar what was about to happen.

  The Drow and Medusa were also already in retreat. The passages leading out of Othello, no matter how wide, could not accommodate so many people in a short time. The mutual slaughter on the battlefield evolved into a desperate fight for the passages. Countless subterranean creatures, crowded together, hacked, bit, and trampled each other.

  The soldiers were retreating, but the three chieftains did not. Although they could already see the air elemental and the Temple Knight in mid-air, and could feel the magical power about to erupt, they still did not give up.

  The Beholder Chieftain was the slowest, but he was the first to act. A halo of light rotated around his giant eye, then instantly transformed into a beam several times thicker than the previous one, shooting out from his eyeball. This kind of beam, shot from a Beholder's gaze, arrived almost instantly, leaving no time to dodge.

  But the beam did not hit the air elemental or the Temple Knight. The large, circular curtain of water around the elemental, though it looked like just a thin layer, completely blocked the ray, which was powerful enough to melt rock. With a soft "hiss," the water curtain and the Beholder's ray dissipated simultaneously.

  The Beholder Chieftain let out an extremely unpleasant, hoarse roar. The area around the pupil of his giant eye seemed to be filled with blood vessels from overexertion. This was already his full-power attack. Meanwhile, the other Evil Eyes floating in the air were being tossed about by the sudden blizzard; let alone shooting, it was impossible for them to even stabilize their bodies.

  High Priest Tima was the fastest to charge. His massive Minotaur body actually possessed agility no less than that of a Drow. While sprinting, he chanted a short magical incantation at high speed. The sharp stone spikes that had just emerged from the ground suddenly tore free, shooting towards the air elemental in mid-air like crossbow bolts.

  Harlan, having just landed on the elemental, saw the incoming stone spikes. He gripped his sword with both hands, and the Divine Aegis of the Heavens on his Radiant Battleplate flared with dazzling light. These stone spikes were enough to tear the air elemental's body structure to shreds. Although this Earth magic's boulder bombardment was a spell, the effect it produced was a real physical impact. There was no other way but to meet these rocks head-on and block them.

  With just a dozen or so of these massive stone spikes, even if he could block them completely, the body of the air elemental beneath him would not be able to absorb the force of the impact. He had to fly up to meet them. Before he could grip his sword with both hands, he had already tossed the Purgatory of Paradise scroll to Talise, saying, "After you fly up, use this scroll. Whatever effect you can manage is better than none. This is His Majesty the Pope's order..."

  "Don't panic, don't move," Talise shouted to Harlan as she caught the scroll. Then she quickly took out another scroll, unfurled it, and a hurricane suddenly appeared around the air elemental.