Chapter 1503: Forbidden Magic Domain

Chapter 1503: Chapter 1503: Forbidden Magic Domain

The blazing flames were extinguished in time under the mages’ intervention. The intense heat met with the constantly showering rain on the battlefield, creating steam that transformed into mist and shrouded the battlefield. Despite undergoing such impact, neither side halted their slaughter; the earth-shaking battle cries echoed incessantly in the fog.

To monitor the battle’s progress, the mages timely switched from water magic to wind magic. As the breeze dispersed the mist, the fierce battle scenes on the battlefield resurfaced before everyone’s eyes. Judging from the battlefield situation, aside from some knights who were already severely injured in previous battles and couldn’t release enough energy to protect themselves, being scorched to death by the blaze, the massive fire triggered by the Divine Dragon’s breath due to rescue efforts did not cause significant casualties to the Temple Knights.

Though casualties were not immense, those attacks indeed made the Temple Knights suffer greatly. The armor that originally gleamed under the sun was now scorched black by the fire. The continuous slaughter depleted energy resources, coupled with the washing from the water magic, turning the battlefield into a muddy mire. Despite blessings from mages and priests, knights of lower prowess in the Knight Order inevitably felt exhausted, and their morale and fierceness in battle were far less than at the war’s onset.

"Retreat now! Let the army withdraw into the Forbidden Magic Domain." Urban sighed at the scene before him, accepting Aleister’s proposal.

Retreat meant sacrifices! Retreating wasn’t a matter of chaotically fleeing backward, as that would allow the enemy to pursue and result in even greater casualties, turning retreat into a rout. To withdraw and reconfigure formation amidst chaos required some to remain and fend off the enemy. Urban did not know how many could survive from the squad tasked with obstructing the enemy, but he knew once he issued the retreat order, the ten thousand Temple Knights embedded in the enemy rear were unlikely to return.

With the current situation allowing no further hesitation from Urban, the army promptly reacted upon the command. Those battling the Mechanical Legion naturally stayed to prevent enemy pursuit. Positioned on the walls, mages activated the Forbidden Magic Array as per Aleister’s orders.

Regarding the Temple Knights’ army withdrawal, Pei Yan did not mobilize the army to pursue from both flanks; instead, he loudly called back Zheng Jia Ru, who was dueling Gerald. Witnessing Zheng Jia Ru withdraw back to the main force, the two Round Table Knights, faced with numerous experts from the survey hall, dared not chase too closely, hence forgoing their protection for the retreating troops back to the base.

Watching helplessly as the Temple Knights’ remnants withdraw to the edge of the walls, Urban cannot help but twitch his lips at seeing his subordinates gasp upon reaching the wall’s edges. The thirty thousand Temple Knights initially stationed outside now barely amounted to half. Aside from those fallen, the survivors were still deeply entrenched in despair, fighting the enemy to the last. At this juncture, besides hardly suppressing anger and sorrow, Urban began questioning whether such significant sacrifices for that troublemaker were truly worthwhile.

The Temple Knights responsible for holding the enemy back could not afford to dwell on Urban’s inner struggles. Seeing the army safely retreating and new orders unissued, they could only turn their steeds back to retreat. This time, the Mechanical Legion did not allow them to escape; the vanguard engaged immediately pursued closely. Witnessed enemies pursuing, the knights who had just reached the walls began regrouping to confront the enemy.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

The residual Temple Knights chased all the way charged into the Forbidden Magic Domain, their protective energy suppressed and dissipated into nothingness. Knowing well the formidable strength of Mechanical Knights from earlier clashes, without protective energy, they would utterly fall behind. With this worry, they couldn’t help but glance back at the pursuing enemy’s location, delightedly discovering that the Mechanical Knights rushing too fast into the Forbidden Magic Domain struggled as if affected by Slow Body Curse, their movements sluggish and strained. Some clever Temple Knights understood the reason, turned their steeds to test counter-assault, and, after cracking against each other, the previously unfathomable puppets were easily slashed into several sections, and with clatter, turned into shattered iron mannequins amid smoke.

Witnessing this, not only were the Three Councils’ representatives relieved, but even the envoys from various dimensions watching the battle sighed collectively. It seemed Pei Yan’s hastily assembled army wasn’t without weaknesses, especially in the Forbidden Magic Domain restricting energy flow, effectively negating control over Mechanical Puppets, rendering them combat ineffective.

"Oh! Forbidden Magic Domain! It’s the array isolating energy flow between heaven and earth. This is Aleister’s method to thwart our offensive, and it’s quite effective!" Pei Yan, wishing to test the Forbidden Magic Domain’s impact on Mechanical Puppets, praised with a smile upon seeing results.

"You can still smile!" Xia Yu queried Pei Yan, who strangely appeared somewhat pleased by current events.

"Why wouldn’t I smile?" Pei Yan indifferently retorted with satisfaction: "The Forbidden Magic Array is a double-edged sword; it affects our puppets the same way it affects their forces. You see those mages and witches affected by the array, besides those above Mage level, others can’t maintain flight and can only land on the fortress wall. And those Temple Knights can’t wield protective energy; without external energy for attack and defense, Cultivators only possess surpassing physical toughness, but no matter how strong, physiology can’t rival artillery."

Pei Yan pressed his forehead, continuing: "Moreover, the array’s deployment and upkeep are not effortless; it can’t be casually wielded, otherwise the survey hall would have deployed it across various Foundation Plane regions. The Forbidden Magic Domain of Council City seems part of its defensive fortress array, hence could activate so quickly."

"What now? Do we obliterate the remaining Temple Knights intruding the enemy formation, or directly assault Council City? I suspect they’ll soon notice the Forbidden Magic Domain’s drawbacks; your opportunities are scarce!" Gu Shenghui, guessing Pei Yan’s thoughts, asked with a smile.

Pei Yan did not answer immediately. Sensing the energy waves emitted from the mages deploying Forbidden Curse Scrolls outside the Forbidden Magic Domain’s scope on the opposing fortress head, he murmured: "Seems like an earth-based curse, I see!"

Understanding Aleister’s strategy, Pei Yan signaled with a swirling gesture in the air and shouted through the communicator: "Jiang Feiyang!"

After shouting, he didn’t concern whether Jiang Feiyang understood his signal, alone lowering his stature onto the battlefield.