Chapter Seventy-Six: The Molten Behemoth

Divine Priestess Guo accompanied Black Feather back to the dormitory, carefully helping him organize his backpack and pack the necessary items. Together with Ling Xiao Lei, she walked him to the gates of the Magic Academy, reluctant to say goodbye.

“Brother Black Feather, the battlefield is dangerous, isn’t it? Come back soon, and be careful on the road.”

“Don’t worry, we’ll be back soon. In the meantime, don’t go to the forest—just train in the academy’s practice grounds.”

“Understood,” Ling Xiao Lei replied, pouting. “I’ll spend this time reading in the library. Just don’t go dying out there.”

Black Feather waved to them and walked towards the city gates.

Along the way, teachers from the Magic Academy, members of the Holy City Guard, and volunteers from the Mage Alliance gradually gathered, all heading towards the Eastern Continent. Their steps were unceasing, their hearts heavy. Though they were still thousands of miles away, they could already imagine the carnage awaiting on the battlefield.

On the Eastern Continent, beneath the shadow of the Great Wall, a sea of fire raged. The magma behemoths were unstoppable, shattering arrays of mages with their blazing fists, reducing them to pulp and causing the defensive lines to collapse. Behind them, dense legions of demonic creatures surged forth like a tide of darkness.

Lord Yi Sheng of Red Flame City stood atop a rise, using massive flames to drive back swathes of attacking demons. Under his command, the Holy City Guard fought desperately.

There were five magma behemoths in total. The foremost was held back by Lin Aosoul, whose weapon had transformed into its third form, the “Mammoth Titan.” Though the spectral mammoth was only half the height of the magma behemoth, its attack power was staggering.

Each time Lin Aosoul struck with all his might, the giant hammer sent the magma behemoth and swathes of demons flying. Yet soon after, the shattered body of the beast would reassemble and lumber forward again. Lin Aosoul himself was exhausted from the constant exertion, gasping for breath, beads of sweat streaming down his brow.

Another magma behemoth made its way to a massive breach in the wall, created by volcanic lava, and continued to demolish it. The mages atop the wall unleashed torrents of spells, but the behemoth was unshaken. It swung its flaming arm across the ramparts, sending mages plummeting and causing another section of wall to collapse.

As the breach widened, more and more demons poured in.

“These lesser demons’ agitation will soon draw even more terrifying fiends from deep within the Deathlands! We must clear the battlefield and repair the Great Wall at once!” Yi Sheng declared.

Lin Aosoul held on with all his strength. “We must defeat the magma behemoths first, or the wall can’t be repaired. My attacks only stall them temporarily—if this continues, the wall will fall sooner or later!”

“Drive them back! The Great Wall must hold!” Yi Sheng shouted.

Suddenly, from the forest behind, a grand procession approached. In the center galloped spirit deer, bearing the light elves’ mages atop them. Warriors from various great families marched on either side, and in the sky above, fire dragons of the Divine Dragon Clan soared.

Queen Lingsong of the Light Elves dismounted, her steps causing flowers to bloom beneath her feet. Raising her staff, she cast down countless rays of light, rapidly healing the wounds and restoring the strength of the warriors ahead.

“The Light Elves have come to aid you!” she announced.

Grandmother Long, wielding the Dragon Scepter, and another man in his prime with a pair of neat mustaches, shifted from their dragon forms to human and stepped forward.

“The Royal House of the Divine Dragons—Grandmother Long and Shenmu—have come to your aid!”

Their arrival invigorated the embattled warriors on the field.

Surveying the battlefield, Shenmu transformed back into a dragon, raising his head towards the sky, his massive body blocking the breach in the wall. Clutching the ramparts with his claws, he spewed blazing dragonfire upon the demons below, instantly pushing the magma behemoth back dozens of yards.

Queen Lingsong invoked “Divine Blessing,” granting allied warriors accelerated healing, while a wave of “Holy Light Purification” weakened the magic of swathes of demons.

With these powerful mages joining the fray, the tide of battle shifted at once.

Though Grandmother Long was aged and could no longer fight in person, she still stood proudly at the front, commanding the Divine Dragon warriors beside Yi Sheng on the high ground.

“Any word yet from the Snow Queen?” Yi Sheng asked.

“The Snow Queen never involves herself in such matters. Don’t count on her.”

It was widely rumored that Grandmother Long, leader of the Divine Dragons, was over a century old. This was Lin Aosoul’s first time seeing her in person, and he could not help but glance back in awe.

“Hmph! Though we Divine Dragons have long remained in the Southern Continent and avoided other families’ quarrels, we will not stand idly by in the face of such disaster! Besides, if the Great Wall falls, the Southern Continent will be next to suffer.”

The Light Elves’ healers moved into the rear camp, immediately using purification magic to aid wounded and demon-tainted warriors, alleviating the despair on the battlefield.

At that moment, a force could be seen approaching from the distant northern sky. At its head rode a prince astride the ancient divine beast—the Celestial Phoenix—followed by ten elders of the Pantheon clad in their robes, each mounted on a griffin.

The Celestial Phoenix was resplendent in golden plumage, crowned with a multicolored crest. It circled overhead, crying out, and hovered above the battlefield.

Seated atop was Prince Lei Jue.

“The Thunder Clan has come to support you,” he declared.

Though he had set out first from the Divine Realm, he was the last to arrive at the battlefield. He had just confirmed that the Blade of the Gods had not appeared at the volcanic crater before returning, disappointed, to the northern Great Wall.

The elders of the Thunder Clan, all masters of long-range lightning magic, sat high atop their griffins. Lei Jue coordinated with Queen Lingsong’s purification, unleashing a “Heavenly Thunder” that sent tens of thousands of lightning bolts crashing down, instantly clearing swathes of the battlefield.

“I wonder, Your Highness, why you have only now deigned to arrive?” Grandmother Long teased. “The situation here is dire—ancient demonic magma behemoths have been awakened. As rulers of the continent, should not the Thunder Clan have led the charge?”

“A few moving stones, nothing more. With so many mages from the Holy City deployed, should this not have been resolved long ago?” Lei Jue replied loftily, unwilling even to descend to the field below for fear of soiling his pristine white robes.

“The magma behemoths are ancient demons—immortal and indestructible. Ordinary magic cannot kill them; only ice magic can restrain them,” Grandmother Long said.

Lei Jue scoffed at that. He raised his staff, golden lightning gathering before him. A heavy bolt of thunder crashed down with a roar, passing by Lin Aosoul’s ear and smashing the magma behemoth before him to dust.