After the past three months of preparation, the adepts had already managed to uncover the secrets of the pegasi through them and the silver pegasi they had managed to capture. With the use of the Blackwinged Beetles raised by the Dark Witches and the Voodoo Doll that Greem and Endor had cultivated together, the might of this witchcraft ceremony was elevated to unimaginable heights.
They had no intention of lowering the aircraft. The entire ceremony was held five thousand meters above the Pegasus Magic Spring.
In consideration of the fierce winds and their negative impact on the spreading of the witchcraft, Greem ordered the flying ship to slowly descend as the witchcraft ceremony reached its final notes.
By the time the flying ship was a thousand meters above ground, it had already been exposed to the eyes of plenty of pegasi.
Large clouds of black smoke surged out of the cabin as the ship slowly descended.
These black clouds of smoke appeared to have a mind of their own. They were not scattered by the fierce winds and instead gathered together and buzzed toward the magic spring below. From above, the spring looked as large as a lake.
All this undoubtedly caught the attention of the pegasi garrison!
Chapter 697 Above the Magic Spring
As members of an isolated holy land, the pegasi were utterly ignorant as to the recent happenings in Garan.
Perhaps in another three to five years, when the ordinary and silver pegasi serving in the elven army came back to procreate, the news of the outside world might have a chance of spreading through the herd for a moment.
Massive events that shook the state of the entire continent like the Calamity of Witches or the Calamity of the Undead were no more than teatime conversation topics for these isolationist subordinate races to the elves.
As such, when this flying ship feared by all elves descended in a shroud of black smoke, the pegasi guarding the magic spring had no intention of fleeing. Instead, they furiously got into formation and took to the skies to fend off the enemy.
Truly, these pegasi were far too ignorant and foolish!
As flying creatures unique to Garan, the high-grade individuals among their herd had decent intelligence. That said, as a whole, their species was still far from being an intelligent race.
Their lives under the protection of the elves had been too peaceful and quiet. They had lost their instinct for danger, the one trait that all magical beasts must possess.
The pegasi guarding the magic spring gathered together and took to the skies as a group in the face of this gigantic monstrosity that had recklessly invaded their holy land. They continually circled above the magic spring, preparing themselves to attack at any moment.
Just as they completed their preparations and reared to defend their land, something happened to the pegasi that had taken to the skies.
An odd floral scent drifted out of the black smoke. The smell was strangely thick and quickly diffused into the surroundings.
The intermediate and high-grade pegasi in the herd recovered after a brief moment of dizziness when they smelled this scent. However, the ordinary pegasi that made up the majority of the group were wobbling about and seemed to be incapable of lasting any longer.
Splash!
After the first pegasus crashed headfirst into the lake of magic spring water, the entire herd started to fall like dumpling poured into water. One after another, the pegasi plummeted from the skies in succession.
The entire herd was thrown into utter chaos!
The pegasus might be known as a magical beast, but compared to your ordinary magical creature, it had no long-ranged abilities. Apart from their broad wings and rapid speed, the pegasi had no other specialties. If they wanted to attack the enemy, they still had to rely on tackling or lunging.
One had to admit, the threat of the pegasi to the adepts was severely reduced without their riders!
Poison Hag Endor descended from the sky with an old and tattered lamp resting upon her palm. A single white, lit candle had been placed in the lamp. The thick scent that lingered in the air had come from this candle.
The many Dark and Fate Witches, along with the Crimson adepts crowded around Endor, carefully protected and guarded her. Meanwhile, Greem, Mary, Tigule, and Zacha, the Second Grades of the group, each found a target of their own and charged at the enemy.
Third Grade Dark Witch Uzzah also turned into a cloud of inky smoke and charged at the exceedingly handsome Skysteed King.
After a long time preparing and planning, the adepts had already come up with this odd witchcraft that was extremely effective against the pegasi. It was based on their understanding of the creatures' biological construction; all pegasi within range of the witchcraft would be severely affected.
The high-grade pegasi might be able to endure the effects for a moment with their Physiques, but the low-grade pegasi instantly fell unconscious when they inhaled the anesthetizing floral scent.
This way, the adepts had successfully avoided the scenario where a large herd of pegasi surrounded them.
As the adepts' ranks rushed down from the flying ship, all the pegasi in their path fell from the sky. They crashed into the quarter-kilometer wide magic spring, never to be seen again. Meanwhile, the high-grade pegasi wobbled, beat their wings, and clashed with the adepts.
The lack of time didn't allow the adepts room to advance slowly on the pegasi.
Consequently, the adepts went all-out the very first moment they engaged the pegasi.
Shadow snakes formed from shadow substance, raging flames in the form of blazing birds, bright green acid balls, three-meter tall humanoid wind elementals, and unending sonic blasts.
Violent spells of various forms rained down upon the pegasus herd under the conjurations of the adepts. Apart from the silver pegasi, who could erect a layer of strange energy barrier to shield themselves from the magic attacks, the other pegasi could only endure the damage with their powerful bodies.
A wave of spells passed by.
A dozen pegasi neighed in pain as they fell from the skies. Not a single spot on their bodies had been spared from the barrage of ferocious spells. Clouds of red blood drifted across the air. It was a terrible and unbearable scene to behold!
Even so, the pegasi did not retreat in the face of the enemies that had intruded into their holy land.
They raised their heads and whinnied as they beat their wings and trampled across the skies. Once they had gathered enough strength, they neighed and charged at the adepts.
The adepts quickly erected brilliant magical defenses in response.
However, the pegasi didn't seem to care. They ran headfirst into the semi-translucent barriers.
Dong! Dong! Dong!
A few dull thuds later, the adepts' defenses were still standing, but the pegasi themselves were reeling with blood streaking down their long faces. Yet, before the adepts could adjust themselves and harvest these staggered animals, the second charge from the pegasi had arrived.
It was through these many charges and tackles that the defensive barriers of the adepts went from translucent, to bright yellow, to light red, before finally turning into a bleeding red. Finally, the Dark Barrier of a Dark Witch shattered amidst the continuous thuds.
The crack of the barrier was like the sound of a battle horn. Even more pegasi swarmed toward the Dark Witch and separated her from the other adepts with their ferocious tackles. It was at this moment that the Skysteeds, having waited since the start of the battle, dove down upon the adepts. They used their tough iron hoofs to stomp the enemy.
It had to be acknowledged that there were too few Second Grade Dark Witches in their ranks for this trip!
Third Grade Uzzah had already engaged in intense combat with the Skysteed King high above in the sky. She had no attention to spare for these low-grade Dark Witches. The only Second Grade Dark Witch rushed into the battlefield and protected the isolated Dark Witch, but not far away, another Dark Witch had been surrounded by the pegasus herd.
Though the use of the witchcraft scent had gotten rid of many of the low-grade pegasi, the remaining ones still had an absolute numerical advantage over these attacking adepts.
The adepts were exhausting the magic power within themselves in each of these clashes, while the pegasi were exhausting their very lives.
The adepts had an overwhelming advantage against the pegasi in all respects. However, this advantage still wasn't enough to let the adepts go unharmed!
The first casualty was a Dark Witch.
After all, the faction of the Fate Witches and Crimson adepts had plenty of Second Grades, along with many pseudo-Second Grades. They could promptly rescue any one of their own whenever they were surrounded. However, the Dark Witches only had a single Second Grade in the end. There were limits to her ability- save one, and another would be neglected.
That was why, even as she tried to put out all the fires, a Dark Witch's shield finally shattered and was stomped to death by two Skyteeds as she attempted to escape.
Of course, this Dark Witch wasn't genuinely dead either!
Due to their unique ability, her soul would automatically return to the soul energy pool located in the Shadow Island's adept's tower. She only needed a matter of one or two months to reforge a body of shadows and be revived.
However, given the time they had left, the Dark Witch would not have the opportunity to rejoin the expedition and battles in this plane!
Moreover, while the soul energy pool could recall the soul, it could not recall her magical equipment. That was why even Dark Witches wouldn't want to die on the battlefield and leave their prized possessions behind unless absolutely necessary.
The second victim was the three-headed demonhound, Unguja, who stood before Wind Adept Deserra.
As a peripheral member of the Crimson adepts, Unguja had also been forced to participate in this interplanar war along with a couple of his subordinates. After a few rounds of battles, the five fiendhounds he had brought with him had all died in battle. It was finally his turn.
A bad positioning caused a Second Grade Skysteed to target the three-headed Unguja.
It couldn't be helped. After all, all the official Crimson adepts had gathered around Poison Hag Endor to protect her.
The lonely Unguja had also become the ideal target of an attack!
The terrified Unguja immediately started running around in the air in the face of the Skysteed's charge. He let out a pathetic yelp as he ran, hoping that his allies could come to his rescue.
Sadly, another Skysteed had intercepted the Blood Knight that Mary had sent out. Dragonborn Zacha, on the other hand, couldn't fly under his own power and was entirely relying on a Wand of Flying to wobble across the sky like a drunken fighter.
Naturally, the dragonborn wouldn't make it in time with that speed!
As expected, the cornered Unguja had his bones smashed to pieces by an angry Skysteed before having his dog heads crushed to pieces, one by one.
This disloyal dog that followed Greem had very regrettably been turned into unrecognizable meat paste in an otherworldly war.
The next to fall prey were a few First Grade vampires that Mary had newly acquired.
They were barely qualified to participate in a battle like this with their current strength. They couldn't even last that long against the pegasi before being stomped to pieces by the surging herd.
However, that was the extent of the pegasi's rampage!
In just fifteen minutes, the unrelenting barrage of firepower from the adepts had laid low most of the pegasi. The proud figures that covered the skies and blotted out the sun above the Pegasus Magic Spring now remained in loose and tattered groups.
Chapter 698 Pseudo-Artifact Longbow
Neeeiiigh!
A tragic and drawn out neigh rang out as the handsome Skysteed King fell from the skies, shrouded in a cloak of black smoke.
The sizzling sound of corroding flesh could be heard from its body as it crashed.
Everyone on the battlefield was smart enough to see that the Skysteed King's odds were slim!
Even though defeat was inevitable and meaningless slaughter was the only thing that awaited them, the remaining pegasi refused to retreat.
They were not fighting right now; they were stalling for time.
As long as they could drag out the battle until the elven army arrived, these enemies would immediately retreat.
They had to protect the irreplaceable magic spring, even if they all had to sacrifice themselves for that cause.
Their thoughts were pure and noble.
However, trying to deal with the adepts using such a mindset was overestimating their abilities.
Now that the Skysteed King had been eliminated, Third Grade Dark Witch Uzzah had become an unstoppable blade on the battlefield!
Uzzah had also been slightly injured in her fight against the Skysteed King, but the morale of victory allowed her to regather her spirit and lead the other Second Grade adepts in exterminating the remaining Second Grade Skysteeds.
With a Third Grade Dark Witch watching the lines and restraining their movements, no Skysteed was able to escape, even with their terrifying speed of flight. A single Prison of Darkness from Uzzah would bind a Skysteed to the spot. Greem would then order Dragonborn Zacha and Tigule's Goblin Shredder to surround and beat the Skysteed.
A Second Grade Skysteed couldn't possibly deal with the brutal melee attacks of these two giants, even with their decent Physique.
One after another, the Second Grade Skysteeds were knocked unconscious and captured alive. They were all transported onto the flying ship.
It had only been twenty minutes since the start of the battle!
When the number of pegasi left in the sky numbered in the single digits, Uzzah finally hurried out of the air along with a few of her subordinates. They lunged straight at the center of the magic spring lake.
The statue of a pegasus rearing as if it was about to take flight silently stood at the heart of the lake.
The eternal spring water came from the mouth of that statue.
The magic spring water wasn't crucial to the Dark Witches. What was important to them was this pegasus statue.
Simply smashing away its base and taking it away was a wasteful act. It was very likely that doing so would instead destroy the mysterious powers of this statue.
Thus, the witches had to cast a complete sealing spell to take the statue away with them.
Uzzah could not be interrupted while she was sealing the statue. After she started channeling the spell, she would also lose all of her ability to sense the external world. Greem and the others would have to protect her if it came down to it!
Dark Witch Uzzah nodded slightly at Greem before diving into the magic spring with three of her Dark Witches. They needed to uncover the mystery of the stone statue as soon as possible and then proceed to seal it completely.
Meanwhile, a Second Grade Dark Witch landed atop the statue and shut her eyes to focus on protecting her superior.
Greem and Mary left some instructions and had Zacha, Tigule, the vampires, and the adepts remain on the spot. The two of them then hurried in the direction of the elven garrison without any hesitation.
Mary and Greem were both Second Grade now, but their styles of combat were utterly distinct from each other.
Even the way they traveled had very distinctive traits.
Mary's bat wings were not fully opened behind her back, and her body glided rapidly three meters above the ground like a speedy dragonfly. A light crimson trail followed her wherever she went, only dispersing after a long time.
Meanwhile, Greem didn't choose to fly!
He was a classic fire adept. His mastery over Fly could never compare to other adepts.
Thus, he forged a new path of his own, researching and inventing this new way of travel using his Fire Teleportation and Flame Transformation as the basis of the spell.
His body turned into a formless blaze of fire whenever
Fire Teleportation was on cooldown. This blaze of fire floated half a meter above the ground and used the propulsion of hot flame streams to move forward quickly. Once Fire Teleportation was ready, this ball of fire would abruptly explode into a fire halo, before reappearing in a specific position in front. The ball of fire would then continue blasting forward.
That was how Greem traveled: propulsion, Fire Teleportation, propulsion again, then Fire Teleportation again.
When used in a constant cycle, his speed was not much slower than Mary's!
However, this method of travel also left behind marks that were far too obvious.
Anyone that looked down from high above the skies would clearly see a chain of black pearls along Greem's trail. The pearls were the circular burn marks caused by the blast of fire when using Fire Teleportation, while the streams of flame he used to propel himself left shocking trails of ash upon the green plains.
The two adepts ran into the elven army reinforcements fifteen kilometers away from the magic spring.
It seemed the elves had left behind the slow infantry to increase their marching speed. As such, all the soldiers that the two of them had run into were air cavalry. Surprisingly, the one leading them at the very front was a beautiful elf riding upon a Second Grade green dragon.
Greem revealed himself in a ferocious pillar of flames. The blaze of fire quickly formed into a five-meter tall flame humanoid, subtly sealing off the path forward for the elves.
Greem used his unique vision to look around him before nodding in satisfaction.
Very good, no Third Grades.
They had already investigated the elven army before they attacked the magic spring. There were no Third Grade powerhouses around here. That said, he had been worried that the elven kingdom would have been alert enough to increase the number of high-grade personnel during such a time of crisis. That was why Greem's priority upon appearing was to search for the existence of a Third Grade powerhouse.
Now that there were none, the battle today could commence.
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