Chapter 923: Blocking Cannonballs With the Body
It was when the earth shook that the Black Nightmare Army began to notice something was amiss.
“Attention to all units! The enemy may launch their sudden attack at any time now!”
The first thing Benjamin did was to shout those few words at the sentinel towers in all directions, before flying into the air and looking around. At first, he could not discover anything. Very soon, however, the look in his eyes suddenly changed, as a flood suddenly gushed down from the mountain in the north.
…A mudslide?
He could feel that something was not quite right. Although rain was falling from the sky, the weather recently had been very dry. The conditions for a mudslide to form were absolutely not fulfilled. Also, frankly speaking, the Town of Crewe had been at the foot of the mountain for so long without encountering any onslaught whatsoever of natural disasters. This showed just how problematic this phenomenon was.
However, time was of the essence; Benjamin did not have time to think about it carefully. The flood gushed down from the mountain slopes, heading directly towards the Town of Crewe. Only ten or so seconds were needed for it to cover the distance in between. The Town of Crewe had the Runic Defense Technique for protection, but at a time like this, what they had to face currently… He was afraid that it would not just be a mudslide.
Because of that, he took action without hesitation.
All that could be seen was an ice wall rising up from the ground, to the north of the Town of Crewe. It continued on for a few thousand meters, forming a blockade outside the Runic Defense Technique. A few mages who reacted quickly flew over as well. Walls and hurricanes… Everything that could reduce the impact force of the mudslide was piled up on the periphery of the barrier, like a city wall that was being built temporarily.
They were doing their best to protect the Runic Defense Technique. This thin barrier might be able to block the mudslide, but no one knew what could be coming after that.
The people in town walked out in shock and fright; they had expected to encounter two armies engaging each other in battle at most. They had never imagined that they would see a huge flood mixed with mud and sand, sweeping up rolling rocks and crushed stones. It rushed down from the mountain like a khaki colored waterfall, growing bigger and bigger in their eyes.
The earth was shaking; some people had even lost their balance and fell to the ground. It was uncertain whether it was because of the rocking or the shock.
Then, after ten or more seconds had passed by fleetingly, the mudslide rushed over with a bang!
The people in town immediately felt as though the sky and earth were spinning around.
All they could see was the turbulent flood crashing against the ice wall. The force of impact exploded violently, causing mud and water to fly out in all directions in an instant; the highest of these even reached a few hundred meters into the sky. Under the impact of numerous huge rocks, breaches began to appear in the ice wall. The defenses built by the other mages had long been submerged in the dirty mud water. By now, even their shadows had disappeared.
Also, more mud water was still flowing along the mountain slope, gushing down ceaselessly. It went through the breaches and hit the runic defense, causing the barrier to suddenly dim and brighten alternately. However, they were fortunate… There were no signs that the barrier has broken.
Seeing that, the people in town let out a huge sigh of relief.
Nevertheless, Benjamin lifted his head at this time, suddenly looking to the skies. Just as he had expected, there were currently a few dozen cannonballs flashing with a faint light in the vast and blurry night sky, through the rain. They did not seem eye-catching, and were slowly falling towards the Town of Crewe.
“As expected. It’s the Church.”
It seemed that Miles had not discovered the enemy’s comprehensive battle strategy. Furthermore, how on earth did the Church manage to prepare a mudslide in the mountains so secretly?
Benjamin did not have time to contemplate it. The Runic Defense Technique would surely break under the combined assault of the mudslide and the cannonballs of Holy light in the sky! In the situation right before their eyes now, once the barrier broke, the mudslide would rush in and the entire town would be destroyed!
Thus, within the next second, he flew up high into the air.
“Block those things for me.” The water elemental sprite was summoned by him. It flew towards the few dozen cannonballs to receive them. Meanwhile, he had spread the deep sea domain as well; layers of ice mirrors appeared and drifted out, and the drawing of the Elemental Order – Defense was completed… In short, he threw out every usable defensive technique within a short time and protected the barrier from above, to prevent it from immediately breaking under the artillery fire.
Below him, the remaining mages had taken over Benjamin’s responsibility by gathering at the northern entrance of the Town of Crewe to withstand the onset of the mudslide together.
“It’s no good! I’ve calculated the intensity, the Runic Defense Technique won’t be able to hold out!” All of a sudden, the System emerged, yelling. “Don’t waste your energy! The moment those cannonballs land, the barrier will definitely shatter. You’d better go down and evacuate the townsfolk and soldiers!”
Hearing that, Benjamin glanced at the cannonballs that were closing in, before taking another look at the inhabitants below him who had been plunged into frantic chaos*.
“…It’s too late.” In the end, he could only take a deep breath and reply as such to the System in his heart, before focusing even more spiritual energy upon the layers of ice mirrors above him. He did his best, making them slightly thicker and sturdier.
However, it was at this moment that a human figure suddenly appeared above the barrier.
Benjamin was stunned.
That was…
The only thing he could see was the familiar figure going head-on against the cannonballs, leaping straight towards it at a speed higher than even that of the water elemental sprite. All that was left on the retinas of the other people was an afterimage. In the next second, before the cannonballs hit the barrier, that person spread out both his arms in a rush. He positioned himself in such a way that his own body blocked the descending trajectories of quite a number of cannonballs!
Everyone who saw this sight were somewhat dumbfounded. These included Grant and those few bishops who were observing the situation of the battle from afar.
“…Damn it, how could we have forgotten to count him in!” In that instant, Grant came back to his senses and clenched his fists tightly.
Then in a second, glorious fireworks erupted in the airspace above the Town of Crewe.
Bang!
Those few cannonballs that had been blocked by the person’s body were the first to explode. The residual waves emitted by them caused the remaining few dozens of cannonballs to explode in the air at the same time as well. The entire series of explosions happened approximately ten or more meters away from the barrier; scorching hot Holy Light splashed out in every direction, but were blocked by layers of ice mirrors. Only two or three-tenths of the original amount of Holy Light eventually landed upon the barrier.
The barrier flickered and flashed, but ultimately managed to block the Holy Light.
As the explosions occurred, the human figure that had dashed into the sky had been blasted off instantly by the force of the impact. With a crash, he hit the barrier of the Runic Defense Technique, accompanied by what seemed to be a rather loud yell of pain. Following that, a small hole opened up by itself on the Runic Defense Technique; he fell through the hole, falling back into the Town of Crewe immediately. Finally, he vanished within the crowds of people. His location was thus unknown.
Because everything had happened too quickly just now, not many people had seen… that the person had fallen without a stitch of clothing on his body*.
Benjamin covered his own eyes.
Miles… That fellow had fallen at a place practically less than a meter in front of him.
He could not look at him directly at all.
“You ungrateful chap!” The System suddenly emerged, scolding him in a righteous and severe manner. “It’s not like his clothes could be magic-immune, they’d just been burnt up by the Holy Light at that instant. He didn’t streak on purpose, so what are you being all disgusted and avoiding him for?”
Benjamin was at a loss for words. He shook his head and said, in a helpless tone, “…No, the Holy Light was too bright, I had to block it.”
1. TN: The Chinese idiom originally used here is 乱成一锅粥, which literally translates into “getting messed up into a pot of porridge”
2. The Chinese idiom used here, 一丝不挂, literally means not having a single thread hanging. It is used to describe nakedness.
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