Otherworld Advance Team
Chapter 256 - 249: Sky Fire Burns the Forest

Chapter 256: Chapter 249: Sky Fire Burns the Forest

Several large craters have already formed on the ground, with many knights taking cover inside them to avoid the bullets raining down from all directions. The special agents were evidently well-prepared, equipped not only with powerful automatic firearms, but also potent explosives acting as landmines along the road.

The agents were fully prepared, bringing with them an abundance of explosives. Knowing that the knights from the Judgement Legion could not be easily eliminated with mere bullets, they relied on explosives as their primary weapons.

Grenade launchers continually fired, and grenades exploded amidst the crowd of knights. Even though the blast could cause no actual damage to their armor, the shockwave proved quite effective. After all, no matter how extraordinary the armor was, it could only serve as a shield that was ultimately ineffective against the penetrating shockwaves. Moreover, the fragments created by the explosion could sneak into the cracks in the armor, causing direct harm to the interior. Thus, since the start of the battle, more than half of the Judgement Legion had fallen.

The magicians, scared to come out, hid inside the carriages that were engraved with a combination of Level Four protection runes, making them virtually indestructible, even incapable of being penetrated by a rocket launcher. Naturally, the agents had snipers specifically assigned to target the magicians. Should a magician dare to show their face, they would instantly become a target of relentless gunfire.

At the front of the road, there was a massive crater, with many splinters of wood ablaze around it. This was once a carriage that attempted to pass through the crossfire, its body engraved with potent defense runes. However, it still could not withstand the explosive force of a high-yield explosive and ended up as burning debris.

The agents’ thought process was clear. They persistently fired at the knights without a break, often shifting their firing position to keep the knights guessing. Meanwhile, their firepower team used various explosive weapons to injure the knights. Clearly, their aim was to kill all the knights, not just retrieve Arya’s Blade.

Just as Luo’er and his squad thought the situation was under their control, a sudden burst of flames rose from one of the craters followed by a dramatic disturbance in magic nearby. The flames grew higher emitting a dazzling light, at one point even outshining the sun.

The agents were terrified and opened fire at the fireball, but to no avail. Bullets merely passed through the fireball without causing any damage.

Suddenly, the fireball started to rotate counterclockwise, getting faster and faster. Luo’er and his squad also began to notice the increasing intensity of the magical disturbance in the atmosphere. Suddenly, the fireball exploded and began to spread counterclockwise.

Everyone felt a wave of intense heat hit them as the exploded fireball formed a circular wall of fire spreading outwards. Everywhere it touched was charred with leaves instantly withering and trees bursting into flames.

"Luo’er, fall back. This is a Level Four Magic!" Tangmo turned pale upon seeing the fireball explode and shouted.

The standard for Level Four Magic includes strong single-target magic and some area-damage magic. The next level, Level Five Magic, is referred to as Forbidden Curse Magic.

According to the books of magic from Otherworld, the power of Forbidden Curse Magic is not inferior to nuclear weapons. Even though it’s only one level higher than Level Four Magic, the difference in power is astronomical.

Although the magic they were facing appeared to be powerful, it was nevertheless area damage magic, which is why it was classified as Level Four Magic.

"Got it!" Fortunately, Tangmo wasn’t far from Luo’er, so he could hear his cry.

He blew the retreat whistle, signaling everyone to fall back to avoid being struck by this large area-damage magic. Upon hearing his whistle, everyone started to retreat.

The fireball was expanding at a visible pace in mid-air, turning everything in its wake into scorched earth. Seeing the situation turn against them, the agents quickly ceased fire and began to retreat.

But their reaction was too slow. The speed of the fireball’s expansion was increasing, and most of them had no opportunity to fall back. The flames swept over them, igniting them in an instant into flaming human-shaped candles. These people screamed and flailed, eventually falling helplessly on the already charred ground.

Defending against this magic is quite simple- just activate the magic defense shield. Area-damage magic like this can be perfectly defended against merely by activating Level Two Magic Shield or higher.

However, these agents clearly didn’t understand magic. They had been professionally trained in Earth’s weaponry and had never undergone any magical training, which is why they were powerless in dealing with magical attacks. This is also why they went to such great lengths to prevent magicians from joining the battle.

The fire raged on. Even though this magic inflicted indiscriminate damage, the knights’ armor could resist a certain level of magical attack, and such area damage wouldn’t harm them. As long as they protected their faces and didn’t get their eyebrows burnt, they were fine.

The fireball had spread to cover nearly a fifty-meter radius, which was incredibly shocking considering it was only Level Four area-damage magic. After the fire died down, the situation on the battlefield had turned. The agents who were hiding in the woods began to flee, and those unable to escape were consumed by the fire, turned into blackened corpses.

Without the suppression of gunfire, the knights hiding behind craters and carriages finally launched a counterattack, charging into the jungle where the attackers were hiding. Hillna, who was aiding a knight, walked out of a crater, clutching her chest, panting, and her face showed signs of exhaustion.

She was wearing light armor which, while not capable of withstanding high-power ammunition, was fine against smaller caliber bullets. Unlike other magicians who prefer robes, she preferred armor and horseback, which was why the agents overlooked her.

The agents clearly overlooked a most dangerous target, for Hillna was the ace magician of the Judgement Legion. As a magic prodigy, she joined the Judgement Legion after spending five years studying at the Sacred Heart Magic Academy and became the legion’s strongest and youngest magician.

Over those years, she followed her legion to all sorts of places and had even participated in several expeditions to Ancient States. Her battle achievements were illustrious, and her combat experience was exceptionally rich.

It was her who turned the tide of the battle by exploiting the agents’ negligence and initiating a Level Four range magic under the cover of the bomb crater. The agents’ attack infuriated her. The intense explosion caused temporary deafness in her ears and blood was streaming out, which made her absolutely furious.

"Hillna, are you okay?" Legion Commander Dina asked worriedly after she awkwardly climbed out of another bomb crater herself.

Standing her ground, Hillna gnashed her teeth and passionately cursed the attackers in a whisper. Seeing Dina approaching her and starting to speak, she coolly glanced at him and asked, "What’s up?"

"You...you’re alright?" Dina asked hesitantly after a pause.

"Speak up!" Fuming, Hillna snapped when Dina remained silent.

"You..." Seeing the blood streaming from her ears, Dina wisely shut up and signaled her subordinates to take her away for treatment.

"Where’s the special envoy?" After Hillna’s bustling departure, Dina looked at the burning trees all around and asked.

"He just went off chasing the enemy!" a knight replied.

"Damn it, who allowed him to attack? Doesn’t he realize his importance?" Upon hearing the news, Dina immediately lost his temper and started cursing out loud.

"We couldn’t stop him, he was excited to go chase after the remaining enemies despite our attempt to dissuade him," the knight replied in a disgruntled tone.

"Find him now, dead or alive, just retrieve his designated sword!" Dina yelled, pointing to the burning forest.

"Understood!" The knight responded loudly and then dashed into the forest with several companions.

Watching them leave, Dina couldn’t shake a lingering unease. Cursing under his breath, he drew his longsword and led the remaining knights into the forest to join the search.

After being engulfed by flame magic, the agents had lost their ability to fight and began a full retreat. Luo’er and team abandoned the skirmish line and assembled, avoiding the panic-stricken agents.

They could act as bait to lure the knights away from here, providing a perfect diversion for them to approach the Judgement Legion’s convoy.

Seeing Dina and Hillna, Luo’er nearly concluded that Arya’s Blade must be in their hands. They are, after all, the core leaders of the Judgement Legion, and those agents wouldn’t just attack them for no reason.

The retreating agents ran past them without noticing the advance team hiding in the bushes. Although their occasional shots back at the knights didn’t inflict much damage, the knights had turned into fainthearts after that fight, ducking behind trees in panic at the sound of gunfire.

The forest echoed with sporadic gunfire. The Judgement Legion had few soldiers to begin with and had lost more than half of them in battle, leaving them severely outnumbered.

As the agents and knights moved away from them and into the distance, Luo’er signaled Cheng Ziang to move forward and attempt reaching the edge of the forest fire to see if they could cross the flaming barrier.

Just as he had barely started moving, he suddenly felt a chilling breeze overhead. He instinctively raised his dagger to block it.

"Clang!" An exquisite longsword hit his blade, producing sparks. Cheng Ziang instinctively leaned to one side, causing the longsword to lose its balance and land on the ground. He then stepped back and quietly let out a sigh of relief.

His attacker was a knight, dressed in an elaborate and magnificent armor complete with intricate rune engravings—clearly not an ordinary figure. The full-coverage helmet concealed the knight’s features, allowing only a glimpse of his light-colored pupils through the eye slits.

Cheng Ziang noticed that although the knight held a longsword, there was another one strapped to his waist.

The knight, seeing his first attack fail, lifted his longsword again and stabbed at Cheng Ziang. Cheng Ziang easily parried the attack and swung his knife at the knight’s ribs.

"Clang!"

His long knife scraped past the knight’s armor, sending sparks into the air. His full-strength attack had no effect and didn’t even leave a trace on the knight’s armor.