Chapter 724: Cautious Leader

Without Leo and Lily, no [Mountain Aura Dome] surrounded the island to defend the stronghold from long-range attacks, so Aaron and Yano were already alert and ready to build earthen walls whenever the dragons attacked.

Even Sylrael was ready with her vines.

But there was another person who could construct barriers, and for that, there was a mountain of mana crystals gathered in one place from all the hunts, which even included the huge High 4-star mana crystal of the Ironfeather Roc.

Tavian struck the end of his array staff against the ground as a layered and intricate structure started to light up on the ground, which had previously been inscribed by Tavian using mana crystal powder and waypoint crystals.

It was a layered structure of lines, stars, and circles that expanded in a circle with an almost 20-metre radius. A second array beneath the magic crystals rapidly absorbed the mana from them.

Soon enough, a strong wave of mana shot through the area, and an orange-coloured force field started to widen slowly like a hemispherical bubble.

The moment the bubble covered the stronghold walls, Tavian twisted his staff, and it stabilised in place, giving off a low humming noise.

The dragons saw that and scoffed.

"Let me destroy that weak shield with a single-breath attack!" one of the dragons said excitedly and increased his flight speed.

Following him, many other dragons also increased their flight speed. Only Vorthak and Vulcarion remained relaxed, like commanders sending their men into battle.

Uraan arrived early and immediately summoned his Midnight Raven.

"Lady Sylrael! Climb onto Midnight. He will take you into the skies, from where you can support us better!" Uraan said through the mental link and swerved around the stronghold, positioning himself beside Kaelion.

"How long until Leo or Lily arrives?" he asked.

Kaelion shrugged.

"Leo's flight speed is a bit lower than your falcon. He might be here any second."

Uraan nodded.

"That's good, or else there's no way we are managing to take on this many dragons."

"Well, we still need to take on at least 2. We can't give them all the trouble," Kaelion said, already searching for a target.

But Kaelion's eyes were on the stronger ones. Uraan was actually planning something else.

"How about we take on 3 or 4 even, but the weaker ones? I mean, it's better to clear distractions from them instead of barely holding something that is way stronger," Uraan suggested.

"That way, we can even guarantee our contribution in the fight."

Kaelion's eyes immediately shifted to the smaller dragons.

"Alright."

Saying that, Kaelion summoned Grivak—the Magic Scorpion—onto the stronghold's island outside the walls.

"Grivak, keep firing your magic stingers at the dragons. It doesn't matter who. Simply fire to distract them. Also, keep an eye on stray attacks that might hit and hurt you."

Krik!

The beast made a noise through its mouth and stinger movement, then started to walk around outside the walls.

By now, the dragons had entered the cliff region, where they could clearly see the extremely deep water moat.

"That… there is some kind of strong draconic beast in the waters." Vorthak immediately realised it.

But the next moment, Azrakar, his cousin and the 1st-ranked student of Sunborn Royal Academy, contacted him.

"Where are you?"

"Brother, we have initiated the attack against Aurelius Beast Academy. I guess we will be done within half an hour."

At that time, Azrakar's voice became urgent.

"Return immediately. We cannot attack them without prior planning. They have surpassed us on the leaderboard, and it seems they took out 2 academies simultaneously, ending Phase 2. One of which was even the 3rd-ranked academy, which I suspect was the Azirith Dragon Academy."

Vorthak immediately turned back and indeed saw that five spirit beams had gone missing.

Since they were flying in the opposite direction and completely focused on Aurelius Stronghold, they had missed the moment the spirit beams disappeared.

"But, brother! If they took out two academies at once, doesn't that mean most of the forces are away? It's the perfect opportunity to eliminate them. We are just under 1 kilometre away from their stronghold beacon!" Vorthak suggested, but Azrakar declined.

"No. I said return, which means return. We will plan things out after the 3rd phase begins."

Saying that, Azrakar cut the communication.

Vorthak frowned, but since he couldn't defy Azrakar's orders, he relayed the words.

"EVERYBODY RETURN! Brother Azrakar wants us back as quickly as possible!"

Vulcarion snapped his head towards Vorthak.

"What?! We can easily eliminate them now!"

"Are you saying I don't follow my brother's words?" Vorthak asked in a serious tone.

"N-no…"

The dragons leading the charge slowed immediately and looked back.

"We are returning?"

"Without destroying them?"

"Yes, everyone back, now," Vorthak confirmed.

But one of the proud dragons still released a breath attack to destroy the force field. He reasoned that Aurelius Stronghold shouldn't get the idea they were retreating because the dragons were scared, but that Aurelius Stronghold was simply lucky.

VROOOSSSHHH!!

THHRRRR!!

Following him, a few more dragons also released their breath attacks, which travelled across the less-than-a-kilometre gap quickly.

But Kaelion and Uraan used their wind magic to reduce the attacks' intensity greatly, and Aaron's rock wall also absorbed much of their striking power.

Miho and Dhalia used their ice mist attacks to counter the flames—attacks from inside the force field easily passed, since it only blocked external attacks.

But when 2 more dragons joined in from other angles, the attacks hit the force field.

The shield actually held strong, humming and vibrating terribly as it blocked the flame breath.

Though the price was Tavian bleeding through his nose. He had exerted himself to a great degree while increasing the intensity of the mana output to the shield.

He didn't seem that bothered though, with Plato healing him at his side. He could sustain the shield longer until the mana crystals and his own mana reserves were exhausted.

A single glance at the crystal reserves was enough to tell that they would last a couple more flame breath attacks of the same intensity.

"IDIOTS! DO YOU NOT HEAR ME?!" Vorthak shouted furiously, making the attacking dragons flinch.

"We apologise…"

Then, with a click of his tongue, the dragons turned.

"Did I allow you all to leave?"

Suddenly, a calm voice, loud enough to cover the whole of the stronghold's region, reached everybody's ears.