System's POV

Chapter 1296: The Siege Of Lyra [Part 3]

“I’ll deal with him,” Castor said. “Proceed with the discussed strategy!”

Castor jumped off the airship to fight against the pesky Celestial who had been attacking them repeatedly in the past few weeks.

Behind him, the three High-Archons followed suit.

They finally came up with a plan to deal with the greatest threat on the battlefield.

Sensing Castor’s presence, Cranky decided to retreat, thus luring the enemy away from his army.

But soon enough, he realized something strange.

Just as his gut sense caught something, his surroundings shattered like crystal glasses, and he found himself in a pitch-black world.

Castor had used a Legendary Item, one of the trump cards in his possession.

This item was called Dark Paradise, which trapped its user and their opponent in a pitch-black world.

However, there was a catch for the target.

While the user and their allies could see as normal in that pitch-black world, the one who was deliberately trapped in it would see nothing but darkness.

————

Cranky glanced at his surroundings and frowned.

He could not feel any wind.

He couldn’t hear any explosions.

He couldn’t see anything even with his eyes open, as if the world had turned into a lightless abyss that stretched infinitely.

The emptiness was suffocating and absolute. Even the crackle of lightning around his body sounded muted, swallowed by the void.

But within that silent dark world, Castor’s voice reached his ears.

“Welcome to Dark Paradise.”

Cranky heightened his senses, but he still couldn’t pinpoint the source of the voice.

“I admit you are strong—far stronger than I am,” Castor said. “But you being stronger than me doesn’t mean I can’t defeat you.”

From Cranky’s perspective, the sound felt like it came from all directions, echoing in that dark world.

Cranky actually preferred that Castor talk.

Being all alone in that dark world reminded him of the days he spent in Solterra before Zion.

Those lonely, dark, and cold nights, when he would force himself to sleep, hoping that morning would come soon so his world would once again be bathed by light.

Suddenly and without warning, Cranky felt a blow on the side of his face, making him stagger.

Before he could even understand what happened, he felt three more blows.

One on his back, one on his legs, and one on his chest.

The succeeding three attacks were far weaker than the first, and Cranky assumed that those blows had come from the three High Archons who followed Castor in battle.

Cranky couldn’t even fight back. Even with his senses heightened, he still couldn’t detect their exact location.

Within that short period of time, Cranky received four more blows, forcing him to expand the aura of lightning bolts that covered his entire body.

Cranky seemed like a lone star within the darkness, trying to push it away with sheer force.

Unfortunately, even his light seemed to be being devoured by the void.

“Nice strategy. But I wonder if it will work?”

Castor’s contemptuous voice reached Cranky’s ears, but the latter didn’t pay him any attention.

He was trying to better understand how his opponents had been able to attack him with undetectable presences.

As long as he could find the trick to this domain, he was confident about breaking through it without fail.

While Cranky was trapped inside Dark Paradise, the war outside continued.

Thirteen’s Great Killing Array prevented the Airships from advancing toward the city, keeping them all at bay.

’I was saving this for the capital city, but I guess I have no choice but to use it here,’ Regulus thought as he took out something of his storage ring.

In the Celestial’s hand lay a single golden bead the size of his thumb.

He then glanced at the fifteen Archons, twenty Monarchs, and thirty Thrones who were now standing on the deck of his flagship.

“Are you all ready?” Regulus asked.

“”Yes!””

“Good.” Regulus glanced at the city and narrowed his gaze.

His vision zoomed past the city walls, steadying when he locked onto the tower where Thirteen stood.

After making sure that everything was ready, he activated the Legendary Relic in his hand.

A flash of golden light erupted from his hands, washing over the deck of his flagship.

In an instant, they’d all teleported right inside the city, between the city walls and the tower where Thirteen stayed.

The golden bead, named Empyrean Pearl, had the power to instantly teleport groups of people within a fixed range.

It could bypass any kind of defenses, barriers, or anything that could prevent instant movement or teleportation.

The only downside of this incredibly powerful relic was that it could only be used once a month. This was why Regulus only planned to use it when they had arrived at the capital city, which he believed would have the strongest defenses in the world of Artem.

He had no choice but to use it now, knowing that if they stayed put, the barrage of golden swords raining upon them would destroy the shields of the airships, wiping out their entire fleet.

If only the three-layered barrier had ceased to exist, he might have thought of other plans to salvage the situation.

However, since Castor was busy taking care of the strong Celestial who had ambushed them repeatedly, Regulus was confident that he could defeat Rana in a one-on-one battle.

While this was happening, the rest of his forces would have to deal with the two High Archons and the five Archons who had decided to defend the city of Lyra with Rana.

The three High Archons had joined Castor to fight against Cranky, leaving their side without any High Archons, but this wasn’t a problem.

They had already prepared an alternative strategy to deal with the two high-ranking warriors on Rana’s side, leveraging the elites under his command.

“Kill everyone in that tower!” Regulus pointed at the tower with Thirteen inside, believing they were the ones controlling the three-layered shield, as well as the formation wreaking havoc against their flying fleet.

And he was right.

The shields, as well as the great killing array, were operated by Thirteen, Rhovan, and the Naga Patriarch.

If any of them were taken out, the runic formation would disappear, and their defensive and offensive strategies would collapse.

That said, when Thirteen saw that a Celestial and his goons were about to head to their location, he ordered his subordinates to activate their teleportation crystals.

Thirteen didn’t even wait for their reply and immediately got inside Rocky’s mobile fortress.

If he were taken out, their entire strategy would fall apart, so he prioritized his safety.

’That was something I didn’t expect to happen,’ Thirteen thought as soon as he appeared inside Rocky’s mobile fortress. “Rocky, Plan B!”

The Hellfire Bal-Boa didn’t hesitate to dive deeper underground while making sure that the Celestials wouldn’t detect him.

By the teleportation gate, Tiona’s clone that was with Rana informed the Celestial of what had happened, which made the beautiful woman’s face turn pale.

“Plan B!” the clone whispered in her ear.

“Everyone, Plan B!” Rana shouted through their Aether Channel, prompting the soldiers to evacuate to their respective positions.

As this took place, the magical cannons within Rana’s Royal Palace came to life.

Countless beams flew toward the direction of the invaders, who managed to bypass their shields.

The tower where Thirteen stood earlier exploded, causing a shockwave that pushed Regulus and his elite army backward.