System's POV

Chapter 1298: The Siege Of Lyra [Part 5]

As soon as Rana made her move, a seven-layered barrier covered the immediate vicinity of the teleportation gate, protecting the people who were rushing to cross over it.

The High-Ranked Fighters who remained with her stood in place, ready to fight if an emergency situation were to take place.

Thirteen eyed the airships before shifting his gaze to Regulus’ elite forces, which were currently trapped by his bombardment.

If they wished, the Celestials and High Archons could safely leave their group behind. However, those left behind would have zero chances of survival.

Unless they also had the ability to teleport instantaneously, their fate could only be death through impalement from one of the golden swords raining from the sky.

As the enemy did their best to survive, the teenage boy extended his senses in an attempt to locate Cranky.

The Celestial had also been added to his Destiny Bond, allowing him to summon Cranky to his side as long as they were on the same continent.

’Strange… I can’t locate him,’ Thirteen thought. ’But his connection with me is still active.’

With a single move, the young man could summon Cranky to his side. But if he were to do that, Castor would probably regroup with his army, which would make things much more dangerous for their side.

Although he didn’t know Cranky’s condition right now, he believed that the Honey Badger was strong enough to overcome any situation, even when alone.

’I trust him.’ Thirteen narrowed his eyes. ’He will return safely, no matter what.’

The young man glanced at the line of people waiting for their turn to enter the teleportation gate. Based on the line’s length, he deemed it would take about ten to fifteen minutes before everyone could cross safely.

For now, Rana’s barriers could hold up against the bombardment by the aerial fleet, whose crew members were doing their best to buy their commanders a chance to escape.

Thirteen’s side currently had the slight advantage. And as long as they could kill some of the elite fighters among their enemies, they’d have accomplished their mission in the city.

However, five minutes later, something unexpected happened.

A lightning bolt descended from the sky and landed a few meters away from Thirteen.

“Cranky!” Thirteen’s eyes widened in shock when he saw his friend covered in serious injuries.

“Don’t panic,” Cranky said as Thirteen poured potions over his body to help him recover from his injuries. “I’m not going to die.”

“What happened?” Thirteen asked.

“Castor used an artifact that sent me into a pitch-black world,” Cranky answered. “I couldn’t see or detect their presence no matter how hard I tried. They used that opportunity to attack me relentlessly.

“I only managed to break out after I used all of my strength to pierce through that dark world. Be careful. Castor will come soon.”

Thirteen nodded before looking at the battlefield once more.

From the airship’s direction, he sensed a powerful fluctuation that belonged to a Celestial. He didn’t need to think to know that their time to escape was cut short.

“Plan C!” Thirteen’s voice spread within the Aether Channel, informing everyone about their change in plans.

Knowing that they had no other choice, Queen Xeres activated the magical artifact in her hands and threw it on the teleportation gate.

The portal was then enlarged significantly,allowing more people to cross over at once.

But using the artifact set the teleportation gate into ‌overdrive. As effective as it might be, it would cease to function after a minute.

Rocky hurriedly took Cranky inside its mobile fortress and waited for its Master’s signal.

The plan was for the Hellfire Bal-Boa to take all those who could not enter the portal inside its mobile fortress before escaping deep underground.

Dozens of people ran toward the portal as if their lives depended on it.

They knew that the portal wouldn’t last long and that this was their final chance to escape to safety.

Rana, Zen, and the other Archons had already been informed about Rocky’s Mobile Fortress.

All of them would stay behind until they were sure of everyone’s safety before making their escape.

Their top priority was to protect the teleportation gate for as long as they could.

The people manning the magical cannons inside the palace were people whom Rana had personally chosen.

They were the kind of individuals who wouldn’t hesitate to sacrifice their lives if it meant their comrades would live.

Despite the fact that they might get left behind, they continued to perform their duty and continued their bombardment.

“T-The Portal is about to close!” one of the soldiers shouted.

Thirteen glanced at the portal that was starting to flicker like a light that was about to die at any moment.

’Half a minute at most,’ Thirteen thought before giving Rocky a mental order.

The moment the portal stopped working, Rana and her subordinates would destroy it completely, preventing their enemies from repairing it.

Just as he thought along these lines, he heard Rana gasp after seeing that the main cannon of Castor’s flagship gather energy.

“Brace yourselves!” Rana shouted as she erected several more layers of barriers in front of her.

A few seconds later, a loud blast reached their ears as the powerful beam of light collided against Rana’s barrier.

The Celestial gritted her teeth as she poured her strength to block the devastating attack.

Her eyes already glowed in a golden light, proving that she was putting her life on the line to protect everyone behind her.

When the blinding light receded, Castor stared in the direction where his enemies were holding their line.

White smoke rose in the surroundings, so it was a bit difficult for him to see if his attack worked or not.

When the smoke finally dissipated, the plaza where the teleportation gate was located was devoid of people.

The teleportation gate itself was completely destroyed, making Castor frown.

While the golden swords remained active, the magical cannons had stopped firing.

“Destroy the city!” Castor ordered. “Let’s see if these fools can hide from me!”

He thought that his enemies were simply hiding among the buildings, so he ordered the airships to destroy everything near the plaza.

Some of the airships also focused their attack on the palace, which was protected by its own shields.

A few minutes later, the Great Killing Array also dispersed, allowingRegulus, and his men to finally breathe a sigh of relief.

They were under great pressure earlier and had already lost a significant number of people.

If the Great Killing Array lasted for another minute, a few more Archons might have died.

Castor and Regulus narrowed their eyes at the city, which neared complete destruction. But they didn’t sense any life force within it.

’Did they escape?’ Castor thought as he scrutinized the surroundings.

After making sure that there were truly no survivors around, Regulus gave the signal that all was clear.

The airships then moved toward the center of the city, where Castor and his subordinates tried to check the condition of the teleportation gate.

“My Lord, this gate is already useless,” the Head Engineer reported.

“I see.” Castor didn’t really expect any positive news from his subordinate since it was clear to the eyes that the teleportation gate had truly been destroyed beyond repair.

Suddenly, he felt the ground under his feet tremble a bit, making his eyes widen in shock.

“Airships, fly higher!” Castor ordered before he and Regulus summoned a barrier to cover everyone in their vicinity.

What followed next was a loud explosion that covered nearly half of the city in a blinding flash of light.

Thirteen had scattered exploding runes all over the city as a final attempt to deal as much damage as possible to his enemies.

Regardless of the outcome of the battle, Lyra City was already destined to be destroyed.

Since that was the case, then might as well push further and deal a final blow to their enemies, who were caught unaware by Thirteen’s final gift.