Similar scenes of death and destruction were witnessed in the locations Layla's people attacked.
The defensive array the Courtenay Family set up around the Lumley Family's residence had already been destroyed, and members from both families with low mage levels fell victim as soon as Soll entered. Eoin and the other leaders of both families did everything in their capabilities to stop the latter's advance, but the more they resisted, the higher the casualties on their side piled up.
If Soll had not suddenly stopped his advance and let the Grand Masters with him deal with the rest, both the Courtenay and Lumley Families would have been wiped out.
When the Grand Masters and the Soll's two assistants took over, Eoin and the remaining members of both families found a chance to retreat into the Lumley Family's Ancestral Hall and regroup. As soon as they entered the hall, they activated its defensive array and were saved for the time being.
Although the ancestral hall's defensive array was not as advanced as the replicated defensive array of the Regis Clan, it managed to fend off the attacks made by the Grand Masters. As long as Soll did not join the attack, the defensive array would hold for a longer period.
Eoin and the others did not know why Soll did not join the Grand Masters in attacking the residence, but they were not complaining. At least they could tend to their wounded while the others rested.
The great hall had been hastily divided into four sections. The first section was where the fatally wounded were being treated, while the second section to its right was where those who were lightly wounded were resting.
The third and fourth sections at the back were where the leaders and the Array Specialists gathered. The latter were busy reinforcing the hall's defensive array while the leaders discussed their following action.
Eoin looked at the rest of the sections, and a deep pain filled his heart.
There were less than 300 members of the Lumley Family left, while the 100 Courtenay members he took with him were down to 61. That included the leaders and the Array Specialists. Compared with the enemy forces outside, they were outnumbered by a great margin.
"Our communications are still jammed," one of the leaders of the Lumley Family said, looking very distressed.
Actually, he was not the only one who looked distressed— all of them were.
"If this goes on..." The leader's voice trailed off, not wanting to voice his thoughts.
None of the others needed to hear it anyway because they knew what he was about to say.
They would all die if they could not send communication outside and ask for reinforcements.
"There is only one way," the Lumley Patriarch said with a grave expression. "Gather our fastest members and create an opportunity for them to escape and ask for help."
The rest of the leaders fell silent.
What the Lumley Patriarch had said was sound. Frankly, most of them were thinking the same. However, gathering the members was the problem. Not to mention, creating the opportunity would definitely be hard. There were hundreds of Grand Masters outside, and more had already surrounded the ancestral hall. If, for example, they did gather their fastest members and create a chance for them to leave the ancestral hall, they would definitely be killed before they could escape the Lumley residence.
Eoin shook his head, "They don't necessarily need to escape. As long as they can leave the range of the magic attack preventing us from sending out communication, we can ask for assistance."
One of the Lumley Family elders could not help but snort and said, "So much for being forced to ally with the Regis Clan."
"Oi."
"Be careful what you are going to say!"
Two other elders warned while looking furtively at their Patriarch.
The elder scowled at them and leaned back on his chair, "What? Are you afraid of the seal that brat left?"
"You know the Patriarch will suffer if you keep acting this way!"
The elder slammed his fist on the small round table where they were gathered and growled at the elder who had just spoken, "Why can't I act this way? Don't you see? We are forced to ally with them, but can you really call this an alliance?"
The other Lumley members shifted in their seats while Eoin and the other Courtenay members remained silent. They did not stop the Lumleys from venting their frustration because they did not have the right to do so.
The Lumley Patriarch also remained silent. He was the one who would suffer if any of his members thought of betraying the Regis Clan. However, the seal on him had not reacted, meaning the elder venting out right now had no such thoughts. He was simply venting his frustrations about their situation.
"I'm sure they are aware of our situation. Yet they have not done anything to assist us!"
"They are likely in a similar situation," another more sensible Lumley elder pointed. He understood what they were feeling but did not think it was right to accuse the Regis Clan of not doing anything to save them because the attack from the Crown Princess's side came as a surprise.
Before the communication got cut off earlier, they were already aware of several movements from her side, so it was not hard to guess that she could have ordered the attack on different locations simultaneously.
"But the Regis Clan is in a safe location, right?" the elder continued to reason. "They can still dispatch their members and help!"
"That is enough," the Lumley Patriarch finally spoke.
"But Patriarch—."
"Just as you said, the Regis Clan is in a relatively safe location. They are no longer in the Regis Estate, so they can easily dispatch members from the Regis Special Force to assist us."
The Lumley Patriarch paused and looked at every elder and leader of the Lumley Family before continuing, "However, if the Crown Princess indeed ordered to attack all four locations simultaneously, do you think the Regis Clan can go to all these locations at once? Do you view their Clan as superior beings that can do the impossible?
"You are all elders of the Lumley Family! Keep your wits about you!" The Lumley Patriarch growled at them. "Besides, when did we ever leave the fate of our family in the hands of another? Have you all turned cowards for living leisurely all these years?"
The Lumley family members shifted uneasily. It was not about turning cowards. The truth, never in their entire lives had they imagined they would be in such a dire situation. Although they had designs on overthrowing the current top factions in the empire, most did not expect such a large-scale attack to befall their family.
Apart from this, their family had already suffered after losing their trump cards and powerful mages.
In the end, they only felt indignant that the ones responsible for their lack of strength had not done anything to save them. One could say that all of them were on edge, seeing that Death was already peeking at them from behind the gaping doors of death.
Eoin cleared his throat to break the awkward silence and said, "Although I can't really say I know how all of you are feeling, let me just say we are in this situation together. You might think I can stay calm because the Courtenay Family is not suffering right now, but that might not be the case now.
"To be honest, I have an inkling that the mysterious mage who destroyed the defensive array we have set up has not joined the attack right after because he might have gone to the Courtenay residence.
"I don't believe he did not recognize the array he destroyed."
Upon hearing Eoin's words, the Lumley elder who had been complaining felt somewhat ashamed. Truth be told, he was a little annoyed that only the Lumley Family was on the verge of getting wiped while the Courtenay and the Montgomeray Families were still safe.
"In any case, even if I am worried about the welfare of our family members, I cannot waste time thinking about them. As I said, we are in this situation together. Thus, we will do our best to survive this.
"That being said, if we can find a way to leave the range of the magic jamming the communications, I believe we can survive."
The Lumley Family Patriarch nodded, "I propose letting an Array Specialist do this task. This way, he or she can deal with any array-related interference if the jamming magic attack has a second layer."
"Before we decide on who to send, let us discuss how we can assist in letting them escape."
"Alright."
The rest of the members from both families nodded in agreement.
Meanwhile, in Noser, the situation was somewhat reversed. The ones suffering were not Ezra and his people but the Crown Princess.
The sourc𝗲 of this content is fre(e)webnovel