Ane was petrified by how none of their attacks hit the encampment inside Noser. The barrier she believed would not last as long as she assisted with the attack remained intact. Not to mention, none of their attacks had landed on it after the opposing side employed the suspected item created from the new Dark Sage's magic, which possessed the ability to absorb magic attacks, was employed.
After almost three hours of an unproductive assault, and meaningless loss of resources and manpower, Ane ordered a retreat.
At first, the other leaders in her army were unwilling to comply after losing so many of their people. However, they relented and left after she assured them the retreat was temporary.
Ane wanted to gather information about the four legendary beasts and the 'magic item' that prevented them from landing an attack first. She also wanted to know the Crown Princess's reply to her initial report.
Kyran's beast Sigils— Bas, Manti, Mera, and Iss— and the Fire Sprites also retreated inside the Spirit barrier.
True Void, on the other hand, remained on standby. Although he had already absorbed a great amount of magic energy from the enemy's bombardment, absorbing more was never a bad move.
Besides, he wanted to protect everyone in Noser as much as possible.
Now that the Crown Princess had finally taken action, the one who managed to preserve more of their forces would definitely have the advantage in the long run.
In any case, even if True Void was on standby, it did not prevent him from joining the meeting with Anette, Ezra, and the others. He only needed to send a piece of the shape-shifting plates to where they were and connect his consciousness to it so he could hear and speak with them.
Anette and the rest were gathered inside one of the enchanted tents inside the Spirit barrier.
"We still could not establish communication with the others. That includes Emperor Euan and Patriarch Aron, who are in Ravenpass," Ezra told them anxiously.
Initially, they could still send coded messages in Ravenpass after the surprise attack started. However, more than a half hour ago, they had not received any response.
"They might be busy with the preparation. Or they probably arrived in the Regis Estate and are already engaged in battle," an elder suggested. But he did not sound convinced and even appeared to be waiting for others to support his suggestion. "I remembered the Regis's defensive array has the ability to interfere with communications coming from the outside, right?"
Anette, who had a slight frown, shook her head and said, "Although the defensive array protecting the Regis Estate's Inner Wall filters outside communication, the communication device Kyran sent a few hours ago could bypass that. The emperor or Patriarch Aron could still have received our messages, and they could still respond to them."
True Void suddenly had a bad feeling.
It was not only him feeling this way. Anette, Ezra, the Spirits inside, and even Zephyr were already restless.
"What are the chances that the Crown Princess already discovered Emperor Euan had learned the truth?" another Montgomeray elder could not help but ask. "And she already sent an army to deal with them in Ravenpass?"
"The Conclave is also under attack," another elder interjected. "If the emperor's army joins the battle, they may have discovered their identities. So, this possibility is likely."
"I don't think the Conclave's situation is as dire as in the Lumley Family's Residence," the first elder pointed. "Even without Emperor Euan's army joining the battle there or not, compared with the sheer number of mages in each location, the Conclave has far more people. In terms of Array Formations, they also have far more effective arrays that can keep them safe."
"That may not be the case," Ezra suddenly said, his expression turning grave. "Precisely because of the Conclave's might, especially after what they had shown during the joint military exercise, the Crown Princess might have sent more of her people to deal with them."
Hearing Ezra point this out, the others felt it might really be the case.
"Emperor Euan's and sir Mannick's people would be forced to join the battle if that happens."
Anette suddenly gasped as she thought of something and exclaimed, "What about Lira? She is being held inside the Tower of Conclave, right?"
"Yes," True Void confirmed, frowning inwardly after recalling how Kyran reluctantly let Euan deal with her. Frankly, True Void would rather have that woman dead. But Kyran insisted he still had to interrogate her regarding Haylee's real objective.
'As if that woman had another objective,' True Void sighed inwardly. 'Even if she does, it's not like knowing her real objective will change anything.'
Although he thought this, True Void knew Kyran wanted only to find more clues about the 'truth,' which was why he wanted to speak with Lira. For this reason, the former did not object entirely to the latter's decision to keep her alive.
"How likely is it that Lira has also escaped from the tower and reported the truth about Emperor Euan to the Crown Princess?" Annette continued.
True Void shook his head— or, to be accurate, the shape-shifting plate hovering beside Anette shook slightly.
"Impossible," he answered, full of confidence.
? "Void Halfling is the one who completed the Tower of Conclave's defensive array. Unless an outsider with advanced knowledge in Array was the one who would try to decipher and destroy the defensive array, it is impossible for anyone in the Human plane—" he paused and corrected himself, "—besides Void Halfing's father, uncle, and Nolan, that is."
"Don't get sidetracked," Zephyr told them with a frown.
After Zephyr implied that he was an outsider, the other elders from the Montgomeray Family could not help but look at him in a different light. As a matter of fact, the fear they felt had doubled.
"Even if Lira escapes and reports to that woman, she doesn't know that the emperor is in Ravenpass, right?" Zephyr pointed. "So don't jump to conclusions, and let's focus on finding out the situation of the others."
Anette and Ezra nodded their heads in agreement.
"You're right," Ezra agreed. "There are several scenarios that can happen which prevent Patriarch Aron from responding to us, and we'll only waste our time trying to think of the answer."
As if understanding what Ezra was on about, a spirit said, "Our side is already looking into it."
"That's right," Anette started with a wry smile. "Spirits have a way of traveling from one place to another in a short period of time. They also have their own way of sending communications which will not affect any jamming attacks using human magic and knowledge."
The spirit, however, shook her head and said with a hint of concern in her voice, "The truth is some of us in Ravenpass failed to respond to our calls. That's why a new group already went there to investigate."
Anette, Ezra, and the rest stopped at what the spirit had said.
"In Ravenpass?"
It was True Void who had asked the question first.
The spirit nodded, "Yes."
"Not in the Regis Estate?"
The spirit paused. She looked up, and her eyes glistened slightly.
They had guessed from the spirit's action that she was trying to communicate with her own people.
After a few seconds, the spirit's eyes regained their normal color, and she said, "That woman and her army are already near the Regis Estate. But they had not made a move."
"Patriarch Aron said they will return to the Regis Estate. Have they arrived?"
The spirit nodded, "Yes. They have sent out scouts to gauge that woman's army. The Regis Special Force has also completed their preparations and plans to move after the scouts send their findings."
"Can your side find Patriarch Aron?"
The spirit shook her head, "It seems Patriarch Aron is not there."
"Right, right," True Void suddenly thought of something, "He might have gone to that place to check on Kyran."
Zephyr also nodded, "This will explain why our coded messages did not receive any response. Since he entered that place, he will also not receive our messages—."
"No."
"Wait."
Anette and Ezra said at the same time.
They looked at them in confusion.
"Patriarch Aron will not be careless about taking the communication device. He definitely left it with someone else," Anette reasoned.
Ezra also nodded, "I agree."
"Then..."
The bad feeling they were feeling intensified again.
Before True Void could say anything, Zephyr beat him at it and said, "I'll go to Ravenpass."
"You are not fast enough," True Void immediately rejected his suggestion.
"Not fast enough?" Zephyr glared at True Void as if he had insulted his mother.
As a matter of fact, True Void indeed insulted Zephyr's mother since his speed came from his unicorn blood.
"What?" True Void snorted. "Can you beat Void's warp capability?"
Zephyr opened his mouth but then closed it again. Although he hated to admit it, True Void had a point.
"Stay here and protect everyone," True Void told Zephyr. Although he would rather have the latter rest more, given the current situation, they did not have the leisure to spare any of their manpower.
"Fine."
Anette looked at True Void, "Let me go with you."
"I'm only going to take a look," True Void pointed. "There is no need for you to come."
"I want to go. You can't stop me," Anette insisted as she took out a transmission scroll.
Black lines appeared on True Void's head. Where did she get that scroll?
"You don't even know where Ravenpass is," True Void complained. "Using that is pointless."
"What are you talking about? I've gone there before. Even if that place had changed, I could use this transmission scroll as long as I remember where it is."
That was right. True Void forgot that although Anette had been living in the middle of the forest for about twenty years, she had once traveled the Human plane with Cade, Nolan, and Rin. It was not impossible for her to have gone to Ravenpass before.
"Fine," True Void relented. "But don't use that. Instead, if something is amiss. Use that scroll to return here."
Anette's eyes narrowed at once.
Actually, the expression on each one inside turned grim from True Void's words.
Without waiting for Anette to reply, True Void looked at Ezra, Zephyr, and the rest, "My veil will last for at least five minutes after I leave. Hopefully, that is enough to confirm the situation in Ravenpass.
"However, if we don't return... or at least if I don't, please do your best to stay alive."
The meaning behind his words was too obvious for them to miss. But none of them refuted it because they understood what it meant if the Crown Princess learned about Ravenpass and sent her people there.
"Let's go."
True Void and Anette appeared at one of the cliffs surrounding the Ravenpass, and they were shocked at the scene that greeted them.
"Oh? If it isn't True Void. You look... small."
True Void and Anette felt their blood run cold as they heard someone speak from behind.
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