Chapter 320: The Push
Even though Adriarch had gotten Elizabeth’s attention, he masterfully avoided a direct confrontation with her, hiding behind smokescreens and letting his soldiers divert her attention.
Even in her entertained trance, Elizabeth remained a force of nature, wreaking havoc on the battlefield and drawing fire from the AOTG soldiers.
It was only thanks to her and the North Dragon that the Valkyries and I weren’t overwhelmed by their numbers; however, we weren’t having it easy either.
We moved as a squad so that we could take care of each other’s backs, but the pressure was mounting quickly.
Even with Anna’s Gift and Cassandra boosting my stats, I was the weak link of our formation.
It wasn’t just a matter of raw power; I was hurting their otherwise impeccable coordination.
Worse, Eir’s barriers would quickly break under the massive barrage of fire and the power of the few crystal bullets the AOTG soldiers had. Whenever that happened, the soldiers would rain down blood bullets on us, inflicting several debuffs and strengthening the ones we were already suffering from.
Liz was aware enough to reinforce us, but she was too focused on her hunt.
Still, she made for great bait.
We moved by stalking her and the dragon, sniping the scattered squads as they focused on them.
Sadly, the increasingly loud roar of the engine in the distance brought us one of the few soldiers not drawn to my cute Devil.
As Skuld spread lightning toward The Mechanic, I slashed the air, sending a crescent wind blade his way.
Almost as if its tires had no friction, Bruce instantly turned his bike, slipping past our magic and taking cover behind a communication tower.
Skuld and her sisters were speechless at the sharp, alien movement he constantly pulled off, but even I was surprised by how much of a headache the Mechanic could be.
The next time he approached, his motorcycle was completely silent, catching us by surprise.
Thanks to their wings, the Valkyries were able to safely get away by soaring into the air, while I only dodged by the skin of my teeth.
Despite wasting as little movement as possible, my magic wasn’t fast enough to reach his bike, and I couldn’t afford to let the Valkyries chase after him.
Worse, I couldn’t ignore Apollo desperately pecking at the cage inside my pocket.
I felt pressured to finish this soon, but my attempts at messing with the field went nowhere. He went over the holes I dug on the road using my [Earth Magic] like they weren’t even there, and the small spikes I spread around us weren’t powerful enough to flatten his tires.
The only somewhat effective strategy was the flashbangs I created using [Light Magic], but I was forced to reveal them to evade after my [Earth Magic] failed.
Adapting quickly was a trait shared by all of Adriarch’s soldiers. I probably wouldn’t be able to use it again.
Miwen: "Cass. I need chains. And a hook."
For a brief moment, Cassandra turned back into her humanoid form.
Cassandra: "Finally."
It surprised me to see how serious her expression was-
Cassandra: "I’ve been dying for some kinky play~"
It didn’t last a second, of course, but she got the idea right.
When she turned into a blade again, a long chain extended from her handle, and from it, a black hook.
I didn’t have to wait long for an opportunity to test my plan, as the AOTG’s speedracer had tunnel vision on striking me down.
This time, I burst flames from my feet to get out of the way quickly, giving me time to throw and hook Cassandra to his bike.
I coated my feet with [Ice Magic] to slide through the road, but in response, the Mechanic took sharp turns, sending me crashing through buildings.
The speed we were going at made it hard for me to create ramps and protect myself, so I focused on pulling on the chain, inching closer to his bike.
After getting close enough, Cass summoned a sword mid-air that became the spear tip of the pillar of fire and lightning that I erected.
The beam of fire and lightning cracked the air and hurled toward his side, but the Mechanic’s bike changed its shape, disconnecting the hooked section while erecting a metallic wall to protect him.
Before we were thrown into the ground, I launched a blade of light that burst into waterdrops upon contact with his bike.
It dealt no damage, but...
Miwen: "We’re halfway there."
Almost everywhere, the black smoke caused by the multiple fires was being replaced by a thick white fog.
At the same time, the number of AOTG soldiers wearing masks grew noticeably.
Elizabeth seemed to have finally cornered Adriarch, but as I watched the two disappear into the fog, unease settled inside me, and I began to prepare for the worst-case scenario.
Miwen: "Eir, I’ll need your strongest barrier."
While Skuld and Lief covered our backs, Eir and I waited for the Mechanic to show his face again.
Despite making no noise, I felt him approaching us thanks to the water droplets that landed on him.
Swiftly, I spread a thin layer of ice on the ground, a bluish-white corridor stretching toward him.
He instantly stopped, ignoring the increased friction.
Like I thought he would.
Sadly, that was a mistake.
And to the Valkyries, one mistake was all it took.
Eir, who had already chanted a spell, erected a dome around the Mechanic.
No matter how fast he rode, his bike would simply loop inside it.
Metal pieces fell from the bike as it shifted shape once again.
A massive spike formed at its front, aimed straight at Eir’s barrier, but it was already too late.
The tip wasn’t strong enough to pierce her barrier, and a second later, Skuld’s lightning and Lief’s wind blades began to rain down inside the dome, cutting and burning everything inside it.
Venting her frustration, Cassandra joined the Valkyries with a sword barrage.
At the same time, I erected ice spikes from all angles inside the globe of death, bringing a quick, merciless end to his ride.
We repeatedly shredded everything inside Eir’s bubble before setting it ablaze, leaving not even ashes behind.
Even though this invasion was only meant to be a distraction, we had successfully weakened Adriarch’s ability to reinforce battles.
If Liz could defeat him as well, that would be a crippling blow to their operation.
However, just as these thoughts crossed my mind, I felt Liz’s mana disappear.
The Valkyries and I turned our attention to the place where she had confronted Adriarch, but there were no signs of either of them.
We rushed to that spot, only to see the Demon Queen and the Colonel appear from thin air a moment later.
Neither had any visible injuries.
Yet both had fallen unconscious.
Skuld and the others fought the soldiers approaching Liz and Adriarch, giving me the chance to grab both of them before hopping on the back of the North Dragon.
The dragon launched thousands of ice needles onto the ground with the flap of its wings, forcing the soldiers to take cover while giving us a chance to lift off and fly away from the base.
With the base in so much chaos, whatever planes remained couldn’t chase after us, and we quickly put enough distance between us and the base that I could release Apollo from its cage.
After attacking me a little more, the bird spread a single one of its wings, almost as if telling me where to go.
Following his directions, I tried to contact Isa to inform her of the results on our side. I also wanted to ask her if the girls needed help with their attack on Ceres’ building, but...
A debuff called [Enforced Timeout] had cut off our telepathic link.
Worse yet, another debuff, [Packet Loss], made me unable to enter the Kingdom.
Miwen: "..."
I quickly realized why Apollo was so desperate.
I struck the dragon with lightning, forcing it to speed up as we headed towards Ceres’ buildings.
It only took us a few minutes to reach the city’s border, where we found building after building crumbling down.
A gigantic vortex coated in snowflakes was charging forward in a straight line, caring little for any obstacles in its way, while burying the ground in a thick layer of snow.
Miwen: "...Mia?"
Despite the distance, she heard my voice and stopped.
Her body was covered in thick fur, heavy snow falling around her as she had pushed her beastification as far as she could.
Mia: "Miwen! We need to get to the girls! THEY NEED-"
Her eyes were wide, her arms shaking as she hugged me. Instinctively, her feet continued to move, pulling me forward.
I had never seen her so panicked before.
Without wasting time, I had her join us on the back of the dragon.
As we reached the spot the girls were at, we found a massive spacecraft covering everything beneath it.
The Valkyries combined their magic to launch a massive blade of magic, but they didn’t quite manage to cut through everything, forcing Liz and me to finish the job with our own combination.
As the spacecraft split in half, I saw my girls scattered everywhere.
Some were stuck in walls, some were lying on the ground.
Erik held Claire by the neck.
Cass: "Boy, if you lose control-"
Mia and Cassandra noticed it immediately, but only Cass felt confident to say something.
Miwen: "I know."
It didn’t matter what she was about to say.
I wasn’t going to risk the girls.
Grabbing Liz and Adriarch, I jumped off the North Dragon, with Mia following right behind me.
I noticed Maya and Piper.
But all I could see was Erik.
