Wizard: I Have a Cultivation System

Chapter 430: Chapter 89: Wind, Lightning, Water

The other Cardinals on the altar gave it their all. The multicolored lights of their Magic flickered in and out within the chaotic energy field woven from wind, thunder, and water, like candles in a raging storm.

The stalemate lasted for less than half a minute.

CRACK!

A crisp crack, almost inaudible over the deafening roar of the flood, made the hearts of all the High-tier Clergy sink.

The wall of light Adrian and his team had erected was shattered by a torrent laced with the Withering Wind!

Then, like a bursting dam, the once-restrained azure flood, dark-green wind vortexes, and brilliant blue lightning surged madly through the breach, rushing toward the areas from which the civilians had not yet fully evacuated!

The flood, like a hungry beast, tore through the streets, instantly submerging the low-lying areas. Houses collapsed under the impact of the deluge, and citizens unable to escape in time were dragged beneath the waves.

The Withering Wind snaked over the water’s surface and through the cracks in buildings. In its wake, plants that had escaped the floodwaters instantly withered and died. People hiding inside their homes felt a bizarre weakness and suffocation, as if their very Life Force was being siphoned away by an unseen power.

Stray bolts of lightning rained down, blasting the water’s surface into towering plumes of spray and steam, and utterly obliterating any remaining buildings or people on the banks.

Tragedy played out in every corner of the Holy City.

An old man clung tightly to a colonnade pillar, his cloudy eyes wide with terror as the rapidly rising, eerily green water submerged his ankles, then his calves... A faint breeze drifted by. He shuddered, and his arms, which had been wrapped around the pillar, went limp. He slid silently into the water, never to resurface.

A mother and father pulled their children along, struggling through the waist-deep water. A stray bolt of lightning struck the surface not far away. The current surged through the water instantly, and the family sank, convulsing, unable to even cry out.

"Father... the water is so cold..." a little girl cried, held high above her father’s head. He clenched his jaw, struggling to stay balanced in the torrent as he searched for higher ground.

An inconspicuous wisp of green wind brushed against the father’s back. He suddenly froze. His face turned a deathly gray, and the arms holding his daughter aloft dropped limply. Both he and the child were devoured by the murky current...

Desperate screams, the moans of the dying, the crash of collapsing buildings, and the roar of wind, thunder, and water... all intertwined to form a symphony of destruction.

The high-ranking envoys and nobles from across the Continent were, for the most part, accompanied by elite Knight bodyguards.

Ordinary blades might be useless against the intangible wind, raging thunder, and vast floodwaters, but when the Great Knights unleashed their Life Energy, they could form temporary yet sturdy Shields. They could also release powerful shockwaves to push back the flood, scatter the approaching Withering Wind, or even deflect stray bolts of lightning.

As a result, while the core viewing area was affected, the number of casualties was far lower than in the surrounding civilian districts.

However, not everyone was content with merely protecting themselves.

The moment the chaos erupted, just as the floodwaters broke through Adrian’s light wall and began to pour into the civilian areas outside the grandstand, a figure in a wheelchair shot out from the viewing platform like an arrow loosed from a bow. He moved against the tide of fleeing people, charging toward the forefront of the disaster, toward the deafening cries of the afflicted.

It was Murphy.

His wheelchair navigated the surging crowd and rising floodwaters as if on solid ground, moving even faster than a galloping horse.

Wherever he went, white Mana erupted from his body, forming several thick, white tendrils. These tendrils snatched struggling children and elderly from the deep water, lifting them high and tossing them onto nearby rooftops or ruined walls not yet fully submerged.

At other times, he would manifest two enormous, slightly curved shields of white Mana, holding back the murky deluge that threatened a small group of refugees and buying them precious seconds to evacuate.

Among the guests and nobles, all of whom were either panicking or focused solely on their own survival, this scene was particularly conspicuous.

King William IV had been anxiously scanning the chaos. His expression had turned grim, especially after seeing the floodwaters begin to threaten the edge of the viewing area and sweep away several low-ranking Attendants.

However, when his eyes fell on Murphy in the distance—in his wheelchair, moving against the current like an immovable reef, constantly saving civilians—his gaze sharpened.

A moment of stunned silence passed, then a thought flashed through William IV’s mind like a bolt of lightning.

’The Church Court can’t lose!’

’Ete I and the Great Shepherd Leader are still here. This disaster will inevitably be brought under control.’

’In that case, how one acts right now is of the utmost importance!’

’Is the Thunder Sword trying to seize the initiative?’

’To win the favor of the Church Court?’

The very instant the thought surfaced, William IV reacted.

He spun toward the silent, tower-like figure of Otto at his side, his voice laced with undeniable urgency. "Sir Otto! Take the Royal Knights at once! Assist with the civilian evacuation and rescue as many as you can! We cannot allow the Vilt Kingdom to lose its dignity and appear anything less than merciful before the Holy City!"

Upon hearing the command, Legendary Knight Otto’s thick, gray-white eyebrows twitched. From his deep-set eye sockets, his sharp gaze swept over the King before flicking toward Murphy in the distance, who was fighting to rescue others.

He didn’t ask a single question, just nodded calmly. "As you command, Your Majesty."

The next moment, a surge of pale gold Life Energy erupted from Otto!

He took a step forward and threw a punch!

BOOM!

The pure Life Energy coalesced into a visible, pale-gold shockwave. Like a sudden clap of thunder, it violently slammed into the crest of a wave surging toward the flank of the grandstand!