Chapter 954: Buying Time
Although Lin Li felt that it was very likely that Osric had already detected the presence of the expedition, he was not willing to give up that other possibility. Perhaps the phony highlord who only had a portion of Osric’s willpower similarly had only a portion of Osric’s wits.
Finally, when night fell, the expedition had already arrived at a small hidden valley outside Alanna City. The small valley should be the hidden spot that was the closest to Alanna City. However, there were still several kilometers of bare land between the valley and Alanna. Fortunately, according to the memories of the High Elf that had been captured, there were rarely any High Elves patrolling the city walls at night because the city had been safe for thousands of years.
Actually, that was not strange. There were only a few hundred High Elves, while the humans and other races were completely treated as slaves. Under the purge policy, why would the High Elves bother to arrange patrols? In this world, the High Elves lived rather comfortably. Nothing could threaten their existence.
The night did not completely conceal everything. Under the sky full of stars, the majestic Alanna City looked even more beautiful and mysterious, giving off a dreamy vibe. Compared to Alanna City here, the Alanna City which was the capital of the Felan Kingdom in Anril was rather shabby.
However, the expedition was not in the mood to appreciate the rare sight of the beautiful scenery. In their eyes, the beautiful Alanna City was like a man-eating beast that made them feel fearful and nervous.
From the information they had, they deduced that Osric was definitely in the palace of the city, and the Magic Legion under him was segregated into two. A portion of them was responsible for guarding the palace, while the other portion lived in the noble district outside the palace.
That was also one of the reasons that the rest of the expedition had agreed to the assault. With good planning, it was entirely possible to kill the High Elves outside the palace with a blitz before charging into the palace. However, the premise was that the High Elves were really unprepared, and Lin Li was not optimistic about that.
Hence, when discussing the assault, Lin Li overrode the plans of Archbishop Martin and the others who wanted to first kill the High Elves outside using some plausible reasons. He proposed to barge straight into the palace to kill the phony highlord. To the others who did not know the background of the phony highlord, there seemed to be no difference between the two plans in terms of difficulty. Hence, they did not insist.
There was almost no defense put up by Alanna City at night, perhaps because life in this world was indeed too comfortable. The expedition left the small valley, and they soon arrived below the city walls of Alanna City under the cover of Lin Li’s Magical Domain. The members of the expedition were all above level-15, so the high walls did not have any effect on them. Even the Longma Beasts the Holy Light Knights rode could leap over them.
Lin Li used his mental strength to observe the situation in the city. After discovering that there was no sign of ambush, he waved his hand to signal the team to start entering the city. Under the cover of Lin Li’s Magical Domain, the expedition did not make much of a commotion when they entered the city, but they were shielded by the distorted Laws. They instantly climbed over the wall silently and arrived inside Alanna City.
The team continued to sneak around the city, and fumbled towards the palace in the middle. They only stopped when they were a few hundred meters away from the square in front of the palace. At this moment, the metallurgists of the Rotterdam Kingdom began summoning their Alchemy Colossuses one after another.
According to plan, the teams of the Tower of Dusk and Brilliance Shrine would be the main ones to attack the phony highlord after entering the palace, while the Rotterdam Kingdom would guard the main road closely to block the High Elves that were coming from outside to support their enemy. Hence, if they waited until they entered the palace to summon the Alchemy Colossuses, it would clearly be too late. They could only summon the Alchemy Colossuses here before rushing in as fast as they could.
However, when the expedition rushed into the square, and was about to charge towards the palace gates, the luxurious gates suddenly opened slowly and automatically. Upon sight of that, they immediately stopped in the square, and quickly assumed a defensive formation.
At the same time, there were changes in the sky as well. The moon, which was initially emitting a soft glow, actually turned into a sun that was hovering in the sky. Night turned into day. Under the sunlight, the entire palace was gilded in a layer of gold. Amidst the striking ray of light, a tall and burly figure slowly walked out from the gate.
When that figure completely emerged from the light, the expedition could not help but be reminded of the scrolls left behind from the Dark Age. They thought of Highlord Osric!
Clearly, the expedition’s assault had failed before it even began, and the appearance of Highlord Osric was enough to show that he had been in control of their operation. Although they knew that Highlord Osric in front of them now was just a phony, they still felt hopeless. The mana fluctuations that were emanating from Osric’s body were extremely oppressive. They could tell that Osric was too powerful for them.
With the appearance of Highlord Osric, multiple figures appeared in the surroundings of the square. They were all wearing a Faro Robe and holding a Dark Moon Staff. Clearly, they were all members of the Magic Legion, and also emitted massive magical waves. All of them possessed Legendary-level power and above.
After the members of the Magic Legion appeared, they did not immediately attack the expedition. Instead, they surrounded the square and glared at the members of the expedition with icy cold eyes as if they were looking at sheep waiting to be slaughtered.
We’re really finished this time! Facing the domineering High Elves, even the powerhouses who were at the peak of the Legendary-realm like Archbishop Martin and Donald felt their hearts sink.
Lin Li, who was standing in front of the Tower of Dusk’s team, kept a straight face. That situation was actually not beyond his expectations. If that had not happened, Lin Li would instead have wondered if Osric had another scheme.
In the opinion of Archbishop Martin and Donald, the difference in strength between the expedition and High Elves was worlds apart. It could not be made up for at all. If the sudden assault had been successful, there might’ve been some hope for them, but that bit of hope was clearly gone too.
However, to Lin Li, the only thing that was truly troublesome—or rather the only thing that he had scruples about—was the phony Osric in front of him. Although the Magic Legion was strong, it did not pose a threat to him. He only called the people of the Brilliance Shrine and the Rotterdam Kingdom over to minimize the losses among his subordinates.
The phony Osric looked at the members of the expedition, seemingly preparing to say something. However, Lin Li knew that he had to make the first move and suffer the consequences later. Hence, he did not wait for Osric to speak at all. Instead, he waved his hand, and a ray of lightning darted over.
The target was not the Phony Osric, but one of the High Elves that was standing in midair in another direction. That High Elf also had Legendary-level strength. He should be a leader of the Magic Legion.
Although that Osric was an impostor, Lin Li could sense that the other party definitely had Sanctuary-level strength. Launching a sudden assault would be impossible. Hence, Lin Li chose that Legendary-level High Elf as a target. He could at least decrease the burden on his men.
If it was an ordinary magic spell, it was basically difficult to hurt a peak-Legendary-level High Elf with just one shot. However, Lin Li did not cast a magic spell. Instead, he shot out his debris of the stars, Thunderbolt.
The debris of the stars contained terrifying power. After Lin Li entered the Sanctuary-realm, he did not get a chance to pair it with the Stars of Fury, but the power he could trigger was far beyond what he could in the past. Besides, the debris of the stars, Thunderbolt, was the sharpest of all seven pieces of the debris of the stars. With the sharp attack of a Sanctuary powerhouse, it was definitely not what most mages who were at the peak of the Legendary-realm could contend with.
Everyone saw a ray of lightning flashing past, aiming for the leader of the High Elves, as well as a few High Elves behind them. Large holes appeared on their arms as they had been pierced rapidly.
“Kill, kill them!” Seeing this scene, the phony Osric was enraged. He was going to say something to insult them and call them lowly humans, but he did not expect the other party to be that despicable as to sneak up on his subordinates in front of him!
Seeing that scene, everyone in the expedition, including Archbishop Martin and Donald, the powerhouses who were at the peak of the Legendary-level, couldn’t help but get the chills. They knew very well that the leader of the High Elves who had been killed in an instant had powerful strength that was not inferior to theirs. Would they be able to escape the strike of that rapid thunderous attack if it was them!?
Of course, as a partner, Lin Li’s incredible strength should be a good thing for Archbishop Martin and the others. However, as a peak Legendary powerhouse, they could not help but have complicated emotions. After all, in Anril, existences who were at the peak of the Legendary-realm were almost invincible. They even claimed to be able to compete with the Sanctuary powerhouses. However, looking at the powerhouses who were at the peak of the Legendary-realm getting killed instantly, they felt dejected.
It was better for Archbishop Martin. No matter what, Lin Li was the Son of The Holy Light to him, so he could be considered family. Back then, the Son of The Holy Light, Willen, had incredible strength, and even Apophis, one of the three arbitrators of the Supreme Council, had once lost to him. Hence, they felt that since Lin Li was similarly the Son of The Holy Light, it should only be right for him to have the power to instantly exterminate a peak Legendary powerhouse.
However, to the people of the Rotterdam Kingdom, such as Donald and Kanber, there was not only dejection, but also uncontrollable fear in their hearts at this point. Although they felt that the attacks were powerful because of a magical weapon, perhaps only legendary weapons would be able to instantly kill a Legendary powerhouse who was at the peak of the Legendary-realm.
Despite being in a desperate situation, a look of greed formed in Donald’s and Kanber’s eyes. Although they were a Chief Imperial Mage and a potential inheritor of the king’s throne, respectively, and had seen countless good things, including many of the best magical weapons that were claimed to be artifacts, they were still amazed. Everyone knew that those that they had seen were actually only semi-artifacts.
In the history of Anril, there were perhaps only five or less magical weapons that could be called artifacts, with the most famous one being the one that the Immortal King had once used to kill the Dragon of Destruction Azardas. However, there was no detailed description of that weapon in the history records or the legends. Hence, until now, no one could explain clearly what the weapon used by the Immortal King was like. It was basically a legend. Besides, they also had the Book of Eternity that was created by Geresco using the leaves of the Tree of Eternity, as well as the Moonlight Scepter of the High Elven queen. They could be considered artifacts in the eyes of everyone in the world.
Donald and Kanber believed that the weapon that Lin Li had just used was at least better than the so-called semi-artifacts that they had seen—even though it had yet to reach the level of a Legendary-level artifact—as it managed to kill a peak Legendary powerhouse immediately.
However, Donald and Kanber were sure that it was not the time for them to have those thoughts now. Since Lin Li could instantly kill a peak Legendary powerhouse, he could kill them too. Besides, they were now going to face a huge crisis together. Hence, as soon as they felt greed, they quickly hid it in their hearts, not revealing a single bit of it.
“President Felic, the secret assault has failed. Leave the matters of those High Elves to us. I hope that you can try to buy some time and hold Osric back. We’ll take care of them as soon as possible and aid you!” Donald hurriedly declared their new battle plan after seeing that Osric had flown into a range, and an intense battle was about to begin soon.
Although he did not dare to show his greed for the artifact, Donald still couldn’t help but be tempted. He simply made Lin Li deal with the phony Highlord alone. Of course, he thought that Lin Li would not be killed by the phony Highlord quickly since he had that artifact.