Sword of Dawnbreaker

Chapter 437 - 436: The Magic Barrier of Rocky Ridges Fortress

Ever since the last squad that left the fortress to harass the enemy suffered heavy losses and returned in disarray, the atmosphere within Rocky Ridges Fortress fell to its lowest.

The knights, clad in shining armor and exuding an imposing presence, led one battalion after another to intercept those of the Cecil Clan, only to leave their own dead behind and flee back into the city. Meanwhile, the Cecil’s Army continued to advance towards the fortress day by day. Two days ago, they were near the hills, and today their flags have appeared on the plains, as if truly unstoppable.

In these circumstances, the southern territories nobles have shown great instability. Having already been terrified once, they began to feel restless upon hearing of the Cecil Clan’s relentless approach. This reaction further aggravated the psychological pressure on the fortress’s garrison—anyone could see that it was precisely the presence of these southern aristocrats that magnified the threat of the Cecil’s Army, affecting the fortress’s morale.

Sir Maryland even had to step in personally to speak to those southern nobles, only then did they slightly calm down and gather themselves, ceasing to shake the people’s hearts. However, the atmosphere within the fortress had already irreversibly worsened.

On this day, the Cecil’s Army finally stopped on the plains south of Rocky Ridges Fortress and began setting up camp. Mages using the Eye of the Mage to observe the plains soon reported even more unsettling news:

The Cecil’s Army had occupied a high ground in the southwest part of the plains and began setting up some kind of large-scale magic mechanisms on it.

It was far beyond the range of the fortress’s catapults, even beyond the range of any mage tower.

Inside the brightly lit tavern in the inner city district of Rocky Ridges Fortress, a scruffy man slammed his beer mug onto the table with a "bang," letting the beer spill across the surface, and shouted, reeking of alcohol, "That’s the ’Skyfire’! Skyfire! I know what the Cecil Clan is doing, I’ve seen it from afar... They use that thing and can break into the fortress soon... No one will survive!"

Then the man picked up the mug and gulped down the remaining beer in one swig, drunkenly shouting, "More!"

This was a down-and-out knight from the south, hiding in the fortress along with the southern nobles, having lingered here for dozens of days. Knights have some savings, often carrying gold and silver with them, but ultimately couldn’t compare to the aristocratic leaders living in the castles with luxurious feasts and dances—hence he could only drown himself in the chaotic tavern, using alcohol to numb his shattered nerves.

Since the arrival of the Cecil Clan, such down-and-out knights frequented the taverns and brothels more and more often. In the past, no one would bother them, but finally today someone couldn’t hold back— a local knight stationed at Rocky Ridges Fortress for many years suddenly stood up, grabbed the collar of the down-and-out knight, and forcibly pulled him from his seat: "You’re a coward! Apart from drinking here and talking doom and gloom, what else can you do?!"

The drunken down-and-out knight glanced at the hand clutching his collar, his face twisted into a bizarre smile: "You’re no coward, you could try rushing in when the Cecil’s Skyfire falls..."

The local knight’s face was full of rage, instinctively raising his fist, wanting to show this southern man, who was disrupting order and sowing discord in the fortress, some consequences— ever since the southern nobles and their followers took refuge in the fortress, inherent conflicts between local soldiers and these "outsiders" had been brewing, and now in this gloomy atmosphere, the tension seemed to have reached a boiling point. But before the local knight’s fist could fall, a faint, distant rumbling sound suddenly reached them.

Immediately after, an eerie whistling sound echoed through the night sky, as if something heavy was approaching fast.

The local knight was briefly stunned, and the southern knight he was holding let out a strange cry and then did something that left everyone dumbfounded: he broke free from the grip on his collar, crawling under the table without hesitation while shouting loudly, "The Skyfire is here! Cecil’s Magic!"

And it wasn’t just him; several southern knights and idle soldiers in the other corners of the tavern also dove under the nearest tables, shouting all the while, mostly about Skyfire and Cecil’s magic—

The local knight stood there, astonished. He initially intended to reprimand the man in front of him who had utterly abandoned all semblance of knighthood, accuse him of cowardice. But almost immediately, a deafening explosion reverberated from the direction of the southern city wall, the impactful sound even rattling the tavern’s wooden structure, causing large swaths of dust to fall from the ceiling beams— the tavern was thrown into chaos instantly.

The southern knight poked his head out from under the table, shouting to the chaotic tavern, "Skyfire! Skyfire has arrived! Find a place to hide! Get down on the ground! Don’t stand and run around!"

"Stay calm! Maintain order! Grab your weapons and report to the city wall!" The local knight shouted hoarsely, "Don’t panic!"

However, the subsequent second, third explosions rendered his efforts futile. The explosions continually came from the southern part of the fortress, with the final one seemingly bursting right above everyone’s heads.

Yet amidst these continuous, seemingly awe-inspiring explosions akin to spells cast by powerful archMages, the southern knight who had crawled under the table and others started emerging again, others who had either sought cover or laid flat on the ground right away.

"Something doesn’t seem right..." the southern knight muttered, "They didn’t hit the ground... didn’t fall inside the city..."

The local knight couldn’t hear this muttering at all, amidst the chaos he roared, "What did you say!?"

"I said something doesn’t seem right! The Skyfire didn’t come in!"

The southern knight suddenly shouted out, and to the amazement of those in the tavern, several southern people suddenly rushed outside.

They dashed into the open area outside the tavern, suppressing the fear coursing through their nerves, and looked towards the direction where the Skyfire explosions came from— then, they saw the massive barrier enveloping the entire Rocky Ridges Fortress.

A hazy glow ascended from the dark, majestic walls of Rocky Ridges Fortress, on which countless magic symbols shined brilliantly. The energy shields encompassing the entire fortress shimmered with streams of light supported by those magic symbols. Through this semi-transparent glow, the southern people clearly saw several faint cyan streaks rapidly cutting through the darkness in the night sky, crashing against the barrier— or distant sections of the city wall.

Thunderous explosions erupted, instinctively causing the southern knight and his cohorts to momentarily collapse fearfully, yet those eruptions merely rose outside the barrier— the immense flames seemed like grand fireworks displayed by illusion mages, deafeningly loud, reverberating in the air, stirring layer upon layer of brilliance on the surface of the energy shields, yet ultimately not penetrating within the barriers.

More faint cyan streaks cut through the night sky, landing on the barrier and city wall, yet the southern knight and his partners remained stationary, widened eyes watching the terrifying Skyfire explode outside the barrier, faces of terror gradually replaced by expressions of wild joy.

The dreadful "Skyfire" was thwarted.

The legendary ancient magic-infused fortress walls of Rocky Ridges proved their might.

Inside the fortress, it was safe!

"Skyfire was stopped by the barrier!" "The barrier held it back!" "Cecil’s Army can’t get in!" "We’re safe!!"

The cheers initially came from the mouths of those southerners, then those inside Rocky Ridges Fortress, those soldiers and knights who had already been in extreme tension and anxiety, also started cheering.

The castle district’s nobles and high-ranking knights also started cheering.

"Ladies! Gentlemen! We can relax now," Sir Maryland stood on the high platform of the castle’s main hall, spreading his arms with a smile as he looked at everyone below, observing the joyful faces of the southern territories and the relieved knights at the fortress, "Cecil Clan’s ’fancy gadgets’ seem not to be invincible; they can be blocked by the magic barrier just as well!"

A noble from the southern territories stood up and bowed deeply to Sir Maryland in an exaggerated manner to show respect, then turned around and announced to everyone with a certain flamboyant chanting tone: "Friends — we can take the red wine out of the cellar!"

After being jittery under extreme tension and oppressive atmosphere for so long, the nobles seemed to need a banquet to calm their minds.

Before the banquet started, the "Skyfire" that fell from the sky gradually ceased, as if the Cecil Clan also realized the strength of the rocky ridges Fortress, or their magical devices needed cooling and rest, which further relaxed the atmosphere within the fortress.

Sir Maryland and his knights could still keep their emotions in check, while the southern territories... they seemed to be too heavily oppressed, too tense, and once finally relaxed, their banquet almost turned into a retaliatory carnival.

But Sir Maryland smiled and allowed it all — in his view, these poor gentlemen truly needed a good relaxation, the stress they endured over the past period was indeed too much.

The castle district was brightly lit, and a banquet quickly unfolded.

The nobles’ celebration seemed too sudden, too extravagant, yet this is how the aristocratic group is — hosting banquets is not just their entertainment, but also their socialization, work, and even routine life. They knew that the soldiers elsewhere in the fortress would still be on guard, so they could boldly indulge in the banquet hall, clinking glasses without worry. Nobles excel at hosting banquets, and are accustomed to hosting banquets for any reason, under any name, let alone in a situation as sufficient as the current one.

However, Viscount Carol couldn’t quite withstand this overly intense change of atmosphere. After staying in the banquet hall for a while, he felt suffocated, found an excuse to leave the hall, and went outside to find a quiet place on the terrace, breathing in the fresh air of the night.

This was the highest terrace in the castle district, where one could clearly see the condition of the magic barrier.

The rocky ridges Fortress’s magic barrier was still active, a layer of translucent energy shield enveloped outside the city walls, vaguely connecting with the Mage metal embedded inside the walls: aided by the fortress’s ancient and powerful magic focal point, coupled with the magical energy accumulated by the city walls during the day, this barrier could last until the next day, until the sun rises again to recharge the barrier. Even if there is no sun the next day, several large Mage towers in the fortress could also extract energy from the underground magic focal point to maintain the barrier’s normal operation at a lower power.

Looking afar at the magic barrier gave Viscount Carol, who inexplicably felt somewhat agitated, a slight sense of relief. He gently exhaled and cast his gaze further through the translucent light veil.

The Cecil Clan’s attack had ended, the process was so brief and ended so abruptly, it inevitably made Viscount Carol, who had experienced the bombardment at Broken Stone Ridge, feel a bit unnatural. He thought briefly and then sketched out a few magic symbols in the air, activating the "Eye of the Mage" for himself.

His vision instantly projected far away, in a slightly distorted and trembling sight, he saw the Cecil Camp operating normally under the night sky.

The Eye of the Mage could see limited details, but one thing he was certain about: those Cecil soldiers leisurely adjusting the "Skyfire Device," normally chatting and laughing around the bonfire, showed no signs of any defeated atmosphere...

A series of footsteps sounded behind him, Viscount Carol immediately dispersed the Eye of the Mage’s magical effect. Simultaneously, he heard Viscountess Gran’s slightly cool voice come from behind: "Viscount Carol, what are you doing?"

Carol turned around and saw the awe-inspiring lady who led everyone out of hell. He couldn’t help but sigh in relief but then furrowed his brows, "Viscountess Gran, I feel something is wrong!"

Lady Gran’s delicate eyebrows slightly raised: "Something wrong?"

"Cecil Clan’s attack couldn’t possibly be this subtle... they could continuously bombard for an hour on Broken Stone Ridge, no reason for them to be so lax when attacking the rocky ridges Fortress," Viscount Carol anxiously shared his discovery, "I just used the Eye of the Mage to see that their camp was in perfect order, with no signs of an interrupted assault at all..."

"Really... that indeed is a worrisome situation," Viscountess Gran’s expression turned serious, unconsciously rubbing a ring on her finger, "... very worrisome."

"I need to alert Sir Maryland," Viscount Carol said with a frown, but right after speaking, he looked curiously at Ropeni, "But speaking of, Viscountess, why did you leave the banquet hall too? Did you discover something?"

"I just returned from the city walls," Ropeni said calmly, "Don’t you remember, Sir Maryland entrusted us with guarding the second city wall and some of the Mage towers’ duties — Unfortunately, almost everyone is in the banquet hall drinking, I had to come out and take care of some proper business."

"Thank God, there are ladies like you remaining vigilant," Viscount Carol praised, lifting his feet to head towards the castle district, "We must go to Sir Maryland..."

His words abruptly stopped.

A soft and slightly cold hand grasped his arm, the ring on that hand emitted a faint blue glow.

Viscount Carol felt a cool paralysis spreading from his arm across his entire body. He struggled to turn his head slightly and saw Ropeni Gran’s expressionless face. He tried to open his mouth but couldn’t utter a sound.

He heard the still beautiful lady in front of him speak to him — the latter was rather close, whispering softly in his ear: "Viscount sir, did you know, eleven years ago, when those thugs raided my husband’s castle, only one loyal sentinel stood on the sentinel tower, trying to intercept those thugs with a bow..."

Ropeni Gran stepped back a little, in Carol’s terrified gaze, she gently started to push his body.

"That sentinel, when falling from the sentinel tower, was as old as you are. When your knight returned to report to you, they most probably didn’t even mention this little detail..."

Viscount Carol’s body tilted at an eerie angle at the edge of the terrace. He rigidly moved his eyeballs; however, aside from moving his eyes, he couldn’t move any part of his body — a Mage, once his spell-casting ability is sealed, can hardly break out of this physical constraint by mere muscle strength.

At the last moment, Ropeni lightly pushed Viscount Carol.

In the last moment, the Viscount only heard a blurred sentence carried by the wind: "...that sentinel fell the same way."