On the back of the dragon flying at the forefront of the flight stood an imposing man with a head of long hair that was dancing in the wind behind him, as was the black cloak that was resting on his shoulders. He took a step forward as he raised his halberd up toward the heavens, and it was clear that he was the one commanding the flight of dragons. This man was none other than Prince Lazaar's eldest son, Aiden Lazaar.

In what seemed like a matter of moments, the flying dragons had herded all of the soldiers on the Marrod Plain to the southeast, and during the process, the armies of both the Effer Kingdom and the Skycourt Kingdom had lost over half of their troops. Aiden cast his gaze toward the flags littered all over the charred earth, and there was no lack of Skycourt Kingdom flags among them. He knew that he absolutely couldn't afford to kill the general of the Skycourt Kingdom's army at a time like this, so he immediately ordered the flight of dragons to change directions, thereby ceasing their slaughter of the remaining soldiers from both kingdoms.

Even so, the Four Winds mercenary legion had suffered severe losses. Lanyon had reacted extremely quickly, ordering everyone to retreat as soon as he spotted the flying dragons on the horizon. However, these flying dragons were far faster than horses, and after a few waves of dragon flames, the Four Winds mercenary legion only had fewer than 100 people left. Almost all of the magicians of the mercenary legion had been wiped out, and the only magicians that were left were Lanyon and the dozen or so friends he had brought with him from Fooz.

...

Even as the wyverns continued to approach, the dozen or so True Light Church magicians seemed to hold no fear toward them, and they emerged from the ranks of the church army before rising up into the air.

"Don't let the dragons get close!" Count Friar yelled at Professor Hawk and the others in the sky above.

Upon receiving this instruction from Count Friar, Professor Hawk immediately began to issue orders of his own. "All court magicians, disperse and fire your most powerful spells at those dragons!"

As soon as his voice trailed off, a layer of fiery red clouds suddenly appeared in the sky, and the blanket of clouds was churning violently. The faces of all of the people looking up at the clouds from down below were basked in a bright red glow. The brown scales of the wyverns were also gleaming with fiery red light, and even they couldn't help but be intimidated by the sudden change in the complexion of the sky.

Immediately thereafter, the fiery red clouds began to release a dense storm of fire, as if the very heavens were venting its wrathful fury. The falling fireballs were so tightly packed together that there were no visible gaps between them, and plumes of thick smoke were rising up from behind every single one of the fireballs. The sound of the fireballs rumbling as they descended from the heavens completely drowned out the defiant roars of the flying dragons.

Only Princess Onean would have the courage to attack dragons with fire. Her arms were spread open as her silver hair danced behind her, and there was an authoritative look in her golden eyes. As magic power surged rapidly out of her body, her white magician's robe began to flap incessantly, and scintillating radiance was being released from the runes on the silver staff hovering before her. It seemed that she had reacted even faster than Count Friar as she had begun preparing this spell while the dragons were still roaming over the battlefield at the center of the Marrod Plain.

The dozens of True Light Church magicians who were flying toward the dragons immediately stopped cold in their tracks, not daring to step into the sea of fire raining down from above.

However, the flight of wyverns wasn't so fortunate. Countless fireballs exploded upon their backs and wings, and even though their dragon scales were particularly resistant to fire, they were still jostled violently by the magic energy imbued within the fireballs, and a few of them were already beginning to howl with pain.

Cameron was greatly encouraged by Onean's formidable display, and he raised his Wish sword again before pouncing toward Lazaar. He knew that his top priority right now was to kill the leader of the rebellion. Once Lazaar was slain, he would be able to turn the tide of the battle even with the dozens of flying dragons assisting the enemy troops.

Even though Lazaar was very pleased by how the battle was unfolding, he had been keeping an eye on Cameron this entire time, so he immediately spotted what Cameron was doing, thereby thwarting any attempt at a sneak attack.

Thus, the two most powerful martial artists on the battlefield clashed once again. The regal aura of the Wish sword was clashing with the unmatched sharpness of the Bai Ze sword, and the two were intent on overcoming one another.

Meanwhile, the court magicians of the Effer Kingdom quickly gathered behind Princess Onean, then launched all types of advanced spells toward the dense sea of fire in the distance. The wyverns had exceptional physical resistance, but even they couldn't withstand attacks from over 1,000 powerful magicians at once. Thus, they could only circle around within the sea of fire, not daring to get any closer to the southern battlefield.

Aiden naturally wasn't just going to stand by and allow the flight of dragons to be ravaged by the barrage of oncoming spells. Thus, he sprang up from the back of the dragon that he was standing on, then set his sights on Onean in the distance before launching himself forward like a speeding arrow with his halberd pointed directly forward.

However, before he could reach Onean, he was suddenly confronted by a purple-robed figure, who conjured up a light shield to oppose him.

Even though he had built up tremendous momentum as he flew through the air, his halberd was still stopped completely cold in its tracks upon striking the outer wall of the light shield.

A stunned look appeared on his face as he stared at the young man within the light shield, clearly astonished by the fact that his all-out attack had been stopped in such a jarring fashion. What kind of magic was this?

What was even more perplexing to him was how this man had suddenly appeared before him. There had been nothing standing between him and Onean, yet in the blink of an eye, this purple-robed figure had appeared out of nowhere to oppose him.

With Erwin keeping Aiden occupied, Onean was able to continue unleashing her storm of fire upon the flight of dragons.

Meanwhile, Faye was still buried in the city wall of Illingburn Fort as she looked out at the court magicians outside the city.

All of a sudden, she gritted her teeth and pressed a palm down onto the ground, forcing her own body out of the rubble around her.

Lana hurriedly rushed over to Faye to support her. She hadn't pulled her teacher out of the city wall prior to this as Faye's injuries were quite severe, and she was worried that excessive movement would further exacerbate those injuries.

"Teacher, you're in no condition to be..." Lana's words of concern were cut off by a dismissive wave of Faye's hand, immediately following which she began to prepare a spell.

Bright red light began to glow from the eyes of the snake on her serpentine staff again, and countless serpentine projections instantly appeared behind her. The nest of sinister snakes flicked out their forked tongues in unison as a vicious look appeared in their eyes. Lana was already accustomed to seeing this harrowing scene, so she was able to remain calm and collected. If the average person were standing in her place, they would've most likely already fallen unconscious from fear.

This was Mistress Faye's Shadowgleam Snake Array. Lana's Shadowgleam Sword Array, which she had used to almost take Erwin's life outside the Redbud Pavilion, had been adapted from this spell. With a gentle wave of her serpentine staff, the countless snake projections behind Faye shot forth in unison, hurtling directly toward the court magicians of the Effer Kingdom with ferocious might.

"Look out!" Count Friar immediately yelled toward the court magicians in the sky. He had been keeping a close eye on every single corner of the battlefield this entire time, so he was able to instantly spot what Faye was doing.

Hovering high up in the sky, Master Piro immediately reacted to the oncoming spell, raising his beechwood staff in retaliation. After being impaled by Lazaar's sword, he had been resting through meditation this entire time. Even though he wasn't able to heal the wound, he was able to slow down the rate at which his own life force was ebbing away, and that was already enough for him.

A white phoenix that was radiating dazzling light flew out of the tip of his beechwood staff, and it spread its wings open in an attempt to ward off all of the oncoming snake projections.

After hearing Count Friar's words of warning, Professor Hawk and all of the court magicians also stopped what they were doing before turning around to conjure up magic shields.

However, the scene that unfolded next proved to be quite a bewildering one for Master Piro and all of the court magicians. Half of the snake projections were kept at bay by the white phoenix, but the rest passed directly through the phoenix's body as if it didn't even exist, then continued to hurtle directly toward all of the court magicians.

Among the Effer Kingdom's magicians, only Erwin knew what was going on as he had faced Lana's Shadowgleam Sword Array before. However, Erwin was locked in a battle of his own, struggling to maintain his light shield in the face of Aiden's attacks.

As was the case with Lana's Shadowgleam Sword Array, half of the snake projections in Faye's Shadowgleam Snake Array had taken on a substantial form, allowing them to pass through the magic shields without any impediment.

Perhaps it was a sign of Master Piro's old age getting to him, but he wasn't able to make the correlation between this Shadowgleam Snake Array and the Shadowgleam Sword Array that Lana had used during the Pillow Sword Tournament.

The snake projections that managed to pass through the magic shields flew through the air before plunging through the chests of the court magicians, piercing through their hearts before emerging from their backs, then moving on to the next target. Panic was immediately sown through the ranks, and all of the court magicians began to flee in horror at the sight of the lethal snake projections. As a result, the pressure being exerted upon the flight of dragons was eased significantly.

Looking at the snake projections that were wreaking havoc among the Court Magician Council's ranks, a hint of killing intent flashed through Master Piro's eyes for the last time in his life, and he poured all of the remaining magic power in his body into the radiant white phoenix.

After absorbing half of the magic energy of the white phoenix, then imbued with all of Master Piro's remaining magic energy, the white phoenix began to glow even brighter, and it spread its wings as it let loose a shrill screech, then flew directly toward Faye with unstoppable might.

After unleashing the white phoenix, Master Piro paid no further attention to it. Instead, he cast his gaze toward his prized disciple in the distance, and a gratified smile appeared on his face at the sight of her formidable magic. His mind began to wander back to the 12-year-old little girl, whose understanding of magic was still at a very elementary level. He thought of the joyful times they had spent together as teacher and disciple back at Fort Glans, and he recalled the first time she had attempted to brew a magic potion, which had resulted in an explosion that had broken the cauldron she was using. Thinking back throughout his own life, the thing that he was most proud of wasn't his title as grandmaster magician. Instead, it was this cherished disciple.

"Looks like I won't be able to stay with you any longer, Onean..." Master Piro slowly closed his eyes with a benevolent and peaceful expression, then fell out of the sky as his beechwood staff slipped out of his grasp.

Thus concluded the life of one of the most brilliant magicians in the history of the land.

The Effer Kingdom's reserve troops erupted into a panicked frenzy upon seeing this. They were already terrified of the flying dragons in the sky, and Master Piro's demise instantly resulted in a further plummet in morale.

"Master!" Onean turned around with a panicked expression, staring at the scene unfolding before her eyes with a look of dazed disbelief in her eyes, and tears were already beginning to flow down her face. She watched as Piro's frail and wizened body fell out of the sky, and she wanted to fly over and catch him, but with the flying dragons lurking nearby, she didn't dare cut off her own spell, even though her heart was throbbing with agony.

Meanwhile, the target of the white phoenix, Mistress Faye, was panting heavily with an ashen complexion, looking to be in an extremely sorry state. After being struck by Cameron's attack earlier, she had sustained both internal and external injuries, and the Shadowgleam Snake Array she had just unleashed had expended a significant portion of her magic power, so there was no way she would be able to ward off the oncoming white phoenix.