Chapter 32: Capture the Leader to Defeat the Bandits. |
"Charge with me!
Break their formation!"
With Jonas's furious roar, the atmosphere on the city walls instantly ignited.
The soldiers of Thunderkeep, who had been stunned by Jonas's astonishing performance, quickly snapped out of their daze. Their eyes burned with fervor as they answered Jonas's call to arms. Though initially intimidated by the enemy's tens of thousands of troops, under Jonas's leadership and display of power, they now felt invincible.
Holdo instinctively raised his weapon and bellowed, "Follow Jonas! Shatter their ranks!"
"Ura—!" The soldiers behind him roared in response.
The next moment, Thunderkeep's gates swung open. Jonas leaped from the walls with the momentum of his Whirlwind Slash, leading the charge as the Thunderkeep army surged forth behind him. Their formation was a sharp wedge—a blade thrust straight into the enemy's heart.
The frontlines of the Destiny Army below the walls were already in disarray from Jonas's magical assault. Now, as they saw him leading a group of elite soldiers charging toward them, panic spread like wildfire.
At the vanguard, Jonas stood like an unsheathed sword—sharp, deadly, and unstoppable. His iron blade gleamed coldly under the sun, each swing sending arcs of blood mist into the air. Simultaneously, his magical abilities erupted in full force. Fireballs rained from the sky like a merciless storm, pounding into the Destiny Army's ranks and clearing the path for Thunderkeep's advance.
"Charge! Break their formation!" His voice, booming like war drums, galvanized his troops. With each wave of reinforcements joining the assault, they followed Jonas like an unstoppable tide, crashing into the Destiny Army's defenses.
Jonas's swordsmanship and magic melded seamlessly—fireballs in one hand, his iron blade in the other. Wherever he passed, enemies fell. In this moment, he was nothing short of a war god.
Asher, unable to join the charge due to his leg injury, watched with fervent longing. He had never imagined their small force of a few thousand would dare charge an army of tens of thousands—let alone rout them under Jonas's command.
"Ura—!"
Behind Jonas, Olivia and Holdo acted as the blade's edge, clearing the path around him. Their assault was relentless—a drill boring straight into the Destiny Army's core.
"This is exhilarating!" Holdo roared, hacking through enemies, scarcely believing he was charging through enemy lines led by his own son. Olivia, her elegant robes now drenched in blood, kept her gaze fixed on Jonas as if he were an unyielding deity.
Meanwhile, Charis continuously unleashed fireballs from the rear.
The sheer momentum of Jonas's charge sent the Destiny Army reeling—their tens of thousands of soldiers retreating in disarray. Yet Jonas pressed forward without hesitation. His target was clear: Evelos.
**Capture the leader to defeat the bandits.**
In war, momentum is everything—strike hard, strike fast. With their forces outnumbered over tenfold, any sign of weakness would invite a devastating counterattack. Jonas had to seize Evelos now—kill or capture him before that moment came.
Amid the chaos, Evelos stood surrounded by his loyalists, his face pale with terror as Jonas's elite unit carved through the battlefield.
*"A mage leading a charge?! Are you even human?!"* This was unheard of! Such combat prowess—was there any difference between him and a war god?!
Forcing himself to stay calm, Evelos knew his capture would shatter the Destiny Army's morale. "Protect me!" he screamed, his guards tightening formation around him. Waves of soldiers surged forward to block Jonas's advance.
Seeing the sea of enemies ahead, Jonas unleashed another barrage. "Fireball spell!" Flaming meteors crashed into the frontlines, the blistering heat instantly incinerating those nearby and throwing the ranks into disarray.
Evelos's eyes bulged. *"What kind of monster is this?! A battlemage?! How can he cast such powerful fireballs mid-charge?!"*
"Hold them back!" he shrieked.
Faced with the wall of enemies, Jonas shouted, "Olivia! Slynda! Father! Clear me a path!"
"Understood!"
Another volley of fireballs rained down. As his "blade," the group fanned out, engaging the enemy. Seizing the opening, Jonas pointed his sword forward and lunged—
**Wind Tracing—**
Like lightning, he closed the distance to Evelos.
Watching Jonas draw nearer, Evelos abandoned caution. Gripping his staff tightly, he chanted rapidly. A colossal ice dragon erupted from the magic circle behind him, roaring toward Jonas. The temperature plummeted instantly—yet its first victims were Evelos's own soldiers, crushed or frozen in its wake.
Facing the oncoming dragon, Jonas exhaled deeply. Channeling fireball magic into his blade, the searing heat distorted the air around him. His gaze locked onto the beast as he charged—**without retreating a single step.**
Flames coiled around his sword like a fiery serpent, clashing violently with the ice dragon's frigid aura.
**BOOM!**
The collision of fire and ice tore through the air, the shockwave rippling outward. The ice dragon's body split open under the fiery onslaught, its core melting rapidly with a hissing screech.
**CRACK—!**
Then, with an explosive surge of sword energy, the massive dragon shattered into glittering shards.
Jonas didn't pause. In the next breath, his blade halted—a hair's breadth from Evelos's throat. The scorching metal curled the mage's stray hairs, his face deathly pale.
Evelos trembled, grip tightening on his staff. He had never imagined someone could cut through an entire army to reach him—let alone obliterate his ice dragon head-on.
"You..." he stammered.
Jonas smirked. "I told you—those magic scrolls you promised? After killing you, they'll be **mine.**"