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Chapter 207: Bad News, Still Can't Win

"Looks like we've won again!"

As Jordon watched the Allied Forces retreating on the battlefield, he couldn't help but grin.

The other generals wore expressions of nonchalance, as if this victory was expected.

The Allied Forces were a disjointed group, with each unit pursuing its own agenda. As a result, consolidating their strength proved difficult, and their combat prowess was inherently inferior to that of the Imperial Army. Their defeat was anticipated.

Starly laughed, "The main force of the Allied Forces is all here. If we deliver a heavy blow to them, the rest of the fight will be much easier."

Jordon chuckled, but when he turned to Brad, he noticed his deep contemplation. Unable to hold back, he asked, "What's wrong?"

Brad shook his head and replied thoughtfully, "It's impossible for the Allied Forces to stand against the Empire on the frontline. The commander on the other side must realize this. In the past, they would have launched decapitation strikes to try to turn the tide. Yet, they haven't made a single move so far."

Jordon casually remarked, "They probably think we're prepared, and that a night raid wouldn't succeed, so they've given up."

"Perhaps," Brad said noncommittally.

A sultry voice suddenly chimed in from the side.

At the sound of her voice, an inexplicable heat rose in everyone present, stirring their hearts.

They all knew how enchanting and beautiful the owner of that voice was—she could be described as the most beautiful woman they had ever encountered.

Yet, none dared to gaze at her for too long, fearing her displeasure.

"My master sent me here to handle that group of Wizard Apprentices," she announced.

"If they arrive, just leave them to me."

Red Widow said, her laughter warm and alluring.

Two cloaked figures stood silently behind her.

"Then we'll leave it to you," Brad responded respectfully.

The woman before them was one of Sunan Master's two deputies, a core member of the Star Alliance's leadership. Even His Majesty regarded her with a level of respect, and despite being a duke, he did not dare to be negligent.

Red Widow smiled and glanced at the two figures behind her.

With them at her side, it was unlikely that anyone on the Starlight Continent could instill fear in her.

Just then, two figures suddenly looked up into the distance simultaneously. After a brief pause, they raised their hands and unleashed a bolt of lightning.

The bolts tore through the air, striking the empty void more than five hundred meters away in almost perfect unison.

In an instant, the void warped, and two men in gray robes appeared, staggering back a step.

Their faces were filled with astonishment.

They had thought they needed to get within a hundred meters for their target's Puppet to notice them. They never expected to be discovered from so far away.

Just what was the background of those two hooded figures? Their perception was far too sharp!

"Attack!"

A low shout suddenly rang out.

Seeing that their position had been revealed, the Fakado no longer concealed themselves and charged toward their target like a bolt of lightning.

At the same time, over twenty Apprentice Wizards also appeared out of thin air, their faces grim as they launched an assault on Brad and the others.

"It's you again!"

Jordon was not surprised but rather pleased, drawing his weapon and preparing to charge forward to confront them. However, he was stopped by Brad.

"Don't be impulsive; remember your position."

Brad looked at Jordon with exasperation. He was already a dignified Marquis; why was he still acting so rashly?

You, a First Ring Legendary Knight, against Level Three Apprentice Wizards? Isn’t that courting death?

"Let Lord Red Widow handle the assassins," Brad advised.

Jordon clicked his tongue but ultimately hesitated.

On the other side, upon seeing the assassins, Red Widow broke into a charming smile.

"I've been waiting for you."

Amid her sweet laughter, the two figures standing behind her threw off their cloaks, revealing tall, slender bodies and delicate, beautiful faces that exuded a cool demeanor.

Whoosh!

Silvery liquid metal flowed from the girls’ palms, quickly taking the shape of two longswords.

In the next instant, the two girls, wielding dual swords, shot towards the assassins like arrows.

Having witnessed the discovery of their tracks earlier, Fakado and the others did not underestimate the two young girls. The two Wizard Apprentices charging ahead let out sinister laughs, and one of them roared fiercely. Suddenly, blazing red flames erupted from his nose, mouth, and every pore on his body.

The flames surged and churned, intertwining to form a three-meter-tall giant wolf that ferociously pounced toward the girl on the left, like a tidal wave.

The other apprentice rapidly chanted an incantation. Countless ghastly green mists materialized out of thin air, condensing into a grotesque, enormous beast's head, which opened its bloody maw to bite down hard on the girl on the right.

Faced with the incoming attacks, the two girls responded with surprising uniformity.

With a swishing sound, silvery metallic liquid surged from their bodies, quickly enveloping them as if coating them in a layer of gleaming silver skin.

Both the scorching flame wolf and the poisonous beast's mouth were halted by that seemingly thin layer of metallic skin upon impact.

Chi!

Seizing the opportunity of their close range, where evasion was difficult, the girl on the left thrust her sword into the flame wolf's body. With a gentle twist of her wrist, a muffled sound like a sharp blade slicing through flesh abruptly erupted. Countless sharp blades suddenly sprouted from the giant wolf's entire body, instantly transforming it into a hedgehog.

"Ah!!"

The giant wolf let out a miserable scream tinged with disbelief.

In its flame wolf form, physical attacks should have been completely ineffective against it, and even enchanted weapons should have struggled to cause any damage. Yet, the longsword piercing its body had directly taken its life.

At the same time, a scream came from the other side.

Dense, torrential metal spikes tore apart the ghastly green beast's mouth, engulfing the opposing Wizard Apprentice.

As the metal storm swept past, the Wizard Apprentice exploded in a shower of blood mist, leaving not a shred of residue behind!

Boom! Boom! Boom!

Simultaneously, a myriad of colorful spell radiance rained down, engulfing the two girls.

However, as the light dispersed, the group of Wizard Apprentices was horrified to discover that both girls were completely unscathed.

A seemingly thin yet unbreakable, invisible Force Field enveloped their entire bodies.

Fakado and the others' expressions had drastically changed.

In just a single exchange, two Level Three Wizard Apprentices of considerable strength were instantly killed, and they had effortlessly blocked everyone’s attacks. This level of power was simply terrifying!

When did the Star Alliance acquire such formidable figures—two of them, no less?

Fakado's mind raced as he recalled the information they had previously gathered about the Star Alliance.

There was supposed to be only one female Level Three Wizard Apprentice in the Star Alliance, a Rose at that, but where had these two identical-looking girls, who resembled twins, suddenly come from?

Before they could figure it out, the two girls launched an attack with emotionless faces, raising their hands to unleash a dense barrage of Spell Missiles.

“Instant Spellcasting!” one Wizard Apprentice cried out in horrified alarm.

However, even more shocking events were yet to come.

Serpent Mark, Lightning Beam, Exhaustion Ray.

Spell after spell erupted from the hands of the two girls, and soon two more Wizard Apprentices fell victim to their relentless onslaught.

“Third Circle Spell!”

“How is this possible?!”

“Are these two Formal Wizards?”

The group of Wizard Apprentices was filled with shock and horror.

A Third Circle Spell, along with the suspected Liquid Metal manipulation of their Innate Ability—these two girls did indeed seem to be Formal Wizards. But how could this be possible?

As Level Three Wizard Apprentices, they understood all too well how difficult it was to advance to Wizard.

It was already incredible enough for one Su Nan to appear; how could two more Wizards possibly show up? And twins at that?

For a moment, Fakado and the others were overwhelmed with doubt and suspicion, feeling that the situation was absurd.

“Ah!!”

A piercing scream suddenly echoed.

One of the girls seemed to teleport behind a Wizard Apprentice, and the longsword in her hand transformed into countless sharp blades that pierced through his body.

Another comrade had died!

The others jolted awake, as if from a dream, and began casting spells in retaliation.

Faced with two overwhelmingly powerful adversaries, they dared to show no more negligence, unleashing their strongest attacks.

Especially when they saw Fakado take out a bead, the crowd intensified their attacks, holding back the two girls to buy Fakado some time.

The egg-sized bead was perfectly round, crystal clear, and shimmered with a beautiful luster in the sunlight.

As Fakado poured his Spiritual Power into it, the bead suddenly glowed, as if it were absorbing all the surrounding light.

The brightness intensified rapidly, becoming blinding at a speed visible to the naked eye.

Everyone felt as if a small sun had appeared in their midst.

In the next instant, the bead vibrated with a sudden hum, and an exceedingly brilliant beam of light shot forth, reaching one of the girls in the blink of an eye.

Even with her agility and speed, she couldn't dodge in time. Instead, she concentrated her Liquid Metal into a silver shield the size of her palm.

Thud!

Time seemed to freeze for a moment, and then, with a muffled thud, the silver shield was pierced by the light, followed by the Shield Spell, the Extreme Protection Ring’s protective layers, Elemental Energy Protection, and the Energy Particle Protection Layer.

In an instant, all five layers of protection around her crumbled one after another, allowing the light to strike her between the eyebrows, piercing through her head and exiting from the back of her skull!

Seeing this, Kairo and the others expressed their delight.

"As expected of the Russell Family's Clan Warlock Artifact; its power is truly formidable!"

Kairo felt both pleased and astonished.

They had just witnessed the strength of that girl's defense firsthand.

She had remained completely unharmed against dozens of Spell attacks, which was truly terrifying.

Fortunately, Fakado's Sun Melt Orb had not disappointed after all!

Fakado panted heavily, his face slightly pale, but when he looked at the hole between the girl’s eyebrows, a smile appeared on his face.

But in the next second, the smile suddenly froze.

His companions around him also looked as though they had seen a ghost.

The young woman's brow pulsed as a silvery liquid oozed from the pores of her skin, rapidly filling the wound. In the blink of an eye, her complexion regained its original pale hue, and the injury had completely vanished.

She shook her head and, with an expressionless face, continued charging toward them.

“!!!”

Everyone stared, their eyes wide with disbelief.

What was happening?

They had clearly struck a fatal point, so why was she completely unharmed?

Fakado was especially dumbfounded.

He understood better than anyone just how powerful the Sun Melt Orb was. When its solar ray pierced her brow, it should have scorched her entire head with the extreme heat it contained. No matter how resilient a creature's life force, survival should have been impossible!

Unless… unless she had integrated some special bloodline, rendering her head a non-vital point, or perhaps she wasn't even a being in the conventional sense!

A startling thought flashed through Fakado’s mind.

His expression shifted momentarily before he gritted his teeth and activated the Sun Melt Orb again, firing another ray at one of the young women.

This time, he aimed for her left chest and specifically altered the energy characteristic of the ray. Upon impact, the ray exploded, creating a fist-sized hole in the girl’s chest. Inside, he could faintly see flowing silvery liquid and a glistening silver-gray crystal that resembled a gemstone.

“Soul Core!”

Fakado felt as if struck by lightning, his entire body going rigid.

The other Wizard Apprentices, who had witnessed this, widened their eyes, their expressions reflecting disbelief.

These two girls had a Soul Core so extraordinarily powerful that they had overwhelmed multiple opponents, rendering them unable to lift their heads. They were actually Puppet Creatures!

How was this possible?!

How could a puppet be so powerful?

In that instant, Fakado and the others fell into disarray.

They were already at a disadvantage, and now they stood no chance against the two girls.

One by one, the Wizard Apprentices fell before the girls’ onslaught.

Fakado desperately wanted to unleash the Sun Melt Orb, but after using it twice in quick succession, his Spiritual Power was nearly depleted. He couldn't even consider activating the Sun Melt Orb now; he wouldn't have enough strength to cast even a few Spell techniques.

After about a dozen breaths, of the twenty or so Wizard Apprentices who had ambushed the Empire military camp, only four, including Fakado, were still standing.

Glancing at the two girls blocking his escape, one in front and one behind, each with expressions as cold as stone, Fakado felt true despair for the first time in his life.

"You’re from the Facardo Russell clan, the current clan leader, correct?"

A beautiful woman approached, her gaze piercing through him with a knowing look.

Fakado gritted his teeth and replied, "And who might you be?"

"Red Widow."

Fakado's heart skipped a beat.

He recognized the name from intelligence reports; she was one of the core higher-ups of the Star Alliance.

Ignoring Fakado's reaction, Red Widow giggled, "Just give up and surrender. If it weren't for the Master’s interest in the Russell Family clan and his orders to spare your lives, you’d all be dead by now."

Fakado was momentarily stunned, then looked around. It was only then he realized that all three survivors were Wizard Apprentices from his own family.

This revelation brought him no joy, only deepening bitterness.

The fact that those two girls could selectively choose their targets during such an intense battle clearly indicated they hadn't been fighting at their full strength. They had held back, making the situation all the more despairing.

Taking a deep breath, Fakado despondently lowered his arms.

"We surrender."

I regret to inform you that I won't be able to provide the second update today; there will only be one. I apologize for this, everyone. The second update will be carried over, and it will be added to the update owed to the Alliance Master, which now makes two updates I owe. I will ensure to make them up! Thank you all for your support and subscriptions!