Chapter 64: True Purpose Of The Journey

The blizzard spell continued to rage within the cavern, but compared to the hurricane that had just formed, the wind that had scattered the harpies and evil eyes now felt as gentle as a spring breeze.

The hurricane had just formed when the stone spikes, propelled by magic, shot toward them. However, even these massive stone spikes, each weighing nearly a thousand pounds, were no match for the hurricane's force. The rotating winds deflected the spikes, sending them flying off course and shattering their weaker tips.

Chief Lorelei arrived slightly later than the stone spikes, but this delay saved her from colliding head-on with the sudden hurricane barrier. The force of the wind, which had sent the stone spikes flying, would have torn her apart.

Sir Cervantes stared in amazement at the hurricane summoned from the scroll. He recognized it as the air spell Hurricane Shield, but this version was at least dozens of times more powerful than the standard spell. Such an extraordinary magic scroll required immense effort and time from a top-tier elemental mage and was exceedingly rare. Even in Celeste, these were treated as collectibles rather than practical tools.

But it wasn't just this scroll. The earlier Blazing Fireball, the blizzard that had engulfed the battlefield—all of these were top-tier magic scrolls. And none of them seemed to have come from Celeste.

A loud crash interrupted Sir Cervantes' astonishment. Below, a massive boulder, nearly ten meters in diameter, tore free from the ground and shot upward. Another advanced earth magic spell, Stone Barrage, but this time the boulder was several times larger than the previous spikes.

And this time, it wasn't just the boulder—Shaman Timmah was riding it.

The minotaur Shaman stood atop the boulder he had summoned, his robes now covered in thick stone armor. His eyes, already burning like flames, now glowed with an even more terrifying intensity.

The air elemental carrying the two of them wasn't particularly fast. In the blink of an eye, the massive boulder was upon them.

As soon as the boulder entered the hurricane's range, its surface began to peel away under the immense wind pressure, causing its trajectory to shift slightly. However, no matter how powerful or vast the Hurricane Shield was—capable of sweeping away arrows and even hurling boulders weighing hundreds of pounds—it could not dislodge a massive rock weighing tens of thousands of pounds, practically a small mountain in itself.

The magical energy sustaining the hurricane had already been partially depleted when it had shattered the stalagmites moments ago. Now, with the colossal boulder completely severing the airflow, the swirling currents finally came to a halt.

Though the boulder's trajectory was altered by the hurricane, preventing it from hitting the air elemental and the temple knights, Shaman Timmah was undeterred. With a roar, he leaped toward the air elemental.

While he might not be a match for the two temple knights in close combat, he didn't need to defeat them. He only needed to drag them down—or at least the one carrying the forbidden scroll. That much, he was confident he could do.

And once they were on the ground, even twenty temple knights wouldn't stand a chance.

But just as he leaped, the female knight on the air elemental activated another scroll.

From the moment he had ridden the boulder upward, she had been holding another scroll in her hand. Seeing him leap, she finally unfurled it.

Shaman Timmah was both shocked and furious to see yet another magic scroll in the knight's hand. He couldn't understand how this temple knight could possess so many high-quality, powerful scrolls. But his anger was fleeting. As soon as he saw the scroll, he began chanting a spell, and a layer of yellow light surrounded his body.

The earth magic spell Anti-Magic Field was his defense. He believed it could withstand any spell short of a forbidden one. So, without hesitation, he leaped toward the temple knights.

But the moment he left the boulder, he felt his hind legs tighten, and his forward momentum slowed. He turned to see a massive stone giant gripping his leg.

The female knight's scroll wasn't targeting him directly—or rather, its immediate target wasn't him, but the boulder he had ridden up. It was a scroll summoning an earth elemental.

The boulder was already saturated with Shaman Timmah's earth magic, so the summoning spell was particularly fast and effective. The earth elemental emerged swiftly from the rock, its size even larger than the towering minotaur Shaman.

Shaman Timmah's leap had been powerful, but even he couldn't drag a massive, cumbersome earth elemental far. The Anti-Magic Field around him had no effect—the elemental's grip was purely physical.

Struggling to drag the thousand-pound earth elemental, Shaman Timmah let out a frustrated roar as he was pulled back toward the ground.

"Knight Talice, that was brilliant," Sir Cervantes praised sincerely. The timing and execution of the scrolls had been flawless. Without them, at least one of them would have been dragged down by the minotaur Shaman.

"Sir Cervantes, use the scroll now," Talice replied calmly, guiding the air elemental upward.

With a dull thud, sand and stone sprayed everywhere. Shaman Timmah managed to free himself from the earth elemental mid-air and used a Quicksand spell to soften his landing. Otherwise, the fall would have been fatal.

Dazed, he struggled to his feet and looked up just in time to see a pure, blinding white flame—brighter than snow, clouds, or any other white—cascading down from above. Even his brown minotaur face seemed to pale under the radiant light.

"No!" Shaman Timmah roared in despair. But his cry was drowned out by the torrent of white flames.

The pure white flames poured down like a river from the heavens, spreading across the ground and engulfing everything in their path—minotaurs, harpies, evil eyes, dark elves, medusas… Whether alive or dead, fleeing or writhing in agony, all were silently consumed by the waves of light.

The chaos of fleeing, the struggles of the dying—everything was silenced in the white waves. The vast magical tide was grand yet serene, bringing not death but tranquility.

Where there had been slaughter, corpses, flames, and screams, there was now only a sea of milky-white light. The ruins of Othello were bathed in the holy radiance of white magic, peaceful and gentle, like the paradise in the hearts of devout believers. But for those who hadn't yet been consumed by the flames—the minotaurs, dark elves, and other underground dwellers—they screamed in terror, their voices filled with the despair of creatures facing certain death.

Purgatory Paradise couldn't cover the entire area, but the minotaurs and dark elves had already begun fleeing into the tunnels. Sir Cervantes directed the white flames into the largest passages, where they instantly engulfed the densely packed minotaurs and dark elves. Screams and struggles ceased, replaced by the serene calm of paradise.

Though Purgatory Paradise was one of the most cumbersome forbidden spells to cast, its vast coverage and controllability made it unparalleled among destructive spells.

As the scroll in his hand finally exhausted its magical energy and turned to ash, Sir Cervantes was utterly spent. But as he looked down at the sea of white light below, he felt a deep satisfaction. This most destructive of forbidden spells, fueled by all his magical power, had achieved its full effect. At least ten thousand minotaurs, dark elves, and medusas had been reduced to ash. If you included those killed in the chaos, Nigen's forces had suffered a devastating blow.

Only in such a dense, enclosed environment could this forbidden spell achieve such staggering results. On an open plain, it might have killed a thousand Orford orcs at most, and even then, there was the risk of being interrupted by someone like Grutt or Theoforus. But here, the results were equivalent to wiping out the entire western defense forces of several nations, including Alrasia—tens of thousands of well-equipped soldiers.

This was the secret mission the Pope had entrusted to them—the true purpose of their journey to Nigen.

Most importantly, three clan leaders had also perished in this spell. In the centuries-long conflict between Celeste and Nigen, this was a decisive victory. To have played a part in such a momentous achievement would fill anyone with pride.

But Talice' expression remained calm as she guided the air elemental toward the cavern's ceiling.