It had to be said that at that moment, the entire battlefield was at a standstill. They had watched the fireball transform into what looked like a person, before tumbling down the Queen's ship, or what was left of it.
Everyone had their eyes cast at the wreckage of what was once the Queen's ship with bated breath. The biggest question in most people's minds was whether the fireball was supposed to transform or not.
If yes, then it was part of the attack and it should have a more devastating effect than the previous one. However, if no, then the attack had been spoiled by someone or something. Either way, there had to be something to show for it.
Even the Prince of Gumina was stumped. Having never seen a City Destroyer in action, even he did not know what it would do. He never expected it to transform into a person. Could it be that his attack had been foiled? If so, by who?
As these questions were running in everyone's mind, Lord Abu floated out from below deck of the Queen's ship through the hole he had used to go down.
At that moment, everyone's heart sank. Could it be that the unthinkable had happened? Could she be dead? Even the prince dared to smile at this new development.
However, his face contorted when she came out after him. However, the Queen was not a mage, much less at Grand Mage level where she could levitate by herself.
Most eyes were fixed on the mage that was carrying her. He was a mage by virtual of the fact that he was flying, levitating. A feat only a Grand Mage and above could achieve. He had the Queen in his arms, and she was holding onto him passionately.
"He's here!"
"He's finally here!"
A sudden realization came upon the Tristanites when they recognized the man carrying their monarch. Yes, he was back. No doubt, he was the only one capable of stopping such an attack.
Barda had not only come back, but he had done so in such a panache that he made a splash across the battlefield. No one knows who started it, but when one soldier let out a deep shout, everyone else joined in.
The mentally defeated army was injected with a fresh dose of confidence. They were now heavily motivated under an indestructible army.
Manga, Lady Arnea, Catalina, no one could hold their joy on seeing this man arrive on the battlefield. While there had been a chance of victory before, it was now all but guaranteed. This was the power that Barda held in the hearts of Tristan soldiers. After all, he had defeated Gumina with 5,000 men.
Across the field, the Prince was sweating profusely when he saw his most dreaded enemy emerge from the battered ship without a scratch.
Barda himself took the Queen away from the scene of the wreckage. His trusted pegasus flew over to him.
The moment he had come to, Barda had got word that the war was still going on. He had hoped that he could arrive after all that was done, but he still had to make an appearance anyway.
After seeing the first attack, Barda urged his pegasus to fly harder and faster. He was riding pretty high because he knew there would be lesser air resistance, so when he saw the fireball, he had made for it.
At first, he had worried the fireball was too fast, but he had leaped off the pegasus and made for it. He knew the pegasus couldn't take such destructive power. In a bid to slow it down some, he had had to start the absorption process before he got to it completely.
His pegasus finally landed. The aptly named Firestorm was all fiery as it came down. Barda now understood that his pegasus was one of a kind, an oddity.
Much like the Ice Dragon, oddities were beasts that mutated or resisted their Natural Element for another. An ice dragon had resisted flames for ice, his pegasus had resisted Air and Wind Element for Fire.
To have been gifted such a magnificent horse showed just how much respected the mages had accorded him. They also assumed he was a fire mage since his Element at the time had been the Fire Element.
Not that he was complaining, but as he got on top of the pegasus, a bright smile flashed across his face.
[Probable target identified, Cross-match 67%.]
[Recalculating Target-math, 89% match. Target Found.]
After getting those 2 notifications, Barda urged the pegasus to rise slowly, as he took in the cheers of the people. This was not mostly for him, but the men as well. The men needed this motivation, someone they could rally behind, and he was going to offer them that someone.
Once Barda was 30 meters in the air, he estimated that from that distance, both the ground forces and those still in the air could see him properly. This included those attacking at the frontline, Catalina's people.
From here, everyone on the battlefield was looking at him. He raised a sword Lord Abu had left him up high, before his pegasus shooting forward like a meteor.
With the signal given, everyone charged forth like a madman. The momentum gained by the Gumina soldiers was trashed, and now Tristan had the upper hand. What's more, Tristan boasted of superior firepower, hence they could cause more damage with their advance.
***
"My Lord, we need to move, NOW!" The Prince of Gumina stood rooted to the ground, unbelieving. Victory had been so close, and now the man had been able to turn it all around in just one move? NO! He couldn't take that.
As he watched the pegasus that looked like it was on fire coming at him, he had complicated emotions. He knew he should be moving since it was clear he was Barda's target, but he couldn't bring himself to.
"My prince, if we don't move soon, we might not get a chance to later," The soldiers, his guards, and even the aides that were following the prince were getting anxious, but the man was in no hurry.
He turned and looked at Barda, taking the time to take in the sight one more time. His eyes and Barda's locked, and he got to see his enemy for the first time. The 2 men stared down at each other, with none backing off.
Suddenly, Barda jerked his head backward and had a creased face, his attention turning away from the Prince.
At that moment, someone had just tried to intrude into his psyche. Turning around, Barda identified a woman who had her arms raised and pointed towards his direction. She was also on a wyvern.
A psychic attack was meant to intrude into the target's mind and wreak havoc. The havoc ranged from severe pains to distortions of reality in the short term while some even led to delusions and hallucinations. They were also known to cause severe damage to once's mental functionality.
In a battle, the attacks could block a target or even confuse them long enough for real damage to be inflicted, or inflict the damage themselves. A psychic was known to be a warrior's bane.
However, the psychic attacks required the attacker to have strong control over their consciousness and mental faculties. They also required the attacker to have better control than the target, or it would be nullified as Resistance.
Barda had presented himself as an Elementalist and a genius. His body was also known to be tough, but no one said anything about his mind. It was seen as his only weakness and Priestess Dima had been specially selected and appointed to deal with him.
Barda had to admit, her control was very good to cause him to strain when he had been off-guard, and she would have been a formidable foe had she met someone else. However, she couldn't have chosen a worse target.
Barda's forte was his mind. His body may have been spectacular, but with the high powered processor for a brain and a multi-faceted Artificial Intelligence, all this could only mean that his was the most complex consciousness on the field. The attacker could barely hold a candle on him.
It was strange that to the AI, having one's consciousness being invaded felt a lot like a virus intrusion. With so many subroutines in place to prevent such an insolent act, Barda did not even have to do anything.
Turning his eyes, Barda watched as she tumbled on the ground, bleeding on all orifices. Her intrusion had been too much, and the counter-attack had been so severe it had insta-killed her.
Seeing this, the prince would not wait any longer. He quickly ran off to where his escape wyvern was waiting, but what he didn't know was that Barda was ready for him this time. There was not going to be any smart escaping this time around.