Immediately following the rumbling of the palace, everyone in the throne rushed outside.
Once outside the palace, they witnessed one of the most chaotic moments of their lives thus far. Everywhere, hundreds of servants were rushing to places in a panic. Various pieces of equipment and materials were even strewn all over the ground as it would take too much time to pick them up.
The group was panicking as well but the Lord was different. He quickly grabbed a servant to inquire about their response to the storm, and luckily the servant recognized the Lord otherwise he would've lashed out for obstructing him.
"Are all the guards stationed on the wall?"
"My Lord, the guards are all waiting in their respective positions, ready to receive your orders."
The Lord thought for a second before nodding. Then, he pointed at the box that the servant was holding, which was filled to the brim with soul cores, and questioned him.
"My Lord, initially, the storm was observed to be rank-5…"
The Lord nodded in agreement. His scouts did report this.
"However, the storm has grown since then! We don't know how, but it's at rank-4 now."
The servant further explained, but no longer dared to look at the Lord.
"We… we were caught unprepared and have to stock even more energy in preparation now."
Hearing that they still weren't prepared to deal with the storm, the Lord became angry and scolded the servant.
"Then what are you still doing here!?"
He then kicked the servant right in the buttocks, sending them flying for at least a mile or two. As such, the servant can only hold their box with one hand and salute with the other; it was indeed a great honor to receive help personally from the Lord himself.
However, just when they were going to leave, another round of lightning struck, lighting up the sky above them. Following this was a thunder clap that made everyone shivered.
Feeling dispirited by the sheer strength of just a single strike, they turned around to face the palace.
Behind it, to the north, what appeared to be a black ocean was rolling in the sky, heading in their direction. Just looking at it made their eyes sting, as if an army of rank-4 powerhouses were marching towards them. All in all, most people felt a pressure that none of them had felt before, demoralizing them.
Only someone like the Lord could remain calm in a situation like this.
And yet, after an entire thirty minutes pass, with the storm almost entering the edge of the city, the Lord could no longer maintain his cool.
Luckily, before the Lord made a move, a change suddenly occurred. A tremor passed through the city, except this time, it didn't come from the storm but from the city itself!
All around the perimeter of the city, hundreds of beams of blue light shot into the sky. Then, as if it had a mind of its own, they weaved themselves into a perfectly insulated dome, protecting the city from the storm!
At the same time that the dome formed, the blackened storm reacted! Snakes of black lightning slithered in the storm before a single bolt with the size comparable to that of the Lord's palace struck.
Immediately upon impact, the dome visibly shook and along with it, the city. Even some parts of the city's walls crumbled from the shaking; if not for the roots of moss and other plants, large sections of the wall would've tumbled to the ground.
Needless to say though, the dome came out nearly unscathed, lifting the spirits of not only the group, but of all the residents of the city.
Even the Lord smiled, feeling firsthand the safety that the dome provides. However, on second thought, the Lord died a little on the inside upon realizing the amount of soul cores being used to power the dome.
Be that as it may, this was only the beginning. The storm continued into the city's territory and it only seemed to get more and more agitated as it encroached upon them all.
At first, it was only one or two bolts of lightning a minute. But very quickly, it exponentially grew, causing dozens, then hundreds of black lightning bolts to strike the dome, sparing the city.
Despite the dome protecting everyone right now, the entire city couldn't help but seek shelter indoors, only feeling what was happening and peering through their windows.
After a few minutes, the spirit storm finally seemed content with its current location, seemingly parking right on top of the city.
Even stranger after another bout of the lightning, it seemed to slow down. Eventually, it completely stopped!
However, just as everyone breathed a sigh of relief, the storm started moving again. it rolled in on itself, giving one a feeling as if their stomach was churning.
Then, with the force of what can only be described as explosive diarrhea, it started snowing!
But, the snowflakes were like giant saw blades, each one the size of buildings!
Instantly, thousands of them crashed into the dome.