"Clearly a suicide," Alexandra's maids gossiped with the maids together. She did not notice that the Master's expression was even more serious than before.
Likewise, Alexandra and Sonata also saw something wrong. These Undead were more resistant to holy spells than normal Undead. They guessed that these were many paladins who had lost their lives in the war between Chaos and Atezia under Baldric's rule. Revarent must have stolen these people's corpses and used them as Undead.
Even more frightening was the fact that the more new factions came together, the more resistant they were to the force field. Sonata finally solved all the puzzles. They not only had high resistance to Holy magic, but they also had some kind of magic that worked similarly to a virus.
"The field is deteriorating," Genevieve warned everyone. But no matter who they were, they could only look at each other. They did not know how to handle this situation.
"Throw all their corpses out of the area," shouted Sonata, as he ran towards the lead. He jumped and kicked a burning knight until he flew into the distance, and then went on to attack several others in the blink of an eye.
Dark Jester had brought magic from mages, witches, and other professions, which was used to cast spells on the dark knights. These spells contaminated Alexandra's divine energy field, shortening the lifespan of Divine Haven's power with each knight that breached the barrier. A soldier who understood Sonata's plan hurried to help push the dark armored soldiers out of range one by one. However, the number of knights pushing forward was too great to be stopped.
Genevieve's eyes were fixed on Sonata with concern as he slipped into the encirclement of the Dark Knights and clashed with Briden, who had already broken into Divine Haven's field. The former prince's body was slightly damaged, indicating that Alexandra's magic had weakened to near null.
A little further away, hundreds of zombies led by Erfez were also infiltrating the force field. They did not have the power to resist divine elements like some of the former paladins, so they disintegrated almost as soon as they stepped in. However, it was only the first group that led the way. The next group managed to take a few more steps before burning, and the next group even managed to take several dozen steps before disintegrating. This gave Erfez the confidence that they could pass through safely, so he began to move his army forward.
Briden, now a Death Knight, had become increasingly powerful due to his new body, which combined fragments of several warriors with the dark arts of the Dark Jester. His multiplying danger was now comparable to that of the Three Holy Paladins. Briden, who had never been on the offensive against Sonata, entered the fight frantically.
"I told you to remember my face and name well. You can see me again on the day of your death."
"I told you that I don't remember the faces of weak people."
While battling Briden, Sonata also fought against the other Dark Knights simultaneously. The soldiers of Algrad were well aware of their duties, and those who were unable to fight Revarents assisted each other in dragging the dead bodies out of the area. Even slowing down the decay of the Great Spell would be helpful.
The Atezia Sword Technique was originally one of the strongest sword techniques and had become an even more dangerous subject. Briden now had several times the strength and speed. If it were for speed alone, he had almost surpassed Sonata, but Sonata was able to withstand it without seeming troubled, relying on the strength of the countless war experiences he had gone through.
Genevieve herself was not idle while the Sonata went to fight. Although she had no fighting skills, she still possessed a special knife given to her by Doc. She feared that the man she had fallen in love with would be harmed if she accidentally got hurt, and the feeling of needing to prove her worth to him caused her to fearlessly attack the undead. Only they were exposed to the light generated by this knife, and those undead turned to dust.
The girl saw this and was satisfied. She had assumed that the artificial sun blade would be just as effective against Death Knights as it was against normal zombies. She carelessly ran towards a black-armored knight.
Sonata saw the situation clearly, but he couldn't break away from his opponent to help Genevieve. In a split second, he did something that no one expected. Sonata mimicked the skills of a certain person and cast a spell.
"Divine Haven"
Sonata intoned, and a ray of light shot forth from his hand, spreading to cover the entire area. The shockwave emanating from his hand acted as the center of destruction for the Undead.
"Impossible," the former Holy Maiden exclaimed. She had never heard of anyone besides a Holy Maiden, let alone a man, being able to use this magic.
The light spread and engulfed, overlapping the realm of Alexandra's original magic. Ordinary zombies within the energy radius disintegrated into dust in the blink of an eye, while the stronger ones were severely affected.
Briden let out a roar of pain as he was engulfed by the realm of Light magic. The pain, which should not have been felt in his lifeless body, was accompanied by a deep-seated fear of death.
"Why?" the former prince roared angrily. He was fully confident that he was about to drive Sonata away, but when he acted recklessly, the situation immediately turned around.
"Don't be so quick to panic," Sonata smirked. He took a deep breath to prepare for the second wave of attacks.
Briden retreated with all his might as the other dark knights ran forward, but they were pushed back by a stronger wall of light, causing them to collapse.
"Divine Haven," Sonata chanted once more, not because the first spell had worn off, but because he had discovered that he could cast the spell using both his right and left hands simultaneously."
Dark Jester, standing outside the magic realm, stared at Sonata with both awe and fear. He had never seen anyone break such a strict rule before. Magic, especially at the Great Spell level, had rules and conditions that could not be broken. Or, if it could be done, it often came at the cost of something
"This guy is more powerful than the descendants of the gods. Who is he?"
The spell Divine Haven had been cast twice, creating layers of protection that prevented any Undead from entering the territory. The Undead were forced to retreat and settle outside. Even Briden, who was almost mad with power, regained consciousness and understood that their chances of victory were gone.
"Just a little longer," the former prince roared with regret. He was sure that soon Sonata would be defeated. Who would have thought that he could even mimic a magic like this?
"It's unfortunate, but today we'll have to step aside," the black-clad clown laughed. For him, Algrad was no longer a troubled city. The next time he returned, he was sure he could handle it.
The black-robed clown waved a giant sickle in a circular motion, causing a thick mist to slowly appear and cover the entire area. Then, the thousands of undead army gradually disappeared into the mist. The nightmare this night had come suddenly and disappeared just as quickly.
"Luckily, that spell can trick them. Otherwise, the situation could have been worse," Sonata concluded without giving any further details.
**---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------**
The fighting had ended, but the tension had not dissipated. The wounded were urgently taken for treatment, while the dead were returned to their families for religious ceremonies before quickly being cremated, preventing Reverents from turning them into undead.
Sonata looked weak after using his magic twice in a row. He insisted that it was not as bad as when he had forcefully used the power of the black sword, but Alexandra had to force him to rest. She did not know when Dark Jester would return.
Sonata slept for over half a day until he recovered. Genevieve still could not feel relaxation about his condition, so she took care of him and did not leave. Shortly after he recovered, Alexandra came to visit him.
"Are you feeling better now?" the noblewoman asked with a worried tone.
"It's fine. Using magic with complex conditions consumes more power than I thought," Sonata replied.
"And forcing it twice in a row," rebuked Genevieve, who did not understand why he had to do that.
"The key to defeating them wasn't the intensity of the magic from Divine Heaven spell, but its duration. If I hadn't cast it multiple times, we wouldn't have been able to get rid of them."
"As you said, the spell you used only lasted for a few hours. During your recovery, the force field has already been depleted."
"..." Genevieve furrowed her brow, realizing she had not been keeping up with the story.
"I can imitate Divine Heaven, but it's impossible to keep this magic intact for months and years like Alexandra does," Sonata explained.
"This magic wasn't always active. It only activated when it detected something dangerous entering its borders and used the force field from divine power to attack," Alexandra explained. "Sir Sonata's Divine Haven couldn't meet all the necessary conditions, leaving only the power to destroy."
"In other words, no matter how powerful it is, if it can only be used a few times before losing its potency, it's not as frightening as something that can be used completely and repeatedly," Sonata summarized.
"The issue is that I don't have much power to maintain the force field by Divine Haven for a longer time. Time is running out," Alexandra murmured.
**--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------**
Despite the risk of causing despair among everyone, Alexandra made the decision to gather everyone at the central plaza. She provided a detailed explanation of the situation so that everyone could mentally prepare themselves for what was inevitably going to happen.
"It may be in a month, a week, or even a few days from now when Algrad will have no protection from Divine Haven," she declared with conviction, leaving the crowd with little time to react.
"Isn't it true?" a desperate voice from the crowd echoed all around.
Sonata stood calmly with his arms crossed, having already informed Cerise of the situation. However, he knew it might not be enough as he was unsure how long the Atezian army would take to arrive. Moreover, his own army was struggling to move easily at this time.
"What's our next move?" Genevieve asked, already anticipating Sonata's answer. Sonata double-checked his baggage, making sure to include the map of Atezia's continent that Alexandra had helped to add more detail to, and most importantly, the cross indicating the entrance to the Revarent Underground City.
"The best defense is a good offense," Sonata stated, noticing Genevieve's new outfit taking on a more aggressive appearance, causing a surprised expression to appear on his face.
"You're not leaving me behind, are you?" Genevieve said, placing the knife in the sheath. She was prepared to face whatever challenges lay ahead with Sonata leading the way.
For a moment, Sonata hesitated, unsure whether to allow Genevieve to accompany him.
However, her bright eyes shone with determination, and as a commander, Sonata knew he could not stop his people from following him. He was confident he could protect her and anyone else who joined him on this mission.
"Let's go"
**------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------**
At the same time, Sonata and Genevieve were on their way, while Professor Dogma, Alto, Vanay, and a group of soldiers traveled to an abandoned mine in the territory of Atezia to investigate something.
"When the old king was overthrown, all secrets emerged," Alto stated as he stared at a large silver object. He could immediately tell it was a robot, but it was different from the technology he was used to, with external skin resembling a mixture of tissue and machinery.
"Is this the Zerrian that everyone's talking about?" Vanay shuddered. She was not accustomed to machines, although she had seen similar items in Sonata's army several times. However, the thing in front of them still appeared different.
"I can't say for sure until I check it out," replied the old man, although he did not think there was any other answer. The language attached to the robot's chest was undoubtedly the Zerrian language.
"Prototype: Shockwave," Alto read what was probably its name.
"Is that its name? Don't call it by name," Vanay exclaimed. "It'll wake up soon."
"Don't awaken it. Do you think it's been here for a few hundred years?" Alto scolded Vanay. As the two glared at each other, they did not notice that Shockwave's monochromatic eyes had lit up.