Jenny and Dove watched Lynn, who suddenly appeared delighted, utterly puzzled as to why he could still find a reason to smile.
"Come on, we need to move quickly." Lynn didn't bother to explain; he couldn't be sure if the priests had some form of divine magic to eavesdrop on their conversation.
In the entire port town, Lynn was most apprehensive about Archbishop Anluke and the hidden three thousand elite guards. Now that these two troubles had converged, it was undoubtedly an ideal situation.
Hail Aila—[Storm of the Dawn]
Behind them, the hoarse chanting of the Archbishop resounded once again, and an invisible storm carrying a plethora of debris and dust came rushing toward them.
The clergy of the Church continued to cast spells, sealing off their retreat with several layers of divine magic.
"Jenny, Dove." Lynn gestured to the two witches, and they, understanding the unspoken command, channelled their remaining magic power and employed the [Fossil to Mud] spell. Under its magical influence, the sturdy base of the watchtower crumbled into sand.
With a cacophony of violent impacts, the watchtower that had stood at the harbour for nearly a century, providing direction to countless ships, collapsed with a deafening crash.
The falling boulders and wooden framework not only shielded them from the invisible storm but also pinned two priests who couldn't evade in time under their weight.
Seizing this opportunity, Lynn and his companions had already distanced themselves by nearly a hundred meters.
Archbishop Anluke's fury had reached its limit. He cleared away the debris blocking his path with several "Holy Light Impact" and was about to attack again when the ground beneath the port town slightly trembled.
Not just Archbishop Anluke, Lynn and others also felt the same sensation, but the cause of this phenomenon was neither magic nor divine spells.
Elite guards from Nordland, wearing black armour, standing in perfect formation, and holding huge shields, quickly appeared in sight of everyone. The arrows on their waists and the palpable aura of death in the air sent shivers down their spines.
Compared to the jubilant clergy of the Church, the bodies of the two witches involuntarily shivered.
With this many of them, how could they possibly fight back?
It's worth noting that fully-armoured elite guards like these were rare even in the entire empire. It could be said that the Duke of Nordland had spared no expense in hunting down these wizards.
In front of them, thousands of soldiers had already raised their crossbows, and a dense rain of arrows, with a sharp whistling sound, shot out like a storm, leaving almost no gaps.
The moment Lynn saw the guards raise their shields, he immediately picked up Dove, rolled behind a broken high wall, and took cover.
The sharp arrows struck the makeshift wall, bursting it into clouds of dust and debris.
"What do we do now?" Jenny anxiously inquired.
Lynn didn't reply. He clenched his palm, and a massive fireball formed in his hand. Then, without hesitation, he flung it into the sky.
From a few hundred meters away, it looked as if a fireworks display had erupted in the sky above the port town.
Almost instantly, Archbishop Anluke recalled the horrifying witchcraft Lynn had used to annihilate dozens of elite guards and shouted without hesitation, "Everyone, defend."
The dense barrage of arrows immediately ceased. Three thousand soldiers stood in perfect formation, raising their massive shields towards the sky. The priests in attendance didn't dare to be negligent and applied numerous protective divine spells in the vicinity.
In the gaze of everyone, the fireball that had risen into the sky suddenly exploded, releasing a plethora of dazzling sparks before gradually dissipating into the night sky.
The expectant expressions on the faces of the two witches froze instantly, but Lynn, looking at the sky, casually remarked, "No worries, let the fireball fly for a while."
Fly? Wasn't this magic already over?
Jenny raised his head in bewilderment, only then noticing the faint specks of light flying from the other side of the sea.
As the faint lights drew closer, the witches realized it wasn't light at all – it was a barrage of hundreds of flaming arrows.
"Is that reinforcement?"
Aydan and the others also noticed this and quickly analyzed that the fireball magic earlier was not intended for them; it was merely a signal.
However, this reinforcement seemed rather feeble.
Perhaps due to the long distance and poor visibility at night, the fiery arrows soaring across the sky were completely off target. Even if they stood still without any defence, they wouldn't be hit.
Is that it? Is that all?
The several priests were feeling greatly disappointed, finding their earlier fear and apprehension somewhat absurd. They had allowed themselves to be frightened by a few devilish cultists.
Only Archbishop Anluke sensed something was amiss. His dark and murky eyes gradually transformed into a radiant dark gold. The unknown was often the most terrifying, but it was too late to intervene now. The oil-coated arrows rained down haphazardly on various corners of the harbour.
An indescribable sense of crisis gradually enveloped every individual, with no direction and no source.
Amid the people's anxiety, confusion, and fear, an endless sea of fire and light engulfed the entire harbour, as if doomsday had arrived. The entire city trembled violently.
The roar was a thousand times Lautr than thunder, and the flames and shockwaves instantly levelled the low, modest houses nearby. The air boiled intensely, and a massive cloud of dust and steam rose, mingling with the thick smoke.
Houses collapsed, massive stones were sent flying, and the tide, driven by the terrifying force, surged back and then unleashed larger waves onto the shore.
Some yellowish-white sparks drifted down from the cloud of smoke as if a fire rain had fallen over the port, illuminating the entire sea, which was the white phosphorus mixed in with black powder.
All of this occurred in the blink of an eye. It was almost as if, in the time it took to blink, the entire harbour had been turned upside down, becoming a devastated wasteland.
The only relatively intact place was under Jenny and the others' feet. When they had set up the traps, they had meticulously designed the placement of every explosive charge.
Even so, the powerful shockwaves still shattered the earthy barriers, and Lynn had to cast several protective spells in succession to barely fend off the aftermath.
The two witches behind the wall felt their minds go blank for a moment, followed by a persistent ringing in their ears.
When the explosion finally subsided, the thousands of elite guards in black armour and the relentless Church priests had vanished without a trace. All that remained before them were the wreckage and a roaring sea of flames.
What is this?
Is this hell?
The two witches stood in a daze, unable to react for a good while.