The sound of trumpets resounded throughout the Magnus fortress, and the soldiers, dressed up in heavy armor, emerged from their tents. A considerable number of them stayed awake all night, and even those soldiers who fell asleep almost fell asleep in the early hours of the morning, but at this time, they were all ready for battle, for soldiers, insomnia would hardly have any effect on their combat effectiveness, and their strong bodies were strong enough to support them for two consecutive days without rest and still be able to fight any enemy.

The herald's shouts echoed in the great battle, and the soldiers quickly ran to their positions according to the arrangements they had memorized by heart, and the atmosphere suddenly became tense.

Adeline was already standing on a platform in the city wall, the guards standing straight behind her. Stan and his companions walk over, and all three mages hang their hoods behind their heads, letting the cold morning breeze blow their long hair.

"It's close, are you all ready?" Adeline looked straight ahead.

"Yes, Great Sage. Ness replied, and the other two girls nodded silently.

Adeline looked up and sighed. "The aura of evil is so strong, and the enemy is stronger than I expected. ”

"So what are we going to do, retreat?" Stan stepped forward, but was held back by the guards.

Adeline looked back at him nonchalantly. "Stan, since Maurice entrusted Nerfi to you, it's okay to have two more. ”

"I'm afraid I don't understand what you mean, Great Sage. A hint of foreboding flashes through Stan's mind.

The Great Sage's gaze swept over the three girls. "If we lose this battle, you leave here and flee to the south, across the Borderlands, and my men will destroy the Sky Bridge so that they can buy as much time as possible for the southern nations. ”

Everyone looked at the Great Sage in shock, and even Elon Han stopped talking in surprise. Stan squeezes through the guards and rushes in front of Adeline. "What the hell do you mean, Great Sage?"

"I think I've made it clear that we have less than half a chance of winning this battle, you must survive to carry on our legacy, and you, Stan, must protect them from the south. Adeline turned back and continued to look north.

"Why do I have to stand at the back of the battlefield and watch my compatriots die every time, but I have to survive to escape?" Stan yelled at the Great Sage in dissatisfaction, ignoring the guards' eyes that were almost about to throw him off the wall. "I'd rather die on the front line!"

"You'll have a chance, but not now. Adeline waved her hand, signaling that the guards didn't have to pay too much attention. "I'm afraid that you don't want to die by then, but death will find you by itself. ”

Stan tried to say something, but the arch-sage turned away and ignored him, and the guards pushed the knight backwards, blocking him and the arch-sage.

The soldiers were mostly in place, and the walls were filled with archers, densely packed in three rows, each with short swords hanging from their belts, and when Darktide broke through the dense bow-and-arrow defenses and climbed the walls, these short swords would be the only weapons they could use to continue their fight to the death. Behind the archers were the same number of infantry, either holding shields in one hand and daggers in the other, or carrying two-handed swords on their backs, some wearing helmets that covered their foreheads, while most held them in their hands. On either side of them, piles of disheveled stones were used to smash down the dark tide that had climbed the walls. Tension spreads among the soldiers, who prefer to leave their heads out and let the cold wind relieve the tension.

On the left side of the wall, in addition to archers and infantry, there were a considerable number of falcons and their masters, and the soldiers of Dayton kept stroking the feathers of the falcons to soothe their restless emotions, and the animals sensed the impending danger more than humans. These Dayton soldiers still wore short swords or daggers, and in the final moments, each had to fight to the death for their lives.

In the fortress behind the city walls, countless soldiers exchanged uneasy words. They were divided into two teams, one of which served as reinforcements on the walls, and when any of the defenders on the walls were killed, they had to climb the walls from the ten stone stairs scattered throughout the fortress to continue the defense on the walls in place of the dead soldiers. The other group of soldiers had two missions, and if all went well, they would charge out of the gate with the cavalry charging down the high slope, and flank the Dark Tide from the front. If the walls were breached before the cavalry could charge, they would be the last line of defense in the fortress of Magnus, and their life and death would determine the survival of Artuna and the entire northern border of Wallis.

The cavalry on the high slope did not appear, and they remained hiding in the open space behind the high slope, waiting for Adeline's blue signal. The Great Sage had secretly told Wendsol and Ethan that if the frontal line was broken through too quickly, then even the cavalry charge would not save the battle, in this case, she would send a yellow signal, and when she saw this signal, all the cavalry should immediately abandon the battle, move away from the battlefield from the east, and then march south to leave the fortress, and then flank the Dark Tide through the fortress and the rest of Altoona's army. Or, worse, if the rest of Artuna's army is not strong enough to withstand the dark tide, then they should continue eastward to join Doyle's army and consider the next battle plan.

Everything was arranged, the whole fortress was calm again, and the soldiers stomped their feet restlessly, waiting for the dark tide to come. Some soldiers kept coming out of the ranks and running to the huts in the distance, and the tense atmosphere weighed down the people, and some people had already raised their heads to look at the cloudy sky, gestured to their chests, and began to pray softly.

They didn't have to wait long, the sound of messy footsteps and muffled roars grew closer and closer. The dark tide of the army slowly appeared from the end of the valley, filling the entire valley, and quickly approached the fortress. Botarus and Lucius stood on another platform to Adeline's left, and they could see it all clearly. Botarus whispered to the officers beside him, and the officers immediately gave orders to the fortress, and for a moment several heralds began to run on the walls and among the fortresses, and then more heralds ran, and the shouts made everyone's nerves tense again. Everyone was silently thinking in their hearts, the dark tide was coming, and the moment of decisive battle had finally arrived.

At the forefront of the Darktide ranks are countless ghouls, and in the ghoul formation, scattered at intervals, there are several demons, and it looks like they will be the vanguard of the siege. Even this forward unit could not see the end of the formation at a glance, and no one knew what was waiting for them in the back.

Darktide stopped about two hundred yards from the wall, and a demon much stronger than the others kicked several ghouls in front of him to the ground, then stepped on their bodies and stood high, looking at them from afar.

The soldiers on the city walls were all shocked by the sight before them, almost all of them felt their mouths dry and their feet began to become heavy, and even at such a distance, the soldiers still felt an amazing sense of oppression.

Elonhan frowned and whispered in the Great Sage's ear. "It seems that he is the commander of this group of ghouls, and he is indeed much more powerful than ordinary demons. ”

Adeline nodded, looking back at Ness and Nerfi. "Let's get started. ”

The two mages glanced at each other, raised their hands together, palms facing the sky above their heads, and then obscure and lengthy incantations began to sound from their mouths. Stan listens carefully to the sound of the two spells, only to realize that the two girls are reciting different spells, and to his surprise, from the tone of their voices, it seems that Nellfi is asking something, and Ness is answering her. "What kind of spell is this? Sounds very ...... Odd. ”

Rui was frowning and listening intently to the two of them's incantations, and it was clear that even she had a hard time understanding the incantations that Niss and Nerfi were reading, and was now interrupted by Stan's question, so she simply gave up on listening. "This is a kind of magic that can only be performed by combining the strength of two people, and the difficulty of the spell itself is already very high, plus the two people who recite the spell must cooperate seamlessly in order to cast the magic smoothly. ”

"So what is the purpose of this magic? Since the difficulty of casting the spell is so high, I believe it must be a very powerful magic. Stan nodded in understanding.

As soon as the words fell, the lips of the two mages stopped opening and closing, and they pursed tightly, and then the two of them raised their heads, and looked at the raised hands with firm eyes, and a dazzling light burst out from the palms of the two people facing the sky, and the light quickly spread around, covering the entire fortress and sweeping every soldier. The soldiers were amazed to find that their minds, which had been occupied by tension and fear, suddenly calmed down, and although the dark tide that filled the valley in front of them still made people feel frightened and uneasy, the feeling of dry mouth before was gone, and their feet could move again, and everyone looked around in confusion.

The two mages struggled to lower their arms, their shoulders rising and falling. Adeline looked at the two of them with satisfaction, her eyes full of approval. "You've done a better job than I expected, and the demons' special abilities no longer work against our soldiers. The Great Sage turned his head and took a deep breath. "Now, the battle really begins. ”