If the palace were destroyed, it would be a serious disaster, not because of how important the palace itself was, but because it concentrated several very important departments of the empire, including the military department, which controlled all the defense forces.

In order to prevent that from happening, the Countess is determined to try a magic that is likely to fail, and time is running out, and even failure is better than nothing.

It was a small illusion.

No one knows if the terrifying black dragon is immune to magic, but some magic doesn't have to be applied directly to the subject.

After all, living organisms are the most complex magical medium in the world, and the countess doesn't want to face such a huge risk.

So the illusion was actually an optical trick made of magic, just enough to cover the dragon's eyes, with a subtle calculation to achieve a flawless visual shift, so that the vision of those eyes was misaligned with reality.

It was a gamble, and the countess did not know if she would succeed.

Then there was the buzz that was already familiar to everyone, and the people were not yet numb, they were screaming and running in the face of death, desperate and overwhelmed.

Pillars of bright red light streaked across the sky, fell to the ground, and then flames rose.

Fortunately, this time the attack did not fall on the palace.

The countess's magic worked.

She let out a long sigh.

Although this trick did not mobilize too much essence, the amount of calculation required was terrifying, and the countess was no longer able to sustain it, and there would be no more magic interference in the next attack.

The dragon did not react to the subtle dislocation of the sight in its eyes as the magic dissipated, and at this moment, it was almost completely a machine, ignoring everything and only mechanically preparing for the next attack.

Huge black wings flapped in the air, and the wind tore all the dark clouds that enveloped the city to shreds with the sound of the wind that could be heard throughout the city.

The sweltering heat seemed to dissipate, but the people were not rejoicing, and now they were in the heat of the flames, coupled with the constant movements of the dragon, and the fear of impending death, and the whole city was plunged into hell.

The Duke of Wellington was still running wildly, and the dragon's breath had just passed by the tower, causing a commotion, and several magic apprentices who were staying on top of the tower wanted to escape, but they did not affect the speed of the duke's advance, and the staircase finally came to an end.

The mages who presided over the magic tower had been waiting for a long time, and everyone was already in place, and only the supreme command was needed to open the defense.

The buzz sounded again.

It was a unique, terrifying and penetrating sound that made everyone who heard it feel like the whole world was trembling with it.

The Duke lunged towards his destination, the seat in the middle of the rotunda, and he landed in a stone high-backed chair in disarray, and shouted, "Allow!"

Then the blood-red pillar of light lit up.

The terrifying power streaked across the sky, and the dragon stopped flapping its wings at the moment of attack, and slashed across the sky in a calm and graceful posture, bending its neck, and aiming the dragon's breath at the palace.

Then a terrifying wave of magic came from the tower, swept through the palace, and one of the most powerful magic machines in existence awoke from its slumber and displayed its amazing power for the first time.

A lightning-fast white light collided with the dragon's breath, as if fighting in another world, the whole collision process was silent, but to everyone's amazement, the blood-red pillar of light deviated from the target.

It was the guardian magic of the Royal Palace of Brittany, an incredibly powerful traction magic that could deflect all threats, including physical attacks and magical powers, from reaching their targets.

It is a force that is desperately powerful, it consumes very little, relies mainly on calculation, and is one of the most powerful magic that humans have.

With this magical guardian, the palace will no longer have to worry about the dragon's attack.

There was a cheer from the military headquarters, and then the roars of the generals rang out, accompanied by a fierce wind from the dragon's wings that spread throughout the palace.

"Blimp!

With the sound of a piercing siren, the fighters rushed to the square where the airship was parked, the initial threat had passed, and the counterattack was about to begin.

......

Holmes frowned and looked at the countless corpses in the fire in front of him, and reluctantly stopped.

Dr. Watson was at the detective's side, and he was skilfully helping a burned passer-by to bandage him, but the man was so badly injured that the doctor thought it was best for him to get to the hospital as soon as possible.

"The best place we should go right now isn't the hospital, Watson," Holmes looked up at the tall tower in the center of the Elite District, the magic that was supposed to protect the city didn't react, and not even the alarm sounded to alert the citizens, "At least half of the city's self-defense comes from the Essence. ”

"Right away. ”

Watson was used to being with Sherlock Holmes, and he knew the trick was to listen to the great detective.

"I'm afraid it's a long way to get from here, and I remember an attack that landed in the center of the city......"

"Yes, we'll go around the docks. ”

Sherlock Holmes had a map of the city of Ruidu updated in his head, including sewer entrances and various dark alleyways, which allowed the two of them not to detour a single bit, they walked on the edge of the raging flames, and everywhere they could smell the burnt corpses.

"Even if we get to the central tower, how are we going to fix it?"

Watson knew that Holmes must have a way, but he couldn't help but say so.

The Elite is home to some of the city's most sophisticated machines, and so is the Central Tower, where even the town hall's repair team requires several people, including magicians, lapidators, and blacksmiths.

"Before that, a repair team had already set off, they met the marching procession near the city center and had to take a detour, I don't know if they were attacked by accident, but this is the last hope that exists. ”

There are two roads around the city center that eventually converge on the Magic Avenue near the entrance to the Essence District, where Holmes will be able to find the repair team if the dragon's attack doesn't erase all traces.

In the sky, the huge black monster was still attacking mechanically, and although its movements were dangerously graceful, the dragon's breath would arrive on time every time, and then after falling over the palace, it would be pulled by lightning and deflected its target, falling somewhere randomly.

It was a natural disaster, and everyone watched everything around them be destroyed, but nothing could be stopped.

And then finally, Watson saw the airship flying the flag of Britannia.