Chapter 512: Clear Wind, Bright Sun

At the command of Master Theodore, the two gunners before the Oakland Magic Crystal Cannon immediately sprang into action.

They operated the control array on the side of the platform; one gunner drew a deep breath and pressed his full weight onto the rune-carved control lever.

With a deafening crack.

The lever was instantly forced to its maximum position.

The other gunner shoved the nearly depleted Aurek crystal upward, sliding it into the core of the array.

The magic within the Aurek crystal erupted instantly, like a ignited fuse, surging forth in a tidal wave of power into the array.

The runes on the array’s surface blazed with brilliant light, illuminating the entire cannon platform.

The Oakland Magic Crystal Cannon let out a thunderous roar, the entire platform trembling violently.

Runes along the barrel emitted blinding light, interwoven with flickering arcs of electricity that danced and sparked.

The air at the muzzle began to warp and twist, forming a massive vortex of energy.

The roar mixed with the high-pitched hum of the Aurek crystal’s rapid depletion, like the awakening growl of a colossal beast.

The golden energy beam converging at the muzzle had now swelled to nearly twice its original thickness.

Its radiance was so intense it blinded the eyes; even the faint ripples it emitted were terrifying.

The two gunners were pushed back by the powerful energy fluctuations, their clothing snapping violently in the wind.

One nearly fell over; the gunner operating the Aurek crystal had his palm instantly burned by the overloaded cannon, smoke rising from his skin.

But neither noticed—they stared fixedly at the cannon, poised to fire.

BOOM!

The overloaded golden energy beam shot skyward.

Space around the beam twisted into a vortex, forming a visible conical energy field.

Wherever it passed, rain instantly vaporized, wind elementals vanished in an instant, leaving a massive, steaming trench across the sky.

At the beam’s tip, tiny lightning bolts erupted continuously—highly compressed magic crackling and striking the surrounding air.

ZZZZZ!

The previously stagnant, even slightly dominant, blue vortex now retreated under the cannon’s assault.

The vortex’s rotation slowed visibly; its edges were mercilessly consumed by the golden beam, dissolving into countless tiny wind element particles.

The enemy loses an inch, we gain an inch.

The golden beam surged like an enraged golden dragon, clawing upward step by step, and in the space of a breath, slammed into the Wind Network.

As with the mage’s earlier spell, the beam encountered resistance and weakening as it passed through the Wind Network, due to its overwhelming energy fluctuations.

The Wind Network shuddered violently; the cracks along its edges emitted strained, resonant hums, the dark purple fissures twisting wildly to block this force.

But the cannon’s power now was simply too violent.

Even weakened, it still crushed the blue vortex spat out by the Wind Dragon.

The golden beam advanced relentlessly, warping the very space it passed through.

Forward, again and again.

In the Wind Dragon’s moment of surprise, the cannon’s beam struck its head.

With a thunderous crash.

As if heaven and earth had shattered, the entire sky was lit by blinding light.

As an energy entity, it had no physical body, so there was no blood or broken flesh.

Instead, countless fragments of wind element particles scattered everywhere, forming a brilliant nebula in midair.

Like countless flickering fireflies, drifting in all directions.

Another advantage of energy entities became evident now.

It had no true vital points.

Whether head or back, to the Wind Dragon, there was no difference.

A “decapitation,” though terrifying, was no more lethal than the earlier wound that had blown off a chunk of its back.

Not fatal.

Its blue crystal core had already begun to rotate slowly, emitting a hollow hum, seeking to draw in wind element particles and reconstruct its head.

Ripples of light spread across the core’s surface, like ripples on a still lake; surrounding wind element particles began to drift slowly toward it.

But just as the particles started to gather, they suddenly halted.

For a blue figure had, with ghostly speed, darted from behind the Wind Dragon to its head.

The Storm Soul’s surrounding blue aura spun rapidly into a vortex, directly sucking in the blue crystal core—now stripped of its wind-element casing—into its own body!

The overloaded one had been the Oakland Magic Crystal Cannon.

Now, the overloaded one was the Storm Soul.

A fifth-rank wind element’s energy core—the Storm Soul, a mere lowly creature, swallowed it whole.

Its appetite had no limit—not because it couldn’t digest, but because this enormous “meal” was too big to swallow at once.

Greed makes a snake try to swallow an elephant.

The blue crystal core, drawn into the Storm Soul, began spinning wildly.

Its surface erupted with blinding blue light; each ray carried enough power to tear space apart.

As it spun, a powerful suction radiated outward from the Storm Soul.

Space twisted and deformed under this pull, forming countless tiny vortices.

Wind element energy from the secondary plane surged like a boiling ocean, raising monstrous waves.

The once intangible wind elements now thickened until they nearly solidified.

Visible blue halos coalesced, finally forming a torrent of blue energy that swept toward the Storm Soul with unstoppable force.

Countless wind elementals of varying forms were caught in this raging current, instantly shattered into specks of blue light and absorbed into the torrent, making it grow even larger and more terrifying.

The Storm Soul’s body, only recently solidified, would surely shatter and dissolve like the other wind elementals caught in the torrent.

A newborn calf fears no tiger.

The Storm Soul had never once considered the consequences of swallowing a fifth-rank wind element’s core—it simply charged headfirst, blindly.

Now, as death loomed, it finally realized things were bad, panicked, and frantically waved its blue arms, as if pleading: “No, no, stop!”

But do you get to say no?

This torrent of wind element energy was like a runaway beast—it wouldn’t pause just because the Storm Soul begged. It surged forward like an unstoppable tide.

The next instant.

The blue torrent of wind element energy completely engulfed the Storm Soul’s body.

So powerful was it that the torrent swept by at blinding speed—like a wave flashing past, in an instant, it took everything.

Where the Storm Soul had stood, not a trace remained—only empty void, as if it had never existed.

Master Theodore had watched this scene with tense focus.

Seeing the Storm Soul swallowed by the energy torrent, his heart clenched, rising to his throat, his face filled with anxiety.

Yet when he realized the Wind Dragon’s energy core had vanished along with the Storm Soul, the tight string in his chest finally loosened.

He exhaled deeply, as if all strength had been drained from him.

Though the Storm Soul had also been annihilated in the terrifying wind element torrent, without the core, the Wind Dragon had no chance of revival.

This achieved his goal for this mission.

Indeed, it was so.

With the disappearance of the blue crystal core, the Wind Dragon’s massive body—stretching hundreds of meters, blotting out the sky—suddenly collapsed.

First, its scales of wind element energy cracked inch by inch, dissolving into shimmering light.

Then, its powerful dragon claws turned translucent, with blue sparks bursting from its joints like falling star dust.

The giant tail flailed weakly in the air before exploding, scattering blue energy like fireworks.

Where the blue energy passed, air twisted and warped, forming miniature whirlwinds.

Finally, its entire body shattered into a skyful of blue light, rapidly dissolving into the plane, returning to its origin.

Changes didn’t end there.

After the Wind Dragon vanished, the edges of the Wind Network began to tremble violently.

This was the power of the mage plane repairing the “scar” carved into its body.

The purple fissures along the Wind Network’s edge emitted sharp hums, then rippled like water, slowly closing inward.

Wind element energy within the fissures grew chaotic, striking the edges to prevent the ripples from closing.

But before the overwhelming power of the mage plane, all this was useless.

The Wind Network began shrinking at a slow but steady pace.

HOO! HOO! HOO!

With the Wind Dragon’s death, the wind elementals ravaging the sea surface seemed to sense something—they all froze mid-action.

The previously roaring, chaotic scene fell into eerie silence, leaving only the sound of waves and rain.

After a moment of dead stillness, all the wind elementals rose into the air, heading toward the closing Wind Network.

Tens of thousands of wind elementals lifted from the sea, their dense forms instantly blotting out half the sky.

Naturally agile, their collective speed was astonishing; where they passed, air screamed with sharp whistles.

In an instant, all wind elementals had surged skyward, leaving the sea behind.

The sight resembled a colossal blue dragon winding through the sky, truly obscuring the heavens.

Below, the sea surface plunged instantly into shadow.

Their retreating figures gradually shrank until they became tiny blue specks in the sky, vanishing into the narrowing wind network.

The battlefield fell silent, leaving only the turbulent sea and the faintly trembling air, silently testifying to the fierce battle that had just ended.

Eventually, after about a quarter hour, the wind network shrank to nothing more than a narrow purple slit.

With a crisp “pop,” the slit vanished completely.

Above, where the wind network had been, the sky became smooth as a mirror.

The wind dispersed; the clouds were parted by the rising sun.

Streams of clean sunlight fell upon the sea, upon the surviving warships, and upon the wizards soaked in seawater.

Gao De rode with the waves, tilted his head back, squinted slightly, and let the sunlight wash over him.

The next moment, he heard cheers.

The cheers quickly merged into a single roar, echoing across the sea.

Countless wizards, immersed in the seawater, let rain and sunlight fall upon their faces, their hearts filled with excitement and joy.

Survival against all odds.

When the Aorik Crystal’s magic was exhausted and the warships capsized, they had all believed the defense had been lost.

Who could have imagined such a sudden, swift turn of events?

With the wind network gone, this sudden natural disaster had ended perfectly.

Dark clouds filled the sky; the heavens were gray and dim.

A light, continuous drizzle fell.

Zuo Wen·Burns rode his Flame-Mane Horse, his hair drenched by rain, droplets striking his body with dull thuds.

He sat upright, gazing ahead at the majestic walls of Aoklan City.

“Finally arrived.”

From Tairiel Town to Aoklan City, the water route was not far, but the land route added considerable distance.

Added to that, the breached dam caused chaotic flooding, submerging many roads and forcing him to take numerous detours.

Yet despite rushing and hurrying, he reached Aoklan City within half a day.

He squeezed his thighs against the horse’s flanks; hooves kicked up sprays of water as the steed galloped toward the city gate.

“Who goes there?” Before reaching the gate, Zuo Wen·Burns was halted by city guards on the walls.

“I’m a Sea Sentinel wizard, here to aid in disaster relief!”

In a place like Aoklan City, Zuo Wen·Burns did not dare act as freely as he had in Tairiel Town; he immediately stopped and declared his identity and purpose.

“Sea Sentinel wizard… relief?”

The guard paused, then shouted at Zuo Wen·Burns: “Master Wizard, you’re too late—the city’s main force of wizards set sail half a day ago. There’s no disaster left here to relieve. If you’re truly concerned, help the villagers in nearby towns.”

Zuo Wen·Burns, once full of determination, sat atop his horse, his mind momentarily stunned.

“Set sail…? Set sail for what?” he asked instinctively.

“The Chief Wizard discovered a spatial rift from a secondary realm beyond the sea and issued a wizard mobilization order,” the guard briefly explained the situation.

After hearing it all, Zuo Wen·Burns felt his head buzzing.

He was stunned both by the fact that the Catfish Whirlwind originated from a secondary realm, and by his own bewildering predicament.

He had traveled day and night, crossed mountains and rivers, arriving first at Tairiel Town and then at Aoklan City—only to find both places empty, abandoned messes.

Though exhausted, he had gained no credit at all—truly, a wasted journey!

Zuo Wen·Burns clenched his teeth.

Failing to arrive in time at Aoklan City was unavoidable, but the futility of his trip to Tairiel Town still seemed impossible to believe.

Who could it be? Someone who had left just one hour ahead of him, yet used that tiny time gap to single-handedly complete the entire relief mission?

It was precisely this impossibility that made him abandon his original plan to rescue villagers and instead rush to Aoklan City to “help out.”

Now, even that help was unnecessary.

In the end, both failed missions stemmed from that unknown Sea Sentinel wizard.

Damn it!

Zuo Wen·Burns’s brows had unconsciously knitted together.

(End of Chapter)