Chương 494: Chapter 492 – The Situation

The moment the null zone collapsed forces on both sides were alerted. The Alfar forces trying to hold Sostrad and exterminate the Iblis. As well as the human and Iblis forces who were attempting to keep the Alfar's attention long enough for Damion to complete his mission. Both sides in the conflict wanted to disengage and head to the ruins to aid their ally, but neither side could take the risk. For the Alfar, they had to retake Sostrad first.

For the Iblis, they knew that as soon as they withdrew the battle would only shift from in Sostrad to in the ancient underground ruins, and they liked their chances better where they were. The Iblis had landed their ships on the streets of the city and cordoned off a large swath of the city center. With the defenses of their ships and their offensive cannons, the Iblis and human contingent were holding out quite well. In contrast, the Alfar were struggling.

The defensive emplacements in Sostrad had all but been destroyed. The few that had gone unnoticed were in parts of the city where there had been no fighting. Honor demanded they eliminate the Iblis' invasion army before they head back to the ruins, but they were not as concerned with the situation in the ruins as the Iblis or humans. They knew the strongest member of their race was there. The chances that the Iblis and the humans were able to take down an SSS Rank opponent were nonexistent.

However, as the minutes ticked by and their champion did not come to their aid, the Alfar began to wonder. Had their champion failed? Was there another reason the null zone collapsed? Was it possible that the Iblis had also secretly raised someone to the SSS Rank? The longer the Iblis and human forces stubbornly held out against the growing Sostrad defending force, the more the Alfar believed something had gone wrong. Much had gone wrong in the last year.

The Iblis had managed to steadily evade or miraculously counter attacks on their strongholds. They had even managed some astounding victories where the Alfar forces were weak. All this resulted in the balance of power between the two forces slowly shifting. The reason for the Iblis' gain was determined to be a new artifact that could detect the Alfar forces. On learning this, Matron Jysella had devised a strategy to counteract it and take down one of the Iblis' strongest hubs, Ardnet.

Unfortunately, that attack had been foiled by the arrival of the human forces and Matron Jysella lost a portion of her army. With the arrival of the humans, the Alfar knew what the next stage in the Iblis' plan was, to head to the Mother World's seal and attempt to release it. Luckily, the Alfar still had a trump card to play, though with the delay of their champion, they were now worried another unexpected failure had occurred.

"Mage Veers, report," Mage Levine called into her communication tablet. The fighting around them was intense, but she wanted to make sure everything was still going according to plan. If they were forced to abandon their position it would likely result in many casualties. Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author.

"Mage Wells went on alone into the heart of the ruins," Mage Veers answered. He, Mage Parivar, Knight Straus and the Iblis Visault were heading towards the central ruins as fast as they could, but it would still take them a few hours to get there.

"From the auto-mapper signal, it appears that two SSS Rank individuals are facing off."

"What?" Mage Levine questioned. One SSS Rank was hard to believe, but two? And what of Mage Wells, what was he doing?

"As I said, there are two SSS Ranks showing on my map. And they are the only signals. Either Mage Wells is one of them, he has a method to hide, has fled or…"

"With his affinities I can't believe Mage Wells would not have been able to flee."

"Agreed. I was actually suggesting that he is one of the SSS Ranks." Mage Veers surprised himself with the suggestion but given what he knew of Mage Wells and all the surprises he had given their world over the last few years, he strongly felt it was possible.

"You can't be serious."

"Quite serious. Mage Wells was continuously growing in power since entering the ruins. Given that he was already growing in power before and he managed to reach SS Rank, I think it reasonable to assume he is one of the signals."

"Then we will hold here," Mage Levine announced.

"The longer we can keep the Sostrad forces busy the greater his chance of success."

"I will report in again once we reach the area with the seal."

"Good," Mage Levine replied as she cut off the connection. A few hours was a long time in a battlefield. However, with their established position and the defenses they had in place, they should be able to hold out. The problem she and Visneer were truly facing was, how to retreat from here once the seal was released? They had no desire to actually hold Sostrad or destroy it. The entire reason for being here was to ensure that the greatest number of Alfar as possible were pulled into the battle.

And they had succeeded remarkably well. Despite the victories over the last few months, the Iblis could not afford to completely abandon their other defensive positions, lest the Alfar defy reason and go on the offensive, completely abandoning their sacred city. Therefore, minimal defenders were left at each position and city to operate the defensive emplacements while a large mobile force was stationed in the Iblis capital.

This force could jump to any hotspot and counter any force the Alfar attempted to use to move against the Iblis strongholds. Fortunately, or unfortunately, the Alfar were determined to drive the Iblis and human forces from Sostrad. This meant their force was concentrated on that city. Both the forces that had been in the ruins and the other forces the Alfar had held in reserve. With such a strong force arrayed against them, Mage Levine was not sure if they would be able to withdraw once the time came.

"Do you really think one of those signals is Mage Wells?" Knight Straus asked as he followed behind Mage Veers.

"What other explanation is there?" Mage Veers countered.

"We checked the last image recorded before the null zone reactivated, there was only one signal. Now there are two."

"I just don't think we should assume. We should cautiously approach the area with the seal. If those SSS Ranks are both Alfar we will not stand a chance."

"Of course," Mage Veers said.

"There is little reason to charge in without consideration of the situation. Once we reach the central region, Mage Parivar can transform and sneak in closer to determine the situation." At this suggestion Mage Parivar shook in fright. It was one thing for her to sneak past Demonic Beasts. Spying on SSS Ranks was something entirely different. Mage Parivar was only A Rank and when she transformed, she appeared to be an A Rank Demonic Beast.

Any A Rank Demonic Beast would flee from creatures as powerful as what Mage Veers was asking her to spy on. Just by getting closer she would be acting out of character for a Demonic Beast. If that SSS Rank Alfar noticed her she would not even have time to react before he killed her.