"I can't believe what I'm hearing…" Laura exclaimed, her eyes widening in disbelief at his demand.
"I cannot simply comply with such requests without authorization from the kingdom. These items are of great significance to us, and surrendering them would severely compromise our operations."
Vale nodded as if he could sympathize with her words. Then, he replied coldly.
"I do not care... If you don't give them up, then no one leaves. You will all be corpses in your return to the kingdom.
As soon as Vale made this threat, he promptly cast another Holy Smite!
Boom!
This Spell seemed beautiful and filled with energy, but it's definitely a dangerous Spell!
The attack didn't kill anyone, but it caused severe internal injury to everyone present. If not removed immediately, the amount of Holy Energy in their bodies could result in further harm!
"Enough! Enough! We will give you what you asked for!" Laura cried out in surrender. She was willing to do anything to save the Commander's life.
"Very well… And don't forget to tell your soldiers below to pull back before I wipe them out…" Vale said, holding back his bloodlust.
"I will…" Laura weakly said as she started removing her left glove. She also considered using the artifact to counter, but in the end, she was afraid that another lightning strike would fall on her head.
She could probably survive one or two strikes with her Spells, but definitely not more than that.
The transaction was done quickly, and the battle ended just like that.
Furthermore, Vale extracted a total of 195 corpses aside from the mystical artifacts and the Airship... A quarter of these corpses came from the knights and shamans who died in the Airships, and the rest were the victims of the female Vampire, Lisa.
It appears that Lisa's control over the bloodline wasn't perfect yet. She still succumbed to her instincts and killed more than she had to.
Anyway, this was her first time using it in combat, and it was still considered a great experience for her. Furthermore, Vale certainly liked that aggressiveness, especially once the invasion started.
If possible, she wanted Lisa to create an army of Thralls under her command and become a formidable force in the future.
As for Faith and Pearl's contribution to the battle, they have surprisingly held back with their power after realizing how weak their enemies are.
Instead of killing them, they decided to just incapacitate them if possible. Of course, there were some unlucky ones who still perished after underestimating the two and they could only blame themselves for that.
"I believe in karma… I don't want to kill people, especially those below me, unless necessary." Faith said.
"That's true… Especially for me with Divinity. I heard that you can produce more Divinity if you act in accordance with righteousness. Of course, I'm not sure if that's true. This might just be a superstition as well, so I don't really advise it. It's all up to you." Pearl explained, which made Vale fall into silence.
***
Meanwhile, Laura and the remaining troops had departed the forest.
She couldn't help but wish they had never pursued the Masked Devil, as they wouldn't have encountered the mysterious blindfolded youth, who had taken a lot from them.
"Tsk…" She couldn't help but grit her teeth as she recalled what happened.
If their Commander hadn't been blinded by treasure and fame, she was certain they wouldn't have suffered such a defeat.
They also wouldn't lose the two Sovereign Rank Artifacts in their possession.
"How will I explain this to the King?" Laura sighed, feeling her energy leaving her body. She was too exhausted.
Despite her fatigue and desire to rest, she had to stay awake until they left this eastern wilderness.
Their Commander remained unconscious, even after an hour had passed.
She believed that he had suffered severe internal injuries, so she had no other choice but to command the Airship instead.
"Did that blindfolded man curse him? Why did the others wake up after fifteen minutes?" Laura mused, recalling the blindfolded youth's practice of multiple Arcane Paths.
'Dark Arts, Elemental Arts, Holy Arts…'
As she was deep in her thoughts, she was abruptly interrupted by one of the officers on the bridge.
"There's a huge airship coming straight at us!" the officer reported.
"What? Is it an ally? Did we request reinforcements?" Laura asked, taken aback.
"No, we're still analyzing—Ahh! Not good! It's an Airship Model of the Morgan Family! It's the Destroyer of Marquis Morgan!" the officer reported in shock.
Marquis Morgan was the last leader of the Rebel Army they had failed to eliminate. He was the primary target of their mission, and while they had believed they had already eliminated him after destroying all his known bases, they hadn't expected to see him here, especially with an Airship.
Laura knew they had the numerical advantage, but the unexpected appearance of the Marquis and his formidable Airship made her slightly nervous.
After taking a deep breath, Laura calmed her nerves and spoke with authority.
"Do not be scared! We still have five airships on our side! The shamans have already healed, and the Magic Knights have boarded the ship! Ready the cannons!"
She commanded, trying to bolster the morale of her troops.
However, she knew that their cannons could only fire once!
They had already fired their limited shells at the castle a while ago, and they weren't able to resupply in the nearby city! An aerial battle may not end well for them.
Soon, the officer was able to display the image of the rebel's Airship.
Laura then gazed at the projection of the imposing Destroyer Airship, its sleek black hull gleaming ominously in the moonlight.
The vessel exuded an aura of power and menace, with its sharp, angular design and foreboding crimson insignia emblazoned across its side.
Moreover, it dwarfed their Airship, being three times larger in size, making it a dreadfully mismatched encounter for them!
'What a bad luck… If it's like this… We'll have to rely on our numbers…'
"Surround the enemy!"
Soon, the confrontation between the solitary Destroyer Airship and the five Royal Combat Airships commenced.
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