The target of the attacks coming out of Nympha's giant magic circle was the twenty-thousand-strong Hell Realm army, and if they responded directly, it wasn't clear who would gain the upper hand. On one side, warriors who would suffer casualties if they came out defeated from the exchange of blows, and on the other side, the leader of the Companions of Water forces inside the protective field; it wasn't hard for Joshua to make a choice.
"Activate the protective shields. Your duty is over!"
When their King spoke, every word that came out of his mouth was an order, and they wouldn't dare do otherwise, but it was also obvious they weren't pleased with this situation. The glimmers on their weapons hadn't faded yet; they were waiting in the hope that Joshua would change his mind.
The Hell Realm King wasn't after pushing his luck; he had made a pinpoint attack, and the army was only there to prevent the other sides from intervening. Perhaps he could call upon them again, but there was no need to tell them to be ready beforehand; each of the twenty thousand people was living for this moment.
"Hueso, Muslo, how long has it been since you played with fire?"
When the grandfather and grandson received the message, they turned their gazes towards the mages defending under Ignis's leadership. When there was no material left for Joshua's Blood Needles, the Companions of Fire forces, whose attack burden lightened, were also targeting them.
"Wind element users, can you use magic?"
Nodding in confirmation, the druid warriors began to send their attacks from behind the grandfather and grandson; their front was set. When the Hell Realm King turned to Alis, he found him looking at where the green-haired girl was; there was no need to say anything else.
When Alis gripping his two swords tightly went into action, the druid warriors mastering earth element attacks brought stalagmites that would block the attacks coming towards him from underground to the surface. The Companions of the Wind mages, countering the enemy with attacks possessing the hair color of their leader, were having difficulty securing hits against Alis, who kept appearing and disappearing among the boulders.
"Fire element mages, your target is the Companions of the Earth unit. I want only one thing: they must absolutely not go on the attack!"
The fire element users consisting of three men and one woman quickly drew a magic circle almost the size of Nympha's magic circle, and one corner of the Pentagram shape here was pointing upwards.
Each of them moved to the four corners and planted their staffs into the soil. Two were gathering the fire elements in the air, and the other two were gathering the ones underground. When they commenced the attack using their staffs as a medium, the two different faces of the fire element were revealed.
The flames gathered from the air were running like fierce foals; unlike them, the fire element drawn from underground, which turned into dark lava, was as if it had sworn to melt everything in its path. Solo was managing to withstand both of them with his bright yellow wall; his success in reaching this moment without suffering any casualties had a great share in this, but even he couldn't think of making a counterattack.
"It's the perfect time to make a counterattack. Even if we cannot use the giant cannons of the Death Pass, we can drive our soldiers to the front line!"
"If you lead with your mages, we will wipe out the Hell Realm army that is condemned to stay on the defensive. The only obstacle in our path is Joshua; stalling him for a while will be enough!"
While the mages on the battlefield had to take a defense-based stance, the general-ranked soldiers of the Mercenaries watching the battle from a safe place thought they caught the enemy's weak moment. They spoke to mobilize Franz, who was observing the ongoing struggle along with them, and the young mage was of the same opinion as them.
"Get ready, we are taking the battlefield!"
The fifty mages waiting behind him gripped their staffs; Alaben and Balbazar completed readying the five-thousand-strong force in minutes. They descended from the top of the walls and, along with the opening of the small door, were waiting for the energy barrier to be lifted to step outside.
The leaders of the mages of the four societies on the battlefield were watching them too; if they fought on the front line, they might have a chance to return to the Death Pass, and perhaps if they found the opportunity, their dreams regarding Joshua could turn into reality.
Their mindset, resembling gamblers in a knife-edge situation, fluctuating between securing themselves and chasing after a massive gain, led the soldiers under the leadership of the mages of the Companions of Light society to join the battlefield.
They were acting fast to catch their enemies off guard the moment they focused on the attack. They had covered a distance of dozens of steps in a few seconds, and if they continued at this pace, it wouldn't take a minute for them to pass by Joshua and reach the Hell Army.
Assessing the situation, Nympha began to expand her attacks to encompass Joshua; she aimed to pressure the Hell King and clear the way for the support forces. The course of the battle was changing very rapidly; the Hell Realm forces holding the upper hand were about to fall into a disadvantaged position.
Despite this, the young man inside his blood-red armor maintained his composure; his gazes were on the support forces. He raised one hand into the air, and the attacks coming from Nympha began to disperse while twenty steps away.
He swung his other hand from right to left, and within three breaths, hundreds of weapons capable of making elemental energy attacks appeared in the area in front of him. The shape of half of these was unconventional; if the enemies had the opportunity to see them before, they would know they were the new generation cannons Master Leonardo used on the walls of the Balsici Castle.
"Finally, you rats dared to poke your noses out! Allow me to give you a nice welcome!"
Joshua, repelling Nympha's attacks with one hand, extended his other hand towards the elemental cannons, and the red mists coming out of his fingertips surrounded the mechanical devices and began to seep into them.
Then the energy attacks possessing colorful glimmers set off, and this time there was a red dot inside them too. The Mercenaries, the Lands of Light mages, were familiar with such situations. They were prepared to withstand the energy attacks fired by at most two hundred cannons, but this time the situation wasn't what they knew.
"Watch out. They are doing the exact same attack that shattered the Fluid Ramparts!"
The one who tastes it once never forgets it; the heavily wounded Nympha began to shout to warn the support forces. The mages had taken the lead, but seeing the soldiers behind them stop, they also ceased their advance. The soldiers, coming together and raising their shields, managed to retreat to defense under the leadership of their Generals, or so they thought.
The energies on their equipment had combined and formed a monolithic shield, and they would meet reality when the first energy attack fell on them. There would always be a recoil effect; physical training or protective gear were for this, but their knees began to tremble after the explosion occurring on the surface of the shield.
Perhaps it would be easier for them to withstand if there were one, two, ten, twenty; when hundreds of explosions occurred within seconds, they were forced to fall to their knees. If it continued like this for a little longer, it was a matter of time before they faded into the dusty pages of history; their Generals had to step in.
"Diamond Hardness!"
"Reflection of Turquoise!"
The Generals, sending two bright stones towards the giant shield formed by their soldiers, continued to destroy the attacks before they reached them using their weapons. The soldiers who fell to their knees a few seconds later also managed to stand up again; the support they received had lightened the load on their shoulders considerably.
"Young mage Franz, I don't think we can advance further from here until the attacks of the energy cannons lighten!"
Balbazar with a goatee, making wind and fire attacks by swinging his twin swords, called out to the mage leading the Companions of Light forces a few meters in front of them. He was sure he saw the situation too; he actually meant if there was anything he could do, now was the exact time.
"Wait a bit, and be ready to attack when I cast my spell!"