"Screeeeeeeee!" Awkwardly scrambling with his talons, the Warlord rose from the ground and flung the charging Zhu Men away with his healthy wing a good hundred meters, even managing to damage his lightning armor.
Still, the senator's body had barely reached Pack Leader level through natural development. The mere fact that he could tank several full frontal blows from the Warlord and fight him for some time spoke volumes about his Conditional power's immense strength. The Silver Sky Sovereign's talons were evidently damaged when he forcibly pulled them from the binding quicksand.
"Lo Mian, don't let him target any of us!" I shouted to the only mage here besides Zhu Men who could take a couple direct hits from this birdie and survive.
He shot me a glare full of irritation but obeyed anyway, as he understood that if the Warlord knocked another of us out of the fight, it wouldn't be long before we all died. Or we'd have to flee, surrendering the city to the monsters.
Still, I think without feathers this birdie can't maintain as fast a flight as before. At most, relying only on direct wind control, he could barely reach terrestrial Warlord speed... So if we wanted to escape by air, our chances were decent. For now, though, we needed to not let him concentrate enough to take off.
"Diamond Shield!" Using his Shadow Element, Lo Mian quickly took Zhu Men's place in front of the Warlord and summoned his main treasure. It was a cube-shaped shield glowing yellow light and covered in circles forming its frame. Seems he got it from one of his deals with the Magical Court, possibly even as a gift for becoming senator from Hangzhou.
I don't know for sure, but the artifact was sturdy enough to tank a couple birdie hits. Exactly what we needed now. Wu Ping Jin, despite my healing, still hadn't recovered; we needed to stall a bit more so he could get back and we wouldn't fight shorthanded.
"Screeeeeeeee!" Spotting the mage blocking his path, who had even dared to compose his Supreme-level spell right in front of him, the Silver Sky Sovereign wouldn't tolerate such insolence and struck Lo Mian with full force, making his shield crack massively. But he fulfilled his task.
"Lightning Knight Strike!" Zhu Men returned to the fray, letting the sweat-covered Lo Mian breathe a sigh of relief. But he shouldn't have gotten distracted in such a serious fight.
"Screeeeeeeee!" Exposing his slightly healed, previously nearly severed by Wu Ping Jin wing to Zhu Men's strike, the Warlord jerked his head back and, accelerating it with wind, smashed into the Diamond Shield with full force, shattering it and aiming straight for Lo Mian!
"Aaarrrghhh!" The experienced mage managed to partially merge into shadow, but appearing five meters from the attack site, he had to roar in pain, clutching his bloodied shoulder from which blood fountained. The Silver Sky Sovereign had kept his right arm as a souvenir in his beak. Damn, why did this idiot get distracted?! Minus another healing charge from my artifact! I took it to save my own skin, not to emulate a true altruist! Now only the last charge left!
"Sinking Earth!" Tan Zhun finally finished composing his Supreme-level spell.
He avoided using his main fire element, as that would only improve the Warlord's position. After all, I'd been freezing him from the battle's start, and the bird was heavily slowed now and still causing us problems. Though Uncle Tang Yue's fire would deal serious damage, it would also warm his stiffened muscles, multiplying the already high Warlord speed. The experienced Magical Court head wouldn't make such a foolish mistake.
The Silver Sky Sovereign, taught by bitter experience in this spell, issued his cry again, this time investing more not in its attack effect but in repulsion, seasoned with direct wind control, sending the Zhu Men who had again badly wounded his injured wing flying once more, and with a deft flap of his one healthy wing, the bird made an awkward dash beyond the spell's damage zone, successfully evading it.
And he dashed not in a random direction, but straight at the still suffering from his lost arm Lo Mian! Naturally, I couldn't just watch a team member get killed, even if he was the culprit of all our surrounding problems. So I cast Ice Rose right in the middle of the Warlord's dash trajectory to alter his movement vector. But this damn bird ignored possible injuries and didn't change course!
Boooom! Despite his poor condition, Lo Mian managed to spot the oncoming threat and thanks to my spell that had again badly slowed the birdie, shifted via shadow five meters to the side in time. Severe pain prevented him from sustaining unity with the element long. Fortunately, he dodged, and the bird merely rammed the ground, kicking up dust clouds everywhere.
When the Silver Firmament Sovereign, badly wounded, frozen to the bone, having lost a sea of blood and tired like a dog, was about to target the weakest link in our team again, we all felt the approach of a monstrously powerful aura, several times stronger than the bird we'd been fighting all this time. And while the others paled sharply, Tang Zhong's and my faces lit up with joy. After all, it was the aura of the Totem Serpent!
Not even a couple of seconds passed before a kilometer-long red-and-black flying serpent hovered over our heads, and on its head sat the joyful Tang Yue, energetically waving at me.
"Mu Bai, uncle, did we arrive on time?" Sweeping her gaze over the battlefield, which had changed dramatically from the aftermath of High-level spells, the girl asked doubtfully, then shifted her eyes to the half-dead Silver Firmament Sovereign, whom the Totem Serpent had been staring at intently since its arrival. Apparently, this pair of monsters knew each other for a long time and were now communicating between themselves.
Glancing around the surroundings, I involuntarily nodded, because the serpent had arrived at the most ideal time. Having finally recovered, Wu Ping Jin and Zhu Men, who had been knocked back by the bird earlier, had already begun casting their spells by the time it arrived, and by the moment the bird would have finished off Luo Mian, it would have faced a new major wound from the Heavenly Blade and another stay in the Ban of the Twelve Divine Pillars, from which it might not have escaped.
I doubt that the mages who lost a battle comrade would hold back to preserve the established ecosystem and power structure in the lands around us. No, they would simply finish off the bird, provoking much stronger troubles in the future than this attack. Possibly so strong that the entire Hangzhou would have to be relocated.
Who the hell knows if some Emperor, even a false one, stands behind the Silver Firmament Sovereign. After all, its plumage differs so sharply in color and structure from the other birds in its flock for a reason? I doubt it's a random natural mutation. Better to play it safe.
By coming now, the Totem Serpent would get the glory of the one who ended this conflict with an outcome unknown to outside observers. In short, it's the savior of the city, period. At the very least, that's the version Tang Zhong, Wu Ping Jin, and I will support. Most battle participants can't lie, right? Especially the healer who cured the entire city of that strange new disease.
Finally, after a couple of seconds that seemed an eternity to everyone present, the Silver Firmament Sovereign bowed its head to the Totem Serpent and, with a cry, ordered its flock still attacking the city to retreat, then lay on the ground with its wounded, bald body, thereby expressing its surrender.
It was on this happy note that the battle for Hangzhou ended. Now it was necessary to tally the losses and gains from it. Of course, I'd prefer fewer of the former and more of the latter, but I'm no god or even a Curse mage for that to be in my power. Not yet...