His countenance solemn, Dirk Norway replied, “Ninth-grade spells are too taxing on my magic power, so I can’t hold out for an hour. It’s possible if I cast sixth- or seventh-grade spells the whole time instead, though!”
“There’s a limit to sixth- and seventh-grade spells’ destructiveness. North River Pass will fall in less than an hour!” Cesia shook her head repeatedly. “Mr. Dirk, how long can you hold out for if you keep casting ninth-grade spells with a scale like Death Tempest’s?”
“Half an hour at the most.” Dirk Norway gave her a resigned smile. “The amount of magic power large-scale ninth-grade spells like Death Tempest consume is terrifying. If I continue this for another half an hour, all the magic power that I’ve accumulated over my entire lifetime will be exhausted for sure, and I’ll need a very long time before I can recover.”
“Half an hour...”
Cesia fell silent.
At that moment, a soldier approached while panting heavily. “My lady, this is terrible! The ant tide 30 miles away is attacking the city walls!”
“My lady, the city gate tower 100 miles away has been occupied by the ant tide!”
“My lady...”
More than 10 soldiers hurried over in succession, yet the news that they brought rammed heavily against everyone’s hearts like a hammer. Everyone’s faces were deathly pale, and hopelessness arose within them.
19 areas of the city walls had fallen to the ant tide—that was a whole 19 areas!
Would more and more fall after this?
“Are we ultimately unable to defend the pass after all?” A dazed Marchioness Cesia murmured, “To be honest, in the instant that I saw the ant tide’s scale, I knew that it was impossible to defend the pass. I’ve ultimately still underestimated the ant tide’s might... Sigh!”
Dirk Norway also let out a sigh and stayed quiet.
The ant tide stretched on for 300 miles, which meant that more than 300 miles of defense line were simultaneously under their attack.
How much military manpower did the North River Pass only have? And how many Magicians?
Without any reinforcements, breaking past the pass was inevitable.
Cesia said solemnly with a sigh, “Mr. Dirk, while the ant tide hasn’t reached this area yet, hurry and leave with your students. They are the kingdom’s future. Nothing must happen to them!”
Dirk Norway closed his eyes, a look of affliction and struggle surfacing on his face. He knew what withdrawing signified and also knew what the falling of the pass meant.
Lives would be plunged into great misery and suffering.
Countless lives would be lost.
But there was nothing he could do.
There was nothing he could do about it.
He was ultimately just a single, lone person.
He couldn’t stem the raging tides and save the world from a crisis.
In the end, after a long internal struggle, Dirk Norway waved his arm and brought out a magic airship anyway. He ordered, “All students, board the airship and withdraw at once!”
“Mr. Dirk, are we going to give up just like that?” Hart couldn’t accept such a conclusion. “If we leave and the ant tide breaks past the pass and surges in, what are the people in the city going to do? They’ll be exposed to those sharp teeth of the ants.”
“There’s no other way. There’s nothing I can do!” There were tears in Dirk Norway’s eyes as he said, “The ant tide is invading with a vengeance, yet our line of defense is heavily damaged. It’s like an old ship in the great ocean that’s leaking in every corner. There isn’t even any way to block the holes. There’s really nothing I can do about this!”
Hart fell silent at once upon his response.
“There’s ultimately a limit to a person’s strength. How can anyone possibly oppose a natural disaster?” Dirk Norway wiped the tears from his eyes and instructed, “Let’s go. There’s nothing we can do to help even if we stay here. Let’s leave as soon as possible!”
“I understand, sir!”
Hart and the others hung their heads and boarded the airship one by one.
Dirk Norway looked at Marchioness Cesia and asked softly, “Marchioness Cesia, what are your plans now?”
“We can only withdraw!” Marchioness Cesia had a complicated look on her face. “It’s just that I’ve guarded the North River Pass for over 10 years. Today is the first time that I have to abandon the city. I can’t accept this!”
Dirk Norway was silent in response.
At that moment, someone suddenly pointed at the far distance and exclaimed, “Look! What’s that?”
“Huh?”
“Could it be the reinforcements?”
Everyone perked up greatly upon their words. Then, they noticed a black dot speeding rapidly toward them—it was a magic carpet! And someone was standing on top of it!
“Who is he?”
“Is he here to help us fight against the ant tide?”
“He doesn’t seem like much of an expert if he’s riding a magic carpet...”
Very soon, everyone became sorely disappointed. With the ant tide threatening to break past the city’s defenses any moment, even the troops were getting ready to withdraw. Sending even another 100,000 people wouldn’t be of any use. Not to mention just a lone person?
Besides, he was even riding a magic carpet. Just a look at him, and one would know that he wasn’t anyone strong.
Fatty Hart was the only one that picked up a pair of binoculars and watched the figure in alarm and uncertainty. Then, he suddenly exclaimed, “What the heck! Isn’t that old bro?!”
“Old bro?”
Abbe and Tanna were startled at the same time. “Are you saying that’s Meng Lei?”
“Yes, it’s him! I asked him to come and help previously. Little did I expect that he’d really come. As expected of my buddy. How loyal!”
Fatty Hart’s face was full of agitation.
“Who’s Meng Lei?”
Upon hearing the trio’s exchange, Marchioness Cesia immediately perked up. She asked, “How strong is
