When the sun rose, the City of Stardale was still standing. Although there had been a lot of casualties, the city remained in the hands of the allied forces.
After the vast majority of the enemies were trapped by the wall of flames, they were viciously slaughtered by the Magi. Only a small number managed to retreat toward the Murky Mountains.
As for the Rank 2 Magi, they had returned shortly after all the enemies had been dealt with. They were quite shocked to see the outcome of the battle between Rank 1s, to say the least.
When they asked around, they learned that there were four key players that distinguished themselves in the Battle of Stardale.
They were Magus Elton, from the Roy Magus Family, whose leadership skills played a very crucial role when fighting the invaders.
Then there were Magus Edward and Magus Lisa from the Clover Academy, the former leading the aerial unit to deal with all the enemy flying beasts, and the latter protecting the helpless residents from the enemies that had breached the city.
Last but not least, Magus Adam, who had made the single greatest contribution to this battle.
Whether it was holding back the enemies while the gates were being repaired, or supplying a large number of explosion potions, it was a general consensus amongst all Rank 1 Magi that Adam was the single greatest factor that helped change the tide of war.
The name of Adam Constantine was now even known to all the mortal residents of the city. Out of deep respect and admiration, the citizens had even dubbed him as the Hero of Stardale.
As the rays of the morning sun shone brightly over the city, the victorious Magi of the allied forces moved swiftly to clear the remnants of the battle. The once tumultuous clash of swords and spells had resided, replaced by the determination to restore peace and order.
window.pubfuturetag = window.pubfuturetag || [];window.pubfuturetag.push({unit: "64ce79d606107d003c23ea27", id: "pf-5140-1"})The silent battlefield, a place filled with corpses, could also be considered to be a vault of resources. The majority of the corpses belonged to the magical beasts, after all.
Their blood and core were important ingredients for Herbalists. Moreover, there were even spells that utilized beast body parts as material components.
But more importantly, the Magi wanted to clear the bloody battlefield, hoping to find the corpses of their comrades. Or at least what remained of them.
Brave Magi partook in this war and perished defending these lands. At the very least, they deserved a proper burial.
As the Magi cleared the battlefields outside the city walls, the city itself stood defiantly, displaying its firm resilience. The enemy had come in great numbers, hoping to burn this place to the ground.
However, they had failed.
The streets of Stardale were littered with debris as well as the fallen Magi and residents. Their sacrifice served as a somber reminder of the cost of victory.
Residents worked in tandem, clearing the fallen and tending to the wounded. Healers moved from one injured Magus to another, their expressions grim but determined.
The air was thick with the scent of smoke and blood, an indication of the gruesome violence that had just taken place. But despite that, the people within the city had expressions of relief and happiness.
The cleanup continued for the whole day until the sun had set. When the twin moons rose, the Rank 2 Magi of the allied forces began to prepare for the next phase of the war—advancing toward the Murky Mountains.
window.pubfuturetag = window.pubfuturetag || [];window.pubfuturetag.push({unit: "64cc9e79c7059f003e4ad4b0", id: "pf-5109-1"})The war was far from over.
During the night, supplies were restocked, weapons were sharpened, and plans were laid out for the advancement.
Thanks to the efforts of the Rank 1 Magi, the vast number of enemies had already been taken care of. This would ensure that they would be smoothly advancing to the depths of the Murky Mountains.
At least, for the most part. They still had to deal with the few corrupted beasts that wandered in the forests.
As for the battle between the Rank 2s, although there were casualties on both sides, the enemy forces had more deaths. This also gave the allied forces a big advantage.
However, Stardale was one of the many border strongholds that neighboured the Murky Mountains. And from the reports that were being sent from the other cities, things didn't look very good.
Amongst the dozen border strongholds, four cities had fallen into the hands of the enemy.
The decision that the higher-ups made was that of the cities where Magi came out victorious, half of them would advance toward the Murky Mountains, while the other half would go to the fallen cities to take it back from enemy hands. Of course, there would still be a few Magi left behind to defend the city.
Magi of Stardale were given the orders to advance.
After resting for an entire day and night, the Magi were ready to forge ahead. On this day, the surviving residents of Stardale had come out of their houses to send off the brave warriors who protected them and their homes.
window.pubfuturetag = window.pubfuturetag || [];window.pubfuturetag.push({unit: "663633fa8ebf7442f0652b33", id: "pf-8817-1"})They had lined up on both sides of the streets, waiting for the Magi to depart.
Suddenly, a young man pointed his finger toward the distance, "Look, there they come!"
"Whoa!"
"They're here!"
"Our brave warriors!"
"Lord Magi!"
The residents of Stardale burst into passionate cheers as they saw the procession of Magi coming in from the distance. At the forefront were Rank 2 Magi sitting atop their respective mounts, followed by the Rank 1 Magi who were either walking or riding their familiars.
Adam and his team were toward the back of this line. They were quite surprised to see that so many people had come to see them off. After all, it had barely been a day since the battle had ended.
But seeing the sincere looks of happiness and gratitude on the faces of these people, the youth couldn't help but smile as he recalled something that happened many years ago.
During his first team mission, when he and his team had helped Hannes City get rid of the vampire, they also received similar treatment when they left the city.
Thinking back to those simple and carefree times, Adam couldn't help but sigh with reminiscence, "Five years gone by in the blink of an eye, huh?"
Just like back then, Adam and his team had arrived at this city as outsiders. But now, they left as heroes.
