However, they could only think these things silently. Anyone daring to say any of these things to Angelica's face would have long since been killed.
"This… I was surveying the situation. Before we appeared, our army was obstructed by this massive crater. I have no idea what the enemy could be planning so I didn't think it wise to leave the corps unattended."
Angelica didn't answer, instead, she looked up into the skies to see Madeleine fighting, before checking around.
"While you're standing here "attending" to the army, the Flaming Lily Sect is just moments away from the conquering the tower."
"That's imposs –" Before Egan could finish, he looked over wide-eyed to see Ava and Thor having already pushed the distance from a hundred meters to only about twenty. "How?!"
It was only now that Egan realized that the Duchess he had ignored earlier was having a massive impact on the battlefield. Her sword was elegant and light, as though she was dancing without care, yet her cold gaze chilled even his fiery hot blood to the core.
'If she charges up the tower, it's over!'
"Go stop her." Angelica said coldly.
Egan rushed forward. Although he wanted to ask his senior sister what her plan was, judging by how her eyes were trained on Madeleine, there would be no suspense to the answer.
Angelica turned her gaze from Madeleine to the crater before snorting coldly. Her delicate hand stretched out as a blazing golden-red flame erupted from her palm.
The army stumbled backward, unable to handle the heat. '6th stage fire intent!'
The golden flames wrapped around the edge of the crater, melting the ground.
At first, everyone wondered what Angelica was doing. If she harmed the ground any more, she wouldn't be helping, instead, she'd be sending them all to their deaths!
However, it was at that moment that an illusory pair of golden-red wings appeared on her back and the fire intent became wind intent!
A cold wind gushed through the battlefield, quickly cooling the molten rock just as it covered the cracks allowing poisonous gas through.
By this point, everyone was stunned. It could be considered arrogant beyond belief to send a 3rd ranked disciple when you were aware that you were dealing with a 1st, yet who would dare doubt a woman who so easily used two 6th level intents on such a large scale with blinking an eye?!
It was only now that they remembered that the Golden Crow Sect was ranked first for a reason… Not only were their two pillar families outstanding in bloodline, they had by far the most disciple depth, so much so that even their 7th ranked disciple was already a peak saint… and their third? Comparable to the Flaming Lily Sect's first!
"Charge." Angelica's cold voice sounded out, snapping the corps from the Epistemic Tower out of their stupor.
In instant, the pressure on the Flaming Lily Sect army re-doubled. A pincer attack from three sides assaulted their lines, applying too much of a burden to allow the fluid switching of their formations.
Alidor frowned in the skies, but he remained calm. The way the battlefield was set up now, the Purple Flame Tower gave them some cover.
Because of the tower, it was impossible to launch an attack from a fourth direction. But, at the same time, their path to retreat had all but disappeared. Had they followed his original plan, they would have retreated before the third pincer attack even arrived which wouldn't have allowed Angelica time to reach this position. But, what's done was done. Since he had decided to take this risk, he would go all out. It was impossible to hammer out his caution with one battle, but if he got good results here, it would be a great help in the future.
'Gaylia, prepare a volley. On my command, fire toward the crater.
'Kaeda, is the Gorilla Formation prepared?... Good. In the next maneuver, your medical units will be exposed, I need you to hold on.'
The Gorilla Formation was the very same formation that the Elves used to hold on for months at Lotus Tower during Dyon's first campaign. It was an intricately laid maze of concealment and defensive arrays. However, its best feature was the hidden teleportation station at its center, allowing carefully picked members to quickly leave and enter the formation. Now, it was too weak to be used as a central formation on a large scale, especially when dealing with enemies as powerful as Angelica. But, as an HQ of sorts, it was perfect for medical units to safely treat and protect themselves.
Angelica frowned when she noticed an almost three-hundred-meter diameter at the center of the battlefield inexplicably disappear from view, causing the charging third pincer attack to hesitate. They had no idea how benign the formation was, so they didn't dare to act rashly.
"Who's the Vice Commander here?" Angelica suddenly asked. She needed to see if they had any formation masters that could give her an explanation.
However, Alidor didn't allow Angelica the time to find her answer. At the beginning, he had sent one branch of the army at 5:30 and the other at 10:30. This resulted in Kaeda's medical corps being protected by the tower to one side and the back of the battlefield to the other.
With the appearance of the Epistemic Tower corps, however, there was now an army charging directly from that back portion of the battlefield. Alidor knew that even with the deployment of the Gorilla Formation, even though Angelica wasn't a soul cultivator, it wouldn't be long before they realized there wasn't much danger and charged into the core of their formation. But, how could Alidor allow this?
'Now!'
The moment Alidor spoke, the rumblings of a pre-conceived plan erupted into action.
Maalshiira's branch on the right suddenly turned at an angle, cutting downwardly with a fierce momentum toward the crater.
Halaeana's branch on the left performed the mirror movement, turning at its own unique angle and cutting upward toward the tower.
Each movement cut off the approach of one of the pincer armies. Halaena's maneuver made it impossible for the left pincer to provide aid to the army crossing the crater while Maalshiira's maneuver cut off the tower defending corps from doing the same.
A Tornado of armies swirled on the battlefield, sweeping through their obstacles.
At that moment, the Demon Generals roared into the skies. From the beginning until now, they had taken a back foot, only commanding, but never attacking personally. However, now, the Flaming Lily Sect Army needed them. What kind of impact did 1000 geniuses have when they went all out? Angelica was about to find out.
Their skin reddened as their heights shot up by more than two meters. Seeing nearly a thousand giants appear on the battle and feeling the demonic aura crash down, the defending army felt their chests seize for the third time that day.
Everything from the fierce black armor to their red, killing intent filled eyes, shook everything before them. They exuded the auras of the fragment of the Demon Emperor's Will techniques, shooting upward to the peak of the first act in an instant. And… Unlike Dyon, their wills had already unlocked, meaning their power multiplied by the full 8x.
'Who are these warriors…' Angelica's cold features finally boiled over into a serious expression. She suddenly realized that maybe it wasn't Egan's neglect that put them into such a bad situation.
Before she could even get her answer, the opening to charge into the center of the enemy's formation had closed. Because of Maalshiira's abrupt increase in power, along with the Demon Generals under her charge, the right wing of the attack was decimated.
They continued to twist the battlefield, creating a swirl of bodies, blood and gore.
A thousand four-meter-tall giants rampaged through the battlefield, sweeping out with fists, palms, and weapons of mass destruction. They fought with such a rage and confidence that the defending army felt their knees weaken. Were they fighting humans? Or demons?!
'What the hell is Egan doing?! Why hasn't he shattered their front lines yet?!' Angelica's head snapped over the only portion of the Flaming Lily Sect army that hadn't made any large movements, the front lines before the Purple Flame Tower. But, what she saw absolutely shocked her.
The black dressed beauty exuding an ice-cold aura was nowhere to be seen, the 10th ranked disciples of the Flame Rebirth and Fiery Lotus Sect had been frozen in an impenetrable layer of ice pillars, and Egan was currently fighting against Ava and Thor! Even though they were struggling and were on their backfoot, with Egan being in the clear advantageous position, it wouldn't be a short time before the two of them were defeated.
Before Angelica's eyes could widen any further, a blinding light erupted from the Purple Flame Tower that caused her delicate features to pale and her ice-cold eyes to glisten with shock.
The tower had been conquered!
