Swamp Lake City was the biggest city in the Empress Cobra Zone.
There was already a heavy cloud of fear above the city since the war between the Skythunder Kingdom and the Storm Eagle Zone started today, but the citizens were somewhat confident that the forces of the Skythunder Kingdom would stop the traitorous Duke Whirlwind.
There were three High Mages inside the city today just to make sure that no leftover warriors from the Storm Eagle Zone damaged the city.
Of course, the High Mages weren't very powerful. There was one Early High Mage and two Initial High Mages. One had to remember that the force that had attacked the Storm Eagle Zone represented some of the most powerful High Mages in the entire Kingdom. A mere defensive force of a random city couldn't compare, even if the force had been strengthened.
The High Mages were talking to each other via their Spirit Senses, and they were making bets on how long the Storm Eagle Zone could hold out.
These Mages were used to dangerous situations, and this bit of danger today wasn't something that fazed them.
Suddenly, all the Mages looked at the sky, and their eyes widened in terror.
Just now, they had felt over 20 True Path Stage warriors falling toward the city at incredible speeds!
They almost couldn't believe what they saw with their Spirit Senses!
The Mages immediately communicated with each other.
What were they supposed to do?!
They could deal with some warriors, but not with over 20!
In just an instant, there were three different opinions from three different Mages.
Flee!
Surrender!
Fight to the death!
The Mages immediately fell into a heated argument. Luckily, communication via Spirit Sense was several times faster than communicating with words.
"I don't care what you decide! I'm outta here!"
And then, the only Early High Mage fled towards the north.
Since the Mages could see the warriors, the warriors could also see the Mages, and they saw that one of them had fled.
Over ten of the warriors stepped on their weapons again. Until now, they had been in a freefall.
Their weapons used the force of the fall and redirected it towards the side, making them shoot after the Mage.
The other two Mages watched the strongest of them leave with horror.
The Early High Mage had a chance to flee, but they didn't!
As soon as they saw him flee, they agreed.
Surrender!
They jumped down from the walls, deactivated their Mana Shields, and fell to their knees, their hands held up in a surrendering fashion.
The few True Mages that were in the city watched all of this with confusion.
What was going on?
And then, the warriors arrived.
BOOOOOOM!
BOOOOOOM!
BOOOOOOM!
Their heavy bodies landed outside the city, leaving humongous craters behind.
A True Path Stage warrior could survive such an insanely fast fall without any issues.
The True Mages and citizens looked with horror at the warriors that had transformed the outside beyond the walls into craters.
Their fighting spirit immediately left them.
Several warriors landed around the High Mages, but they didn't attack them.
Instead, they pointed their weapons at them in a threatening manner.
The High Mages didn't dare to move.
The other warriors entered the city, killed everyone that resisted, calmed down the populace, and assumed control.
Obviously, the citizens were in a panic, but the warriors kept shouting that everyone that stayed where they were without attacking anyone would be fine.
Of course, a couple of citizens still fled in panic, but the warriors killed them.
Orders had to be followed.
It didn't matter who fled.
If someone fled, they were put to death.
Eventually, the city fell into a terrified silence.
Over 100 people died when they tried to flee, scaring the remaining citizens into compliance.
It seemed cruel, but this decisiveness and cruelty actually saved more people than it cost.
One had to remember that this was the Empress Cobra Zone.
If everyone that tried to flee were allowed to flee, the remaining people would realize that they could also flee and would follow.
Eventually, probably over 50% of people would have fled…
Right into the deadly swamps of the Empress Cobra Zone.
Just a random Pest Cat could kill hundreds of normal citizens.
The Empress Cobra Zone was deadly for normal people, and they could only live inside the settlements.
A couple of minutes later, an additional group of ten warriors returned to the city.
This was the group that had gone after the Early High Mage, and they had returned after killing him.
A High Mage could move at incredible speeds in short bursts, but that consumed a crazy amount of Mana.
In a long chase, the High Mage would be caught by a warrior.
If necessary, warriors could move at their full speed for hours on end.
During these minutes, the Mage had reached the border of the Adamantite Behemoth Zone, but he was very quickly killed after that.
There were no guards between these Zones since they all belonged to the same Duke.
Most of the warriors in the second group joined the warriors in the city, while Mervin, who had been in the group, went over to the High Mages.
The High Mages realized that this warrior was more powerful than them, and they knew that he had to be the leader of this terrifying force of True Path Stage warriors.
One of the warriors reported everything that had happened to Mervin, and he nodded with a smile, giving his thanks.
He walked over to the Mages.
"You can stand up," he said with a polite voice.
The two Mages looked at each other with nervous eyes and complied.
Mervin smiled and nodded. "Good. Our policy for every High Mage of the Skythunder Kingdom that didn't resist our advance will now take effect."
"Both of you will undergo a Mind Read performed by Duke Whirlwind personally. He will then decide what to do with you."
The two Mages looked nervously at Mervin.
Obviously, they were scared of having all their dirty secrets brought to light.
"You will do no such thing."
At that moment, everyone turned to a seemingly empty spot when they heard the voice of a woman echo throughout their minds.
An instant later, the space on the spot warped, and someone stepped out.
It was a younger woman with long blue hair and blue robes.
Beside her was a Focus with four Amplifiers, representing a truly powerful High Mage.
When the warriors felt the power of this new Mage, they had to take in a deep, terrified breath.
They immediately knew who that was.
Just now, the warriors had taken control over the entire city, but with the appearance of only one person, the control had been completely taken away from them again.
"I am willing to talk with Jerald about joining his Kingdom with every Mage serving me, but I will not allow the minds of my people to be read!" she said with a strict voice.
Her aura engulfed the entire city.
If she willed it, all the warriors would be turned to corpses in less than 30 seconds.
She had that power.
After all, she was a Late High Mage.
While the warriors looked with terror at the High Mage, Mervin only held his polite smile.
"Duke Torrent. We've been expecting you," Mervin spoke politely.
