Second World

1921  Chapter 1921. The Retreating Army

With the current situation, the resurrected natives couldn't stay for Sanctuary's full duration. Even so, staying there for a while provided them with sufficient HP to survive the retreat. Purple Mist stayed and further healed them using Heal.

Her advanced spell, Heal, no longer healed a pitiful amount after she became the Keeper of Immortality. The effectiveness of her Heal was now affected by her Intelligence Stat. The higher her stat, the more HP her target recovered from Heal.

One of the natives she had resurrected was Hashi, the number one assassin from the Assassins Guild. Hashi wanted to rush back to the battlefield to assist Ragorth, but Purple Mist blocked his path. Hashi at first wanted to just run past from the side, but Purple Mist's stern words stopped him.

"I'm not bringing you back to life for you to throw it away again."

Hashi looked around. He didn't see any other healers. "You resurrected all of us?" He asked in astonishment.

"Do you see anyone else here healing you people?" She asked back while continuing to cast her recovery spells.

She cast Keeper of Immortality's beginning spell on Hashi, Supreme Heal. This spell healed 100,000 HP and removed all status ailments. The cooldown of this spell was only two minutes, so she could cast it rather often.

She only stopped healing after John called her.

"We don't have the time to heal them to safety. That will have to do. We need the army to retreat now," John said. He then addressed those resurrected natives, "All of you, retreat now! Don't try to be a hero. Your HP is still low. Find a nearby Janus and follow his instructions. You will have a chance for another battle soon."

Purple Mist didn't insist. She stopped healing and went to John. She saw that Ragorth almost got overrun. They couldn't hold the tide much longer.

"Are your monsters close?" Purple Mist asked.

John looked around. "Some have started to show up," John answered.

The spell John had cast earlier was from Monster Overlord's level 60 spell, Call Monster Horde. The spell's effect was the same as Wilted's Pipe of Monster Control, except weaker. His spell summoned 100,000 monsters from the surrounding area of a twenty-kilometer radius. The spell picked the strongest monsters to call, excluding eternal-grade monsters.

John and Purple Mist flew to the front line.

"Be ready for a full retreat!" John shouted at True Janus when he flew past him.

Ragorth and the others were still holding the line to let the others retreat. From the look of it, they were ready to sacrifice themselves to pull it off. This was especially true for Jack's royal agents. Their lives were safeguarded by the Soul-securing Shrine. Only Tetsuo didn't have the insurance of a second life. The guy didn't seem to care. He zoomed in and out among the demon horde, disrupting them using his incredible speed.

"Purple, cast it!" John ordered.

Purple Mist was already in the process of casting her spell. The spell formed eight runes. When the spell formation was completed, everyone on the battlefield heard a hymn from heaven. A wall of golden light descended from the clouds. Following this wall of light was a host of winged beings.

These winged beings had features of angels, except they were composed entirely of golden light. Each of them carried a sword or a spear. They spread out and struck the demons once they got near one.

The army was astounded by this display. Some of the retreating soldiers even stopped to look at this miracle.

"Janus…!!" John called.

Janus was also in awe of the spell. He quickly recovered from his trance and blew the retreat horn for the second time, signaling everyone to break for a run while the host of angels kept the demons busy.

The spell Purple Mist cast was Angelic Host. It was the power-up version of Heaven's Army, the spell that late Callan cast on the day of his demise. Compared to Heaven's Army, the Angelic Host summoned many more angels, and the angels were stronger. Additionally, Purple Mist had leveled her spell to the max. The higher the spell level, the more angels were summoned.

"Ragorth, retreat!" John called. Max-leveled Angelic Host summoned a great deal of angels but didn't have a long duration like regular summoning spells. John only needed it to buy some time.

Ragorth's adrenaline made him want to continue to halt the demons' advance, but his rational mind quickly took over. He ended his Gigantify and started retreating.

"Alfredo, Syndrillis! Let's go!" He called.

Those holding the line started to move away following Ragorth's lead. Purple Mist's angelic hosts took over their jobs, so they didn't have to worry about their backs. They ran as fast as they could. John also cast another two of his pinnacle class spells to help the angelic hosts hold the line.

Monster Overlord's beginning spell was Summon Apex Monster. This spell summoned the strongest monster within a five-kilometer radius. Monsters already affected by his Call Monster Horde spell or were already in hostile status with John or his allies were not affected by this spell. Unlike the Call Monster Horde, this spell could affect eternal-grade monsters.

Unfortunately, no neutral eternal-grade monsters were available in the surroundings. The monster summoned by the spell was a level 78 rare elite grade. It was pretty weak considering, but John was not surprised. The stronger one was already taken by his Call Monster Horde earlier.

His other spell summoned a better aide. Monster Overlord's level 70 spell was Summon Southern Lord, the Celestial Moth. The summoned creature was a moth the size of a true dragon. It was a mythical insect with its level following John's, which was level 97.

The giant moth was a master spellcaster. It started casting once it appeared. Its spells were light and soul-based. Many of its spells were AOE spells that hit a large area. Any demons who tried to approach to disrupt its spellcasting were repelled by the winds caused by its beating wings.

John still had two more spells available but refrained from casting them. These two spells had a long cooldown of two days. The coordinates he gave Janus were around a day away. If the underworld forces followed their troops closely, the battle might resume tomorrow.

He left the front line to the Celestial Moth and the angelic host. He also summoned more minions from his elite and non-standard spells while retreating. He sent these minions to aid the front line.

He looked at their flanks. It seemed Giant Steve, Jet, and Fierce Flame were doing a good job dealing with the demonic bugs hassling the members of the Runecraft Society. The retreating army also gave a hand in stopping those bugs.

The members of the Runecraft Society heaved relieved sighs for the protection. They hurriedly completed their tasks. By the time the army crossed the trap area, all the rune diagrams sealing the traps were halfway dissolving already.

Some fast-moving demons and bugs tailed the retreating army closely, but the defenders had put a decent gap between them and most of the underworld forces due to Purple Mist's angelic host. Top combatants on the defenders' side stayed at the army's tail to face these pursuers. They were Syndrillis, Forctis Lion, Primordial Hydra, leaders of the factions, and leaders of the ancient sect.

As they retreated, the soldiers heard loud sounds of crumbling walls. They couldn't help but turn their heads. What they saw made them glad they had retreated. The defensive walls they were defending earlier were now submerged in a sea of demons and demonic bugs. The angelic host was gone. Not because their duration had ended but because they had all been vanquished.

The celestial moth continued to resist. But with so many demons, the winds from its wings couldn't stop them all. Many demons latched onto its body, hampering its movements while landing attacks. A giant demon with a bull's head slammed its oversized hammer onto the moth. The impact brought the moth down to the ground, where it was further swarmed.

Without anyone stopping them, the underworld forces broke into a full sprint. Thankfully, the traps were active by then. These traps stopped the demons' eager pursuit and halted the entire horde's march.

Beelzebub finally showed itself from among his horde. He always stayed behind his army and let his minions do the fighting. Other than when the ancient sect, the Council of Virtus, and the Cult of Phobos tried to charge through his army to get to him, he rarely battled the defenders. Those three factions learned how folly their attempt was after that day. They could hardly cause any meaningful damage to Beelzebub and they were forced to retreat to the walls. n/ô/vel/b//jn dot c//om

Beelzebub moved forward until the line where his army halted. He started casting a spell.

Syndrillis put herself at the back. She conjured a golden shield. Multiple runic symbols revolved around the shield. "Get behind me!" She said.

"No, you won't stop that spell!" John exclaimed. He had Hope's knowledge. He recognized the half-formed spell from its runic symbols. "That spell delivers a linear offense. We won't be able to move the entire army out of its path in time."

John turned to Giant Steve and yelled, "Steve!"

"On it!" Giant Steve jumped forward and put himself in front of Syndrillis.

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