The dark mist blinded everyone present, causing the originally tightly knit Holy Light to waver for a fraction of a second.
That briefest of moments was all he needed.
Anbaixiu's senses locked firmly onto Rachel Angelo's position, using his own awareness to guide the flaming meteors.
The Dice of Fate collapsed the chaotic trajectories of the Meteor Swarm into a single, definite path, hurtling mercilessly down onto Rachel Angelo.
The reason Meteor Swarm was called the shame of ninth-ring spells was not that its power was lacking, but that it so often missed. Yet once every strike hit home, it served as a brutal reminder of why it was a ninth-ring spell in the first place.
Four blazing meteors plummeted, each slamming directly into Rachel Angelo's body.
The first meteor drove him from midair into the earth, blasting a crater over ten meters deep. The second smashed his already battered celestial armament to pieces.
As the third meteor descended, Rachel Angelo swung with a Divine Smite, cleaving it into dust, but the fourth meteor crashed into him nonetheless. His celestial armament shattered completely. With countless broken bones, his body was nearly crushed flat.
Yet to Anbaixiu's regret, the man still had a breath left in him.
The fragments of the celestial armament dissolved into Holy Light and sank into his body, beginning to mend his wounds.
Watching this from the sky, Anbaixiu felt no surprise.
Rachel Angelo held a standing in Ryan second only to the Silvermoon Knight. He was hardly an opponent who went down easily, and the magical equipment on him was practically endless.
The Resurrection effect of the celestial armament had already been dispelled by Lorencos—not because Lorencos had slain Rachel Angelo once, but because of Lorencos's legendary boon, which allowed his Divine Smite to strip away a magical enhancement from an enemy.
And by pure chance, Lorencos had cleaved away the Resurrection effect.
Now, the potent healing enhancement granted by Rachel Angelo's armament was exhausted as well.
Yet Anbaixiu did not continue pressing his attack on Rachel Angelo. The dark fog blanketing the field was already on the verge of dispersing; pinning down clerics of light was never simple, as they possessed countless ways to dispel magical effects.
What they did not expect, however, was that the moment they emerged from the darkness—before they could reconnect their powers—they were greeted by hundreds of beams of dark magical power erupting from Anbaixiu's fingertips.
Ninth-ring spell: Power Word Kill!
A potent death magic cast upon its targets, offering no saving throw if their vitality proved insufficient.
Power Word Kill was ordinarily a single-target spell, often derided as a useless ninth-ring spell.
A wizard capable of casting ninth-ring magic was already powerful in their own right, and anyone dueling such a mage in single combat could generally pass the vitality threshold, rendering Power Word Kill completely useless without producing the slightest effect.
On the other hand, against mere foot soldiers, there was no need for a ninth-ring spell; a casual Fireball could incinerate an entire swath.
Yet if Power Word Kill was transformed into an area-of-effect spell, it became the ultimate spell for wiping out fodder—far better even than Meteor Swarm. Because against Power Word Kill, there was virtually no defense; one could only endure it through raw vitality.
Hundreds of paladins and clerics of light collapsed en masse, more than half falling under Anbaixiu's magical onslaught.
Neither Auras of Protection nor magical barriers availed them in the slightest—such was the might of a ninth-ring spell.
Still, altering a single-target spell into an area-of-effect spell did not come cheap.
Millions of gold coins had vanished just like that, leaving a noticeable chunk missing from the Golden Throne behind Anbaixiu.
Had he opted for a barrage of Fireballs instead, the casualties would have been vastly lower, likely killing only a dozen or so paladins at best.
When Rachel Angelo dragged himself out of the crater, the sight of corpses strewn across the ground drew an enraged roar from him toward Anbaixiu!
"Damned lich! I will slaughter you!"
Yet the moment those words left his mouth, Rachel Angelo barked out a direct command: "Retreat!"
The surviving paladins and clerics of light immediately rewove their Holy Light together, creating a massive orb of radiance that continuously unleashed blasts of Holy Light toward Anbaixiu.
Though Rachel Angelo was called the Iron-Blood General, he was never a reckless brute like the Silvermoon Knight who only knew how to charge ahead on his own; he was the empire's greatest battlefield commander.
This disaster had only occurred because the betrayal of his old friend had thrown him off balance, and Anbaixiu had calculated that exact opening to catch him unprepared.
Furious as Rachel Angelo was, he would not let rage drive him into making foolish mistakes.
No matter how severe the casualties, they had to pull back. Not only that, but through the erupting pillar of Holy Light, Rachel Angelo had already sent a distress signal toward Liuyan City.
Long-distance communication was a formidable challenge for every race, so the people of Ryan possessed their own unique method.
Holy Light pulsing at varying frequencies could convey distinct messages. During the battle of the City of Alchemy, the Ryan forces had used this very technique to communicate over distance between the inside and outside of the city.
Although it required immense skill and ordinary people could never conjure a sky-piercing pillar of light, the technique was exceptionally effective—a truly advanced military asset.
Anbaixiu could not read their encoded intelligence, but seeing those seemingly erratic beams shooting into the sky, one guess was enough to grasp their purpose.
"Quite a few tricks up your sleeve!"
Anbaixiu dodged the incoming bursts of Holy Light while unhurriedly trailing behind the Ryan army, projecting every intention of wearing them down to the bitter end.
Rachel Angelo sneered inwardly. It would be best if this lich kept following them; they were very close to Liuyan City, and the troops stationed inside would arrive in mere minutes. When that happened, the lich would be purified by the Holy Light!
Yet just as Rachel Angelo believed the worst had passed, he suddenly felt his foot land on something bizarre.
It was soft, yet hard... Perhaps that wasn't the right way to describe it, but it felt as though he had stepped onto a waterskin packed with rigid metal, creating an extraordinarily strange sensation underfoot. Rachel Angelo did not look down; instead, he instantly pulled back his foot and leaped backward.
That reaction saved him from a lethal blow.
A silver blade had thrust up from the grass beneath him, aimed straight upward. Had Rachel Angelo not reacted so swiftly, the sword would have pierced him through the groin.
And it was far from the only trap. Countless blades erupted from the earth, specifically stabbing into the spaces between soldiers' legs. Cries of agony erupted on all sides as dozens fell victim.
Though clerics immediately cast divine spells to heal them, the sudden strike threw their formation into chaos.
Only then did Rachel Angelo realize what the trap truly was: dozens of silvery-white slimes were surging out of the soil, lunging straight for the nearest Ryan soldiers.
Some were cleaved in two by Divine Smites, but others successfully attached themselves to the soldiers.
Paladins and clerics of light could don heavy armor and rarely feared ordinary attacks, yet these silver slimes corroded metal armor at an astonishing speed, rapidly coalescing into myriad fine blades that pierced straight through their flesh.
Such a method of attack was completely unheard of, catching the paladins and clerics entirely off guard.
This single ambush felled over a dozen more Ryan soldiers, while the rest scrambled to swing their swords and cast divine spells to combat the slimes.
Anbaixiu had no intention of giving them that chance.
A barrage of chained fireballs hurled toward the Ryan forces, threatening to reduce them all to charred cinders.
Seeing disaster looming, Rachel Angelo had no choice but to grit his teeth and swing his blade once more.
Having endured the full brunt of a Meteor Swarm, it was already remarkable that he had survived, suffering fractured bones and ruptured organs. Yet now, he was forced to step in personally.
The Iron-Blood General charged toward the flames, his Divine Smites detonating the fireballs one after another. Though the concussions knocked Rachel Angelo back step by step, he managed to deflect Anbaixiu's magical onslaught.
Taking advantage of the breathing room, his subordinates broke free from the slimes' clutches and reassembled into a fresh formation.
In all the world, perhaps only the armies of Ryan could retain their combat effectiveness after falling into ambush after ambush. Any other force would have routed by now.
Unfortunately for them, Anbaixiu's ambushes did not end there.
In the distance, a terrifying black whirlwind surged into the sky, born of immense dark magic.
An army composed entirely of Death Knights charged toward the Ryan forces. Leading at the very vanguard was Melina, clad in heavy armor.
When Gareth charged atop his eight-legged steed, he was like a battering ram capable of crushing everything before him.
Melina's charge, on the other hand, was like a razor-sharp lance that pierced clean through any obstacle.
The distance was far too short for the Death Knights to reach top speed, yet the Ryan troops had only just formed their ranks and had not even caught their breath before the Death Knights crashed into them.
The Death Knights were few in number—barely a dozen—yet they tore straight through the Ryan formation with ease, leaving behind a gruesome trail of devastation. Wheeling their mounts around, they prepared to strike again.
Witnessing this, Rachel Angelo coughed up a mouthful of blood.
When had these Death Knights been lying in wait here? Had Liuyan City failed to detect the presence of undead in the vicinity at all?
"Lorencos, you truly did betray Ryan! You actually allied yourself with the undead!"
This was a premeditated ambush. Rachel Angelo felt entirely duped by his old comrade, believing Lorencos had used himself as bait to lead him into a dead end.
Even so, hope remained!
Rachel Angelo raised his longsword high and unleashed a brilliant pillar of Holy Light into the sky.
A few seconds later, Holy Light flared within Liuyan City, answering Rachel Angelo from afar.
Immediately afterward, a vast torrent of energy descended from the heavens, engulfing Rachel Angelo's entire army.
The moment the Death Knights made contact with this blinding radiance, they disintegrated into ash, their magical armor offering no protection whatsoever.
Only Melina deployed her sussur barrier in time, withstanding the blast before swiftly fleeing to Anbaixiu's side.
Aside from the Ryan soldiers, every living creature within the pillar of light suffered devastating damage.
The Death Knights were reduced to cinders, and the silver slimes evaporated, their forms writhing as the life was purged from them.
Even the grass and vegetation on the ground vanished entirely under the onslaught of Holy Light.
A united populace, bound by concentrated devotion—this was where the people of Ryan truly excelled. They could transform the faith of their citizens into tangible power. Though Liuyan City was a military garrison, its population was considerable; the power of faith amassed from day-and-night prayers was far more terrifying than any Meteor Swarm.
Bathed in the Holy Light, Rachel Angelo's silhouette flickered, yet his voice carried outward with absolute clarity.
"Despicable undead filth, I will have my vengeance! Ryan will never permit abominations like you to walk this earth! Just you wait—I will smash your phylactery to dust and throw the pieces into a latrine!"
Anbaixiu chuckled softly. "Indeed, the undead are foul, and the Holy Light ought to purge them. Tell me then, General Angelo... have you ever considered that one day, you might become an undead yourself?"
The space beside Anbaixiu twisted, and the Rose of Decay stepped forth from his private demiplane. The noble Undead Queen looked toward Rachel Angelo, her eyes brimming with the aura of absolute death.
Chapter 336