"Senator Zhu Men, how's your magical energy? Not too drained from maintaining the Prohibition?" I asked the main attacker on our team.
In general, if we had all gathered together and been ready to lose a couple team members in the process, we could have quite killed the Silver Sky Sovereign. The cumulative effect of my ice element spells, the constant pressure of the quicksand, lightning striking the Warlord's wet body, attacks from Tan Zhun, Lo Mian, and Wu Ping Jin... The bird was seriously weakened now. If we dropped the prohibition and relied on Zhu Men with his armor in close combat, we could defeat him with some sacrifices. But that wasn't what I wanted.
The situation should be saved precisely by the Totem Serpent, to gain the city's residents' recognition, who had quite forgotten about it. This would allow the Tang Clan to use it more openly and gather strength, sheltering behind it as a patron. After all, the Serpent at its peak pulled combat power equal to a group of Semi-Sealed mages. And that's no small thing.
It's not even clear who would overpower whom if pitted against the entire Mu Clan. Though no, I'm lying. It is clear. Considering that the Mu Clan's only Sealed mage can't even properly release magic of that level, one sudden poison attack and the whole clan dies out. Man, the Totem Serpent is a nightmare in group fights.
"I have about half my magical reserve left in the lightning element. That should be enough to hold this monster here for another half hour or so, just as you hoped. I hope your reinforcements really come, or we'll face a brutal fight to the death with the corresponding casualties." Zhu Men sighed wearily. He was playing the main role in the plan to hold the Silver Sky Sovereign, and he was the one who had finally driven it into the trap. The man was really morally and physically exhausted.
"Don't worry, I believe they'll come." I nodded to him and for a second got distracted by the light show happening at the city walls right now. It was so hot there that most of the birdies simply couldn't leave the battlefield to help their lord. If they tried to flee, they'd just be killed outright.
"Man, I didn't expect your summons to be that strong. Especially the one made of lightning. With support from Zhu Men's High-level lightning element mage squad, it's just reducing the Servant-level White Eagles' numbers at the speed of light, giving the mages a chance to finally hit the Pack Leaders and even Commanders hiding behind them. Look, your water elemental is right now holding two of them at bay, maneuvering in the air and hosing them down with pressurized water. Heh, with wet feathers, they can't fly as fast anymore." Relieved that the city was still fine for now, Tan Zhun addressed me, refreshing the quicksand under the Warlord. The old spell had already worn thin.
"Um, I'm no bird expert of course, but it seems to me this birdie shouldn't be doing that." Wu Ping Jin's voice sounded next to me. After his warning, I shifted my gaze to the Warlord locked in the lightning Prohibition, and my eyes involuntarily widened. Damn, this was way off plan!
Boooom! Sparks of electricity flew around from the Prohibition of the Nine Divine Pillars torn to shreds, and we all summoned our artifact armors to avoid serious injuries. Which, by the way, not everyone succeeded at. At least my armor and Wu Ping Jin's didn't withstand the elemental fury surrounding us and burst like balloons. Fortunately, the damage to our bodies was mostly limited to that. Though our armors were only at peak High level, what hit us wasn't a full Supreme-level spell, but just its echo.
*Cough-cough*. "What happened?!" Coughing up blood, with bulging eyes, Zhu Men inquired. The forcibly interrupted Prohibition, though not too severely, had backlashed him, temporarily rendering him combat-ineffective. Gritting my teeth, I used my recently acquired healing artifact and cast one of its prepped spells on the senator. We couldn't let our main striking force drop out of the fight at such a moment. The effect was immediate. At least, the senator's face was no longer so pale, and he could straighten up, nodding gratefully to me.
When the dust settled, we saw him – the Silver Sky Sovereign. He didn't look his best now. Even if I called him a plucked chicken at this moment, I wouldn't insult him. That's exactly how this Warlord looked now.
Evidently realizing we were stalling for a specific purpose and unable to break the Prohibition with his body, the Silver Sky Sovereign, sensing the approaching crisis, used feathers from his entire body for a massed attack on the barrier, and since his feathers had metallic properties, they excellently conducted almost all the lightning energy from the spell through themselves, turning to ash in the process.
Now, our combat situation was quite peculiar. We, now five mages with Supreme-level combat power, half-empty, stood opposite a bald eagle with a nearly severed wing and played stare-downs with it. Judging by his enraged gaze, we were about to get hit. Possibly fatally.
"Screeeeeeeee!" Fully opening his beak, the Warlord unleashed a sonic attack on us. Now that he finally had a chance to attack us instead of endlessly sinking in schematic and sequential assaults, he didn't miss it. After this sound wave, we were officially down to four, as Wu Ping Jin, no longer having armor, hacked up a full mouth of blood and dropped to his knees in a semi-conscious state.
I felt uncomfortable too, but my physique at mid-Commander level let me stand firm, sensing only a slight taste of blood in my mouth. Evidently, this eagle wasn't too strong in sonic attacks. Or maybe his overall weakened state affected the scream's intensity.
Without delay, I spent another charge of my healing artifact, this time on Deputy Tan Zhun. We couldn't afford to lose anyone now. Damn, we shouldn't have sent Li Tian to intercept the incoming birds! Though, if the entire flock of White Eagles or even part of it were here, dealing with the Warlord would be much harder, so let him stay there.
The eagle, not intending to give us time to recover, tried to lunge close for a physical attack but only partially succeeded. My ice element spells and the quicksand Tan Zhun had recently refreshed under him played their role, shackling most of his movements and depriving his body of proper strength. So though he shot out of the quicksand like a cork, mimicking it, he fell and awkwardly tumbled across the ground, inflicting a few more injuries on himself.
An awkward silence fell, immediately broken by Zhu Men, who had fully recovered thanks to my healing and summoned his lightning armor with spear, charging into close combat. He understood that if the Warlord's movements weren't restricted, none of us could cast a Supreme-level spell in the fight with him in time, so he took that role on himself.
We, picking up his initiative, began composing spells so his efforts wouldn't be wasted. As for me, in parallel I released one already prepped earlier, binding the Silver Sky Sovereign's movements even more, easing Zhu Men's close combat with him. As is known, the ice element has a cumulative effect, and I'd been assaulting this bird with it from the battle's start.
The second round of confrontation with the Warlord began, and I doubt it would go as well as the first. At least, I'd already used half my saving healing charges in the artifact, and the bird hadn't even been free for a minute.