"What do we do next?" Ian called out to Pierce from the back of the Giant Eagle.

  Pierce didn't answer, instead looking at Sophia.

  She immediately understood and reported, "My Lord, as you instructed, I've accepted as many assault missions for fortifications near the ambush site as possible. However, four or five had already been taken by other Wizards."

  "A few missing won't matter." Pierce took out the magic map and glanced at it. "We head to Fortification No. 35 first."

  Ian was thoroughly confused. He quickly pulled out his own magic map to check, discovering that Fortification No. 35 was only about eighty kilometers from where they were ambushed that day—it was the closest Turin fortification.

  "How can you be sure Maynard is there?" Ian asked, puzzled.

  However, Pierce's answer left him stunned.

  "I'm not sure."

  "Then why..."

  Pierce turned to look at him and said calmly, "Searching everywhere for our target's whereabouts takes too much time and effort. Letting him deliver himself to our doorstep is the most efficient method."

  Ian froze for a moment, but quickly realized Pierce's plan. He wanted to massacre the Turins everywhere to force the Witch-Hunter Force to actively hunt them down.

  This method was highly feasible. The only problem was that the person executing it had to possess overwhelmingly powerful strength; otherwise, it would easily backfire. And Pierce...

  Ian glanced at Pierce, a hint of hesitation flashing in his eyes. But ultimately, he gritted his teeth and snuffed out the last shred of doubt in his heart.

  Since he had already decided to follow Pierce out here, there was no point in second-guessing now. Just do it!

  Pierce didn't care about Ian's inner thoughts; his gaze simply rested profoundly on the distance.

  Over half an hour later, the silhouette of a Turin fortification appeared at the edge of their vision.

  Seeing that Pierce had no intention of slowing down or concealing their tracks, Ian couldn't help but feel a wave of astonishment.

  Just as he was about to speak up to warn him, he saw Pierce slowly raise his hand. At some point, a mass of floating silver liquid metal had appeared in his palm, boiling violently like roaring water.

  Under Ian's astounded gaze, the liquid metal rapidly stretched and elongated, forming a two-meter-long silver spear.

  Immediately following that, countless profound runes flashing with electricity materialized out of thin air, scrambling to sink into the spear.

  In an instant, the spear was coated in a blinding layer of lightning, as if it had transformed into the legendary Spear of the Thunder God.

  The next moment, with a flick of Pierce's wrist, the lightning spear shot out like a streak of light. Carrying an ear-piercing sonic boom, it tore through the void and struck toward the distant castle.

  Almost the instant it sensed the intense energy fluctuation, the castle's defensive barrier activated automatically. A faint halo of light materialized, enveloping the entire castle.

  However, it was futile.

  As the lightning spear struck the halo, a blazing torrent of lightning erupted violently. The defensive barrier was torn apart in an instant, collapsing into motes of light that dissipated into the air.

  With undiminished momentum, the lightning struck the city wall. A deafening rumble echoed as the towering, thick wall collapsed by more than half. Countless Turin warriors were reduced to charred husks as the lightning swept over them.

  In merely the span of a breath, more than half of the guards on the wall had been wiped out.

  The surviving Turin soldiers looked at the apocalyptic scene before them, sheer terror etched onto their deathly pale faces.

  By now, the Giant Eagles had arrived above the city wall.

  Looking at the wall that had already been reduced to ruins below, Ian couldn't help but draw a sharp breath, his face filled with inexplicable shock.

  Although he had heard of Pierce's might countless times, it was only after witnessing it with his own eyes that he truly grasped the weight of the word "powerful."

  A divine defensive barrier that would take four or five Rank 1 Wizards joining forces over ten minutes to break, Pierce had shattered with a casual strike from several kilometers away!

  Such power... even Gideon, a Rank 2 Gaseous Phase Wizard, couldn't achieve it!

  Beside him, Sophia and Payne looked at Ian's dumbfounded expression and felt an inexplicable sense of superiority. In the past, they were always the ones shocked by Pierce's power; today, they finally had someone who was even more shocked than they were.

  "Enemy attack!" "Quick, notify the Lord Priests!" "The enemy is above!"

  The sudden assault threw the castle into chaos. A massive number of Church Knights rushed out from various buildings, sprinting rapidly toward the city wall.

  However, upon reaching the wall, what greeted them was a flock of crows surging toward their faces like a pitch-black torrent.

  Although Mist Raven hadn't devoured any crow-type magical creatures recently, as Pierce's mental energy level continued to rise, Mist Raven's power had also increased accordingly.

  Reflected in the Fog Crows, their combat capabilities were now very close to that of a Legendary Knight.

  Four or five Fog Crows joining forces were enough to suppress a Tier 1 Legendary Knight head-on.

  Therefore, facing thousands of Fog Crows, the mere few hundred Church Knights were smashed to pieces in almost a single encounter.

  One Church Knight after another fell, screaming agonizingly.

  Even the captain of the Church Knight detachment, a Tier 2 Legendary Knight, was torn to shreds by the fearless, relentless flock of crows after desperately taking down a few dozen of them.

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  The four Winter Frost Priests who rushed over saw this scene, their eyes practically splitting with rage.

  "Damned alien Wizards!" the leading Rank 2 Priest cursed through gritted teeth.

  But before his words could even fade, his chest was pierced by a lightning spear that tore through the air. He collapsed to the ground dead, his face frozen in astonishment.

  "Lord Morrison!"

  The remaining three Winter Frost Priests turned pale with horror, the looks they shot Pierce now tinged with terror.

  To instantly kill Lord Morrison, a Rank 2 Priest—could the intruder be a Rank 2 Wizard?

  Unfortunately, they no longer had the chance to figure it out. The next second, three lightning spears tore through the void and arrived right in front of them, piercing their chests almost simultaneously.

  The divine defensive spells they had desperately cast were like fragile paper before the lightning spears, offering absolutely zero resistance.

  Thump! Accompanied by muffled thuds, three more corpses hit the ground.

  In the blink of an eye, all four Winter Frost Priests had lost their lives.

  Meanwhile, the battle on the ground was also nearing its end. The Church Knights had been entirely wiped out, leaving only a few scattered noble infantrymen fleeing in all directions. However, surrounded by the flock of crows, their deaths were only a matter of time.

  Ian stared blankly at the scene below, his heart filled with absolute shock. He couldn't recover his wits for a long time.

  From the moment Pierce threw the lightning spear until now, barely five minutes had passed, and a heavily guarded fortification had been utterly destroyed!

  This scene truly exceeded his imagination. If it hadn't happened right before his eyes, he never would have believed it.

  It took quite a while for Ian to snap back to reality. He blankly asked Sophia and Payne, "Was it always like this before?"

  "Not really," Sophia shrugged. "It usually took about ten minutes before. It was a bit faster today. The Lord is probably quite angry, so he struck a bit heavier."

  Ten minutes... Ian's mouth twitched.

  The Wizard-Hunter Force had also attacked Turin fortifications. It took over a dozen Rank 1 Wizards joining forces nearly half a day to eradicate the resistance within a castle.

  He used to think that level of efficiency was quite good, but compared to Pierce now, it was simply unsightly.

  While he was still in a daze, Sophia and Payne had consciously descended to the ground to finish up and clean the battlefield.

  This part of the job actually took longer than destroying the castle itself.

  About half an hour later, Pierce's group set off again, heading to their next destination.

  The subsequent operations went incredibly smoothly.

  In just half a day, Pierce successively destroyed four Turin fortifications, casually wiping out seven or eight Turin outposts and over a dozen patrol chariots along the way.

  Ian went from his initial shock and astonishment to numbness, and finally to complete desensitization.

  He felt he had truly broadened his horizons today.

  He had never seen a Rank 1 Wizard like Pierce, for whom attacking fortifications was as simple as going on a picnic, requiring absolutely no effort at all.

  Even if a Rank 2 Wizard came, they probably wouldn't be able to do it as effortlessly as Pierce.

  While a Rank 2 Wizard could also single-handedly destroy a Turin fortification, they couldn't do it with such crisp efficiency. After all, killing Winter Frost Priests was easy, but clearing out the Turin soldiers within the castle was time-consuming and labor-intensive.

  But Pierce's familiar could easily solve this problem. Wherever the flock of crows passed, whether they were noble infantrymen or Church Knights, they were like grass beneath a flood, easily drowned and devoured.

  After destroying yet another Turin fortification, Sophia and Payne cleaned up the battlefield as usual.

  Pierce and Ian stood on the city wall.

  Suddenly, Pierce's expression shifted. He looked up into the distance, a dark glint flashing through his eyes.

  "It seems our target has finally taken the bait."

  It took Ian a few seconds to process what that meant. His expression instantly turned solemn as he followed Pierce's gaze into the distance.

  Sure enough, at the edge of the horizon, over a dozen figures appeared in the distance, approaching at an astonishing speed.

  "My Lord." Sophia and Payne arrived behind Pierce, having finished sweeping the battlefield.

  Pierce waved his hand. "Fall back. Once the fighting starts, I won't be able to look after you." He then glanced at Ian. "You too."

  "Yes, My Lord." Sophia and Payne obeyed immediately. Having operated with Pierce so many times, they knew exactly what was best. They immediately jumped off the wall, grabbed the three Giant Eagles, and retreated far away.

  Ian hesitated for a moment before whispering, "Be careful. Yuna wouldn't want to see anything happen to you either."

  Pierce smiled faintly. "Don't worry. I cherish my life very much."

  Seeing this, Ian nodded, said no more, jumped off the wall, and caught up with Sophia and Payne.

  In the blink of an eye, only Pierce remained on the city wall.

  He stared deeply at the rapidly approaching figures.

  There were twelve in total, all clad in black robes and wearing wolf-shaped masks. They carried a bloody aura that was vastly different from ordinary Winter Frost Priests.

  The person leading them was tall. Although the mask obscured his features, a shock of frost-white hair spilled out, indicating his advanced age.

  Before long, the twelve arrived in front of him.

  Seeing Pierce standing calmly on the city wall, showing absolutely no surprise at their arrival, the Combat Priests frowned in confusion.

  The leading Combat Priest spoke in a low voice, "You deliberately drew us out."

  Although phrased as a statement, the tone carried absolute certainty.

  Pierce smiled faintly and countered, "You are Maynard?"

  "What if I am?"

  "Then I have the right person." The smile remained on Pierce's lips, but his eyes turned glacial. "I was indeed waiting for you to show yourselves."

  By this time, Maynard had confirmed that Pierce was the only Wizard around—he completely disregarded the three people far in the distance. His heart instantly settled, and a mocking gleam flashed through his eyes as he looked at Pierce.

  "I must admit, you have a lot of nerve, daring to provoke us all by yourself."

  The other Combat Priests let out low chuckles, looking at Pierce as if he were a clown who didn't know his own limits.

  When they received intelligence that a Wizard was frantically attacking their fortifications, they assumed the Wizard-Hunter Force had come for revenge.

  They had prepared for a massive battle, but upon arriving, they discovered the enemy was just a single person!

  And merely a Rank 1 Crystalline Phase Wizard at that! This truly exceeded their expectations.

  Of course, for the person before them to destroy five fortifications in such a short time, his strength was definitely far beyond Rank 1 Crystalline Phase. His combat power was at least at the Rank 2 Liquid Phase level.

  But so what?

  They had ten Rank 2 and Rank 3 Priests, and two Rank 4 Priests. Moreover, Lord Maynard wielded a Quasi-Divine Artifact.

  Let alone a Wizard with Rank 2 Liquid Phase strength, even if a true Rank 2 Crystalline Phase Wizard appeared, they wouldn't fear them in the slightest.

  Facing the mocking gazes of the Winter Frost Priests, Pierce's expression remained calm and composed.

  For some reason, seeing this demeanor, a faint sense of foreboding rose from the depths of Maynard's heart.

  However, after squeezing the ice lotus hidden in his sleeve, his confidence returned. He sneered and abruptly barked, "Kill him!"

  But before the Winter Frost Priests could even move, Pierce took action.

  With a flash of silver light, his body was instantly dyed in a blinding silver radiance.

  Beneath the silver light, slightly darker glows surfaced simultaneously as six Magic Tattoos were activated at once.

  At the same time, Lightning Runes continuously emerged from the void, sinking into his body and disappearing.

  In the blink of an eye, the blinding silver radiance was overlaid by even more dazzling lightning. A suit of lightning armor instantly enveloped Pierce's body.

  Silver Star Fusion + Magic Tattoos + Lightning Runes!

  Pierce instantly entered his absolute combat state. Fifty-one Lightning Runes orbited his body, and electrical snakes danced wildly all over him. He radiated a terrifyingly violent, tyrannical aura that struck fear deep into the hearts of all who witnessed it.

  Crackle! Pierce clenched his fingers into a fist. Lightning converged frantically on the surface of his fist. The surging energy brought forth by activating the Thunderburst Magic Tattoo coiled around it. As he threw a punch, it transformed into a torrent of lightning sweeping forward!

  The violent energy caused the very void to tremble faintly. Massive distortions appeared in the air, and the ground began to collapse and shatter silently!

  Under the terrified gazes of the Winter Frost Priests, the blazing lightning swept toward them accompanied by rolling sonic booms, engulfing them like a toppling mountain and overturning sea!

  Rumble! A deafening explosion echoed across the sky above the wilderness!

  Blinding, eye-searing lightning abruptly expanded, sweeping wildly in all directions.

  Looking down from high above, the wilderness within a kilometer radius seemed to be enveloped in a massive blue-and-white hemispherical orb of light. Aside from being spectacularly beautiful, it radiated a devastating aura of apocalyptic destruction.