Chapter 61: Incalculable Terror

On either side of the two sword-and-shield phalanxes, a Church Nation lance-cavalry phalanx was positioned.

The warhorses were all covered in thick barding, with only their eyes exposed.

The cavalrymen gripped three-meter-long heavy lances, their shafts engraved with various magical runes for offense.

Further back, at the very rear of the entire force, was the magic phalanx.

These soldiers didn’t wear heavy armor but were uniformly clad in the Church Nation’s standard robes.

The robes were light and thin, making it convenient to inscribe runes that boosted intelligence and mana recovery speed.

They held various staves, ready to cast spells at any moment.

Besides the ground forces, there was movement in the sky.

Hovering in the air around the phalanxes were several formations of Church Nation Dragon Swordsmen.

Those flying dragons were small in size but extremely fast.

The swordsmen rode on the dragons’ backs, holding specially crafted longswords, and watched the ground below with vigilance.

“Elder Lord, have you found anything?” the adjutant stepped forward and asked.

Augustus said nothing, just stared straight ahead at the white expanse of wind and snow.

He could sense that the restless ice-attribute mana was coming from directly ahead.

Moreover, the concentration of that mana was terrifyingly high.

Augustus took a deep breath and closed his eyes.

The mana inside his body began to churn wildly.

Augustus snapped his eyes open, a dazzling silver light flashing across them.

His vision instantly pierced through the raging wind and snow, looking straight ahead.

About two kilometers away from them, there was a massive iceberg.

No, that wasn’t an iceberg.

That was a living creature.

An enormous dragon, too huge for words, lay sprawled in the snow.

Its scales were ice-blue, each one the size of a millstone, and its breathing stirred up raging blizzards.

—Upper Magic: Priest’s Vision.

Magic ranks from low to high were Apprentice Magic, Low Magic, Medium Magic, High Magic.

And what Augustus used was the higher tier: Upper Magic.

Logically, nothing in this world could elude Upper Magic’s sight.

But when the dragon’s status screen appeared in Augustus’s mind, his entire body stiffened. His already pinprick pupils contracted further.

Lines of text emerged before his eyes.

[Target: Extreme Cold Snow Dragon (World-Destroying Level Monster)]

[Level: ???]

[HP: ???¿¿¿/???¿¿¿]

[Attack: Cannot Estimate]

[Defense: Cannot Estimate]

[Status: Optimal (All stats increased by 50%)]

Augustus stared at those question marks.

All question marks.

Even the level was unreadable.

The HP was just garbled symbols.

Attack and Defense directly displayed as “Cannot Estimate.”

This wasn’t something humans could contend with.

An upper-tier Inspection Magic couldn’t even grasp the opponent’s details.

“Elder Lord… how is the status screen?”

The adjutant, seeing Augustus’s expression change, asked cautiously.

“May the Goddess and the sacred radiance of the Church Nation eternally shine upon us.” Augustus didn’t respond to the adjutant, only murmured to himself.

Then.

“Pass my orders! All units prepare to attack!” Augustus’s voice rang out around them.

The adjutant was stunned for a moment, then immediately drew the longsword at his waist, turned to the main force, and shouted at the top of his lungs: “All units prepare! Prepare to attack!”

The orders were relayed layer by layer.

The entire subjugation force sprang into action instantly.

The sword-and-shield soldiers slammed their tower shields onto the snow in unison, producing a dull thud.

The golden cross insignias on the shields began to glow with a dazzling light.

The lance cavalry pulled tight on their reins; the warhorses let out uneasy whinnies as the runes on their lances started flashing.

The magic soldiers raised their staves, rapidly chanting spells as the mana in the air converged wildly.

The Dragon Swordsmen in the sky also lowered their flight altitude, ready to dive at any moment.

Augustus raised his staff, staring at the still-slumbering giant beast ahead.

The wind and snow grew fiercer.

“Elder Lord, the formation has been fully deployed,” the adjutant ran over to report.

Augustus nodded. He glanced at the sword-and-shield phalanx beside him.

These soldiers were handpicked by the Church Nation, with exceptional physical strength.

Their shields not only blocked physical attacks but also had defensive runes that could negate most magical damage.

Augustus raised his hand. The first phalanx, the second phalanx, and the third phalanx saw the gesture and immediately activated their Joint Barrier together!

The commanders of the three sword-and-shield phalanxes made the same gesture for the soldiers to see clearly.

Tens of thousands of sword-and-shield soldiers simultaneously channeled mana into their shields. The golden cross insignias on the shields burst with piercing blue light.

These blue lights interwove in the air, forming a massive translucent mana barrier.

The barrier was like an inverted bowl, tightly protecting Augustus and the magic phalanx inside.

The lance-cavalry phalanxes on the left and right began to move slowly forward, their horses’ hooves crunching on the snow, producing muffled sounds.

The cavalrymen leveled their lances in front of them, the tips pointing straight toward the Ice Snow Dragon.

Behind, in the magic phalanx, a myriad of multicolored lights flickered to life.

Fireballs, ice spikes, wind blades, lightning…

Various spells began to take shape at the tips of the staves.

Their standard robes glowed faintly; the intelligence runes started taking effect, greatly boosting spell power and casting speed.

The Dragon Swordsmen in the air also formed an attack formation.

Augustus slammed his staff heavily into the snow.

“Thrum—”

A silver-white magic circle instantly unfolded beneath his feet.

This magic circle was extremely complex, containing countless smaller geometric figures.

Then, around the main magic circle, several smaller ones flickered to life one after another.

These smaller magic circles resonated with the central main circle and began to rotate slowly.

Augustus was charging a Multi Upper Magic Combination.

This technique was incredibly powerful but required a long charge time, during which it could not be interrupted.

Augustus closed his eyes, focusing entirely on guiding the mana.

“Hold the line for the Elder Lord! Anyone who dares to retreat even half a step will be executed without mercy!”

Understanding the situation, the adjutant drew his longsword and roared.

The sword-and-shield soldiers gritted their teeth, propping their shields against their shoulders, leaning forward slightly, ready to withstand the impact.

At that moment, the distant Ice Snow Dragon seemed to sense something.

Its massive head slowly lifted.

Two ice-blue vertical pupils locked onto the Church Nation’s subjugation force through the wind and snow.

That gaze was filled with nothing but brutality and disdain.

“ROAR—!”

The Ice Snow Dragon opened its gaping maw and let out an earth-shattering roar.

The sound was so loud that blood started streaming directly from the ears of the soldiers in front.

Accompanied by this roar, the surrounding wind and snow instantly became extremely violent.

What had been an ordinary blizzard now transformed into an Ice Blade Storm that could tear through steel.