Under the pitch-black night sky, the remaining captives had no other choice but to keep moving forward. The steel wall formed by the infantry and cavalry lines of the Victoriaz Kingdom in front of them was not the end, but rather the final obstacle they had to shatter in order to seize their freedom.
With hoarse roars echoing and shattering the night, the prisoners charged forward. A life-and-death battle erupted once again at the threshold of the palace gates.
Clang! Boom! Crash!
The sound of swords clashing against steel shields, the barrage of magical explosions, and the panicked neighs of cavalry horses created a deafening chaos. However, amidst the bloody clash, Kaydan did not stay idle.
The gray-haired youth extended his right hand, summoning hundreds of sand grains floating around him, then compacted them with extreme gravity magic until the grains of sand became as hard and heavy as steel bullets.
Shhhk!
With an efficient and lethal hand movement, Kaydan unleashed the storm of sand projectiles toward the enemy lines.
"Ahhh....!!!"
Screams of agony instantly echoed back and forth.
The thick infantry shield defenses were easily pierced like fragile crackers. His sand and gravity magic decimated the Victoriaz Kingdom forces' formation with absolute ease.
The elite soldiers on the front lines were killed instantly, their bodies and armor riddled with holes from the high-pressure sand piercing through them. The cavalry horses collapsed, throwing their riders onto the blood-soaked ground.
In just one devastating strike, a massive gap was formed. The path to the city streets was now wide open.
"The path is open! Let's run toward the capital gates and get out of this damn place!" Kaydan shouted loudly, giving a command that ignited their spirits.
The moment Kaydan ran to lead at the front, everyone behind him immediately pushed their pace with all their might, including Calverd, who kept his position at the rear to protect the group. The faces that were once filled with despair were now colored with a glimmer of hope.
But the euphoria of freedom lasted only for a moment. Something far more terrifying was waiting for them in the darkness.
Whoosh...
The air suddenly whistled sharply. A barrage of small, incredibly sharp-tipped stone projectiles shot out at the speed of bullets from the direction of the gate.
Zrash! Zrash! Zrash!
The sharp stones instantly pierced the heads and chests of several running prisoners with a terrifying precision.
Thud! Thud! Thud!
The lifeless bodies plummeted to the ground, killed instantly before they could even realize what had killed them.
Hearing the sound of falling bodies behind them, Kaydan and Calverd instinctively turned their heads. The two youths widened their eyes, utterly shocked to see that several of their comrades who had just tasted the euphoria of freedom were now lying lifeless on the ground.
"That must be the first prince's doing!" Kaydan hissed, his teeth grinding in suppressed anger, deeply recognizing the lethal characteristics of that highly precise earth manipulation magic. "It seems that bastard king ordered the two of them to step in and kill us all."
"Is the first prince of this kingdom really that strong?" Calverd asked with ragged breaths, his eyes radiating full vigilance.
"Yes, he is very strong!" Kaydan answered firmly, his hands gathering sand again while keeping up the pace. "You cannot underestimate him. Commander Balden's strength that you saw earlier is still far below that prince's power!"
Hearing the comparison, Calverd gasped. He had never expected that the prince of the Victoriaz Kingdom possessed such immense combat power, far surpassing the elite commander who had overwhelmed them previously.
And before Calverd could fully digest the warning, Kaydan's fighting instincts suddenly screamed. Something was darting toward them at an invisible speed.
"Watch out!"
Kaydan suddenly pulled Calverd's shoulder roughly, throwing the youth behind him. In that exact second, he formed a thick wall of sand compacted by gravity right in front of them.
Clang!
A loud, clanging sound of clashing metal rang out, shattering the tense atmosphere of the night. Sparks ignited in the air as a large sword collided with Kaydan's steel-hard sand wall.
"You are quite skilled." a man spoke with an arrogant and condescending tone from the other side of the sand wall. "This sand is truly strong and sturdy, like a layered steel shield."
Hearing such a familiar voice, Kaydan's facial expression changed drastically. The look in his eyes turned incredibly dark and serious.
"You think your sword can pierce my sand wall easily, Prince Wiltan?" Kaydan retorted coldly, preparing to counterattack.
Zap!
Using spatial blink magic, Prince Wiltan had relocated in the blink of an eye.
"Do you think I am foolish enough to attack you from only one side, slave?" Wiltan said with an ice-cold tone, his hand swinging the large sword with full force toward Kaydan's neck.
However, the voice that answered Kaydan's words did not come from the front, but from behind them. The prince was now directly behind Kaydan and Calverd, his sword already raised high, ready to unleash a lethal slash.
Kaydan spun his body around with extraordinary reflex speed. Once again, he summoned his sand and instantly formed a sand wall to block the sword swing.
Clang!
The sword struck the sand shield extremely hard once more, generating a shock tremor and an ear-piercing metallic clang.
"Tsk! This troublesome sand wall again!" Wiltan grumbled in annoyance, clicking his tongue because his attacks had been thwarted twice in a row. However, a cruel smirk slowly formed on his lips. "But it doesn't matter if you want to stall for time. After all, all those lowly prisoners have already been slaughtered by my brother."
Hearing the words just uttered by the second prince, Kaydan and Calverd were instantly struck with shock. Their hearts pounded wildly. However, because the thick sand wall still stood blocking their view of the fleeing group, they could not verify the truth of his words and refused to simply believe the provocative claim.
The two youths could only remain perfectly still in a state of high alert behind the protection of the sand wall, panting heavily as they looked for an opening to counterattack.
Kaydan turned his face slightly toward the indigo-haired youth by his side.
"Hey, can you help me? We must work together to defeat this prince right now!" Kaydan whispered rapidly.
Calverd gave his consent with a firm nod without the slightest hesitation.
"Yes, I will help you!"
Receiving his agreement, Kaydan leaned in, bringing his face closer to the indigo-haired youth's ear so their plan would not be heard by Wiltan, who was behind the sand wall.
"Listen to me! The moment I remove this sand wall, you must immediately use your telekinesis magic as fast as you can!" Kaydan whispered, outlining their counter-strategy. "Lock his body! Bring his movements to an abrupt halt, even for just a second, so I can kill him with my gravity sand shot before he can use his blink magic again!"
"Yes, I understand!" Calverd answered firmly.
The indigo-haired youth raised his right hand in front of his chest, focusing the recently restored flow of mana in his body, ready to execute the plan with full power.
Seeing his partner ready, Kaydan counted down in his heart.
Three... two... one!
Shhhk...
The protective sand wall instantly collapsed and shattered, turning into ordinary sand grains falling to the ground. And a fraction of a second after the sand slid down to reveal Wiltan's figure, Calverd, who already had his hand aimed forward, instantly unleashed his telekinesis magic.
An invisible blast of energy slammed into Prince Wiltan. The prince's body was instantly locked and forcefully hoisted into the air, floating without a foothold, exactly according to their plan.
Kaydan was ready to fire his lethal sand at the prince.
However, instead of panicking because his body was suspended in the air, Prince Wiltan grinned broadly, staring straight at the two youths with a condescending look.
"Too slow and too weak."
Zap!
Wiltan used his blink magic in mid-air, escaping the grip of the telekinesis with absolute ease.
Calverd's telekinesis magic was unable to restrain spatial dimensional displacement.
In the blink of an eye, the prince shifted and appeared right in front of Calverd's face. The gleam of his sword blade reflected the moonlight, already swung back and ready to cleanly sever the indigo-haired youth's head from his neck.
Time seemed to crawl at a snail's pace. Calverd's eyes widened, his body frozen in shock at the sight of the deadly sword tip that was only a few inches away from his neck.
Even Kaydan, who was right next to him, didn't have time to react to match the nonsensical speed of the second prince of the Victoriaz Kingdom.