Looking as far as the eye could see, the distant mountains looked like a winding giant dragon, majestic, vast, and full of grandeur.
Liurnia of the Lakes, meanwhile, was like an enormous mirror, its surface calm and still as it reflected the sky and mountains in breathtaking beauty.
In truth, the water level of Liurnia of the Lakes had fallen greatly compared to the past.
Although there was still enough water for small boats to travel across it, larger vessels could no longer pass.
Naturally, the small boat carrying Messmer sailed at the very front, leading the other boats onward.
Their journey had begun at Testu's Island, which was not far from the Magic Academy's East Gate Bridge. It would take only about half the night for them to reach their destination.
The Caria Army's objective in this operation was very clear. They were to destroy the bridge piers.
The Tarnished were stationed on the eastern shore of Liurnia of the Lakes, while the Sorcerers of the Magic Academy still held their ground inside the academy. Their connection depended entirely on this bridge.
In fact, as early as when the Tarnished first set up camp on the eastern shore, Gideon had suggested that the Sorcerers leave their turtle-shell-like academy and assist in the battle, leaving only a small group behind to defend it.
However, the Preceptors of Magic had not agreed to the proposal.
To them, this City of Magic was their final asset. Unless there was truly no other choice, they absolutely could not abandon it.
The Raya Lucaria Academy of Magic occupied a unique position, standing atop a towering cliff.
With only steep cliffs and bottomless ravines surrounding it, the terrain made it naturally easy to defend and difficult to attack.
On top of that, the Carian Royal Family had spent years carefully building up and investing in the academy, constructing an extremely solid magical defense system.
This made the Magic Academy the most difficult city to capture in all of Liurnia of the Lakes.
Although its outermost magical defensive barrier had already been broken by Ranni, that did not mean the Magic Academy had become fragile.
In truth, the academy's internal defenses remained powerful, and many hidden magical traps and defensive mechanisms still waited for enemies to trigger them.
Because of that, even for the current Caria Army, taking the Magic Academy would be no easy task.
But this terrain also brought a problem.
Once the bridge connecting it to the outside world was lost, it would become extremely difficult for people outside to enter the Magic Academy, and just as difficult for those inside to leave.
That was why Messmer wanted to destroy the bridge.
He understood that as long as the East Gate Bridge was destroyed, the already fragile military alliance between the Magic Academy and the Tarnished would collapse in an instant.
Sharing Messmer's boat was a knight dressed in Carian-style armor.
However, this knight was not Rellana, who was usually inseparable from him, but another Carian Knight named Raziel.
Raziel was tall, clad in heavy armor, with a Glintstone-inlaid knight sword at his waist. He looked both imposing and refined.
Standing beside Messmer, he gazed at the Magic Academy on the distant cliff and thought to himself,
"Those people still haven't improved at all. Are they really planning to sit and wait for Dementia to destroy our great Caria?"
As the fleet drew closer and closer to the bridge piers, Messmer turned to look at the Carian Knight walking from the stern toward the bow behind him and asked in a low voice,
"Have you noticed something unusual?"
The Carian Knight came to Messmer's side and answered quietly,
"Just as you expected, the Tarnished made preparations in advance. The escort boats behind us and on both sides have all spotted fleets approaching, and there are quite a few of them."
Raziel stood to the side, narrowing his eyes slightly as he stared straight ahead.
Though the night was dark as ink, his sharp eyesight could still catch the faint outlines of boats in the distance.
If even he could see them, he did not believe the Demigod beside him, whose vision far surpassed his own, could have missed them. Yet there was not the slightest change in the Demigod's expression.
"They're coming so aggressively because they're confident. Looks like they think they have us cornered," Messmer said with a slight nod, as if everything was within his expectations.
There was no panic on Raziel's face either. He was only responsible for carrying out Messmer's orders. He did not know the full plan, nor whether Messmer had any backup prepared.
But the person beside him was a Demigod, an existence equal to Her Highness the Princess. That alone was enough to give him confidence.
Among the Carian Knights, he was a newcomer. Though he had not seen much of the wider world, he had seen Ranni's last move directly destroy the Magic Academy's defensive magical array.
He felt that as long as this Demigod was not a descendant like Godrick, whose divine bloodline was thin, the strength he possessed should not be lacking.
Just then, Messmer's voice suddenly rang out.
"Pass down the order. Abandon the transport boats. Everyone is to transfer to the escort boats immediately. We retreat!"
Raziel froze at the words and blurted out, "We're retreating already? But there are still Tarnished blocking us from behind!" A hint of reluctance showed in his voice.
"That works out. We don't need to retreat too quickly either." Messmer waved his hand, and the war spear in his grasp traced a perfect arc through the air.
Raziel looked at Messmer in confusion, as if he did not fully understand what he meant.
But while he was still thinking, a massive magical meteor suddenly shot in from the distance, falling from the sky like a flaming boulder.
The flaming war spear knocked the meteor aside. It drew a brilliant trail of light through the air before smashing into the lake and throwing up a huge wave.
"We really should retreat," Raziel said, coming back to himself.
He had never seen such a powerful magical meteor. Even the Preceptors could not do something like that.
Perhaps only top-tier Sorcerers like the Princess and Her Majesty the Queen could use magic of that level.
Just as Raziel's thoughts were running wild, he suddenly felt the air around him turn colder, as if a chill were quietly spreading.
He looked down and saw someone walking across the surface of the water.
That person was very fast, drawing closer and closer, and Raziel finally saw it clearly. The person was not walking on the water. The water beneath his feet was freezing.
"Cold magic?" Raziel's heart jolted.
That form of magic had been created by Ranni's teacher, the Witch Renna, and even in Caria, very few knew how to use it.
Yet today, he was seeing it in the hands of a Tarnished, and with such power that it could freeze the surface of the lake.
Could the Golden Order Dynasty have brought Lady Renna out as well?
"That is magic used by 'the All-Knowing' Sir Gideon Ofnir. He should be the one who planned the Tarnished operation tonight. He is best at gathering information and intelligence, and his mastery of both magic and Incantations is very high."
Messmer could see farther than Raziel. He had clearly seen the thin figure standing on a small boat with a staff raised, wearing a crown-like helmet.
Then he looked toward the figure on the lake, sweeping his war spear in an arc before him. Scorching fire of life built a wall of flame over the lake, stopping the spread of the ice field in that instant.
"The one charging at us is 'Raging Wolf' Vargram. If nothing unexpected has happened, the core figures of the Roundtable Hold should all be here."
"Should we counterattack now?" Raziel drew the Caria Longsword at his waist, and as magic surged, a magical crest was already gathering, ready to be released.
Messmer thought briefly, then said decisively,
"Have the archers and Sorcerers counterattack. They have set up such a grand formation for no reason other than to swallow us whole. Let them keep chasing. We continue retreating."
The moment his words fell, Messmer kicked off and leaped into the air, making the small boat sway beneath him.
Vargram had appeared there at some point. The war spear and greatsword collided, throwing off sparks with a crisp clang.
The sparks vanished in an instant. That brief clash lasted only a moment before the two separated. Vargram dropped back onto the ice field, while Messmer landed once more on the boat.
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