Chapter 221: Chapter221-Fearless! Charge!
For them, it didn't matter how formidable Alastair seemed.
What mattered was that before, they couldn't even breach his defenses, and their skills had no effect!
Now that Alastair's HP was decreasing, it meant their attacks were effective, capable of inflicting real damage on him!
Alastair clearly felt something was amiss within his body, but he still forced himself to sneer at the people before him.
"If you're so eager to die, then I shall oblige you. But simply letting you die easily would be rather dull. Let's play this out slowly!"
After saying this, Alastair snorted coldly and turned to leave.
His flying mount beneath his feet also seemed particularly frightened, mechanically flapping its wings.
However, as he passed the second and third fortresses, Alastair still felt a discomfort in his heart.
If he couldn't take the first fortress, could he really not take the other two?
He gathered all his energy once again and furiously smashed it towards the protective shield of the third fortress!
When Cecilia felt the immense oppressive force approaching from afar, alarms went off in her mind!
Without any hesitation, she threw nearly half of her energy into the shield.
The shield was designed to automatically add and repair itself, otherwise, they might not have been able to withstand a blow from a semigod-tier powerhouse.
As expected, when the white orb of light hit their protective shield, it shuddered for a moment!
[Shield durability has reached zero, please replenish energy stones immediately!]
[Shield durability has reached zero, please replenish energy stones immediately!]
…
This warning repeated four times.
Cecilia burned through energy stones like flowing water, finally stabilizing the durability, but only 11% remained.
Watching her protective shield shudder, Cecilia felt terrified.
This was merely a single strike from a semigod-tier powerhouse in anger.
She dared not think what would have happened if Alastair had targeted her side with his initial attack.
They would have stood no chance, and the tumultuous noises from the surroundings had already impacted them.
The corpses of the monsters they had previously defeated had turned to ash, leaving them unable to collect anything now.
This was merely the aftermath of the battle.
They simply couldn't withstand such attacks!
Alastair had thought that his strike would at least destroy the protective shield before him, but unexpectedly, they had withstood it.
Furious beyond measure, Alastair now had to hold back.
He felt there were serious issues with his body, and he couldn't stay here any longer!
He needed to find out what was happening!
After Alastair had completely left, the people at the three fortresses finally breathed a sigh of relief.
Everyone at the first fortress collapsed to the ground, feeling as though their clothes were soaked through as if washed by water.
It was terrifying, truly terrifying.
Was this the oppressive might of a semigod-tier powerhouse?
They suddenly felt fortunate just to be alive!
Meanwhile, John immediately checked on Old Nick and the others.
Abby had already retreated to the back, her lips tinged with a trace of blood.
Old Nick and Wayne's faces were obscured by their thick beards, making it hard to read their expressions.
However, their hands, clutching the hammers, were trembling slightly, clearly not a good sign.
"How are you guys doing? Are you all right?" John asked with concern.
Abby shook her head slightly and wiped the blood from her lips.
Old Nick let out a hearty laugh, but then coughed a few times as if he had choked on his own breath.
"It seems I'm getting old. Back in the day, this sort of thing wouldn't have taken up much of our time!"
Wayne looked worriedly at Old Nick, his eyes shining with a different kind of light.
"Uncle Nick, maybe you should rest a bit first?"
Old Nick waved his hand dismissively, his gaze towards John filled with a different kind of spark.
"I didn't expect you, lad, to actually have power of control. Well, that's good to see. Next time, you might not die so quickly."
John was struck by a thought; it was Principal Sophia who had informed him about the power of control.
Logically, Old Nick and the others, as original inhabitants of this fragment, the NPCs of the secret realm, shouldn't know about this.
Yet, why did Old Nick know about the power of control?
And it seemed he might know even more about it than John did.
"There probably won't be any danger tonight, but if that man comes back, I doubt you'll have the chance to withstand him again," Old Nick said with a hearty laugh.
"Don't be so surprised. We old folks have lived in this place for many years; there are things we ought to know. You aren't from this world."
Hearing this, everyone around shivered involuntarily.
They had visited other secret realms, but they had never encountered NPCs with such autonomous consciousness as Old Nick, who not only actively helped them but could also discern that they were not from this dimension.
Could it be that Old Nick was some sort of special NPC?
Doubts began to stir in the minds of the others.
Meanwhile, the silver mirror in the outside world once again turned pitch black.
Due to the previous incident, this time, no one was particularly surprised, just curious.
What exactly was happening? Why did the screen suddenly go black as if something inside didn't want them to see?
Yet, this mirror had been personally summoned by Principal Sophia.
Unless someone had more power than Principal Sophia, there was no way to block the content shown in it.
Moreover, this fragment of the secret realm was privately owned by Principal Sophia herself.
Now that they could no longer see what was inside, why was that?
Everyone quietly watched Principal Sophia, who was not far away.
Did Principal Sophia know what was happening inside the secret realm or not?
If she did know, would that be a good or bad thing for them?
Could it possibly endanger the children?
The onlookers outside were anxiously holding their breath.
But now, since they could no longer see inside, they were left with no choice but to accept the situation helplessly.
Upon the city walls, Archibald also overheard the conversation among John and the others, and his heart skipped a beat.
Although he didn't understand what they were discussing, he knew these matters were definitely beyond his grasp!
He quickly arranged for those injured to return and receive proper treatment.
However, he also assigned some of the less severely injured to remain on guard.
Even though they had driven that person away, who could tell if he might return at night?
It was an incalculable risk for them.
Soon, only John and a few others were left atop the entire tower.
Abby had been severely injured just before, but at this moment, there seemed to be nothing amiss with her.
Yet, John, with his keen senses, felt that the life force within her staff had diminished significantly.
"Why are you helping me?" John asked, puzzled.
Alastair only wanted to sacrifice these students.
To Alastair, they were unaware of Old Nick and Abby's situation, thinking of them merely as local inhabitants.
Even if all these people died, it wouldn't affect these natives in any way.
Why then would they choose to stand up and help him this time?
Abby gave John a faint glance, her voice clear and bell-like.
"Do you think we can't feel the difference in this world?"
John froze, instinctively looking at Old Nick.
Old Nick nodded, his expression turning grave as he gazed at the sky.
"From the moment you entered, we've noticed that this place seems to be under a spell, a formation laid by someone."
"This formation is extremely malicious, intended to sacrifice all life on this continent!"
All life?!
John's eyes widened in shock.
That would mean...