On the bronze chariot.

  An imperceptible, transparent halo spread out, enveloping the entire vehicle and keeping the howling winds at bay.

  Ferrie stood with his hands clasped behind his back, his gaze fixed on the outpost in the distance, his expression solemn.

  Beside him, Saron carefully observed the Priest's expression and asked tentatively, "My Lord, should we call for more chariots?"

  "No need," Ferrie said lightly. "I am the only Priest patrolling within a hundred-mile radius. Since the enemy is a formal Wizard, bringing more Apprentice Priests and Tier 1 Legendary Knights is useless."

  Saron nodded in agreement and said no more.

  Soon, the chariots closed to within a thousand meters of the outpost.

  From this vantage point, the men on the chariots could clearly see the situation on the ground.

  Seeing Pierce and his two companions standing amidst a field of corpses, waiting leisurely, everyone on the chariots, including Ferrie, froze involuntarily.

  When he recovered, Ferrie's face darkened instantly.

  Saron's expression was equally ugly.

  It was his first time seeing such an arrogant invader. After killing their men, this Wizard had the audacity to swaggeringly remain at the outpost. From his posture, he was clearly waiting for them to arrive so he could finish them off as well.

  It was arrogant to the extreme. He didn't take them seriously at all.

  Ferrie drew a silver emblem from his sleeve, cradling it in his palms like a precious treasure, and aimed it at Pierce from afar.

  A faint, snow-white light flashed across the surface of the silver emblem. A cold sneer then appeared on Ferrie's face.

  "I thought this arrogant fool was someone powerful. Turns out he's just a Rank 1 Gaseous Phase Wizard!"

  Saron was stunned for a moment, then undisguised mockery surfaced on his face.

  If it was merely a Rank 1 Gaseous Phase Wizard, then there was indeed no need for reinforcements.

  Lord Ferrie had clashed with Wizards many times. He had killed at least seven or eight Rank 1 Gaseous Phase Wizards. This one would just be another tally to his name.

  At the same time, Pierce was also using the Omniscient Eye to probe the enemy's strength.

  [Mental Energy Level: 15.32. Equivalent to a Rank 1 Liquid Phase Wizard.]

  Pierce narrowed his eyes.

  The rank of a formal Priest of the Winter Frost Church could be determined by the number of snowflake patterns on their sleeves.

  One snowflake denoted a Rank 1 Priest.

  Two snowflakes meant a Rank 2 Priest.

  And so on.

  The Priest on the leading chariot was clearly a Rank 2 Priest.

  "One Rank 2 Priest, nine Apprentice Priests, one Tier 2 Legendary Knight, nine Tier 1 Legendary Knights, plus eighty Grand Knights."

  "That's quite a lineup."

  Hearing Pierce's muttered assessment, the faces of Sophia and Payne paled dramatically.

  "My Lord," Sophia said, her voice trembling slightly. "The enemy is too strong. We should leave immediately."

  If it had been a Rank 1 Priest, Sophia believed Pierce could handle it.

  But a Rank 2 Priest was a formidable existence comparable to a Rank 1 Liquid Phase Wizard.

  Not to mention the addition of a Tier 2 Legendary Knight.

  How could they possibly survive against such a formation?

  Yet, facing Sophia's panic, Pierce merely replied calmly, "Don't panic. Just protect yourselves."

  Sophia and Payne were both shocked.

  Judging by his tone, Pierce intended to fight.

  The two exchanged a helpless glance.

  As Pierce's followers, they had no choice but to obey his orders. Gritting their teeth, they readied their weapons and assumed combat stances.

  As the distance closed to five hundred meters, the five bronze chariots accelerated, rumbling toward Pierce's group with an unstoppable, berserk momentum.

  But before the chariots could close the gap, a massive volume of black mist suddenly erupted from Pierce's body, shooting into the sky like a dark pillar.

  Swoosh!

  Countless black ravens burst from the pillar of mist, blotting out the sun like a dark tide as they swept toward the bronze chariots.

  Seeing the dense, nightmarish flock, the faces of many Turin warriors changed.

  "Don't panic! Drivers, maintain speed! Keep charging! Ranged attackers, activate the arrays! Release the frost currents to block those monsters!"

  Saron shouted deeply, his calm and steady voice quickly restoring his men's composure.

  But in the very next second, the sky-filling Fog Crows suddenly opened their beaks and unleashed incredibly piercing shrieks.

  Countless shrieks merged together, forming an invisible sonic wave that swept through the high altitude. Wherever it passed, the air visibly distorted.

  Even from a distance, Sophia and Payne couldn't help but grimace, their ears ringing with sharp pain.

  If they felt it, the Turins facing the sonic wave directly fared far worse.

  Except for the central bronze chariot, where Ferrie reacted instantly to summon a massive ice crystal shield to protect his vehicle, the other four chariots trembled violently. The protective energy barriers surrounding them shattered almost instantaneously.

  Inside those four chariots, the weaker Turin warriors didn't even have time to scream before their bodies exploded into clouds of blood mist.

  The narrative has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.

  Several Legendary Knights avoided being blown to pieces, but they bled from all seven orifices, their bodies collapsing limply to the floor, life fading from them in an instant.

  Finally, the chariots themselves groaned and disintegrated. Innumerable bronze fragments rained down upon the earth.

  When the sonic wave dissipated, only a single, solitary bronze chariot remained in the sky.

  The surviving Turin warriors, including Saron, stared blankly at the scene, their minds buzzing and their faces deathly pale.

  "Accursed Wizard!"

  Ferrie's face was livid, his eyes practically spitting fire.

  Four chariots had been annihilated right before his eyes, with no survivors among the drivers. To him, this was a humiliating disgrace.

  In a fit of shock and rage, icy energy fluctuations erupted from Ferrie's body. He launched himself from the chariot, shooting toward Pierce like a bolt of lightning.

  The Fog Crows flapped their wings, attempting to intercept him, but with a wave of his hand, Ferrie unleashed a torrential storm of ice cones, shredding the interceptors to pieces.

  A massive, glaring hole was instantly carved into the dense flock.

  Pierce ordered the swarm to bypass the Priest and attack the remaining bronze chariot instead.

  Although Mist Raven had devoured many corvine magical creatures, its current strength could only rival a Rank 1 Gaseous Phase Wizard at best. It was still outmatched against a Rank 2 Priest equivalent to a Liquid Phase Wizard. There was no point in wasting its strength.

  He would deal with this guy personally!

  Pierce raised his palm. A ball of fire materialized out of thin air, rapidly expanding to the size of a millstone. Carrying a blistering heat that promised to incinerate everything, it roared toward Ferrie.

  Flaming Sphere!

  Facing the massive fireball hurtling toward him like a meteor, Ferrie snorted coldly. A deep blue light flashed across his right arm, and with a series of cracking sounds, a thick layer of solid ice encased it entirely.

  He then threw a vicious punch, his ice-armored fist crashing heavily into the incoming fireball.

  Boom!

  A deafening explosion echoed through the sky!

  As extreme heat clashed with absolute zero, a massive cloud of white steam erupted, engulfing a hundred-meter radius.

  Whoosh!

  Ferrie broke through the steam, looking slightly battered. His originally spotless white robe now bore several scorch marks.

  He landed on the ground, glaring at Pierce with a mix of shock and fury.

  Since the war with the Wizard civilization began, Ferrie had fought no less than twenty or thirty Wizards. He considered himself thoroughly familiar with the capabilities of Rank 1 Gaseous Phase Wizards.

  A Second Circle spell like the one just used was something he could usually block with ease.

  But the actual power of that Flaming Sphere far exceeded his expectations.

  Its destructive force was nearing that of a Third Circle spell!

  "The Eye of Winter clearly indicated this bastard is only a Rank 1 Gaseous Phase Wizard. Why are his spells so incredibly powerful?"

  Ferrie was both infuriated and perplexed.

  But reality afforded him no time to ponder. Pierce's next wave of attacks had already arrived.

  Glowing with a brilliant cyan aura and wielding a longsword wreathed in crackling lightning, Pierce closed the hundred-meter distance with lightning speed, appearing right in front of Ferrie in the blink of an eye.

  Snikt!

  The razor-sharp blade cleaved through the air!

  After breaking through to Tier 2 Legendary Knight, Pierce's limit for bearing Elemental Runes had increased significantly.

  He could now sustain eight Elemental Runes simultaneously.

  With eight Wind Runes buffing him at once, his speed had reached a terrifying extreme.

  Even someone as strong as Ferrie found it nearly impossible to track Pierce's movements.

  With a mere blur, Pierce was already beside him, the blade less than half a meter from his neck.

  The electricity dancing across the steel even made Ferrie's skin tingle with numbness.

  Hum!

  In the nick of time, a freezing blue halo flared around Ferrie.

  The halo lasted for a fraction of a second before expanding into a bone-chilling aura. Instantly, a layer of frost armor condensed over Ferrie's body, encasing him completely.

  Boom!

  The blade, supercharged with violent lightning, struck Ferrie's neck. With a massive detonation, Ferrie was blasted away like a cannonball, crashing heavily into the ground and gouging a trench over a hundred meters long before skidding to a halt.

  It was clearly visible that a deep gash had been carved into the thick ice armor around his neck, the deepest point missing his flesh by mere millimeters.

  Seeing this, Pierce raised an eyebrow in surprise.

  He had simultaneously applied eight Lightning Runes to the blade, and he was using Silver Star. Aside from burning a Magic Tattoo and fusing with Silver Star, this was his strongest attack. Yet, it had failed to kill Ferrie. This Rank 2 Priest of the Winter Frost Church was truly formidable.

  Little did Pierce know that the shock in Ferrie's heart was a hundred times greater.

  Struggling to his feet, Ferrie looked at Pierce with eyes full of horror.

  The ice armor protecting him was his Innate Divine Spell, bestowed upon him by the great Lady of Winter Frost during his baptism when he was promoted to Rank 2 Priest.

  For any formal Priest, their Innate Divine Spell was their greatest trump card.

  Ferrie never imagined that his life-saving trump card would be forced out so early in the fight.

  "This bastard is definitely not a normal Rank 1 Gaseous Phase Wizard!"

  Ferrie's face was incredibly grim. His initial calm and certainty of victory had completely vanished.

  The strength of this young Wizard was abnormally terrifying. He even began to feel an ominous premonition.

  On the other side, Saron and his men, who were desperately fending off the swarm of Fog Crows from the remaining bronze chariot, saw Ferrie get battered and even forced to use his Innate Divine Spell within the first few exchanges. Their faces collectively drained of color.

  "How is this possible?!"

  "Even Lord Ferrie is..."

  "What... what do we do?"

  Panic rapidly spread through their ranks.

  "Shut up!" Saron roared. "What are you panicking for? Lord Ferrie is a Rank 2 Priest! There's no way he'll lose to an alien Wizard!"

  Despite his words, Saron felt zero confidence.

  No matter how you looked at it, Ferrie was clearly on the losing end.

  But he couldn't say something that would destroy their morale. He could only pray that Ferrie would somehow defeat the enemy.

  "The Lord is so strong!"

  Payne stared blankly, muttering in sheer shock.

  "I didn't expect the Lord to be this powerful! That's a Rank 2 Priest!" Sophia's pretty face flushed with excitement. Her eyes were glued to Pierce, filled with undisguised adoration.

  Amidst their joyous surprise, the two also felt embarrassed and ashamed.

  Just moments ago, they had doubted Pierce's strength. They never anticipated their Lord was this monstrous, suppressing a dignified Rank 2 Priest so thoroughly that he couldn't even lift his head.

  Boom!

  A deafening roar snapped Sophia and Payne back to reality.

  They quickly focused their gaze and saw Pierce, glowing with magical auras, charging at Ferrie once again.

  Endurance!

  Bull's Strength!

  Cat's Grace!

  In a split second, Pierce cast three enhancement spells on himself. His already astonishing speed and power spiked once more. He had transformed into an unstoppable, berserk war machine.

  Before Ferrie could even catch his breath, he was sent flying again by Pierce's sword. The ice armor on his chest cracked with a sharp noise, and chunks of shattered ice rained down.

  This strike sent a chill straight into Ferrie's heart. While channeling power to repair the ice armor, he raised a finger and pointed.

  A bone-piercing chill suddenly materialized, expanding outward from Ferrie in all directions.

  Crack! Crack!

  The ground within a radius of several hundred meters rapidly froze over. Freezing mist filled the air, and snowflakes began to drift down.

  As soon as Pierce entered the area of effect, a wave of cold enveloped him. Visible frost formed on his body, and his speed noticeably slowed.

  He raised an eyebrow and immediately cast Resist Energy on himself.

  This spell allowed the target to increase their resistance to a specific elemental energy.

  Without hesitation, Pierce designated Cold Energy.

  The biting chill clinging to him dissipated substantially. His agility returning, Pierce sneered and charged at Ferrie again.

  Mid-charge, his form suddenly blurred, and in the next second, he split into eight identical figures.

  Mirror Image!

  Eight identical Pierces, surrounded by cyan light and wielding lightning-wreathed swords, converged on Ferrie expressionlessly.

  Ferrie's face drastically changed, a bitter taste filling his mouth.

  The Wizards he had fought in the past all adhered to standard, predictable combat styles. When had he ever encountered someone like Pierce, who seamlessly blended spellcasting with brutal melee combat, employing an endless stream of varied tactics?

  Worse still, this hybrid style was incredibly lethal, beating him to the point of misery.

  If he had known this young Wizard was this terrifying, he would have definitely gone back for reinforcements.

  But regret was useless now. Seeing the murderous figures closing in, Ferrie had no time to overthink. He instantly pulled out the Eye of Winter to identify Pierce's true body.

  The feedback he received left him stunned.

  All eight "Pierces" were illusions. None of them was the real body!

  "Oh no!"

  Ferrie realized his mistake, his face draining of blood.

  But it was too late. A piercing screech of displaced air erupted behind him, followed immediately by the paralyzing shock of violent electricity.

  Boosted by Bull's Strength, Pierce's slash this time was even stronger and more ferocious than the last!

  The furious lightning brutally tore through the ice armor. The gleaming blade then swept across Ferrie's neck, and a large head was sent flying into the sky.

  Thump!

  The headless corpse swayed for a moment before collapsing heavily to the ground!

  Before the blood could even spray out, it was frozen solid by the ambient chill in the air.