Chapter 1029: Brainless
The Odin royal family, the Henry Family, and the Shadow Tower all joined the fray as well. Taking advantage of the chaos, everyone unleashed spells with wild abandon. The Nine-Tailed Ice Fox, its nine stiff tails dragging behind it, had lost much of its agility. Nearly half the spells struck its body directly.
At that moment, Diras, cloaked in the Night Mantle and wielding his staff, rapidly chanted an interrupted incantation.
Four shadows emerged around the Nine-Tailed Ice Fox, hugging the ground silently like venomous snakes striking out of nowhere. In an instant, they transformed into four shadowy hands, grabbing hold of the fox's limbs. The Nine-Tailed Ice Fox, which had been dodging attacks, was suddenly trapped in place.
"Attack now! I can only hold it for a few seconds..."
The instant he caught the Nine-Tailed Ice Fox, Diras's face went pale, and he screamed at the top of his lungs.
Behind him, Anderson curled his lip and muttered under his breath.
"That guy's actually somewhat useful. Shadow magic's branch—Shadow Bind—can be controlled to this degree, that's not too shabby.
But that Dida La is seriously fierce—his burst power isn't much weaker than Merlin's..."
With such a golden opportunity, the Odin Kingdom's group went berserk. Dida La charged to within a hundred meters of the Nine-Tailed Ice Fox, unleashing endless orange fire spells that hammered down directly onto the fox's head.
Meanwhile, the others cast their spells as well. The Dunespire Tower unleashed a massive wave of sand, endless grains covering the Nine-Tailed Ice Fox's limbs, forcibly twisting them until they snapped. Some of the sand even crept up its neck, as if determined to squeeze the life out of it.
Rain of rays from Skyhold Fortress, wind blade storms from the Odin royal family, a barrage of magical scrolls and spell tempests hurled by the Henry Family, and shadow bindings from the Shadow Tower.
It took less than three minutes for the Nine-Tailed Ice Fox to be blasted half to death by the barrage of spells from the crowd...
Dida La transformed into a blazing elemental, soaring above the Nine-Tailed Ice Fox. A colossal spear of the Fire God, more than twenty meters long, pierced straight through the fox's skull, putting a brutal end to its life.
Out of everyone attacking, it was Dida La who dealt the most lethal damage to the Nine-Tailed Ice Fox. His power stood above the rest; only his spells could truly hurt the beast. Without Dida La, the others could barely scratch it—killing the Nine-Tailed Ice Fox would have been nearly impossible.
In less than ten minutes, the group managed to beat the Nine-Tailed Ice Fox to death. Leon and his companions never even got a chance to join the fight.
Leon never intended to take action from the start. He kept his eyes on the surroundings—the floor, the pillars, and the towering wall at the end of the corridor, hundreds of meters high like a cliff—all covered in intricate, densely packed patterns.
At first glance, the patterns seemed ordinary, but their sheer scale and complexity escaped everyone else's notice. Leon, however, paid close attention. Though he hadn't yet unraveled their meaning, he grew increasingly certain there was more to them than met the eye.
While Leon held back, Joey, Heron, and the Skyblade Sword Saint were itching to join in. Unfortunately, the Odin Kingdom's mages swarmed the battlefield like rabid dogs lunging for a bone, leaving no room for anyone else—especially with Dida La, whose fighting style was anything but orthodox. He fought more like a battle mage from the Andalusia Kingdom: wild and relentless.
Joey and the others had even less chance to intervene, left watching as the Odin Kingdom crowd pummeled the Nine-Tailed Ice Fox to death...
When the fight ended, Leon was still studying the patterns around them. Diras let out a cold laugh, then raised his voice to taunt the crowd.
"They say the mages of the Andalusia Kingdom are all weaklings, but I didn't expect them to be cowards too. Faced with a real Heavenly-tier magical beast, they just hid in the back like slimes, too scared to do anything.
Come on, the Nine-Tailed Ice Fox is dead now. There's nothing left to be afraid of. Step right up.
What? You refused to fight, hiding in the back like cowards during the battle, and now that it's over, you still want to slack off?"
Instantly, the faces of the Andalusia Kingdom mages turned sour.
Heron, his face darkening, tried to defend their actions.
"Diras, what are you implying? That we were lazy? There was only so much space, and attacking the Nine-Tailed Ice Fox required a frontal assault. Where was our chance to act? Forcing ourselves in would've only disrupted everyone's battle rhythm."
Joey's face was equally grim. No one likes being called a coward or a slacker, after all.
"Diras, mind your words. There was no way for us to intervene in that fight. If we had forced it, the Nine-Tailed Ice Fox might've broken free from its disadvantage, and we could've lost our edge—or worse, suffered unnecessary casualties. It's not that we didn't want to help."
Beside them, the Skyblade Sword Saint's face turned even darker. He gave a cold snort, saying nothing, but his glare at Diras was sharp as a blade.