No matter the type of magic, all the mages, guided by the signal, unleashed their most devastating spells towards that direction. The magical tempest at the edge of the forest erupted once more under the mages' hands—ice pillars, ice balls, lightning, and flames intertwined, roaring as they surged forward, crushing, shattering, scorching, and devouring everything in their path, like a chaotic torrent from the primordial wilderness that wiped out all in its wake.
The sounds of explosions, fire, and collisions continued all the way to the target, culminating in a massive magical inferno rising into the sky—a furnace of magic.
"We got him. That damn elf!" many of the mages shouted, their usual calm and wisdom vanished in the wake of their fallen comrades and the constant battle.
However, some more observant mages noticed that, despite the reduced power due to the exhaustion of their magical energy and the distance involved, the torrent of high-level spells didn't achieve its full potential. The power of the flames and explosions seemed weaker than expected, almost as though it had been diminished without anyone realizing it.
But none of that seemed to matter. They could already see the towering trees ahead—at their current strength, flattening the entire forest was well within their grasp.
"Quick, hand over the World Tree Leaf. Otherwise, we will flatten this place!" shouted one of the water mages.
However, this statement immediately provoked a barrage of arrows, so many that even his surrounding hurricane shield was forced to break apart.
"Hmm?" Master Aiden, who was recovering magic atop an air elemental, looked down below. He sensed something—it was an aura he recognized, one he had felt the last time he was above this forest.
A cold snort escaped from Master Aiden as a lightning bolt, as thick as a barrel, surged from his hand. A nearby winged pegasus, diving toward the group, along with its rider and the elven mage aboard, was instantly reduced to charred remains. The lightning bolt did not dissipate after this strike but leapt onto another pegasus rider nearby, before finally dissipating alongside a nearby air elemental.
Now, only a few pegasus riders remained in the air—those who managed to stay were among the finest elven archers and mages. Even so, they had already been at an overwhelming disadvantage, locked in a desperate aerial struggle against over ten air mages. With Aiden's devastating move, the battle's outcome was all but decided.
"I'll deal with these pests immediately. Prepare another Falling Stars for me," Aiden commanded as he drifted upward, weightless like an ethereal shadow, gliding toward the remaining pegasus riders.
On the ancient war tree, Ruya watched the unfolding battle above with a grim expression. The sound of magical detonations from afar grew louder and closer, signaling that the fight had nearly reached their position.
Beneath the war tree, in the Sunwell, the once-dry reservoir now held a shallow layer of water. Without the ancient tree continually siphoning its power, the Sunwell's energies were indeed beginning to replenish, though the process was painfully slow—too slow to make a difference in time.
"Bring out the three mutated mantis eggs from the ancient tree immediately," Ruya ordered the nearby elves.
However, several elven elders standing nearby immediately objected.
"But Her Majesty Queen Isabel left strict orders that those things must never be used!" one of the elders protested. "Even Elder Lloyd specifically warned against—"
"Enough! It's better than letting them raze the Whispering Forest to the ground, isn't it?" Ruya nearly shouted, her voice trembling with emotion. She quickly calmed herself, letting out a long sigh. "It's fine. Since we've already taught others how to use the Dimensional Gate, what else do we have left to hold back? All of this is out of necessity. Her Majesty the Queen and the great Fahma will forgive us."
Three massive white egg-shaped objects were swiftly placed at the top of the war tree.
If no one had said otherwise, no one would have believed these were biological eggs—they looked more like enormous white stones. Even the eggs of dragons paled in comparison to these colossal objects, which stood as tall as an average person. But size wasn't their only remarkable feature; their surfaces were etched with countless intricate magical runes, their origin and purpose a mystery.
Ruya gently pressed the World Tree's Leaf against one of the giant eggs, her voice steady as she began chanting the incantations inscribed on the egg's surface. The magical runes on the eggshell started to glow, faint at first but growing stronger with each passing second. At the same time, the World Tree Leaf, with its eternal glow of vibrant green life force, dimmed slightly—a sign that its boundless vitality was being drained.
When the magical runes on the eggshell reached their brightest intensity, the shell emitted a sharp cracking sound and split open, revealing what lay inside—a curled-up mantis.
It was green, resembling an ordinary mantis in all respects, save for one glaring exception: its enormous size. As it stepped out of the man-sized egg and stretched its body, the insect expanded to a size comparable to a winged pegasus. And most remarkably, its body continued to swell, as if filled with air, growing even larger with each passing moment. By the time Ruya had finished hatching the third mantis egg, the first mantis had grown to nearly the size of a wyvern.
The mantis's massive, elongated scythe-like forelimbs glistened with an eerie green light. Though its overall size was slightly smaller than that of a wyvern, there was no doubt that the combat prowess of such a creature could rival that of at least ten wyverns. The agility and strength of an insect, scaled up to such proportions, were unmatched by other lifeforms.
With a deafening boom, the final pegasus rider and the elven mage riding behind them were reduced to nothing but fragments of flesh and blood, shredded by the force of a Thunderclap Bomb. Torn remnants rained down over the forest like a macabre drizzle, carried by the blast's shockwave.
"These bastards are wasting my time," Master Aiden spat heavily, his tone filled with disdain. With a casual wave of his hand, a whirlwind shredded the poisonous wasps summoned by the elven mages into a pulp. He could feel it clearly now—the energy of the Sunwell below was growing stronger and more pronounced. If the Sunwell's anti-magic barrier were to be fully restored, all their efforts would be in vain. These pegasus riders seemed less intent on direct confrontation and more focused on harassing them with arrows and swarms of magically conjured insects. But in the skies, no opponent could rival the dominance of the air-element archmages.
Just as Master Aiden was about to call for the other archmages, his attention was caught by three green figures emerging from the forest below. Their bodies were far larger than those of the pegasi, yet they moved with a swiftness and agility that far exceeded them. His sharp eyes, enhanced by advanced eagle-eye spells, allowed him to clearly make out their forms—three massive mantises.
Three mantises? Master Aiden almost thought the elves had employed some gnomish illusionist, or perhaps that his own eyes had deceived him, mistaking three oversized insects for distant behemoths. He hesitated, momentarily stunned. The other archmages who noticed the three creatures were similarly struck dumb.
But in the fleeting moment of their hesitation, the three mantises proved they were no illusion by rapidly closing the distance and performing feats no mere mirage could achieve.