363 Ambush

Hence, the Eight Walker was easily one of the most enigmatic Voidwalkers. Baiyi and the other Voidwalkers had tried to interact with it, but they did not get much in the way of an actual reply. This was not unexpected because it was of a different species. It was not like this universe allowed people to have clothes-vanishing transformation sequences before piloting mechas, aka Gundam.

Descending to the real world just so that it could share what it felt with Baiyi was the most notable action the Eight Walker had ever undertaken since it became a Voidwalker. After doing that, the Eight Walker had quietly slipped back into the recesses of the Void. It probably thought that it had achieved its purpose, seeing as Baiyi was now more concerned about the problem the great druid, Grandfather Tree, had told him about.

"Huh, come to think of it, that… feeling it showed me back then was really indescribable. It is a bit similar to psychic sensing of sorcerers. However, unlike psychic sensing, this feeling was passive; it felt like I was receiving a torrent of information and knowledge. It was really, really remarkable," Baiyi said. During his recollection, he subconsciously unleashed his own psychic energy so that he could make the comparison. 

However, a few moments after unleashing his psychic energy, he knew something was amiss. He quickly stood up, and a black book appeared atop his right hand. As soon as it appeared, the pages of the book began to flip on their own. A ring of formations suddenly appeared in front of him, and then each formation shot outward to occupy a corner of the immediate surrounding.

"Wh-what's the matter?" The Fairy Walker asked as she leaped to her feet.

Baiyi did not answer; he was already chanting the incantation for a mighty forbidden defense spell. Little Mia, who had just been dancing, suddenly crumpled to one knee as a wave of nausea hit her. This was because her Soul Armature had just drawn out a large amount of mana from their connection. 

A kind fairy quickly rushed over to help her, and at that same moment, a dazzling ray of golden light flashed in the sky and began to form a golden dome around the village square.

This forbidden spell was none other than Svalinn — the same defense spell the Archmage had used to defend himself from the Lich Walker, during their simulated fight.

At that point in time, the fairies still did not know what was going on. They looked up and pointed at the golden barrier, which had appeared out of nowhere and encased them. Suddenly, a bright shooting star, whose end left a blazing trail in the air, tore through the pitch-black night sky, heading straight for the square.

The fairies did not have time to scream before the shooting star struck the golden barrier and exploded on impact, creating dangerous flames and causing the ground below to quake violently. The flames from the explosions reached the trees outside the golden tome, and they were instantly set alight, making the village square seem like it had been built in the midst of a sea of flames.

The shooting star was a very dangerous forbidden fire spell called 'Fire and Brimstones'! In moments, the spell had turned Eom Village into an infernal ruin. If it wasn't for Baiyi's timely rescue with Svalinn, the full impact of the spell would not just have decimated the village; it would have also destroyed 2,000 yards of forest close to the area of impact.

When the fairies finally recovered from their daze, they did not panic or run around screaming. They stood calmly still, but tears could be seen dripping down their faces as they quietly watched the flames, which no one had seen coming, destroy what was left of their homes.

The astounding composure the villagers displayed in the face of despair was a result of the mandatory Gale Sniper training they had once received.

"Is anybody hurt?" The fairy Elder's voice boomed. "Stay close, everyone. No one flees on their own. Adults, watch your own kids!"

A familiar voice suddenly rang out from behind Baiyi. "What happened?"

It was the ever-so-huggable Mr. Bear. Baiyi had no idea how it had suddenly arrived there all the way from its abode in the depth of the woods.

However, he did have the luxury of time to think about it. "I'll put the fire out," he said, and the black book began to flip its own pages again, preparing a forbidden water spell to douse the raging flames.

"Allow me," Mr. Bear said and raised its soft, round paw before taking a swipe at nothing in particular.

The flames instantly subsided. It was as though an invisible blanket had wrung out all the oxygen within it, snuffing the fire out in one fell swoop, leaving behind only charred wood and charcoal.

"Good. I'll go after the mastermind," Baiyi said in a steely voice, and he soared into the air. Suddenly, another familiar voice rang out from below him. "There's no need to, for they have already fled."

The voice had come from a blade of grass! It was obvious that this was the great druid, Grandfather Tree, who had just arrived. Unfortunately, only a few greens had survived the raging flames, so this blade of grass was the best the great druid could occupy. 

Mr. Bear grabbed a lone mushroom that had survived the flames but was uprooted by the blast. It quickly planted the mushroom, giving Grandfather Tree a more presentable plant to occupy. "Those knaves fled the scene as soon as they released the forbidden spell. For them to escape through the air… means that they must have known of my existence. Once they were off the ground, I was powerless to do anything." 

'What happened to the image of a wise, powerful being you showed us before? Did you really go from 100 to 0 the moment the enemies took to the air? Really, you're a lot less useful than the druids on Earth,' Baiyi lampooned the great druid in his mind.

"Their attack was nigh undetectable. It was as if they are privy to a method that can completely mask the energy vibrations of forbidden spells. If I did not happen to be examining my psychic energy at the time, I would have never been able to detect the bizarre magical undulations from their spell, and I would not have been able to cast the shield spell on time…"

Just who had been able to fire off such a cold, calculative strike like that, which almost escaped Baiyi's detection?

'It must have been them. The Godsfall cult.'

The reason why they chose to use Fire and Brimstones was obvious: the area of effect of this spell was quite large, making it the perfect spell to use against Eom Village; it was a much better choice than spells with more precision and a smaller area of effect. Hence, they had no need to use their psychic energy to keep the spell locked on to the village after they had cast it; instead, from afar, they just cast the spell in the general direction of the village.

A spell this flamboyant had a gaping weakness, though: it emitted too much mana undulations. Once it was cast, it would draw the attention of perceptive enemies, so it was not a good spell for an ambush. Furthermore, the spell required a lot of materials to be prepared before it could be cast, so it could not be considered overpowered. …

However, to an organization like Godsfall, these problems were nothing. They were able to construct barriers that are even powerful enough to mask the undulations emitted by something as strong as Void Energy. With this barrier, they had made up for Fire and Brimstones' biggest weakness. Moreover, with their supple amount of financial and material resources, the expensive preparation required to cast Fire and Brimstone was easily covered.

With that, Godsfall had managed to cull Fire and Brimstones' weaknesses, thereby turning the spell into one most suitable for an ambush. If Baiyi had not been present, the fate of everyone in the village would have been sealed.

"It's the Wise Mad King's people! T-that psychopath! H-he finally got sick of pretending and is now coming for our lives, isn't he?" The Fairy Elder, who had been comforting the people in the square earlier, bellowed. "It is a blessing that none of us here lost our lives, but I wish I could say the same for our village and our friends…"

His gaze shifted to the Sabercat carcasses, which were already burnt beyond recognition.

As Baiyi's Svalinn was not large enough to cover the entire village, the Sabercats, who had been resting a few inches outside the protective barrier, had been burnt to crisps. Only the Sabrecat cub in Baiyi's arms had survived, and the little ball of fur was trembling at the loss of its mother and siblings. It nestled even closer to Baiyi and let out feeble whimpers.

Baiyi passed the cub to the Fairy Walker, who not only had to comfort the little cub but also had to make sure that the Fifth Walker's students were alright. After that, Baiyi turned to face Mr. Bear and the fairy Elder. "This place isn't safe anymore. Another silent but deadly ambush like that can be cast at any time. The only way to save yourselves is to leave here, and seek asylum under Mr. Bear's protection."

The great druid nodded. "That poor soul… It has already lost his sanity, hasn't it? Tonight, everyone should be transferred to my cave. Ask the unicorns to help, and perhaps, we will be safe tonight."

"Protect the villagers… and my students," Baiyi added. "I'll take care of the rest."

Mr. Bear's eyes widened in surprise at how confident the Soul Armature had sounded. It shuffled closer to Baiyi and began sniffing him, and suddenly an expression of overwhelming joy appeared on its face. "Di—Did it summon you here? No wonder… That explains why I detected that familiar scent…"

Baiyi froze momentarily but he quickly understood. However, he had no time to explain, so he only nodded and said, "I'm its proxy."

"If that is the case, then I'm already relieved," Mr. Bear said, grinning.

The two had only just met each other, yet the bear now had complete confidence in him.

A thought briefly entered Baiyi's mind, but he had no time to dwell on it for the time being. He hurried to his students, and after making sure they were alright, he led them to Mr. Bear.

Mia was too scared to hug anything, no matter how cute they were, so Mr. Bear was speared from her usual curiosity and hugs. She could only stare blankly at the great druid, making it feel like it was some sort of strange toy.

"These are my students, all of whom I treasure. Please, take care of them for me," Baiyi said.

"Not to worry," Grandfather Tree, who was currently inhabiting a mushroom, replied somberly.

With that, Baiyi turned to his students and spoke clearly, saying, "Everyone, take care of yourself, alright? When in danger, remember the moves I taught you."

He proceeded to ruffle Mia's hair and said, "Don't be afraid. Where's Sharkie? Time for it to do its thing."

"Mr. Hope, are you risking your life for us again?" The girl brought out the hammerhead shark plushie from her storage pouch, hugged it tightly, and stared at him pitifully.

"Nah; I'm hardly risking anything. Not a lot of things in this world could pose a threat to me," he replied, pinching the girl's cheeks lightly.

Then, he sent one of the Voidwalkers in the Void into the plushie.

"Bwahahahaha! Finally, it is I! It is I was let out! Alas, I… finally get to possess the plushie! Mwahahahahaha!!!"

The Cleric's manic laughter echoed in the Void, even though his consciousness was already in the plushie. This made the skins of the other Voidwalkers tingle, but Baiyi had no choice.

Out of the many Voidwalkers, this theurgy-adept gentleman was the one most accomplished in defense.As I'm not a Gundam fan (not a mecha fan in general), I'm not sure what's hinted at this joke either. Do people, uh, gain a cross-species understanding of robots through nude transformation sequence?Reminds me of a certain blind earthbende