Chapter 1201: 1201. Allies

"Need a hand?" Flying Demon said as he reached the battlefield with the ballistae.

Elder Laura had managed to regain some control over her battle after the monster took care of the golden spears, but her situation wasn't ideal. The ballistae were still threatening opponents for someone on her level, and she never managed to damage any of them.

Flying Demon laughed when he saw that the Elder didn't answer him. His hand rose in the air, and countless flowers grew in the sky between the inscribed weapons and the powerhouse.

The bolts shot from the ballistae crushed the flowers, but a layer of ice covered them after the shards of Flying Demon's spell filled the area.

The ice froze the bolts and spread through the sky. Flying Demon used the frozen arrow as the cores of a white net that gave birth to more flowers.

The net continued to expand, and it soon reached the ballistae. Golden runes shone on their surface, and bolts materialized on their strings after their light dimmed.

Those weapons reloaded automatically, and they didn't even need cultivators to control them. The Royals could aim them at their opponents even if they were far away from that region.

The ballistae attacked again, and the bolts pierced part of the net before remaining stuck in its cold structure. Moreover, the ice continued to expand, and the Royal soon felt forced to move those weapons back.

Elder Laura didn't let that chance go to waste. Her arrows were far nimbler than the bolts, so she could shoot them through Flying Demon's net.

Five blue arrows materialized on her inscribed bow and shot in the holes of the net when she released the bowstring. Her attacks transformed into long snake-like creatures that flew through Flying Demon's spell and converged on one of the retreating ballistae.

The snakes crashed on the weapon without managing to inflict any damage. The ballistae weren't as fragile as the bolts. They were inscribed items in the middle tier, so a simple attack from Elder Laura's wasn't enough to destroy them.

However, inscribed weapons generally had specific weaknesses, especially when it came to bows and crossbows.

The snakes continued to move after they landed on the ballista. They slithered over its body until they could stab their fangs on the string. The weapon would be useless if they managed to destroy that piece.

Of course, the Royals had prepared defensive measures. They were aware of the weaknesses of those weapons. The fact that they didn't require cultivators to function left them open to attacks on their structure.

A golden light began to come out of the ballista attacked by Elder Laura. The halo corroded the snakes wrapped around the weapon and made them vanish before they could destroy the string.

The halo continued to shine even after the snakes vanished. The light repaired the damages on the string and restored it to a perfect condition in seconds.

The last attack didn't lead anywhere. Elder Laura appeared unable even to destroy one of those weapons!

Flying Demon's laugh continued to resound in the sky, and Elder Laura turned to shot an angry glance at him. She felt as if the Demon was mocking her, but he pointed at the ballista before she could say anything.

The golden halo vanished after it fixed the damages on the string, but white flowers suddenly started to grow from the spots attacked by the snakes.

The flowers grew until they covered one-third of the weapon, and the golden halo reappeared to stop them. Yet, Flying Demon snapped his fingers and detonated his spell.

The explosion destroyed the string and part of the slider before releasing a storm of ice-shards shot that flew toward the ballistae nearby. Flowers began to grow where the spell hit them, and a golden halo soon started to shine from them too.

Flying Demon continued to detonate his spell whenever the golden halo was about to stop his flowers. Ice-shards flew in every direction and expanded his influence whenever they landed on other weapons.

That cycle continued until the golden light managed to eradicate every trace of Flying Demon's individuality. Still, he had already rendered three ballistae harmless by that time.

More light filled the area and tried to fix the damaged weapons, but the restoration was slow since they lacked essential pieces of their structure. The pressure on Flying Demon and Elder Laura diminished by a lot for the time being.

Even if Flying Demon had managed to damage the ballistae and bring the invaders one step closer to victory, Elder Laura didn't feel happy about that outcome.

Anger surged from inside Elder Laura as she inspected the net before turning toward Flying Demon again.

"You tainted my attack!" Elder Laura shouted in an angry tone, but Flying Demon limited himself to smirk at her.

"We are allies!" Elder Laura continued since she didn't feel satisfied with that answer. "You could have just told me that you were to hide your attacks inside my arrows. There was no need to do it secretly."

Flying Demon had used his net to taint Elder Laura's arrows with part of his individuality, but she didn't like the fact that he had kept that action a secret from her.

"I could have," Flying Demon said as a cold smile appeared on his face, "But now you are aware of the difference between our power."

A chill ran down Elder Laura's spine when she heard those words. Flying Demon wasn't threatening her, but his actions had a motive that went beyond alliances and enmities.

Flying Demon had shown her that he could hide his attacks inside hers freely. Elder Laura didn't even notice that until he revealed what he had done.

That was a proper show of force that the Demon had done without any apparent reason. He only wanted Elder Laura to know that they were worlds apart in terms of battle prowess.

"Why?" Elder Laura couldn't help but ask. She didn't believe that Flying Demon's only motivation was to show off.

"It was easy to follow the Hive when it gave you a home," Flying Demon answered without withdrawing his coldness. "I don't want anything bad to happen now that we are outside again."

Understanding dawned upon Elder Laura at that point. The Demon wasn't looking at the invasion. His eyes were already gazing on the future of the alliance after it reclaimed the new continent.

His demonstration was a reminder that the Hive and the Council weren't equals anymore. They were allies, but Noah's words had more importance than others.

"Now," Flying Demon continued after he saw that Elder Laura had understood his message, "Can I use your arrows to reach the ballistae? I think working together is the best option in this situation."

Flying Demon winked at Elder Laura after he finished his line, and she felt even angrier about the whole situation. Yet, she wasn't a hotheaded cultivator who would fall prey to her feelings when there were many political issues at stake.

Elder Laura suppressed her anger and nodded at Flying Demon. Five arrows appeared on the string of her bow as she drew it.

She was ready to resume her offensive. As for her feelings, she couldn't vent them in front of a powerhouse far stronger than her.