At this moment, every clan leader, including those of the Golden Lion and Black Goat clans, had their gazes fixed in the direction opposite to the City Lord's Mansion.
Rafael distinctly recalled that when Weber, the leader of the Golden Lions, had arrived with his clan, there had been a formidable army of nearly a thousand strong behind him. Although the other clans were neither as affluent nor as populous as the Golden Lions, each still boasted several hundred members.
But now, there were nowhere near that many people outside the City Lord's mansion.
The combined forces of the prominent clans barely numbered a little over a hundred, and every one of them wore expressions of dejection and fear, their eyes vacant and lifeless.
The most peculiar sight was the layer of ash, as thick as a finger, that had mysteriously appeared on the ground outside the mansion, as if a great fire had recently raged.
Beatrice, panting heavily, sidled up to Rafael and whispered, "Something's not right. If we get a chance later, we need to get Nina out of here."
Rafael, in no better condition himself, nodded. Already weakened from his recent injuries and exhausted from the prolonged battle, he was at the end of his strength.
"Don't give up just yet," Rafael said, nodding. "Perhaps Taal has arrived."
Taal was none other than the commander of the Ironclad Army, one of the two major forces in Dawn City.
Unlike Anz, who was Rafael's son-in-law, Taal had been groomed by Rafael from a young age and treated almost as a son. Rafael was confident that Taal would never betray him.
Though the Ironclad Army was not as well-equipped or as elite as the Black Armored Cavalry, they were the true foundation upon which Dawn City stood.
The reason was simple: the Ironclad Army boasted a staggering fifty thousand soldiers!
Against such an overwhelming force, the Black Armored Cavalry stood no chance. If Taal were leading the Ironclad Army to their aid, the current situation could be easily explained.
Anz, equally anxious, hovered in mid-air, his elevated vantage point allowing him to see further. He could clearly see there was no sign of the Ironclad Army nearby.
What he did notice, however, was a young man with wings on his back, soaring through the sky with a woman clinging to him.
A rather absurd thought flashed through Anz's mind: "The younger generation really has some interesting ways of playing."
The eerie atmosphere was abruptly shattered by Nina's voice, bursting with joy and surprise: "Jeremy!"
Following Nina's gaze, Rafael and Beatrice finally noticed the couple in mid-air.
Suddenly, the anguished voice of Weber, the Golden Lion clan leader, rang out: "Shoot that damned Jeremy down!"
This aged voice was like a war trumpet, signaling the start of battle.
Instantly, a barrage of long-range attacks rained down on Jeremy. Even some of the Black Armored Knights, who had been carrying crossbows, drew their weapons and launched their attacks skyward.
With a powerful flap of his wings, Jeremy rocketed several hundred meters away, completely evading the deluge of attacks.
This sudden and torrential assault startled Bonnie, who let out a scream and instinctively tightened her grip around Jeremy's waist with her long legs.
The slight pain jolted Anz back to his senses.
At that moment, Anz finally realized that he wasn't dreaming. Someone over level thirty had actually hit him.
An indescribable rage ignited, consuming his rationality. "Insect! Die!"
With a swift swing of his long sword, Anz unleashed a crescent-shaped, dark red sword energy.
In an instant, Nina, shielded within the Emerald Shield, let out an instinctive scream, "Watch out!"
Simultaneously, Rafael and Beatrice sprang into action. Recognizing Jeremy's potential, they were determined not to let him die at Anz's hands.
To their astonishment, what happened next left Rafael and Beatrice rooted to the spot, nearly causing Rafael to drop his weapon.
Even before the sword energy could strike Jeremy, the sheer force of it was already causing a stinging pain on his skin.
There was no way Jeremy could withstand that attack head-on.
But Jeremy never intended to take it head-on. "Teleportation!" he exclaimed.
In an instant, his figure vanished, reappearing directly above Anz the next moment.
Jeremy was not one to take a beating without retaliating.
Instinctively, he activated his The Eye of Omniscience
[Anz Hatton, Blood Tribe Night Knight, Grand Commander of Dawn City Cavalry, Level 74 Transcendental Awakening. Awakened Transcendental Realm: Moon shadow Domain, 5% Awakened. Skills: Dark Moon Slash, Unyielding Charge, Forward Step Slash, Dazzling Stab... Note: Blood Tribe's weakness is holy light attacks. All holy light attacks deal five times the damage to Anz.]
Jeremy's eyes lit up at this revelation. The bone spear in his hand vanished, replaced by a skeletal staff. "Sword of Judgment!" he declared.
In an instant, a colossal sword of light, resembling a divine weapon, materialized above Anz's head.
The sword, spanning tens of meters, was adorned with intricate patterns, exuding an aura of righteousness and majestic authority. The moment it appeared, Anz felt a deep, primal fear stir within his bloodline.
Jeremy gave Anz no opportunity to react. With a swift motion of the skeletal staff, the enormous sword of light, accompanied by a thunderous whooshing sound, descended upon Anz like a falling meteor.
"Boom!"
The deafening explosion reverberated through the air, and a tidal wave of light engulfed Anz. Most of the onlookers could only hear a harrowing scream of agony, beyond which they could perceive nothing.
Meanwhile, Jeremy had discreetly gripped the Requiem of Life in his hand.
He could clearly sense that while Anz's life force had diminished under the assault of the light sword, it was far from extinguished.
As the light dissipated, Anz's form reemerged before everyone's eyes.
However, Anz was in a decidedly worse state than before.