Chapter 448 448. LOSING BATTLE

Noah pressed his face against the window of the carriage immediately after Dere left. His eyes scanned the world below them and he got an understanding of where they were.

A brown mountain surrounded by thick vegetation and a large river running past it unfolded in his eyes.'

The place looked normal. What he'd expect from any mountain surrounded by a forest. But it would seem the bandits utilized that mountain itself as their hideout.

Still, Noah couldn't gain sight of any signs of digging or holes that led into it. Leaving him wondering how they had got there.

The mountain had two jagged peaks and a bit of vegetation growing on it.

The party quickly began to spread out surrounding the region with about 50 different beasts, while the others stayed with their carriage. A bit distant from the mountain.

There was silence in the world for a few minutes as tension exploded in the air. It would seem even the experts of the council were a bit careful even if their numbers were great.

After a few minutes passed, four individuals, three clothed in different attires and one like the experts of the guild council floated forward towards the peak of the mountain.

Noah's carriage could get a good view of the events about to occur due to their position.

He recognized elder Malachi and his head spun. His fury was great and his blood-lust bubbling. He wanted the man dead, but he had not the power to carry out that task.

Noah averted his gaze before his blood lust could be too great so much so that it alerted the expert. He had to remain un-special.

​ He wore a mask.

The sudden action took his two fellow winners by surprise, but they still didn't say anything since the words of Elder Malachi pulled their attention.

"We come in the name of the council. Reveal yourself!" His words were cool, but carried power.

The mountain trembled as the beasts far below them felt the anger in his voice and fled. The truth was if a battle unfolded there the surrounding forest would suffer it.

Silence reigned afterward. No movements whatsoever occurred, and the spectators could only wonder what would happen next.

"We have not come to negotiate with you, so your reply does nothing in the end," Elder Malachi's voice had gone cold and dark, he nodded at the other three as flames erupted out of his skin.

"We'll obliterate this mountain if that is what it takes to get you," the expert announced as the blue flames coming out of his body gave birth to an armor.

Heat blazed in the environment, but they didn't affect the other tier 4's much. Who also had their aura's unfolded.

Noah watched as a sword appeared in the flaming expert's hand and he swung his blade in a descending slash.

The attack had been quick and completely unexpected. Even the others did not expect it.

A blue slash birthed out of pure flames, manifested after he swung his weapon, to Immediately crash on the mountain.

Or at least that was what was meant to happen.

The slash disappeared immediately it touched the mountain, leaving it unharmed!

Danger spread in Noah's mind immediately after, and a blinding blue light originating from the mountain unfolded in the world.

The ambient temperature skyrocketed, as one blue slash far bigger than what had been initially unleashed, flew out of the mountain; its power amplified.

A cacophony of high-pitched screeches rung out as the slash slammed into a few tier 4 beasts injuring them, before exploding into a spectacular wave of orange flames.

Noah watched a portion of the sky close to the mountain get bathed in that violent power as the roar-like sound emanating from the flames made his ears shake.

That simple attack had revealed that the mountain had something to it, but there wasn't any time to check it out, so Elder Malachi and the rest of the tier 4 experts instantly rained down spells on the elevated landform.

Normally that action would have been considered stupid, but it seemed all of them had come to one conclusion. Overwhelm it.

Unknown to Noah and the tier 3 cultivators, the spell utilized for the counter was common. So much so that there were inscribed versions that produced better results.

All that was needed was a surface that would feature the patterns for the inscriptions, and of course a power source.

As long as the inscriptions weren't overwhelmed they could virtually counter any magical attack. But it had a limit, which was countering more than three attacks at once. In rare cases four, but against a barrage of over 50 attacks, it could only crumble.

And that was what happened.

Noah watched tens of colorful attacks converge on the brown mountain and a blinding white light that almost made him pass out due to its intensity, unfolded.

Their flying beast moved away from the area since the explosion that followed was nothing short of spectacular.

The surrounding kilometers shook violently as the explosion washed over the lands destroying everything it touched. The light even managed to suppress the sunlight reaching the area.

The mixture of different elements caused the explosion itself to turn white. So the scenery of a white sea unfolding in the green forest caught Noah's undivided attention.

A few seconds passed before the commotion cleared. And to the expectations of everyone the mountain had disappeared, but In its spot was a large green barrier and one person sitting on it.

Noah could notice huge cracks in the barrier, but the person looked completely okay.

A foreboding feeling unfolded in the area at that point.

A group of about ten individuals in the fourth tier floated out of the green barrier with dark expressions on their faces. They all knew only death awaited them. Still, they would follow the lead of their master.

"Middle-stage," Malachi snorted even if he remained in his position.

"It seems we have company boys," a deep male voice boomed into the environment. His words were mocking but his tone was dark.

"I never knew such a powerful person would simply be the leader of a bandits group," Elder Malachi shook his head.

Although he himself wasn't up to that power level, their numbers were enough to put an end to him. He was only at the beginning portions after all.

The black-haired man remained silent, his head lowered as he casually sat on the dome-shaped barrier protecting the tier 3 cultivators below him.

Buildings could be seen on the remaining piece of the mountain. That scenery reminded him of Lilua.

"We have come to end you," Elder Malachi announced, and a snort reached everyone's ears.

"Don't get confident just yet," the man straightened his position before bending his knees.

The sound barrier and even chucks of the green barrier crumbled when the expert leaped forward. But tens of magical attacks had already arrived on his body before he could reach Elder Malachi. The experts from the council were terrifyingly in-sync.

A losing battle for the bandits unfolded at that point. The middle-staged expert was completely overwhelmed. He could only watch his gathered group which he had nurtured for decades die off one by one.

The environment bore the cost of the grand event, as whole kilometers to miles worth of land areas were decimated. Decades would pass before they could fully recover.