Anfey stopped as Suzanna stumbled to the ground a second time and turned around slowly. The griffin knights saw this as an opportunity and flew towards Anfey from several different angles.
Anfey did not move to duck the attacks from the griffins. Instead, he stood his ground and raised his sword. The general from Shansa Empire gripped his reins and narrowed his eyes. Anfey did not look like a man who was being attacked from all angles. He looked too calm to be prey of the griffins.
Anfey gripped his sword and a strong magic surge rippled from it. The sky darkened for a moment, and hundreds of lightning bolts fell from the sky and headed towards the griffins.
The Shansa general’s eyes widened at the sight.
The griffin knights and the soldiers nearby sensed the danger and summoned their combat power, but it was almost impossible to block the attack of serial lightening.
Griffins were famous for strong defense against magical attacks, but there was still a limit. Other than Dark Hell Dragon, there was almost no other creature that was completely immune to magic attacks. The griffins fell from the sky with a large crack and crashed into the soldiers below.
Anfey jumped up and dashed towards the soldiers, his sword sweeping through the air. He didn’t care if his target was alive or not. He just needed to get to the griffins and take them out.
"That’s a magic sword," the Shansa general called. "He needs time to use it again!" The general knew that he was doomed. Even if he could kill Anfey, he would still be punished.
A year ago, after the news of the destruction of the Griffins Aerial Unit reached Shansa Empire, the king was furious. He jailed several generals and ordered their families sold into slavery. General Kumaraghosha’s family experienced the worst punishment. The men of his family were sold into slavery, while the women were executed, their bodies cut up and fed to the griffins. Edward VIII claimed it was out of revenge for Kumaraghosha’s traitorous actions, but it was still unfitting for a king to do such cruel things to his subjects. The information about Kumaraghosha’s family was sealed up in a secret document, and people were forbidden from speaking of this event. However, word still got out. Something as cruel as that could never stay a secret and had a way of making rounds among the upperclasses of Shansa Empire.
Scarlet had requested aid from the Griffins Aerial Unit, and the request was initially denied. Edward the VIII told her that there was no room for negotiation. Later, the crown prince himself went to his father and begged on behalf of Scarlet. Edward the VIII finally agreed to send a hundred griffin knights to aid Scarlet. Scarlet did not want to put the griffins in danger and used them solely as scouts. Now that several had died, the general knew that the king would be furious.
The Shansa soldiers hesitated, then dashed forward. The general rode after them. He had nothing to lose anymore. He knew that he was doomed, and he had doomed his family as well.
Anfey returned the magic sword to its sheath and turned to Suzanna. Suzanna stood and nodded at him and summoned her combat power. She burst into blinding light.
Suzanna dashed towards the soldiers, gripping her sword tight. The soldiers present were not the most powerful in the Shansa army. The highest-ranking among them were only some silver knights. These silver knights were at the forefront of the attack and were mostly injured by the serial lightning released by the magic sword. The remaining soldiers were too low of a rank to be Suzanna’s opponent.
The Shansa general watched in shock. He never expected Anfey to have a master swordsman under his command. It was possible to take out a top level powers, but that would require overwhelming numbers and more than a dozen senior level fighters. His soldiers were not trained for direct combat and stood no chance against a top level power.
The Shansa general was too distracted by Suzanna and had ignored Anfey. He had forgotten that Anfey, not Suzanna, was supposed to be his main target.
Anfey held his sword in front of him but did not move. The blade of his fire sword was radiating such intense heat it had warped the air around him. To the Shansa soldiers, Anfey’s figure was very distorted.
The horses began to whinny and refuse to go forward as they got closer to Anfey. The animals were much more sensitive to the change in environment than their riders. Some horses halted so suddenly their riders lost control and stumbled off. The soldiers tried to force their horses to go forward, but the heat was so intense the horses burst into flames before even reaching him. The combat power of the soldiers wavered in the heat like bubbles.
Anfey took a step forward and thrust his sword towards the soldiers. The sword suddenly grew in size and reached even the soldiers who could not convince their horses to go forward. The heat of the sword lit the entire field on fire.
Anfey jumped forward and dashed through the fiery field and towards the remaining soldiers. The fire licked at his legs but did not burn or hurt him. The burning air was surging and beating against the soldiers’ combat power. Even though the combat power was still intact and was protecting them, the soldiers still felt sharp stings from the heat of the flame. It was as if they were burning, even though they were protected.
Anfey zigzagged through the soldiers, waving his sword and slicing through the Shansa soldiers. Cutting through the combat power and armors became as easy as cutting butter.
The Shansa general watched in despair. He understood now why Edward VIII had named Newyoheim as the commander of the Dark Moon Magic Legion, despite Newyoheim never having any experience with armies. Newyoheim was a top level power and had the reputation a regular general does not. Defeating a top level power requires another top level power. Defeating top level powers with large numbers was not a good plan and would lead to too many casualties.
The Shansa general spotted a few mages in the air, but his hope of backup quickly died as the mages began raining down magic on his men. A magic signal rose into the air behind him, signaling that his supply carts had been attacked.
The Shansa general laughed and rode towards Suzanna. He had been avoiding contact with her, but he had nothing to lose anymore. He didn’t want to kill Suzanna because he knew that it was impossible. He just wanted her to kill him and to spare him of any further punishments he might face once he returned to Shansa Empire.
"Wait!" Anfey called out to Suzanna when he saw the general riding towards her. "Don’t kill him! I need to talk to him."
Suzanna nodded. She turned her sword around and slammed the hilt of the sword into the Shansa general’s head. The general stumbled off of his horse and crashed into the ground. He was unconscious by the time he hit the ground.