The Black Wind Cannon bombarded the wooden shield relentlessly, and the booming sounds that followed made Cooke tremble with fear, realizing it was not yet time to feel relieved.
Meanwhile, Ivan had to maintain the Black Magic Hand while stabilizing the Green Tree Star, and one could only imagine the pressure he was under.
Fortunately, he was supported by a large amount of energy converted from the Raw Stone Array Disc and aided by the Mental Power Recovery Potion.
However, he was aware that he couldn’t maintain this state for much longer.
“Big sister, are you not done yet?”
Ivan muttered anxiously to himself, as every second at this moment was a torment for him.
Perhaps his calling had an effect, as Heidi suddenly raised the hand holding the Token, and her bare hand along with the Token heavily dropped a great distance.
From unknown meters above, the thick defensive membrane of the Kanda magic stone mine responded to the call, and a tremendous pillar of energy descended from the sky, striking the Black Wind Barrier below with precision.
“Impossible!”
At that moment, the cloaked figure sensed a great crisis. His face drastically changed, and he disregarded attacking those within the cage, hastily gathering more energy to block.
The protective formation of the magic stone mine at Mongna Ant Land Cottage, set up by a dozen sorcerers, had been nourished for so many years, and the stored energy was so vast it was incomparable to the Black Wind Barrier constructed by the cloaked figure.
Even just a small portion was enough to overwhelm the Black Wind Barrier.
As the two forces clashed, the Black Wind Barrier instantly shattered.
Seeing that things were taking a turn for the worse, the cloaked figure wanted to flee, but it was too late for him to react. He was already targeted as part of the Black Wind Barrier, and the next second, the attack struck him accurately.
“People of Mongna Ant Land Cottage, none of you shall die a good death!”
Accompanied by a resentful and unwilling shriek, the Black Wind Barrier was completely breached, the wind howled violently, and dust flew everywhere.
Meanwhile, outside Stone Creek Town.
As the old man standing on the hillside suddenly fell to the ground lifeless, everyone present, as if waking from a dream, realized what had happened.
Seeing the bloody scene before them, many screamed in fright.
“Help me!”
“Quick! Stop the bleeding.”
Others knew what they should do first, reminding others with pale faces to save themselves before helping others, or there would be no lives left to save.
They didn’t know what had happened, nor were they aware that someone had indirectly saved their lives. Otherwise, not a single person in the entire town would have survived.
In the Kanda magic stone mine, the wind suddenly ceased a short while later, revealing everyone’s figure.
As they say, foes meeting face-to-face is particularly aggravating—Wolban immediately rushed forward to finish off the barely alive Melinda. As for her companion Allen, he had already suffered serious injuries earlier and died during the indiscriminate attack by the cloaked figure.
“Boss Wolban, still so energetic, hahaha.” After escaping death, Cooke was overflowing with a distinct joy and began to jest.
The others were taking potions, treating their wounds, and recuperating. In the recent attack, they were either injured or utterly exhausted; it had indeed been a difficult ordeal for them.
Wolban surveyed the surroundings, his gaze settling on the three people.
“Cooke, who broke through the barrier just now?”
“Ivan, with a light palm strike, created a breach on it. Then, Miss Heidi channeled a formidable force. We really owe our lives to these two, otherwise we’d have been dead for sure.”
While Cooke spoke, he was so excited that he even gestured with his hands, reenacting the spectacular moment.
Hearing his words, Wolban looked at Ivan incredulously, finding it hard to believe that this man was the one who had broken through the formation that had him at his wit’s end. As for Heidi, he knew she had borrowed the power of the mine’s protective membrane.
Not far away, Gina’s eyes sparkled with amazement. Had there not been other people around, she might have rewarded her excellent junior apprentice properly.
Zoier also looked shocked. If it had been Heidi, he wouldn’t have found it surprising, but Ivan, the Hunting Team had investigated, and he just happened to know Ivan’s details. This—this person’s future achievements were bound to be immeasurable, at least reaching a Level 1 Sorcerer.
It seemed he needed to advise his friends once he got back not to target Ivan any longer, as offending someone with such potential could lead to unpredictable consequences.
“Alright, you better recuperate your spiritual energy quickly, don’t just keep making noise there,” Wolban pushed his shock aside and looked away.
“Understood.” Cooke was just relieved to have survived, his emotions a bit stirred, after venting a little, he felt much steadier.
After meditating for a while, Ivan opened his eyes, and the first thing he saw was the wooden shield flipped onto the ground.
The Green Tree Star couldn’t even be minimized and was now completely destroyed, probably damaged by the energy during the fight.
‘First attempt, it’s normal to have some defects.’
Ivan didn’t feel regretful, thankful that the Green Tree Star blocked a few seconds at a crucial moment until Heidi took action; otherwise, another result would have occurred, their entire team wiped out. A shield for so many lives was worth it.
He glanced at the Raw Stone Array Disc next, which had been shattered into several smaller pieces, losing its value.
He shook his head regretfully; he hadn’t finished studying it yet.
This mission was a mixture of gains and losses. He gained a unique Black Magic Hand and learned some parts of the runes sorcery array.
However, when using the Raw Stone Array Disc to transform the impure mental energy, because it was his first time casting the Black Magic Hand, his own spiritual power inevitably got contaminated. He needed to expel it bit by bit through meditation, which would take some time.
Soon, Heidi stood up, drawing everyone’s attention.
“Now that the main culprit has been punished, I suppose there are no other enemies. But to ensure absolute safety, folks, please join me in checking around to prevent any potential stragglers.”
“No problem.”
This was only to be expected, and also a chance to see if there were any spoils of war.
At this time, they hadn’t left their original location, but the white bones pit was no longer visible, turned into a more expansive underground cavern by the black wind.
After searching, they only found a pile of magic stones.
Initially, there was still one magicalized pangolin left, which had escaped Melinda’s sacrifice only to fall victim to the men in black robes.
Among the magic stones, they were thrilled to find hundreds of mid-grade magic stones, a rare find for apprentices.
As a battle trophy from the mission, the magic stones obviously did not need to be turned over to the academy. The issue was how to divide them, as sorcerers are skilled in calculations and traditionally do not advocate for even distribution, neither do sorcerer apprentices.
“I didn’t contribute much this time.” Wolban took the initiative, only taking ten mid-grade magic stones for himself.
“I’ll stick with big boss Wolban.” Cooke, acknowledging his slight contribution, didn’t dare to take more.
Seeing the two act this way, Gina and Ivan also took ten each, showing good awareness.
Heidi casually swept a larger pile towards Ivan.
Ivan glanced at the others and, seeing no objections, did not hold back. He ended up with thirty-six mid-grade magic stones, which without considering additional value, was equivalent to 3600 low-grade magic stones—a substantial gain indeed.
Not to mention there were still rewards from the academy.
Emerging from the dimly lit magic stone mine, the group all breathed a sigh of relief.
Their mission was essentially over, and any other issues with the magic stone mine would naturally be handled by the appropriate experts, likely to involve sorcerers.
On their return, they encountered residents of Stone Creek Town and lent a hand. Only after asking did they learn the townspeople had almost sacrificed themselves, resulting in some fatalities, which seemed less important compared to the entire town’s population.