It was quickly 1:50 PM, and their five-person task force stood on the rooftop of a tall building on Second Street in the eastern part of the Town.
Five black dots flew from the direction of the Academy, quickly scattering towards various areas of the Town, with one of them rapidly approaching Dago and his group.
As time passed, the black dot gradually approached and grew larger, and an airship about ten meters long slowly came into everyone's view.
Everyone quietly watched the silent Third Street not far away, where a thin, blood-colored membrane, tens of meters in diameter and centered around the Fifth House, obscured the view inside.
Only the sharp, piercing roars of blood slaves could be heard from time to time.
Ed pulled out his pocket watch and glanced at it; it was exactly 2:00 PM, and the airship's magic bombardment was about to begin.
The airship descended to about ten meters above Second Street, and a large amount of energy particles gathered at the cannon port below, while the Academy Wizards on the airship also began chanting spells.
"Boom boom...." The fireball condensed at the airship's lower cannon port was a full meter in diameter, striking the blood-colored membrane fiercely and creating huge ripples.
This was followed by various dazzling spells, which stirred up countless tiny ripples on the blood-colored membrane. After about two minutes, some sporadic spell energy balls shot out from the blood membrane, engaging in a magic duel with the airship.
By the fifth minute, the blood-colored membrane finally could not withstand the airship's fierce bombardment and shattered with cracking sounds, revealing a hellish scene of blood and bones before everyone's eyes.
The view was filled with scurrying blood slaves, and the wails of spirits seemed to echo in their ears; the atmosphere instantly became eerie and terrifying.
A strong smell of blood and decay emanated from Third Street, with large piles of white bones on the road, and blood covering the houses and ground, covered with small, mushroom-sized blood clots.
The Fifth House on Third Street was like a blood tree, with dozens of human-sized blood cocoons hanging from blood-colored branches connecting to surrounding houses, constantly pulsating.
On the rooftops of Third Street, more than a dozen Black Robe Wizards were casting spells at the airship in the sky.
"What a bunch of beasts."
Ed, the leading Academy Wizard, frowned and cursed under his breath, then took out a Mental Potion and drank it.
The other Academy Wizards all did the same, taking out and consuming Mental Potions; it seemed the task force's mission was about to begin.
Dago's lips moved, and a faint blue-purple light appeared in his eyes as he activated Detection Art, scanning his surroundings.
His Detection Art, which he had practiced to the point of a metamorphosis, not only reduced the casting time to less than a second but also allowed him to see much more information and traces after casting.
In Dago's eyes, Third Street had completely turned blood-red, with a large amount of negative energy particles like mist filling and swirling throughout the entire street.
And within this blood mist, bright blood-colored energy connected like transmitting blood vessels, ultimately converging into the Fifth House, from which a faint, surging tide of immense energy could be heard.
His face instantly turned grim; he didn't know what was hidden within this hellish Third Street, and he felt a little worried.
However, it was already the eighth minute; the airship had taken over a dozen spells from the Black Robe Wizards on the rooftops, and its protective shield's glow had significantly dimmed.
But Third Street was not much better; several houses had been blown up, the street was covered in craters, and black smoke billowed.
Yet, the renewed protective membrane of the Fifth House blocked a large amount of damage from the airship, and it still stood firm.
The airship stopped its magic bombardment, turned around, and ascended, preparing to withdraw from Second Street.
The Black Robe Wizards on the rooftops also suffered heavy losses, with five or six of them taken out by the airship. The surging anger they felt as they looked at the devastation below and their comrades who had been utterly annihilated was even felt by Dago.
Two of the Black Robe Wizards even levitated into the air, chasing the airship along the rooftops while casting spells at it.
The members of the task force jumped down from the houses and arrived on Third Street, stepping onto the gray brick-paved road, which was incredibly slippery with countless amounts of blood.
"Task force, prepare yourselves—assault the blood pool in the Fifth House."
Ed, with a stern expression, raised his Ice Crystal Magic Wand above his head, staring intently ahead, as if his gaze could penetrate the black smoke and see the Fifth House on Third Street.
The team members, covered in snow, tightly clutched their Ice Crystal Magic Wands, released their mental power, chanted incantations, and their robes, billowing with the wind of energy, fluttered wildly. The entire task force waited quietly for Ed.
Once the two Black Robe Wizards chasing the airship were out of sight, Ed's stern face let out a slight roar: "Release spells."
"Boom—! ! ! !"
A massive Ice Crystal Cannon shell whistled sharply as it streaked across the street, bringing with it a rolling gale that shook the collapsed houses on the street, sweeping up countless amounts of blood and bones, and directly striking the protective shield of the Fifth House.
The Ice Crystal Cannon shell shattered into countless ice crystals and snowflakes that drifted in the air, freezing many of the hanging blood cocoons.
The glow of the house's protective shield instantly dimmed to almost nothing.
This drew the side glances of the team members and also attracted the attention of a large number of blood slaves and Black Robe Wizards, who all began to gather towards their team.
Academy Wizard Lai Qiong's spell was also unleashed afterward; a spear of lightning gathered before him, striking directly into the charging group of blood slaves, with electricity arcing wildly, charring many blood slaves who fell to the ground.
Captain Ed released a Wind Blade Vortex, stirring up several rotating wind blades, sharp as knives, which shredded two approaching Black Robe Wizards.
Wilton, on the other hand, cast a Group Protection Art, providing a protective shield for everyone in the task force, capable of blocking two to three attacks from an Advanced Apprentice Wizard.
The young Academy Wizard Helid cast his spell last, throwing a head-sized fireball into the group of blood slaves, incinerating several of them to ashes.
"Hoo—"
Dago let out a breath; Wilton's protective shield blocked a lot of the blood stench and energy, making him feel much better.
The next second, he raised his Ice Crystal Magic Wand, and the air and light at its tip began to distort.
A large concentration of ice elements generated an invisible cold wind that stirred the hem of Dago's robe, again drawing everyone's attention.
A massive blue orb, several times the size of a human head, condensed and formed, then shot towards the group of blood slaves.
"Bang~" As the blue orb exploded among the blood slaves, a large number of blood slaves, frozen in their running poses, fell to the ground and shattered into dust.
This caused Academy Wizard Lai Qiong to approach Dago with an displeased expression, saying to him in a low, dissatisfied voice, "What do you mean, kid? Are you trying to steal first place for team contribution from me?"
Dago completely ignored him, only focusing on recovering and preparing his next spell.
Academy Wizard Lai Qiong, having been directly ignored, felt a bit embarrassed, but with the clustered blood slaves and several Black Robe Wizards before them, he couldn't say much more.
But after all, they were a group of mindless walking corpses; even with several Black Robe Wizards, who were Advanced Apprentices, following them, they couldn't stir up much trouble in front of the task force and were quickly slaughtered.
Soon, their task force, following the straight street, fought their way to the Fifth House in the center of the street.
