The Witch Hunter System
chapter-687

On the surface, fearsome balls of heavenly flames rained death and destruction upon the Sacred Tirtha from the sky.

At the same time, Shamans and Witch Doctors scrambled left and right in confusion and fear, unclear of the situation and their attackers. The powerful fireballs dropping upon their heads seemingly manifested out of thin air.

"Oh, Holy Mother, please grant this child enlightenment, for she is lost. What great sins have we committed for the heavens to smite us so? If it is the cruelty of the heretics that has descended upon your garden, oh, Holy Mother, I beseech you to grant this child divine protection to repel the--"

While others ran for cover, a devout Witch Doctor prayed before a normal statue of the golden dragon until a fireball landed not far from her location.

Its terrifying flames scattered upon impact and vaporized her into nothingness.

"We're under attack! Equip your totems, man the stations, and activate the barrier!" a high-ranking Shaman barked with instructions before shouting, "Where is the Great Shaman?! Has anyone seen Her Holiness?!"

"You! Get the fuck over here! Don't run away when I am talking to you! Yes, you!" the high-ranking Shaman picked on one of the young apprentices who had glanced at him in passing.

"Ahhh--!!"

The apprentice cried in pain as his momentary delay caused him to be struck by wild scattering flames and lose his legs.

"My legs...!! Ahh, my legs--!!" the apprentice wailed in agony, clutching the dirt on the ground as he endured the searing pain.

"Dammit!"

The high-ranking Shaman cursed, knowing it was useless to get any information out of the apprentice while he was in such a miserable state.

...

Meanwhile, in the sky, the Early Transcendent True Dragon, Laptis, led a team of dragons to harass the Sacred Tirtha in secrecy. They fired rounds after rounds of moderate-sized fireballs that did not have very high destructive power but a lot of spread damage.

To most Shamans and Witch Doctors below, such low-level attacks were life-threatening enough.

They did not have the same high-quality totems as most Delarosan members.

After all, there weren't enough totems to equip every member of the Sacred Tirtha. Only the highest-ranking members of the Sacred Tirtha had priority over the totems.

Nevertheless, Laptis continued to rain hell on the Sacred Tirtha with her team without any pressure or threat from below. And unless they intentionally dispelled their stealth, the humans below had no idea who was attacking them, even if they saw where the attack was coming from.

"You cowards!! Stop hiding in the clouds and come down here to fight me! I know you are up there--!"

Just as a Senior Shaman barked at the sky, a fireball descended and obliterated him from the world of the living.

Scattered remains of his brown robe shortly landed on the devastated ground where he once stood.

Not far away, a dirt-covered apprentice with great luck cowered on the ground, blocking his ears from the screams of terror and destruction-inducing explosions. Strangely, all the wild, scattering flames managed to miss him.

However, he soon fainted on the spot after a piece of human leg dropped on the ground, not far from his face.

...

"All apprentices will retreat to the Outer Sanctum to seek shelter! Senior-rank Shamans and Witch Doctors report to your nearest Transcendent-rank leaders for instructions! High-rank Shamans and Witch Doctors, follow High Shaman Sogorim to activate and protect the barrier crystal!"

"Elders, assist me in repelling the external threats!"

As soon as the Great Shaman's voice was heard, resounding throughout the Sacred Tirtha, many panicking members quickly calmed down and assumed their assigned duties.

Order was restored to the Sacred Tirtha at an alarming rate despite its initial chaos and confusion.

At the same time, the Elder Shamans and Witch Doctors quickly found Laemana. They followed her lead in resisting the descending fireballs with their defensive totems until the grand barrier activated.

Bam! Bam! Bam!

The fiery balls of heavenly flames slammed against the hastily conjured green, turtle-like shells but failed to break its defenses.

"Oh?"

The power of the defensive totems quickly caught Laptis's interest as she studied their activity with Clairvoyance Magic.

"These must be the totems produced with Hex Magic knowledge, and their quality isn't low either. It looks like we have caught the attention of their higher-ups," Laptis commented before encouraging her peers, "Brothers and sisters, let us hit them something harder – give them something to remember us by!"

"Lady Laptis, I know you are having fun, but please don't forget the mission given to us by the Supreme Leader," another female dragon elite reminded.

"I know that, Sephira. You are looking down on me too much. I am still your team leader, you know? How can I forget the Supreme Leader's instruction?" Laptis retorted unhappily.

"Our mission is to harass the Sacred Tirtha and attract all their attention while the other teams seek out and destroy the hidden grand array laid out on the imperial capital city."

"Are we not doing exactly that? Or do you have another opinion, Sephira?" Laptis questioned with a stern look after she reiterated the mission objective.

"I don't, Lady Laptis," Sephira replied bluntly before going silent.

"Hmph! Good to know," Laptis snorted before instructing the team, "Let us give them a taste of our mighty Rank 5 fire spells."

"No need to aim for those turtle-looking shells. Target that big, blue crystal directly. They seem to be placing great importance on it, seeing how they are gathering many people around it," Laptis added.

"Understood, Lady Laptis!" Sephira and the other three dragons in the team answered.

Just when everyone charged up their Rank 5 fire spells and released them, Laptis received an abrupt sound transmission from Chaezi.

While the other fire beamed shot towards the big blue crystal a step too late as the Sacred Tirtha's grand barrier activated, Laptis's fire beam veered off its intended flight path and destroyed the foundation of an enormous stone pillar.

That very stone pillar collapsed into another enormous stone pillar, causing a domino effect that destroyed another six enormous stone pillars for a total destruction of eight stone pillars.

The devastation from the chain reaction resulted in thousands of deaths within the Sacred Tirtha and significant damage to the core array of the grand barrier, leaving an opening flaw in its protection.

Laptis blanked at her surprising mishap.

"Lady Laptis?" Sephira glanced at Laptis with a dumbfounded look, numbed by her heaven-defying luck to miss an easy target and still achieve unbelievable results.

"That was part of my plan," Laptis coughed before changing the subject with a serious look, "I just received words from Lady Chaezi. Team Kuvat is having trouble against the enemy and requested reinforcements."

"Who among you are willing to fly over to assist them? I will permit up to three of you to leave. We only need two dragons here," Laptis stated.