Chapter 49 – Sudden Battle

“Creak! Creak!”

The sounds came from a small creature in Punk’s hand, covered in pale blue scales and pink skin. This little monster, crowned with a “pink floral bouquet,” resembled a fat-headed fish with frog legs, and its cries were utterly bizarre. Originally a predator hiding in the mud, it would only expose its pink, petal-like tentacles to lure prey. But this particular creature was terribly unlucky. When Punk, troubled by his choices, wanted to pluck petals from a small flower, this little monster unfortunately served as a substitute. Truth be told, when Punk used Mage Hand to pull the “little flower” from the grass and ended up with such a strange thing, he was genuinely surprised.

However, surprise aside, such a bizarre creature couldn’t deter the irritable Punk from his “petal-plucking.” So… the little monster was terribly unfortunate, having appeared at the wrong place at the wrong time!

Punk absentmindedly plucked a few “petal tentacles” from the creature’s head while idly recalling the knowledge and spells in his mind—especially the “Night Assault Reward” he had obtained from Mainaixi. Punk had a vague premonition that this spell would soon prove useful! As for the incessant “Creak! Creak!” cries and the frantic kicking of its thin little legs, the little monster was utterly and magnificently ignored!

But Punk’s contemplation was soon interrupted again. After all, this was an escape route, not a leisurely stroll through a grove. And… as some wise person once said, when disaster strikes… it’s always hard to imagine it arriving so swiftly and suddenly. Here, disaster refers to both natural calamities and human-made troubles, and war certainly falls into this category.

Just as night was about to fall, with most of Chikasa’s glow sinking below the horizon, a massive fireball flew toward the group like a flowerpot falling from a balcony—abrupt, yet expected.

Amid a warrior’s loud roar of “Enemy attack!” a group of clearly travel-worn professionals from Prince William’s faction appeared in the distance. Their numbers were actually quite small, less than half of the Princess Guard. The enemies fired several highly conspicuous signal flares to notify their allies for support while charging relentlessly toward the fleeing group. Judging by their frenzied demeanor, Lunka must have issued some extremely punitive orders, compelling these professionals to charge forward even though they knew they were outmatched. They uniformly adopted a semi-guerrilla combat formation, and Punk believed these fellows intended to stall the Princess Guard here, waiting for other search teams to arrive for a coordinated assault.

Truth be told, Punk wasn’t surprised by this sudden battle. This was a real escape and retreat, not some “picnic-style strategic transfer” as depicted in certain novels. Unlike those stories where characters have leisure time for treasure hunting, drinking, or even romancing, this wasn’t a grand escape—it was more like a publicly funded tour!

However, on an ever-changing battlefield, there will always be things that catch you off guard.Punk cast a Divination Spell at his fastest speed. His goal wasn’t to detect the strength of the current enemies, but to determine the number of reinforcements rushing over. This was more critical than hastily launching a counterattack, as the present combatants posed no real threat to the entire evacuation team—the main force approaching at full speed was the true danger.

“Damn it, has Lunka gone mad? Is he abandoning Konora City entirely?!”

The information revealed by the Divination Spell stirred waves in Punk’s usually calm heart—Lunka had actually dispatched all his combatants! This meant Lunka was forfeiting all the readily available spoils in Konora City, abandoning his entire ordinary army, and allowing the resentful combatants in the city to slaughter and seek revenge among the common soldiers. All these “sacrifices” were made solely to prevent Princess Nasya from fleeing to the Dillon Kingdom!

“How troublesome. Did this princess steal some divine artifact, driving these lunatics to chase her so recklessly?”

Punk was beyond exasperated. Why did it feel like they were about to “fight their way out to survive”? This was nothing like the agreed-upon “sneak in quietly, no alarms raised” plan!

“If this were a novel, the author would definitely be into torturing the main characters.”

Complaints aside, fighting was unavoidable. As one of only two mages in the team, taking on the roles of damage dealer and crowd controller was essential, especially in a situation where speed was paramount!

So, the question arose: which spell would be most effective in a muddy wasteland?

With a clear plan in mind, Punk unhesitatingly activated his Minor Deflection Field. The attacks from several Apprentice Rank archers instantly became useless. Then, positioning himself at the center of the team, he calmly began chanting the incantation for his spell—a high-cost, relatively obscure Conjuration spell: Surging Tides!

Leisurely retrieving a small piece of Lazurite from his Mage Robe pocket as the material component for “Surging Tides,” Punk proceeded with unusual composure. With numerous “tanks” dutifully blocking any attempts to interrupt his casting, he didn’t rush as he usually would. Instead, he meticulously channeled mana into the spell model, and with precise gestures, he guided the massive magical energy smoothly into reality without any obstruction or waste. To maximize the power of this unfamiliar spell, Punk employed every enhancement technique at his disposal.

After a full three seconds of chanting, Punk’s eyes snapped open, gleaming with brilliant blue mana. Swirling blue-and-white ribbon-like energies converged in his hands, distorting and twisting the surrounding air with faint tidal forces. A pale blue energy whirlwind whipped his Mage Robe into a fierce flutter, while stray energies danced around him like vibrant, multicolored butterflies. Bathed in the fading glow of the sun “Chikasa,” and flanked by warriors radiating Battle Auras of various hues, Punk appeared as dazzling and majestic as an emperor surveying his domain!Princess Nasya, who had never paid much attention to Punk before, was now utterly captivated by his “heroic demeanor.” Her eyes sparkled like little stars as she momentarily forgot she was in the perilous Battlefield. The youthful maiden’s gaze held nothing but Punk’s strikingly handsome pale face, whose appeal remained undiminished even when mostly concealed by his hood. From within the shadows of the hood, his eyes—radiating a vivid blue glow due to his abundant mana—added an air of mystery to his charm.

Perhaps the young princess had once scoffed at the idea of “love at first sight” from knightly tales, but now… Princess Nasya felt in her heart that… perhaps… such a thing might truly exist…

Punk, having prepared his spell, was completely unaware that his unintentional display of coolness had captured the little princess’s heart. Even if he had known, he would have simply found it troublesome. At that moment, his focus was entirely on eliminating the enemy; whether anyone noticed him was the last thing on his mind!

Just as the enemy attempted another flanking maneuver, Punk’s concentration sharpened intensely.

The opportunity… had arrived!

(End of Chapter)