Chapter 16: Chapter16-The Indestructible Magic Barrier

The majestic Dalton Town loomed like a silent giant, watching from above as the once-lonely wilderness below boiled with noise and chaos.

Inside the city, mana shimmered in the air, order and harmony reigning like a miracle.

Outside, however, greed and desire ran rampant across the plains.

The first shock of awe had faded, replaced by something else—greed spreading like wildfire.

That floating citadel, that divine gold, that overflowing mana, that canopy resembling a Sacred Tree…

Every sight tugged at the nerves of those gathered, igniting their primal urge to claim it.

“What are we waiting for?!”

“The greatest fortune of our lives is right here! You think it’s going to sprout legs and walk away?!”

The one to break first was a burly, bearded man in heavy armor: Blood Axe, a mercenary captain.

Greed for wealth and power blazed in his eyes as he bellowed.

Mana erupted from his body like crimson fire, and he launched upward like a cannonball, streaking toward the underside of the floating city.

“Brothers! With me! First come, first served!”

Dozens of his mercenaries, driven mad with greed, roared like beasts.

They flared their mana, racing upward after him, desperate not to fall behind, convinced the treasures would vanish if they were a second too late.

Blood Axe sneered inwardly at the hesitant onlookers below.

Cowards! My success was built on guts—daring to fight, daring to take!

A mountain of gold this size—snatch even a corner, and I’ll spend the rest of my life buying marquisates for playthings.

Whatever waits inside, I’ll claim it first.

But as they neared the city—

Bzzz!

The semi-transparent Composite Arcane Barrier rippled faintly, barely a shimmer across the air.

Boom!

Boom! Boom! Boom!

A string of heavy, sickening crashes followed.

Blood Axe, at the forefront, felt his greed evaporate in an instant, replaced by pain and terror.

It was like slamming headlong into a mountain of iron forged at the dawn of time.

The rebound was monstrous. His prized mana-shield burst like paper, ribs cracking audibly under the force.

He and his men were hurled backward at twice their charge speed, flung like swatted flies.

They traced pitiful arcs through the air before crashing to the ground with bone-shattering force, coughing blood, screaming, writhing.

Moments ago a ferocious warband—now broken, groaning in the dirt, combat power gone.

“Tch. Fools.”

“Brainless muscle-heads.”

A cold voice cut across the jeers.

From the sky drifted an old man in deep-blue robes embroidered with constellations, a staff topped with a sapphire glittering in his hand.

This was Lupotin, a legendary mage of the Starseer Tower.

He glanced once at the wrecked mercenaries with naked disdain.

“A miracle such as this—a city of ancient power—its defenses are not something you break with brute force.”

“To attempt so is to insult magic itself.”

His words resonated with many.

Who would try to smash such a mystery with their fists?

Idiots. At least their folly had tested the barrier’s strength.

Chuckles rippled through the crowd, though the prevailing mood was grim.

Blood Axe was no weakling—he stood at the peak of high-rank warriors. Yet even he was swatted down like an insect. The barrier’s strength was monstrous.

“It seems only true wisdom and strength will avail us.”

Lupotin rose higher, robes billowing though no wind blew.

The weight of a legend pressed down. His staff moved in sweeping arcs, and an incantation flowed from his lips like a poem.

Mana surged madly, pulling even the heavens into motion, clouds swirling above. His power dwarfed the mercenaries’.

“Master Lupotin of the Starseer Tower is acting!”

“A legendary mage—he’ll break it!”

“Master, we’re counting on you!”

The crowd held its breath, anticipation palpable.

Here was the strongest among them. If anyone could crack the barrier, it was him.

Even if he failed, surely he could analyze its structure.

The chant peaked. Lupotin thrust his staff forward with a commanding shout:

“In the name of the stars—pierce the false veil! Stellar Dissociation Ray!”

A lance of deep-blue energy shot forth, edged with flickering starfire, tearing space as it flew.

Air sizzled, space warped.

A single strike that could vaporize a hill in an instant.

It struck the barrier.

And then… nothing.

The dazzling beam vanished soundlessly, like an icicle dropped into a raging furnace. Not even a wisp of smoke remained.

As though it had never existed.

The confidence on Lupotin’s face froze. Shock overtook him.

“…Impossible!”

“My Stellar Dissociation Ray—completely nullified? The energy didn’t even register! Absorbed entirely?! What level of warding is this?!”

“Could it be… divine grade? No… impossible! Some unknown ancient array, perhaps!”

Unwilling to concede, cheeks burning under murmurs from below, he tried again.

He recited a longer, harsher incantation, pouring in knowledge saved for dire moments.

This time he even unveiled a relic—a pale-green anti-magic orb, faint with divine resonance.

He activated it; a warped green beam fired into the barrier.

The result was the same.

Every strike, whether energy bombardment or law-breaking art, sank like stones into a sea.

The barrier didn’t even flicker. Its rhythm never shifted.

The silence that followed was suffocating.

Even a legendary mage was helpless?!

“What kind of shell is this?!”

“Are we supposed to wait until those yokels inside finish eating before we can enter?!”

“They won’t eat for long—kill them the moment they come out!”

“The problem is, we can’t get in at all! Are we supposed to just stand here?!”

Restlessness spread like plague through the gathered factions.

Greed still burned in every heart, but the barrier denied them all.

For now, they were nothing but ants crawling on the outside of a fortress beyond imagining…

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep