CHAPTER 187: Flying

Emily and the others took advantage of the people's stupor to unleash a barrage of attacks on the knights.

Blinding spells and fierce combat auras exploded at the same time, hitting the knights like bombs and inflicting heavy injuries and casualties.

Faced with an extreme threat to their lives, the previously shell-shocked knights of the Gryphon Legion began to fight for their lives. Javelins, arrows and sharp spears all flew towards Han Shuo's groups.

The knights had completely blocked the road, so Han Shuo's group would have to meet them head on if they charged across. As the Gryphon Legion knights shrugged off their fear and fought desperately, they immediately became a huge obstacle.

However, Han Shuo's group was made up of all experts with strong martial arts techniques and magic. They fought in the narrow streets, as the Gryphon Legion soldiers could not spread out. Only about ten soldiers could face Han Shuo and the others at a time.

Of course, these soldiers were no match for Han Shuo and the others. The soldiers were all knocked off their horses in an extremely short period of time. It was a pity that the Gryphon Legion crew consisted of about a hundred soldiers, and they were all experienced soldiers who had seen many battles. They charged forward without regard for their own lives, slowing the group's speed considerably.

The cry of the griffins came from the direction they had come from. Han Shuo listened and immediately understood that a large part of the Gryphon Legion was on its way. Perhaps even Bob Ascher was among them.

"Charge through this group or we'll be in trouble!" Han Shuo roared angrily. He turned and looked at Gilbert, "Transform back into your dragon form and destroy everything you see."

Gilbert immediately jumped to his feet upon hearing these words, transforming into the massive body of a dark dragon in the air. Gilbert's body soared through the sky above the crowded streets, opening its mouth to send a jet of flame at dozens of soldiers.

At the same time, a dull thud sounded as Belinda's iron-clad golem of the Three-Eyed Demon God, Ansidesi, charged into the crowd at her command. Together with Gilbert, it caused mass destruction, dealing devastating blows to the soldiers.

Han Shuo took stock of the surroundings and noticed that Belinda's iron golem had taken some noticeable damage. Although it was as powerful as ever, it seemed to be a bit more bedraggled and even a bit slower than last time.

Han Shuo knew without thinking that the golem must have been damaged in the operation to assassinate Bob Ascher, otherwise it wouldn't be in such a bad shape. Han Shuo turned his head and was about to look elsewhere when he suddenly saw the light of excitement in Lawrence's eyes. Lawrence was looking at the Iron Golem with fascination, and seemed to be constantly sighing in amazement as he looked at it.

Perhaps Lawrence wanted to save Belinda because he was after the value of the Golem. It was an enormous weapon of mass destruction. If it could be used as a weapon in war, then he would have a great advantage in besieging cities and devastating lands. No wonder Lawrence was so excited.

With Gilbert and the iron-skinned golem leading the way, those who followed immediately felt much more at ease. Their charge was accompanied by howls of pain and agony from their enemies as Han Shuo and the others trudged through the devastated streets and continued to advance.

At that moment, several large earth spikes suddenly appeared in front of them. All of them were several metres long and shot furiously at the low-flying Gilbert. Two water dragons materialised as well, also swooping wildly at Gilbert.

Gilbert had been screaming in his excitement as he was hit on all sides in his stupor. His huge body rolled forward and fell again. The knights who were still alive after all his attacks immediately fired all their weapons at Gilbert, wounding him as well.

"Damn it, you really hurt me. I'm going to kill you!" Gilbert screamed in agony, spewing flames at the Water and Earth Archmages in front of him. His huge body smashed and crushed some of the houses around him as he took to the air once more.

"We're leaving." One of the archmages said coolly as they both used the levitation spells to float into the air and take off in another direction.

"Don't go after them, we have to get out of here!" Han Shuo shouted immediately when he saw that Gilbert was about to chase after the two mages in his rage.

Gilbert had just stepped into this world and lacked sufficient combat experience. He was also full of himself and quite arrogant, so it wasn't surprising that he had been injured by the two magi. If they didn't have Gilbert with them, the group might not be able to destroy a section of the city wall later with just the slow-moving golem. Therefore, there was no way that Han Shuo would allow Gilbert to leave at that moment.

Due to the contract between Han Shuo and Gilbert, even though Gilbert complained a bit after receiving Han Shuo's order, he still continued to charge forward in the end. However, his speed wasn't as fast as it had been. It seemed that his injuries were indeed affecting him.

The calls of the griffins grew closer and closer as Han Shuo's party finally made it to the nearest section of the city wall in their desperate flight to escape. Any scattered soldiers they encountered along the way instantly vanished under the attacks of all.

"Break through this section of the wall!" Han Shuo ordered as they arrived.

At the same time, Gilbert and the Iron Golem attacked a section of the wall. However, this section of the wall only creaked and shook under the tremendous force and wasn't instantly destroyed.

"The city of Valen used the most durable stone to build its walls, to defend against invasions from the Kasi Empire. It'd be easier to fly over the wall than let the Dark Dragon break through it. Emily suggested immediately when she saw that Gilbert's first attack hadn't had any immediate effect.

Han Shuo glanced at everyone and said firmly, "Those who can't fly over the wall, take a seat on the dark dragon using the levitation spell and leave the horses behind.

As a dragon, Gilbert would rather die than let a lifeform many times his size crawl on top of him. To force him to carry them would be the dragon's lifelong shame and disgrace. Han Shuo understood this taboo, of course, and so had abandoned the idea of having the dark dragon carry the battle steeds.

Angelica, Candice, Caspian and the Battlefire mercenaries who couldn't fly immediately dismounted and jumped onto Gilbert. Emily grabbed the chubby hotel owner, Elaine, and slowly flew up as well.

Lawrence used an expensive flying scroll and also flew up slowly with the assassin, Lucky. His speed wasn't that slow, so it looked like the scroll must have been the work of at least a Wind Grand Magus.

To Han Shuo's surprise, Belinda of the Church of Calamity released another golem in the shape of a dragon. It was made of bizarre wood and actually lifted Belinda and Johnny into the air. They weren't as helpless as Han Shuo thought.

Everyone began to show their hidden aces in this time of need, and it was also when Han Shuo suddenly realised that apart from the mercenary band and Caspian, everyone else was rich and all had items that could make them fly and get them out of here.

Seeing that everyone had taken their places, Han Shuo moved to Phoebe's side. She too was preparing to jump up to the dark dragon's back, but Han Shuo suddenly grabbed her by the waist and activated the 'Demonic Ninth Heaven Art' to soar into the sky amidst Phoebe's panicked expression.

A faint scent wafted into Han Shuo's nose from their proximity. Phoebe's breathing was a little labored in her panic and her eyes sparkled with a strange light. Her red lips drew close to Han Shuo's ear in disbelief, "How can you fly?"

Not only Phoebe, but also Lawrence, Candice and the others looked at Han Shuo in disbelief. Cries of disbelief could be heard from the back of the dragon as they also couldn't understand how Han Shuo could fly.

What surprised them even more was that despite having Phoebe with him, Han Shuo's speed was actually the fastest. He'd soared over the city wall in a flash and continued his flight to the other side.

He hadn't flown when they had been running for their lives because, for one thing, it was an enormous drain on his resources. Flying quickly drained Han Shuo's magical yuan, while it drained Emily's mental strength. For an archmage like Emily, using the levitation spell was an enormous drain on their mental strength. A long flight would quickly exhaust an Archmage.

Besides, for an archmage of Emily's level, her speed wasn't much faster than a horse's, even when she was flying. Long periods of flight were also quite tiring for large dragons. Gilbert had been flying with everyone on his back for a while, and he'd also been injured by the soldiers earlier. That was why Han Shuo had only ordered him to carry everyone now.

Now that they had left the battle steeds behind and the Gryphon Legion soldiers were hot on their heels, flying wasn't easy for anyone in the group, but they all had to grit their teeth and endure it, hoping to get as far away from Valen City as possible.

The chase didn't let up. As the group cleared the city wall and continued to fly forward, Han Shuo looked back to see a thousand cavalry and a dense collection of black dots in the air in hot pursuit. It looked like Bob Ascher was really angry this time and would not stop until he had killed them all.

The Kerlan Grand Canyon, the geographical marker that separated the Kasi and Lancelot empire, was just ahead. There were many large and small mountain ranges around the Grand Canyon, with dense growth of trees and not so many people. They'd be able to shake off their pursuers if they entered this area.

So once their path had been mapped out, Han Shuo once again became the leader. He explained the situation and then dashed forward with Phoebe in his arms, the Dark Dragon following close behind.

In these moments of danger, everyone flew full speed ahead. Lawrence and Belinda, however, looked at Han Shuo in front of them with strange expressions of excitement. Their speed kept increasing, as if they wanted to get ahead of him.

"You hid this operation from both of them and were in charge from the beginning to the end. These two proud people must be a bit irritated. Now that you're flying faster than them with me in your hand, they must be even angrier." Phoebe looked behind her and then said quietly to Han Shuo.

"That seems to be the case, but there doesn't seem to be any need for that!" Han Shuo suddenly understood why.

"If you weren't the person I liked, then I would want to triumph over you as well, since you are better than me in all areas. Heh, that's human nature!" Phoebe explained modestly and then said mischievously next to Han Shuo's ears. "Will you beat her?"

Laughing out loud, Han Shuo felt a surge of heroism in his heart, forgetting all about the danger at hand. Looking down at the beauty in his arms, he said softly, "Hang on, I'll make them desperate soon!"