booktalesy Chapter 197 The Awkward Stone Shield
Chapter 197 The Awkward Stone Shield
Chapter 197 The Awkward Stone Shield
Upon hearing this, Maya's tense shoulders relaxed slightly. She smiled, feigning composure, and said, "It's rare for this princess—this princess—to want to make you happy by calling you captain, but you don't appreciate it. Then I'll just call you Li Angqing."
She immediately summoned two loyal royal guards and ordered them to help Frostheart, who was unconscious but breathing steadily, away, to keep a close watch on her, and to ensure her safety.
The guards obeyed and carefully carried the former king away from the arena.
After dealing with Frostheart, Leon and Celia walked toward Loki, who was firmly bound to the ground by Helena's water-binding spell.
Upon approaching, Celia didn't waste any words. She extended her slender fingers, the tips of which were shimmering with starlight, and pointed directly at Loki's brow.
She was trying to forcibly probe into his memories, but this brutal method would cause irreversible damage to the subject's brain, something Celia would normally disdain.
But she doesn't have as many rules and regulations as the law enforcement team when it comes to these dark witches who harm the world, nor does she have any humanitarian concerns.
However, the moment her fingertips touched her brow, Celia's brows furrowed tightly.
What she was experiencing at this moment was not orderly fragments of memory, but a chaotic, distorted stream of consciousness, as if it had been forcibly shattered and then haphazardly pieced back together.
"Something's not right—" she muttered to herself, as the golden light at her fingertips suddenly intensified, piercing the chaos like sharp thorns.
"Ughhhhhh!" Loki on the ground let out a shrill, inhuman scream, and his body began to twist and deform violently.
His face and body changed like a melting wax figure, eventually becoming a man with an unfamiliar face and empty eyes. "What happened?" Li Ang asked immediately upon seeing this.
Celia withdrew her finger, a hint of solemnity in her golden eyes: "It seems we didn't capture Loki's true form. This is merely an avatar he forcibly seized and controlled using fragments of his soul." The craftsmanship of this thing is exquisite, enough to deceive even the most discerning eye. Unless I directly contacted its soul core at close range, ordinary detection methods would have struggled to detect anything amiss.
Li Ang nodded, not too surprised by the result; he had already experienced the cunning of the Dark Witch.
"Is there anything else we can glean from his chaotic memories?" Li Ang then asked.
"I'll give it a try, but don't get your hopes up too high. The main body has set up a very strong interference and self-destruct mechanism for this clone."
Celia focused her attention again on the vacant, light-filled clone, trying to sift through the chaos to find any potentially useful fragments.
At the same time, Li Ang turned to Maya: "Your Majesty, I will have to trouble you to order a city-wide manhunt for Loki's true identity and any accomplices he may be hiding."
Maya was now fully in character. She nodded vigorously, her emerald eyes flashing with hatred for the dark sorcerer: "I understand, Li Angqing."
She raised her left hand, and the ring on her thumb, a symbol of royal power, glowed faintly. Through the communication array built into the ring, she directly contacted the Guardian Division, the protective force of Ironforge.
Soon, Stone Shield Ironclad, the leader of the regiment, dressed in bright silver armor, arrived with several guards.
Facing Maya again, the young commander's face showed undisguised embarrassment and awe, after all, he had been ordered not long ago to stop her from entering the city.
He knelt on one knee, lowered his head, and spoke in a loud voice, though a hint of nervousness could not be concealed: "Stone Shield Ironclad, I obey Your Majesty's command. Please give your orders!"
Maya looked at him, her tone calm yet carrying an undeniable authority: "I remember you, Commander Stone Shield, Steadfast Rock."
"Yes—yes, Your Majesty!" Stone Shield lowered his head even further.
"My first order upon becoming Queen of the Dwarves is to immediately mobilize the Royal Guard to conduct a city-wide manhunt for the former Regent Ernesto, and all his associates. These parasites who threaten the kingdom must be brought to justice! And upon discovering their whereabouts, do not rashly wage war; report immediately."
"Yes, Your Majesty! The Imperial Guard will not fail in your duty!" Shi Dun loudly accepted the order, immediately stood up, and led his men away at breakneck speed to begin deploying a city-wide manhunt.
Just as the situation above the arena came to a temporary halt, deep beneath Ironforge, in a hidden workshop occupied by dark sorcerers, the battle reached its climax.
The joint extermination team, under the unified command of Captain Eric, is engaged in fierce combat with the stubbornly resisting dark wizards.
This joint team includes Eric's own Eighth Squad, Martin's Fourth Squad, Bennett's Second Squad, and an elite Transformationist squad led by Elena from Obsidian Tower, who arrived in time after receiving support orders and forcibly crossing the outer thunderstorm zone of Thunder Mountain in a high-speed airship with stronger power and protection.
As for the remaining support teams, they are still on standby on the airship, serving as its guards.
This was an order given by Li Ang, precisely to prevent the Dark Witch from repeating her old tricks and eliminating the gunners on the airship, rendering it useless. "Captain Eric, we meet again." Elena walked to Eric's side, her moon-like silver hair still shining brightly in the dim light of the workshop.
Eric nodded to her and said calmly, "The situation is urgent. We can talk about formalities later, Captain Elena. According to the plan, eliminate all resistance and try to save the lives of the controlled craftsmen."
"Understood," Elena replied succinctly.
The next moment, her aura suddenly changed, and a soft, moonlit silver light enveloped her entire body. Her agile body swelled and deformed in the light, instantly transforming into a gigantic bear.
In her Moonbear form, Elena let out a deep roar and charged into the enemy ranks. Her thick fur and powerful strength made her a solid bulwark at the forefront of the team.
As she transformed, the other Obsidian Tower Transfiguration wizards also began to display their transformations.
Some transformed into Shadow Wolves, lurking in the shadows, while others curled up and became Fireball Rats, their fur standing on end like burning fireballs, in the firelight.
Various monsters appear and fight alongside the members of the Lelita Enforcement Team.
Martin's fourth squad excels at area control and fire suppression. Walls of earth and ice thorns restrict the movement of the dark wizards, while wind blades and explosive fire accurately harvest enemies.
Bennett's second squad focused more on precision strikes and rapid advances.
They cut into the enemy ranks like scalpels, quickly eliminating the high-level dark sorcerers who attempted to cast dangerous spells.
Eric himself sat in the center, overseeing the overall situation and providing fire support from time to time with the Storm Sword.
Soon, the sounds of battle within the underground workshop gradually subsided.
The last remaining dark sorcerer, putting up a desperate fight, lost consciousness under the claws of the moon bear that Elena had transformed into.