Path of Light.

Chapter 976, Section 971: A City Amidst the Flames of War
Roy's gaze followed the magic-patterned metal sphere until it fell into the abyssal maw of the demonic insect...

'boom! ’

The demonic insect exploded in half, its body splitting in two. Various juices and stones from its belly scattered down, falling to the bottom of the cliff along with its severed body. When it was completely dead, only a thin layer of skin remained of its body; everything else had turned into black liquid that flowed all over the ground...

"Damn it, who wasted a Thunder Bomb? These bugs haven't even climbed halfway up the mountain yet. What if we hadn't thrown it in? Every one of these is one less we have!"

A grey dwarf officer on top of the watchtower was shouting and cursing.

No one could understand the dwarven language, nor did they know what the officer was shouting.

The grey dwarf official standing beside him wouldn't speak carelessly at this point. Could he possibly say that the elven archmage in the visiting group just tossed it out casually?
Seeing that a casually tossed rune metal sphere had killed the venom-spitting demonic insect, Archmage Graemus became intrigued. He took two more rune metal spheres from his magic pouch, handed one to Roy, and said:

“Here, this is a rune magic ball I brought from Orianna’s Magic Workshop. I recently placed a big order with Orianna’s Magic Workshop, and they’re willing to sell us these rune magic balls!”

"Roy, why don't you try out the power of this runic magic ball?"

Roy took the runic metal ball, which was as big as a basketball, and found it wasn't as heavy as he had imagined when he held it in his arms.

It appears that this runic magic orb is hollow in the middle, or filled with a very light material...

The surface of the rune magic ball is covered with densely packed magical runes and is plated with a layer of thorium, making the entire rune magic ball shiny black.

"Will the Magic Guild provide us with these in the future?"

Roy asked, somewhat surprised.

He knew that over the past few years, Graemus had almost exhausted all his resources to help him purchase giant magic crossbows. Because of those giant crossbows, Graemus had incurred countless favors, probably using up all his connections.

It's important to know that the Elf Kingdom has very strict regulations on these kinds of magical weapons, so it was already quite an achievement for Gremus to be able to buy back so many giant magical crossbows.

This time they actually managed to get their hands on a large hand grenade...

Roy peered down and saw that the demonic insect directly below had been killed by Gremus. To kill other demonic insects, he would have to leave the tower.

At this moment, Roy didn't care how dangerous it was outside; he just wanted to test the power of the rune magic ball himself.

The orc leaders in the tower also gathered around. Everyone had seen what had just happened: the demonic insect, which was over ten meters long, was blown in two and died very quickly.

The orc leaders weren't stupid either. When they saw those acid-spitting demonic insects, they considered what methods they would use to deal with them if orc warriors were guarding the city walls.

Are we going to follow the example of the gray dwarves and throw stones down from the city walls?
This method is clearly not going to work...

The elves have quickly come up with a solution, and the orc leaders are eager to see if it works.

"Let's go, let's go out and try!"

Chief Grop came up and urged Roy to go outside and test it.

Roy was naturally eager to try it out, so everyone came down from the second floor of the tower.

The gray dwarf officer on the top of the tower was walking down in a huff when he was startled to see so many elves and orcs on the second floor.

The accompanying grey dwarf official immediately stepped forward to explain, and only then did the grey dwarf officer shut his mouth...

Roy ignored the gray dwarf officer running down from the top of the tower. He and Chief Grop quickly walked out of the tower and came to the back of the wall above a demonic insect, where a heavy metal tower shield was erected.

(A tower shield is a shield shaped like a door panel. An iris shield is a spindle-shaped shield that is wider at the top and narrower at the bottom.)

Grand Chief Grop stretched out his powerful arm and moved the tower shield that was propped up on the battlements with one hand.

The gray dwarf warrior standing to the side glared angrily at Chief Grop, about to speak up in rebuke, but was stopped by the gray dwarf official next to him.

He spoke a few words in Dwarven language and calmed the gray dwarf warrior down.

Roy, holding a rune magic orb, leaned his upper body out from behind the thick wall...

Just then, the demonic insects on the cliff began a new round of spewing acid, with countless drops of acid shooting up from below.

The gray dwarf warriors hidden in the tower quickly relayed a danger signal...

Miss Tiffany placed her hands to her mouth, forming a megaphone shape, arched her body, and blew hard. Instantly, a bubble appeared in front of her, growing larger and larger until it blocked the view of everyone...

The moment the demonic insect sprayed out a large amount of acidic poison and touched the bubble, it turned the bubble a pale green color. Then, the acidic poison actually merged into the bubble and was completely blocked by the bubble.

As the bubbles floated out of the city, they burst in the air with a 'pop,' and the acidic toxins turned into raindrops that fell from the city walls...

Roy saw the dozen or so demonic insects climbing up the rock wall and seized the opportunity to throw the rune magic ball down. Just then, one of the demonic insects opened its mouth and swallowed the rune magic ball whole. Almost without any delay, the rune magic ball exploded inside the insect's mouth.

The demonic insect's head shattered instantly, its juices splattering onto the rock face, and its massive body collapsed at the bottom of the cliff like a chimney.

The acidic poison spewed out by the demonic insects also drenched many gray dwarf warriors. Thanks to their strong physiques, they were able to withstand the acidic poison. As long as it was washed off in time, it would not cause any harm to their bodies. At most, their skin would be red and swollen for a while.

One after another, the demonic insects were blown to death, and the remaining demonic insects also crawled on the cliff face, only daring to move their bodies up little by little.

Following behind was a large army of demon servants. These demon servants hunched over, with toad-like bulges on their backs. Their legs were in the acid poison, but they were not afraid of the acid poison's corrosion. When they came to the side of the stone wall, they inserted iron rods into the holes in the cliff.

They used both their hands and feet to climb up, gripping the iron stakes stuck in the cliff face...

"The effect is not bad. How many rune orbs can the Magic Guild provide us?"

Roy rubbed his hands together and said.

Although its power is a level below that of the magic crossbow, it should still be quite good for defending the city of Presidius.

Grand Mage Graemus knew that Roy probably didn't fully grasp the power of the runic magic orb, thinking that it was only capable of taking down one magic worm and didn't seem that impressive.

Graemes didn't offer much explanation:
"The exact number is not yet determined, but what is certain is that the Magic Guild will gather all enchanters and inscriptionists in the Elven Kingdom to provide magical weapons for the mine guards. The giant crossbow bolts are limited by magical craftsmanship, and the monthly production is limited. It is impossible to increase the orders, but you can try using these magic scrolls and rune bombs. The Magic Guild will also provide full support."

Roy was surprised that the Magic Guild of the Elf Kingdom would provide him with such strong support, and for a moment he couldn't understand it.

"Magic scrolls? The Magic Guild provides us with magic scrolls? But the mine guards don't even have a mage corps, so even if they had magic scrolls, we wouldn't be able to use them properly!" Gramus stroked his mustache, his voice slightly muffled.

"The Magic Guild will probably send another corps of mages to join your mine guards!"

Roy was completely dumbfounded; he could hardly believe what he was hearing…

He stared intently at the Archmage Graemus and asked:
"Will the Magic Guild send some elven mages to help me?"

Archmage Graemus nodded again:

"They will only assist you in the battle on the battlefield of Drag's Knee, and... you also need to ensure the safety of these elven mages. If they encounter danger, they have the right to retreat to a safe area first and will not hold their ground indefinitely."

"That's no problem!"

Roy was surprised by this good thing and readily agreed.

He glanced at Archmage Graemus with some suspicion, since Graemus hadn't given him a hint beforehand.

This guy kept such a big thing to himself and managed to hold back for so long before telling me. This is so unlike him.

Archmage Graemus threw another rune orb from the city. This time, he failed to throw the rune orb accurately into the mouth of the demon worm. The rune orb hit the tentacles near the mouth of the demon worm, then bounced away and fell into the army of demon servants.

Suddenly, the flames blazed brightly, then instantly plunged into complete darkness...

In the darkness, the blinding light was like the blazing sun in the sky. The demon servants around the rune magic orb instantly evaporated, forming a high-temperature area with a diameter of about ten meters. All the demon servants in this area were completely melted, and even their skeletons turned into white ash.

Ten meters away, a large number of demon servants were engulfed in flames, and they let out mournful howls below the city.

Even Grand Master Grop shielded his eyes with his hand to avoid the dazzling beam of light from the exploding rune orb...

"Why isn't my rune magic ball as powerful as yours?"

Roy watched as the rune orb that Graemus threw out killed a large number of his demon servants, and asked, somewhat puzzled.

"Actually, their power is about the same... You've underestimated these Dark Devourers!"

"Grand Mage Graemus said in a low voice."

Overhearing Roy and Graeme's conversation, Grand Master Grop took the opportunity to ask Roy:

"Once we take over Presites City, will we be able to use these runic magic orbs to deal with those giant worms below the cliff?"

"of course can!"

Graemes said with certainty.

"That's good. If these big bugs really climb onto the city walls, it won't be easy to deal with them!" Chief Grop chuckled twice.

Just then, the shouts of the gray dwarf warriors came from the top of the tower again. Roy looked up at the top of the tower, but couldn't understand the dwarven language they were speaking, so he turned his attention to Grimes.

"I'll buy it! I'll buy as much as the Magic Guild can provide us!"

Roy hardened his heart and said.

He captured so many Imperial merchant ships in the Mensa Strait, not only rescuing a large number of half-elves, but also seizing a large amount of wealth from Imperial merchants and crew members, including millions of magic crystals, hundreds of boxes of Imperial gold coins, and hundreds of sets of elven magic rune armor.

Since we've made up our minds to take over the Villalia Valley, let's take a big gamble.

At this point, the gray dwarves began to continuously transport stones to the city walls. These stones looked like the foundation stones of a large palace, and some were even round Roman columns, except that these Roman columns were about two meters in diameter...

The gray dwarf warriors on the city wall needed to work in groups of ten to lift these stones, and they had to work together to throw the stones off the city wall...

The demonic insects opened their huge mouths and waited below. Some were swallowed into the insects' bellies, while others smashed onto the demonic servants, instantly turning them into mincemeat.

The grey dwarf officials weren't surprised to see the rune orb in Archmage Graemus's hand, nor did they shamelessly ask for it. They simply gave Roy a brief introduction:

"These dark demonic insects are notoriously thick-skinned and thick-shelled; even large rocks can't kill them. They always charge ahead during sieges. We currently rely mainly on rune magic orbs to deal with them, but these are quite scarce right now. Our throwers wait until the insects have climbed a little higher before throwing the rune magic orbs to blast them to death..."

High Chief Grop asked the grey dwarf official:

"Have you ever experienced hand-to-hand combat on the city walls?"

"The hand-to-hand combat on the city walls? Oh, that happens every month, and every victory is won with the lives of these gray dwarf warriors."

The gray dwarf official sighed, then added:
"Therefore, the gray dwarf warriors in Presites City will only hold out until the end of the month. All the warriors here will withdraw before the end of the month, and then your army will take over the defense of this area. If you intend to abandon the Villaria Valley, please be sure to inform us in advance."

The gray dwarf official glanced at Roy with some concern...

"My army is on its way."

As they spoke, another wave of acid sprayed onto the city wall, and everyone rushed into the towers. The gray dwarf warriors on the city wall, amidst creaking and shouting, quickly washed their bodies with clean water.

By this time, Roy finally understood how the gray dwarf warrior Vidalor had been injured. He had once been a garrison commander of the city of Pristis, and after guarding the city day and night, almost every gray dwarf warrior had been tainted by the dark energy to varying degrees.

Once infected by the dark energy, they were initially able to resist the erosion thanks to their strong physiques.

However, if they suffer even the slightest injury, their bodies, corrupted by the dark energy, will experience various problems...

Explosions echoed from the city walls, followed by cheers from the gray dwarf warriors, who seemed to have successfully dealt with the demonic insects.

Roy didn't want to watch the rest of the battle.

He planned to take a trip around the city to see exactly how the Grey Dwarves had ravaged Presidius under the shadow of war.

Judging from the stones that were carried up to the city walls, Roy guessed that most of the larger palaces in the city had probably been demolished...

(End of this chapter)