From Hogwarts to Strixhaven.

Chapter 637 The Laws of Hell
The knights held aloft by the gargoyles were not all black-armored hell knights; some wore yellow and white robes, looking completely opposite to the hell knights and more like traditional crusaders.

Previously, these knights were trapped high in the sky with nowhere to grab onto, let alone escape the gargoyles' claws.

Now, the dragon that Ivy has transformed into is attacking from below, and the turbulent currents it creates have completely thrown the gargoyles flying in the air off balance, giving the knights a glimmer of hope.

The black-armored hell knights took the lead, using both their fists and daggers. If they weren't wearing helmets, these hell knights might have even tried to bite the demon.

The turbulent air currents and the erratic prey made life miserable for the gargoyles. If they didn't want to be bitten to death by the suddenly appearing golden dragon, or get entangled with their prey and fall to the ground, their only option was to let go and escape the dragon's jaws.

But the knights who were captured by them as prey didn't think that way.

Being captured by a gargoyle might offer a chance of survival, but if you're thrown from the sky, even if you're stuffed into armor like a tin can, you're still destined to turn into a lump of minced meat.

Therefore, when the gargoyles began to throw the knights down, except for a few unlucky ones who didn't have time to react and fell to the ground with alarms in the air, the other knights tried their best to resist and stick as close to the gargoyles as possible.

"Shock absorption and speed reduction!" The golden dragon's long tail whistled sharply, cleaving a gargoyle that had dropped its prey in two at the waist. At the same time, it roared and chanted a spell to slow the descent of the three falling knights.

"Don't linger, knights, I am your reinforcements." Ivy's calm voice resonated in the whirlwind, soothing the knights' fear. "Unleash your power, and I will help you control the gale."

【Wind Elemental Summoning】 can grant teammates flight speed. While it's impractical to lead a small team to provide support with this speed, it's more than enough to help knights who can't fly at all transform from prey to hunter.

Thus began a fierce close-quarters battle in the air.

The gargoyles wanted to break free from the dragon's power, while the knights who had just learned to fly wanted revenge; for both sides, this was an irreconcilable conflict.

Unfortunately, the gargoyles, who originally had an aerial advantage, were now within the range of Ivy's Winged Storm, and their mobility was greatly reduced. Instead, they were now on the same level as the knights who had just learned to fly and were being carried by Ivy using wind elements.

Angel Stallma joined the battle, wielding a large cleaver. He was more agile than Ivy and better suited for this kind of small-scale aerial combat.

Ivy continued to circle and flap her wings, maintaining the scale of the Wing Storm, while using her claws and tail sweeps to kill the gargoyles that didn't know what was going on.

Jinlong's melee combat strength is indeed formidable, and he almost always launches overwhelming attacks with a clear advantage.

So far, Ivy hasn't found a gargoyle that can withstand a single blow from him without dying, let alone the right forepaw that has been fused with the Beast Bite Sword using [Integration into Form], possessing a 30% critical hit rate, a 5x critical hit multiplier, and the ability to utilize the [Sword Saint] class characteristics.

Watching the demon smoothly turn into a pile of flesh and blood in front of him, Ivy couldn't help but have a strange feeling: was magic always wrong, and was melee combat the only way out?
He shook his head and spat out a burst of light and flame, burning the last two gargoyles to death. Ivy and the knights fell from the sky, and then threw the Hell Knight Ark, which he had been holding, to the ground.

They landed on a cliff, and the Hell Knights' camp that had been attacked was just below the cliff.

Tents were scattered all over the ground, wounded soldiers lay slumped on the ground groaning, and soldiers with fearful faces looked up at the sky from time to time, trembling because of the noise made by the battle between the dragon and the gargoyles.

The warriors here were also divided into two groups. One group consisted of knights wearing yellow and white robes, while the other group wore black armor that matched the image of Hell Knights. It seems that Hell Knight Ark also had something to report. It wasn't just the Claw Knights who were attacked; there was another force as well.

“Get them all together, then head down to the camp below, Stalma,” Ivy said in a deep voice, before taking to the air again. “I’ll go check it out first.”

“Those knights in yellow and white robes are followers of my lord Shane. They call themselves the Knights of Dawnblade. I can feel the divine power of supreme light emanating from the priests,” Starma hurriedly said before Ivy began to swoop down into the valley in her dragon form.

“If you judge them to be trustworthy, then—” Ivy swung her massive dragon claw, leaving some supplies on the ground, including potions, bandages, food, water, and splints to fix broken bones. “Preserve their lives as much as possible. To combat the World's Tragedy, we must unite all forces. After resupplying, use the Levitation potion to descend directly to the valley floor and rendezvous with the main force below.”

"Understood!" The angel nodded and went to take care of the wounded.

Sigrún has taught at the Iceland University of the Arts as a part-time lecturer since and was Dean of the Department of Fine Art from -. In – she held a research position at Reykjavík Art Museum focusing on the role of women in Icelandic art. She studied fine art at the Icelandic College of Arts and Crafts and at Pratt Institute, New York, and holds BA and MA degrees in art history and philosophy from the University of Iceland. Sigrún lives and works in Iceland.

“We need to evacuate the wounded! Those beasts are about to attack again! Use the cloaks as stretchers—we must hold on. Deputy Enforcer, your men must cover us, and at the same time…”

In the camp below the cliff, Ashius Strig, commander of the Dawnblade Knights, was seeking help from his temporary allies. In the gargoyle attack, it wasn't just the Dawnblade Knights who suffered casualties; the Hell Knights of the Claw Knights also had wounded men unable to move.

Ashius felt his request was perfectly justified. The black-armored Hell Knights weren't particularly skilled in healing magic, and the Dawnblade Knights, with their many priests, had a greater advantage in caring for the wounded.

If we can save these wounded, we can preserve another force to fight against the world's tragedy.

However, the Hell Knights' deputy enforcer clearly didn't think so: "If we stay in the open for another two minutes, neither you nor I will have any troops left to follow orders, Crusaders."

Dawnblade Knight paused for a moment, then said, "But the wounded..."

The deputy enforcer made a gesture that would go almost unnoticed, and the Hell Knights in black armor drew their weapons and pointed them indiscriminately at the wounded on the stretcher.

On the battlefield, this is an understandable action. Preserving manpower is always of paramount importance, but few people are willing to make the decision to do so.

Leaving the wounded alive for the enemy and then praying they would survive by sheer luck is naturally more acceptable than executing them personally. After all, the former doesn't require looking them in the eye.

But these knights were fighting demons, and leaving the wounded to the demons was clearly more cruel than executing them outright.

Rather than letting them suffer or drag the troops down with them, it's better to eliminate the burden of the wounded and keep them alive to avenge them.

In the eyes of Deputy Enforcer Regil Tirenger, this was the undisputed optimal solution, but for Ivy, who oversaw all affairs of the Crusader, it might not be so.

"Stop!" The dragon's roar echoed through the valley. Ivy fully unleashed the aura of a golden dragon as a top predator, and even actively used psionic energy to amplify this influence.

The Hell Knights, who had raised their weapons, suddenly felt their legs go weak and their arms go limp, making it difficult to even perform the simplest execution maneuvers.

But they were, after all, Hell Knights with an extremely strict and demanding discipline, and several of them actually raised their weapons again.

"Armor protection!" Ivy chanted as she helplessly searched for a place to land and rescued the wounded.

He comforted himself, thinking, "Well, they're allies after all. Immuneness is fine."

"A new problem has arisen, form ranks!" Standing before Ivy was a short, gray-haired dwarf clad in black armor. He shouted at Ivy, while simultaneously buying time for the troops to regroup, "Why have you come, Golden Dragon? Why are you obstructing my men from carrying out their orders?"

“Because I will restore those wounded to their fighting strength,” Ivy said calmly. “I am Ivy Doom, the reinforcements invited by Hell Knight Ark Ankel and the full military advisor for the Fifth Holy War.”

“Ark? Perhaps his dereliction of duty has bought us a glimmer of hope.” The short but imposing dwarf waved his hand, ordering the Hell Knights to lower their weapons. “If you’re going to do something, do it quickly. I suspect those demons will launch another attack soon.”

"So... those rumors are true?" Ashus, the leader of the Dawnblade Knights, asked. "Montive has begun the Fifth Holy War, and leading this army is Aiomede's chosen one. You are the dragon he summoned from the heavens?"

“Not all the rumors you’ve heard are true, Knight.” Ivy glanced at him and began channeling divine power from the sun. This positive energy could inflict radiant damage on enemies and, conversely, provide widespread healing to allies. “When Ark Ankel found us, we were preparing to capture the fortress at the crossing, which had been taken over by demons. I won’t change my plans for a besieged, unknown force, but every unit deserves to be united in the fight against the world’s tragedy. Once our forces have conquered the crossing fortress, we can send troops to help you cross the river.”

A soft golden light descended from the sun piercing through the rusty clouds, opening up a sacred and pure realm of light centered on the enormous golden dragon. All the knights bathed in it felt a healing power; this divine force not only soothed their physical wounds but, along with Ivy's words, also revitalized their morale.

One by one, the wounded who could not move rose from their stretchers, picked up their weapons again, and spontaneously stood behind their respective knight commanders.

“That’s a pleasant surprise.” Deputy Enforcer Regil’s face showed little surprise. “But I’m afraid the demons don’t know what retreat is. Those gargoyles that left first will bring more demons. We need to find a more advantageous position for defense.”

"And it's a location that can offset the enemy's air superiority and numerical disadvantage," Ivy added. "A cave or a crevice, do you have a preferred spot, Deputy Enforcer?"

The gray-haired dwarf showed no surprise, nodding calmly: "Although we were attacked while setting up camp, our well-trained scouts had marked the surrounding area beforehand. There's a cave over there, follow me. Leave the supplies where you are! Just take rations and water!"

“Have some people start gathering supplies first. I can use magic to help take them all with me. There are also some teammates we need to meet.” Ivy looked up at the mountaintop, where the angel Stallma was waving at him. “They’ll be landing soon.”

"You brought other aerial units?" This was the question that caused the deputy law enforcement officer the most emotional reaction; he even raised one eyebrow.

"It's mainly your teammates who were captured." Ivy didn't deny it; how could an angel not be considered another aerial unit?

“On our way here, we encountered a group of gargoyles that were about to leave. They seemed to be trying to take their captives back to their lair.” Ivy raised her head. “They’re here.”

While talking to Ivy, Deputy Enforcer Regil used a set of concealed hand gestures to order the Hell Knights to begin gathering supplies. The Dawnblade Knights, seeing their actions, hesitated only for a moment before helping these people who had not long ago tried to kill them.

“I saw them begin to regroup, and I knew the demons wouldn’t give up.” Angel Stallma spread her wings and slowly descended, nodding to Ivy in mid-air. “Where should we set up our defensive positions?”

Ivy transformed back into a human from the golden dragon and pointed to the gray-haired dwarf, saying, "Follow this deputy enforcer; he will lead us to a favorable position. Our objective is simple: defend and wait for reinforcements from the other side."

The dwarf hell knight assigned a soldier to lead the way, while he himself lagged behind the group, keeping a wary distance from Ivy as they walked.

“What are you waiting for, Military Advisor?” Regil glanced in the direction of Ivy’s gaze, toward the ferry fortress, but at this distance, the short dwarf could see absolutely nothing.

“The Crusades are a mixed bag, with varying levels of competence among its members. Integrating them into a cohesive unit won’t be an easy task.” Ivy snapped out of her reverie and caught up with the group. “I’m waiting for a rebellion.”

"Rebellion? I thought Montevie's Crusaders were always very disciplined." The deputy enforcer uttered nonsense that even he himself didn't believe, while glancing at Ivy's expression out of the corner of his eye.

“Stop this pointless probing, Deputy Enforcer. I know what kind of person you are, and I understand your determination to accomplish great things. So after this battle, I hope you will lead the Claw Knights into the Crusader's command structure.” Ivy decided to get straight to the point. “There are cultists in the Crusader, that's for sure, but they can also be used. Forging weapons requires heating the iron until it's red-hot, then hammering out the impurities with a heavy hammer and reshaping it—you know what I mean.”

The deputy enforcer didn't rush to answer, but bowed slightly: "I can't give a definite answer yet. I am the leader of this Claw Knights squad, and there is no commander with a higher rank than me in the entire World's Sorrow. I bear the responsibility—to ensure my men live while accomplishing this great task, or at least to ensure they die a worthy death. I haven't even met the commander of this Holy War, the legendary Chosen One of Iomede."

(End of this chapter)