Song Qian Long, Qing Xin, Yu Ao, Mr. Tan, Mr. Gao, Li Hai Tang, and I moved swiftly through the bushes, being careful not to peek our head out or get spotted. I was a bit surprised an old geezer like Song Qian Long could keep up with my running pace, but then again, he is a Golden Monarch, and I wasn't exactly going full speed, either.

Either way, it took quite a while for us to reach the end of the monster army. Mei Mo and her knight had retreated all the way to the back, so we had to similarly run all that distance.

But damn...this army of theirs is really big. We've been running for a good 10 minutes now, but we still can't even see the end of this massive line of monsters.

After several minutes of sprinting, we finally arrived at the end of their monster army, where Mei Mo and the knight stood, watching on. For now, it didn't seem like they had noticed us yet, which was good. They also didn't seem to be on high alert, possibly thanks to the illusions Li Hai Tang put up. The further away he was from the illusions, the harder it would be for him to control them, but he seemed to be holding up fine. As much as I hated him, he was still a powerful family patriarch, after all. It only made sense he would be able to do at least this much.

All of us exchanged glances with one another, and nodded firmly.

Song Qian Long was the first one to leap out of cover, immediately launching his attack. "Legendary Sky Magic - Fang of Zeus!"

Hurling the massive purple thunderbolt directly towards Mei Mo, he roared and the rest of us soon leapt out of our cover as well.

"Legendary Fire Magic - Solar Nova!" Yu Ao yelled, sending a huge ball of pure fire towards Mei Mo and her knight.

Mei Mo, caught by surprise, quickly moved to dodge, but the rest of us were here too, not just idling around doing nothing.

"I won't let you-!" Qing Xin declared. "Glacier Form: Wall!"

A massive ice wall rose right where Mei Mo was planning to go, preventing her escape.

"Tch...!" she gritted her teeth, and braced herself for the upcoming attack. "Servant! Block this for me!"

The knight obeyed, and placed himself in front of Mei Mo. Quietly, he chanted. "Legendary Metal Magic - Unbreakable Dome."

Right as Song Qian Long's and Yu Ao's attacks were about to hit their targets, Mei Mo and the knight were suddenly covered by a metal dome that had risen from the ground, and the attacks hit the shield. It cracked slightly, but that was all.

Unfazed, the Golden Monarchs kept launching attacks at the dome, however...

Now that we were out in the open, the monster army near the back of the army had noticed us, and were targeting us now.

"What do we do?!" Mr. Gao asked.

I clenched my fists and came up with a plan on the spot. "This will reduce our firepower, but...there's nothing else that can be done."

Pointing at the monsters, I continued. "Mr. Gao, Mr. Tan, keep those bastards off of us!"

"Alright!" they yelled simultaneously, and quickly moved to stop the monsters. Meanwhile, the remaining Golden Monarchs were still pummeling the metal dome with all they had.

"Legendary Ice Magic - Wrath of the Snow Wyvern!" Qing Xin chanted, summoning a wyvern made of ice, which in turn began launching a barrage of ice spikes towards the metal dome. The ice shards, upon contact with the metal, shattered - but that was perfectly fine. The catch here was this - Qing Xin is constantly aiming for the same few spots on the dome, meaning eventually, these points will become weak and breakable.

"Legendary Light Magic - Eye of the Traveller!" Li Hai Tang yelled. A massive blinding golden eye appeared above him, and shot out a beam of disintegration from the center, aiming directly for the cracks on the dome as a result of the other Golden Monarchs' attacks.

Light Magic...? So Li Hai Tang has both an affinity for Shadow and Light. That's interesting, considering the two elements are supposed to conflict with one another.

After several seconds of this disintegration beam, the metal dome finally fell under the pressure, but even then, Li Hai Tang didn't stop his attack, and continued to shoot inside the dome.

However...after a while, I realized something was off. "Wait, Patriarch Li!"

"What?" he asked, slightly annoyed but still pausing his attack.

I hurried over to check inside the dome, and found...nothing. No one was there. "They're not here...?"

The other Golden Monarchs quickly gathered around me.

"What the hell...where did they go?" Li Hai Tang murmured in anguish.

Qing Xin closed her eyes. "Level Three Psychic Magic - Mana Trace."

After a while, she opened them again, and frowned. "There are mana remains of Space Magic here."

"You mean...they teleported away?" Yu Ao asked. "Then how do we find them?!"

I shook my head. "No need to worry...they won't just escape like that. In fact..."

I looked up at the sky, and found myself staring at Mei Mo floating in mid-air using Sky Magic, with her knight accompanying her.

"Hehehe~" she giggled. "Didn't expect me to have Space Magic, did you?"

"This is bad..." Song Qian Long muttered. "If that is the case, even if we do manage to harm her, she can just teleport away..."

"I will lock her down!" a familiar voice suddenly rang out from behind us.

"Mayor Zhou?!" my eyes widened in surprise at his appearance even though I told him to go rest.

He had a burning determination in his eyes, and he began chanting. "Legendary Space Magic - Dimension Lockdown!"

He was the only among us who had Space Magic, and of course, the most efficient way of countering Space Magic, was Space Magic.

Suddenly, the Golden Monarchs and Mei Mo began rising high into the air. Her knight and I, however, were left on the ground.

"What is this...?!" Mei Mo cried, slamming her fist against some kind of invisible wall. I was also confused, but the Golden Monarchs currently rising were unfazed.

"Dimension Lockdown, huh...I didn't think he had enough mana to use this, but this will certainly help us quite a bit," Song Qian Long murmured.

"Essentially, this spell traps people within a cubical cage," Mayor Zhou explained, walking to my side after seeing my confusion. "It prevents people from teleporting out of it as well, basically locking everyone caught inside. This is the perfect situation for us, as we have a number advantage, and now there is minimal space for that accursed Mei Mo to dodge our spells."

"D-Damn it! Why is teleportation not working...?!" Mei Mo cried in despair, slamming her palm against the invisible walls of the cube.

"My lady, this spell prevents any form of escape from this cube we are trapped in," the knight explained, yelling upwards so that Mei Mo could hear him. "The only way to get out...is by killing the caster."

Mei Mo gritted her teeth, then closed her eyes, most likely giving some kind of instructions to her monsters.

I quickly glanced behind me, and winced as I saw the monsters were now turning on Mayor Zhou. Mr. Tan and Mr. Gao were still desperately trying their best to keep the monsters away, but...it was only a matter of time before they run out of mana, or just become overwhelmed by the monsters' sheer numbers.

I then faced my front again, and clenched my fists as the knight drew his sword from its sheathe.

Looks like...it's not just the monsters I have to worry about, huh?

"In order to save my lady, I have to eliminate that man," the knight said, pointing at Mayor Zhou behind me. His voice was deep and manly.

I sneered. "Yeah? Well...I'm not going to let you do that."

"I applaud your bravery, child," he replied calmly. "However...you stand no chance against me."

"How do you know until you try?" I taunted, snickering in amusement.

"..." the knight fell silent and tilted his head downwards a bit, but after a while, he lifted his head again and continued. "Very well. You have the qualities of a knight, so I will allow you a fair duel. I will not use any magic - a sword is all I need."

"Kuku...don't regret this decision."

*****

- Meanwhile, Within the Cube... -

After a while, the cube finally stopped rising, and it was just Mei Mo against Song Qian Long, Li Hai Tang, Yu Ao, and Qing Xin.

"We have no time to lose," Song Qian Long said. "If they take out Mayor Zhou, this spell will be broken, and we will lose the only advantage we have."

"Yes...this is a race against time," Qing Xin murmured in agreement.

"Well then...what are we waiting for? I've gotten tired of this bitch a long time ago!" Li Hai Tang exclaimed, pointing at Mei Mo.

The Golden Monarchs all nodded firmly, and each began casting their own spells.

"Legendary Sky Magic - Fang of Zeus!"

"Legendary Fire Magic - Solar Nova!"

"Legendary Void Magic - Putrefaction Beam!"

"Legendary Ice Magic - Wrath of the Snow Wyvern!"

Mei Mo laughed evilly, not making any move to dodge the Golden Monarchs' attacks. "Hahaha! You think I can't take you on, just because I don't have my servants with me?! Think again! Legendary Psychic Magic - Mind Control!"