The black dragon's roar shook the heavens, like a sweeping black storm that turned the entire sky into a deep, inky darkness.
Standing atop the black dragon's back, Aestry slowly rose to her feet. Her violet eyes were devoid of emotion. When she spoke, her voice was like the thunderous beat of war drums, announcing the official start of the battle.
This assault was entirely different from the previous campaign against the Bitter Heart Sect.
During the attack on the Bitter Heart Sect, the enemy's defensive formations had been extraordinarily strong. The Furnace Army had no choice but to endure a long siege, slowly dismantling the opponent's powerful protective sorcery arrays.
However, the defenses of the Nightshadow Fortress were unique in their way.
A thin veil of black light draped over the fortress, concealing everything beneath it.
This was the Nightshadow Fortress' signature defensive sorcery formation, known as the "Anti-Energy Array."
The array's defining feature was its ability to neutralize a large portion of incoming ranged magical attacks. Even more troubling, the dissipated energy would, in turn, reinforce the array itself.
In other words, against this formation, long-range sorcery attacks were significantly weakened.
However, the array was not without its flaws.
While it had formidable defenses against long-range attacks, it was incapable of stopping physical intrusion.
This was, in fact, part of the fortress's design strategy.
As a faction specializing in necromancy, death magic, and negative energy sorcery, the Nightshadow Fortress had long anticipated that enemies would attempt to break through their defenses with physical force.
For them, the more intruders who dared to enter the array, the more fuel they provided for the fortress's negative energy magic.
Once these intruders were killed, the death aura released from their bodies would further strengthen the array, creating a vicious cycle the fiercer the battle, the stronger the fortress would become.
Thus, breaching the Nightshadow Fortress was no simple task. The price of forcing one's way in was steep, and few could withstand the erosion of the negative energy.
"If we charge in ourselves, the negative energy will drain our strength significantly. The losses would be too great," the black dragon rumbled in a deep voice, reporting the situation truthfully.
Aestry's violet eyes flickered with an icy glow. She cast an indifferent glance over the Furnace apprentices below.
"Then let them go in first, to absorb the negative energy for us," she stated coldly.
Her voice carried no emotion. The fate of those apprentices was of no consequence.
They had only one purpose to clear obstacles for Aestry. Even if it cost them their lives.
After all, once they had served their function, she *the student of the Lord of the Furnace *would rise to fame through this war, making her name known throughout the wizarding world!
"Proceed as planned. Select apprentices who possess Light Crystals and have them mix into the larger group. They will help neutralize some of the negative energy inside."
"Of course, before that, send in a wave of apprentices to die first. Let the enemy drop their guard…"
Her voice echoed through the air:
"To die for the Furnace is an honorable death. The Furnace will remember them! Now, move!"
As the commander of the battle, Aestry's orders were swift and decisive, relayed immediately to the official wizards below.
Without hesitation, the wizards carried out her command, directing squads of apprentices toward the dark sky-shrouded fortress, preparing to pave the way for the true assault.
Lynn and his two companions blended into the crowd, receiving their orders from an official wizard to attack from the left flank of the Nightshadow Fortress.
The fortress's sorcery array continued to hum with dark light, forming an invisible barrier that sealed it off from the outside world.
Yet, despite the obvious danger, the Furnace wizards had commanded them to force their way in.
A heavy sense of doubt and fear settled over many apprentices. Charging straight into a fortified sorcery array was nothing short of suicide.
However, hesitation on the battlefield was met with swift and brutal consequences.
Bolts of sorcery lightning flashed across the ranks, striking down those who dared to waver.
Of course, raw violence alone wasn't enough to ensure obedience.
Several official wizards produced binding contracts covered in dense, glowing runes brimming with magical power.
These contracts held extreme sorcerous restraints. Once signed, apprentices could never defy them.
One apprentice attempted to flee only to be instantly devoured by the contract's backlash, dying agonizingly.
Faced with such brutal enforcement, even those filled with dread had no choice but to march forward.
"That black dragon which doesn't give a damn about our lives…"
"Sigh… After all these years, I still haven't become an official wizard, and now I have to serve under a commander like her."
"At this rate, the casualty rate in this Furnace Hunt will be the highest in history. But what can we do? She's the Furnace's little princess… Hah."
Sonya cast a cold glance toward the black dragon circling in the sky, a trace of mockery flickering in her eyes.
Lynn nodded slightly, feeling a deep sense of understanding.
At this moment, he finally grasped the true nature of the Furnace and the world of dark wizards.
Although he had the protection of his teacher, which had allowed him a relatively stable life within the Furnace, he was still bound by the contracts. There was no escaping the battlefield.
To the Furnace, apprentices were merely pawns on a chessboard. Their deaths were nothing more than numbers on a war report.
"Lynn, whatever you do, don't act rashly. The Furnace's contract curse is worse than anything else. As long as you don't try to escape…"
It was Colin, a fellow apprentice under the same teacher, who approached Lynn and whispered the warning, his voice carrying a deeper implication.
Lynn immediately picked up on his meaning.
Colin emphasized, "As long as you don't try to escape."
Did that mean… as long as he didn't desert the battlefield outright, the contract wouldn't activate?
Lynn's mind worked quickly, and he soon understood the hint.
Desertion was the absolute trigger for the contract's punishment.
But as long as he stayed on the battlefield, there were ways to bend the rules.
For example, he could stall by engaging a weaker opponent, or pretend to fight while avoiding any real danger.
As the saying went: "Policies from above, countermeasures from below."
Aestry wanted to sacrifice apprentices to build her prestige in the wizarding world.
But those favored by their teachers like Colin knew how to sidestep the contracts' restrictions and survive.
Of course, students like Colin and Rosalind, who had connections and knowledge, were the exception.
Most apprentices, even those with teachers, were trapped between the wizards' authority and the contract's curse.
Their only option was to charge into the darkness of Nightshadow Fortress, where fate whether death or survival awaited.
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