The white bone skeletons stopped neatly and raised their bows, the iron-cast bow arms making a series of creaking noises. The mercenaries and adventurers below finally realized at this moment that something was terribly wrong, but the spirit statues scattered across the hall held them back, preventing their escape.
Brand's first thought was of Little Roman, but when he glanced upwards, he couldn't find any trace of Miss Merchant and Miss Antitina. Anxious, he swung his sword backward—a streak of silver blade left a shadow in the dim light, slicing through three chairs and directly hitting the spirit statue in combat with Batom.
The undead figure staggered, and Red-bearded Mercenary seized the opportunity, swinging his giant sword to cleave the spirit statue and half its body.
With a crash, the spirit statue shattered, several silver light orbs rising from its remains and shooting into Brand's body.
Meanwhile, the Limp Man, with Char's help, had just forced another spirit statue back. Turning around, they saw Brand below, shouting, "Have you seen Little Roman?"
"We're here!" Antitina stood up on the other side, holding Little Roman's hand. The merchant showed no signs of fear and waved vigorously.
"Get down!" Brand shouted at them, then turned to Char and commanded, "Char, the wall!"
The young Wizard Apprentice understood instantly, raising the ruby high. Countless lines extended from the gemstone in all directions—Char poured all his effort into casting, his mind and mana flowing into it like water—the Wall of Principle extended 50 meters, enclosing Antitina and Little Roman within it.
In the next moment, hundreds of lines briefly shone and then vanished, and an invisible wall of air formed.
At this point, the Skeleton Archers had also completed their preparations; the bowstrings thrummed like a storm as the arrows shot in straight lines, trailing black streaks. The first row of guests fell in unison, with the subsequent rows emitting muffled groans as they tumbled to the ground.
But Char had saved more lives; the air wall flashed white each time an arrow struck it. The wall flickered dozens of times, the light pulses merging into one continuous glow.
This wall finally awakened those bewildered by the sudden attack. Among them were Wizard Apprentices and Junior Element Masters, and even a couple of Intermediate Wizards. Most of these individuals had not initially understood the situation, but now they figured it out. They stood up, twisted the rings on their fingers, or began chanting.
The wizards extended their hands, and beams of white light stretched from the crowd toward the doors of the auction house, even a couple of weak fireballs among them.
Then came a series of explosions; air currents, bone fragments, debris, and dust flew everywhere. Brand saw at least a few skeleton heads bounce and roll near him.
Smoke and dust filled the hall. Brand coughed twice, but his coughs were drowned out by the surrounding clamor. He shoveled away a mercenary who stumbled into him and shouted upwards:
"Char, Little Roman, get down here! Come to me!"
Brand worried whether his voice had been heard, but soon he saw Batom emerge from the smoke, carrying the unconscious Limp Man. Behind him was Char, followed by Antitina and Little Roman. Our Merchant Lady looked like a little fox with a smudged face, a thick layer of dust on the tip of her nose—she stuck out her tongue in embarrassment when she saw Brand looking at her.
"I thought we wouldn't be affected behind Char's wall, Brand. Sorry." Though she sounded a bit shaken, the expression on her face clearly said: That was thrilling, I want to do it again.
Brand lightly tapped her forehead, glanced at Antitina, and replied, "Thank Miss Antitina properly later. Now's not the time. Follow me, we need to leave this place."
The noble daughter coughed slightly from behind and replied softly, "No need."
But the girl lifted her chin slightly, feeling a faint sense of pride. As a noble, she had inherited a bit of the ancient Erune nobles' sense of dignity.
Antitina had not told anyone that the complicated family crest of the Neisong family had a prominent lily emblem, albeit at the top of the shield, identical to the Kerkova Royal Family's lily. This indicated that this noble family was once a branch of the royal family hundreds of years ago, though it had declined, the noble lineage still flowed within its blood.