Meredith’s agility increased once again, further enhancing her movement speed.

But besides Meredith launching an immediate counterattack, there was also Colonel Tessa.

As a Level 9 Classes Wanderer, her speed was equally swift. The two moved to flank Mystic Salno from the left and right.

All three understood very clearly just how much destruction a mage of Transcendent level could cause if left unchecked.

In comparison, the recent Fifth Level Spell ’Death Cloud Spell’ was merely an appetizer!

Now the battlefield was essentially divided into two parts: Meredith, Benest, and Colonel Tessa charged towards Mystic Salno, trying to disrupt his spellcasting, while others attempted to stop Olaf.

"Alright, no more playing with you guys," Olaf chuckled, applying force to push aside Gregory’s great sword, using the momentum to leap away.

"Damn it! Stop him!"

Gregory shouted angrily. With all three Griffins killed, the plan to immediately head to the Royal Capital was wrecked.

Nearly a dozen Royal Guards, armed with sword and shield, rushed from all directions, trying to pin Olaf down.

But Olaf’s strategy this time was very clear, aiming to kill the Griffins. With a light touch of his toes, a pit appeared in the frozen ground, and like a hawk, he shot through the gap of the yet-to-be-formed Royal Guards’ encirclement.

"Clang!"

Suddenly, a sharp cold light flashed from the side, a great sword swung down at Olaf, the timing incredibly precise.

"Huh?" A trace of surprise flickered in Olaf’s eyes.

This forced him to raise his shield for necessary defense.

"Clang!!" Sparks flew everywhere!

The great sword clashed onto the metal shield, emitting a harsh clanging sound.

"Pity you can’t stop me," Olaf said, looking appreciatively at Baron Olson. With a shake of his left hand, he easily deflected the Baron’s great sword and continued his charge forward.

In reality, Olaf had been conserving some of his strength, observing the surroundings.

Not encountering that memorable young man with the hammer, Olaf felt a bit relieved, maneuvering more boldly and freely in combat.

Soon, he retreated to within twenty meters of Mystic Salno, nearing the vicinity of Benest and the three others.

"Watch out!"

Seeing the situation, Benest immediately alerted Meredith and Tessa.

Meanwhile, engaged in battle, Benest failed to notice the slight vibration and blinking of the Communication Crystal in his waist pouch.

The message was from Raine, who had left the Ice Rift some time ago.

Dozens of kilometers away.

On the open Lankote Snowfield, the chilly wind howled, snowflakes drifted, and in this seemingly deserted environment, Raine, in an invisible state, stared at the Communication Crystal in his hand with curiosity.

"Huh? Lord Benest didn’t pick up?"

This puzzled Raine a bit; there shouldn’t have been any such situation.

"Maybe he’s traveling and didn’t hear it."

Raine didn’t mind, thinking for a moment, he decided to move toward the edge of the Lankote Snowfield, the place previously agreed upon with Elise, Laisa, and others.

The weather in the Lankote Snowfield is notoriously unpredictable, generally the deeper in, the more so, often having more than three intense blizzards in a day.

Raine took advantage of a violent blizzard to quietly make his way out of the Ice Rift after leaving a full set of blood-stained Courage Set behind.

Despite the sky being overcast with thick clouds and snow falling in large flakes, Raine took extra precaution by casting the White Dragon’s monster skill ’High-level Invisibility Spell of Snow Ground’.

Thus, even if the White Dragon had some special means, in the blizzard, it was nearly impossible to find him.

While walking, Raine observed the sky, and after a few more minutes, confirming that the White Dragon hadn’t followed, he tapped the ground twice with his tiptoes, performing the Flying Spell and soaring at low altitude.

"If I use the Flying Spell, I might arrive before Lord Benest manages to inform Elise and the others."

Of course, if everyone had returned to Mill Town, Raine wouldn’t mind either, he planned to hunt a Frost Blade Leopard along the way before heading back.

"Then, once I get back, I can submit the advancement task."

"As a Bronze Level Adventurer, I’ll have more access privileges, able to purchase more advanced magic equipment."

With this thought, Raine’s mood brightened considerably.

...

On the other side.

At the edge of the Lankote Snowfield, the battle at the temporary camp continued.

"Boom!"

Olaf blocked an incoming fireball with his shield, though the explosion caused him to slightly veer from his original path.

And the caster of the Fireball Technique was Keller Critt from the Critt squad.

It wasn’t that they were slow to react, but for mages who aren’t Transcendent, casting a Third Level Spell generally required chanting an incantation, and though as a specialized Fire Spell mage, the chant time is reduced, it’s still necessary.

After Keller cast the Fireball, Dylan Critt and the other four fire mages continuously hurled fireballs at the rapidly departing Olaf.

This made Olaf’s expression turn grim!

In a flash, he rotated 180 degrees in mid-air, curling up behind his shield.

"Boom Boom!"

Two fireballs narrowly missed, while two others exploded almost simultaneously on the shield.

With the forceful explosions, Olaf was thrown back at an even quicker speed, and strangely, he emitted a faint red glow.

"Fire Protection!" Keller Critt called out softly.

The adjacent Henry glanced at the corpses of the three slain griffins, and at Olaf who already had a ’Fire Protection’ spell that negated fire magic damage, his expression turned sour:

"This indicates they were following us all along."

At this point, Olaf had essentially regrouped with Mystic Salno.

"Fog Technique!"

"Mind Spike!" Salno pointed at Quasi-General Gregory, who was the closest and posed the greatest threat. 𝑓𝑟ℯ𝘦𝓌𝘦𝘣𝑛𝑜𝓋𝑒𝓁.𝑐ℴ𝓂

Suddenly, Gregory’s vision went black, as if his head had been hammered, letting out a muffled grunt, his body slightly trembling, greatly reducing his speed.

The fog’s obstruction forced the others to come to a halt.

Although Meredith could continue the pursuit, alone she couldn’t take on two Transcendent opponents.

"Damn it! Letting them retreat so easily!" Colonel Tessa cursed furiously.

But she could only vent verbally; in reality, she knew even if they didn’t escape, the battle outcome was uncertain.

Even if they could win, it would most likely be a pyrrhic victory.

Two Transcendent beings, with one being a caster, were incredibly tough to deal with.

...

Several minutes later.

Behind a large rock hundreds of meters away from the temporary camp, Olaf and Mystic Salno sat on the ground, recovering.

"Their strength seems weaker than expected; perhaps we don’t have to wait for Eiser." Salno said, glancing at Olaf with some doubt.

For before the battle, Olaf repeatedly warned him to be cautious, mentioning the opposing team’s strength, yet from the brief clash earlier, there seemed to be nothing of notable concern.

Even the Transcendent combat professional in the quasi-general’s uniform only exhibited average capabilities.

Olaf naturally understood the look in Salno’s eyes, nodding, he replied: "Hmm, they seem incomplete."

But before Salno could ask ’Incomplete in what way?’, Olaf continued, "Later, we can further weaken their forces, and if battle occurs, let’s severely injure their personnel."

The battle with Raine, was something Olaf was reluctant to elaborate on, his shield...

"Alright, let’s act again in ten minutes. They appear to have two healers; although not high in Classes Level, it’s best to deal with them as well."

Mystic Salno said, taking out a small potion of faint blue light, sipping it slowly.

This was a Spiritual Recovery Potion.

Having cast multiple spells in succession, including a Fifth Level Spell, the strain on his spiritual power was significant, even for someone of his Transcendent level.

....