Isabella and her companions were also feeling the strain, the sight before them making even their breathing slow.
It was bitterly cold, unbearably so.
Their eyelashes had already frosted over.
Despite being fully prepared, they now found even walking increasingly difficult.
Each of them shivered as they took a swig of the last of the monkey wine that John had divided among them.
Not only that, but he had managed to obtain even more from the Monkey King, which barely kept them mobile.
Otherwise, they would have been completely immobilized.
Walking was hard enough, let alone activating the magic array in these conditions.
"How long do you need?"
John gritted his teeth as he watched Alastair fiercely attack towards him.
Luckily, this madman's attention was solely fixed on him, sparing the other two fortresses any scrutiny.
Once he shifted his focus to the other fortresses, they would all be doomed.
"I don't know; I can't give you a precise time right now," Isabella replied, her voice trembling more than before, but she forced herself to speak.
"We need to determine the full extent of this array first."
Every word Isabella spoke now seemed to drain all her strength.
Laboriously, she began to inspect the area, knowing they first had to clear the snow from the ground to ascertain exactly where they were.
"We can hold out for at most an hour; hurry up," John said, taking a deep breath.
They were running low on energy stones.
If they kept fighting like this, they wouldn't last much longer—perhaps only an hour and a half at most.
But he couldn't afford to delay that long; he needed to save some energy stones for everyone to face the lesser monsters below, which today were mostly of diamond-tier, with terrifyingly high HP and defense!
"If it weren't for the situation before, I wouldn't even be able to break their defense now!" John exclaimed.
"Give me an hour!"
Isabella, knowing the gravity of their situation, bit her lip without hesitation and began to search actively.
Meanwhile, Alastair glared at the protective shield before him and sneered.
"Do you really think an eggshell can protect you for long?"
With that, he unleashed a powerful strike.
The shield vibrated intensely but held firm.
"So what if it's just an eggshell? If you can't even break through that, aren't you just as useless?"
John taunted with a sneer, his voice clearly reaching Alastair's ears.
Furious, Alastair trembled all over.
He had thought himself a semigod-tier powerhouse by now, invincible in his might.
Yet here he was, being played like a puppet by this mere mortal.
"Very well, let's see whether you can hold out longer, or if I can!"
Boom, boom, boom!
One skill after another crashed down, striking the protective shield.
The shield rippled like the sea at the horizon, its undulations strangely beautiful to behold.
Yet, no one dared to be complacent; instead, they desperately cast their skills outward.
Just a bit more... a little more!
If they could just slightly diminish the power of these incoming skills, then fewer attacks would hit the shield, and their consumption of energy stones wouldn't be so severe.
United in purpose, they would surely face no issue.
"Hold firm, everyone! Supply team, bring up the reinforcements!"
Archibald shouted loudly, his companions actively responding to everything before them.
John watched Alastair from his high vantage point outside, a sudden ominous feeling creeping into his heart.
Alastair must have known since yesterday about his gradually diminishing power of control.
Was today's assault really just about a siege?
No, it couldn't be that simple...
He must be overlooking something.
But if that was the case, why were there fewer lesser monsters today than yesterday?
What was going on?
What had he missed?
While casting skills outward, John rapidly tried to figure out what exactly he was missing.
"Commander, here are the supplies for you!"
A bright voice called from behind, and a man holding several potion bottles hurried towards them.
Hearing it was for John, the others quickly cleared a path.
John heard the voice too, but didn't think much of it initially.
However, he quickly sensed something was off.
He had already stated that he didn't need any supplies—after all, he could fully restore his own HP and MP!
Previously, if his only weakness was a lack of HP, that had been thoroughly remedied with the Dragonblood Stone.
Moreover, they were behind a protective shield on top of the city walls, immune to any damage or health reduction.
They certainly didn't need these so-called supplies.
Then who was this person...?
Swoosh!
While John was still rapidly pondering, the next second he heard the sound of something slicing through the air.
Turning around, he saw the man with the potion bottles, but in his other hand, he held a dagger glowing with a faint blue light—clearly coated with deadly poison!
Archibald had not noticed this yet? He was carefully directing those around him, but then the next second, a loud shout erupted nearby.
"Watch out!"
Leopold turned to see John about to be stabbed, his eyes widening in horror.
His scream made others turn their heads and their eyes bulged in shock.
Everyone gasped, instinctively wanting to rush over, but it was already too late!
John's hair stood on end.
He instinctively tried to dodge, but it was futile.
At the moment he tried to move, his body seemed to be restrained by some invisible force.
Out of the corner of his eye, he saw a cold smirk spread across Alastair's face.
That was why he had felt something was amiss earlier!
It turned out Alastair had been waiting here for him.
Alastair wouldn't have come without a backup plan! All this time, he had said nothing because he intended to resolve it here.
Such a vicious scheme!
Now, there was no time for John to think further.
He activated all his shield skills in an instant! He acutely felt as if some invisible force had immobilized his feet.
In that moment, he couldn't move at all, as if even the strength in his body was frozen.
Power of control! No wonder Alastair had been using his own strength to hit the protective shield in front of him.
No wonder he hadn't revealed any hint of the power of control.
He had used the power of control here!
Although John also controlled the power of control, the clash of two such powers was bound to cause interference.
His shields felt as flimsy as paper in front of the dagger.
With a sickening sound, the sharp dagger plunged into John's body.
Archibald's pupils dilated in shock, and he immediately hurled a skill at the assailant.
Boom!
A massive shockwave of the skill slammed the man aside, blood trickling from the corner of his mouth, his back a gory mess, looking horrifying.
Yet, the man showed no sign of pain; instead, he looked at John with madness in his eyes and burst into deranged laughter.
"You all deserve to die, you all deserve to die!" he cackled.
"For obstructing the footsteps of the divine envoy, you all deserve to die!"
His health bar plummeted rapidly, his back was torn and tattered, the wounds so deep they revealed bone.
Yet, he lifted his head with effort, his gaze devoutly fixed on Alastair outside the protective shield.
"Divine envoy... welcome me... my lord..." he gasped between coughs of blood.
Someone nearby kicked him away, especially wary of the dagger in his hand.
They had all seen it clearly—a dagger glinting with blue light, obviously poisoned.
Had this man gone mad?!