A Dignified Beard

Richard had never known a few hundred people could make such a terrifying sound. The nobles had gone insane, using their internal energy and magic in a unified scream that left him terrified. However, that wasn’t the end of their celebration. This time, they unanimously decided to toss their weapons into the air. Powerful magic equipment emitted a dazzling radiance as they flooded the sky at different heights…

And then they started to fall!

Richard had no choice but to insta-cast a few ranged barriers to protect these excited fellows. Io and Flowsand similarly busied themselves; if they did not do so, a few unlucky ones would be pierced through by the swords falling from the sky. Each of these weapons was superior-grade, so the little energy these noble youths had could do nothing to protect them.

Every noble that had come on this expedition had at least some level of ability in a fight; even Zim had killed a few imperial soldiers during Salwyn’s siege. They could...