A more crucial point was that when Bai Qi broke through Zerbel's defenses, the old king had already sent for help from Atlantis. Arthur, as the kingdom's highest combat power, after appeasing Mera, immediately led a large army to support them.
However, the two countries were too far apart, and there were no sonic channels set up. Even with sharks and other mounts, it would take a considerable amount of time to reach their destination.
Yet, Basha, having escaped, was consumed by revenge and attacked Zerbel with full force. Before Arthur's army had even completed half of their journey, she had already slaughtered every living being in Zerbel.
Afterward, Bai Qi, with Afu and other otherworldly demons, took the trident, modified it, and devoured the entire flesh and blood of Zerbel. Arthur was still on his way.
Only after Bai Qi had completed all this and left did Arthur's army arrive belatedly. Passing through the shattered dome, they saw nothing but ruins.
Knowing he was late, Arthur quickly pondered. He guessed that Basha, driven by revenge, would surely attack the closest saltwater kingdom next. Knowing he was running out of time, Arthur decisively abandoned the rescue of the saltwater kingdom and headed towards the next closest kingdom, the Fisherman's Kingdom.
Zerbel, the Saltwater Kingdom, and the Fisherman's Kingdom were relatively close to each other. The Saltwater Kingdom was the closest to Zerbel, which was why Arthur predicted that Basha would attack the Saltwater Kingdom after the massacre of Zerbel.
Moreover, knowing that there was an aged sonic channel in the Fisherman's Kingdom, even if Basha abandoned the Saltwater Kingdom and the Fisherman's Kingdom and took a devious route to attack the farthest Atlantis, Arthur could still quickly return to Atlantis for support by borrowing the Fisherman's Kingdom's sonic channel. He might even persuade the Fisherman's Kingdom to send troops to help fight Basha together.
As it turned out, Arthur's decision was wise.
The King of the Fisherman's Kingdom had just finished communicating with Mera when another guard reported that Arthur was arriving with a large army.
The speed of their arrival stunned the King of the Fisherman's Kingdom, who seriously suspected that Atlantis had a mage who could predict the future, otherwise, how could they have known in advance and brought troops to aid them.
"Quick, quickly invite the King of Atlantis in."
Arthur was escorted into the council hall by numerous enthusiastic guards.
Arthur was also bewildered. He couldn't understand why the people of the Fisherman's Kingdom were so enthusiastic about him, especially the King and the ministers, who treated him as if he were a savior upon seeing him.
The King of the Fisherman's Kingdom was not foolish. He deduced from Arthur's bewildered expression that the latter's appearance there was merely a coincidence. However, it didn't matter. As long as Arthur and his army were here and willing to help the Fisherman's Kingdom resist Basha, whether it was a coincidence or a planned move was irrelevant.
After Arthur took his seat, the alliance between the two kingdoms was quickly formed after a brief discussion. The first action taken after the alliance was to have the scientists of the Fisherman's Kingdom expedite the repair and completion of the sonic channel, restoring its usability in the shortest possible time.
The reason for doing so was simple.
Since they knew that Basha's next target was the Fisherman's Kingdom, and facing their creator and the entire Trench race, they had to make preparations for the worst-case scenario.
The repair of the sonic channel would allow the two kingdoms to quickly mobilize their troops. Facing such a formidable enemy, Arthur's army was insufficient. They needed to transfer at least eighty percent of the remaining garrison forces from Atlantis to jointly resist the enemy.
If the outcome of the war was unfavorable to them, they could temporarily abandon the Fisherman's Kingdom and retreat to Atlantis with all their forces through the sonic channel to make further plans.
In addition, the remaining agenda was simple: build defensive fortifications, set up traps on the necessary routes, and adopt a multi-stage defense strategy for the army, to wear down the enemy and wait for Basha's arrival.
Time ticked by. After the sonic channel was repaired, more Atlantean troops arrived in the Fisherman's Kingdom, joining the preparations for the defensive battle.
Soon, Basha led the Trench race to the outskirts of the Fisherman's Kingdom. Seeing the well-prepared allied army of the two kingdoms, Basha was furious.
Originally, she had intended to recruit the Fisherman's Kingdom to her side. She hadn't expected these scoundrels to unite with Atlantis to resist her. In that case, she would not be blamed for her ruthlessness.
Looking at their supposedly impregnable defenses, Basha could only call them foolish traitors.
Basha chanted a spell, and the seawater under her control became turbulent, forming terrifying underwater water vortexes around her.
"Go! Go destroy my enemies!"
As Basha uttered the last syllable of the incantation, more than a dozen terrifying sea vortexes roared towards the allied army.
Those mages tried to resist with their meager magic, but the result was that their water magic was crushed by the rampaging sea vortexes. The positions they had painstakingly established were instantly wiped out.
The three defensive lines that the allied army had painstakingly built were all breached by Basha's magic attack in less than three minutes. Those who were too late to escape and stubbornly resisted were, without exception, all buried in Basha's wrath.
Even without the Trench race behind Basha, Basha alone, advancing triumphantly, reached the capital of the Fisherman's Kingdom.
Seeing the King of the Fisherman's Kingdom and Arthur standing on the city walls, Basha's anger surged, and malevolence filled her heart. She chanted another spell, intending to smash the entire capital into ruins.
However, this time, Basha's once invincible water magic failed.
Dozens of mad sea vortexes roared towards the capital, and it was estimated that at the very least, a large gap would be torn in the city walls. But to the contrary, as they were about to collide with the capital's walls, they were blocked by a golden barrier and then dissipated.
When it came to the use of magic, Zerbel was undoubtedly the strongest among the four kingdoms. Unfortunately, Zerbel initially faced Bai Qi, whose lightning-fast and devastating attacks gave them no chance to gather and use large-scale magic. Next was Atlantis, allied with Zerbel.
After the sonic channel was repaired, Mera immediately sent a detachment of mages to provide support.
This magic barrier that blocked Basha's attack was set up by this detachment of mages. Unfortunately, time was too pressing to cover all angles. This magic barrier could only resist magical attacks, not physical ones.
This was a trade-off made by the two kings after deliberation, as Basha's magic attacks were more unsolvable against the Trench race, who acted purely on instinct.
As long as Basha's magic attacks were blocked, they had a fighting chance against the remaining Trench race.
After repeatedly attempting several magical attacks, all of which were blocked by the magic barrier, Basha roughly understood the basic principles of the barrier.
This was not just an ordinary magic barrier, otherwise, it would have been shattered after withstanding several of her magical attacks.
The reason it had not shattered was that a large number of mages were behind it, providing magical support.