Count Flaud’s new force stationed themselves on top of the highlands in clear view of the Steelwall soldiers. Anyone could see that this new force was different from all the other forces they had seen, and the Steelwall soldiers appeared to be two times as nervous.
“The real battle will start now.” Hans gripped Estellade tightly and beside him, Snoc looked at the battlefield with Nowem riding on his shoulder. Elena wasn’t with him. She was with her grandfather and the other mages. Another person, Lara, stared at the advancing troops.
“Will you be all right? You might have to fight Glen Zenard.” Zich directed his question at Lara.
Lara turned to him, and surprisingly, it didn’t take long for her to nod.
“I’ve already sorted my feelings and made up my mind. I didn’t leave his party with light determination.”
“That’s good then. If you happen to meet him again, prepare yourself. He won’t be the same person you used to know.”
“Are you telling me to remain firm since he’s an enemy now?”
“No. First of all, his skills have improved dramatically. There’s a high chance he won’t be just firm when meeting you.”
“…I understand. I’ll keep that in mind.”
“I will stick closely to her side,” Hans said.
“Okay, but if that guy comes, send me a signal immediately. I’m not exaggerating when I say he’s going to be the scariest guy among our enemies right now.”
“Yes, sir.”
“Keep that in mind and you both can do whatever you like for the rest,” Zich said and stared in front of him while licking his lips. “Likewise, I also plan to do whatever I want to.”
* * *
Although Count Flaud brought the elite forces, he didn’t deploy them immediately. Like before, the ones who stood at the very front were the mercenaries who lacked training and equipment and soldiers belonging to other estates.
Waaaaaaah! While screaming, soldiers charged forward. As expected, the soldiers who were not well-equipped or trained didn’t have high morale or a strong will. Yet, behind them, there stood their superiors wielding sharp spears, staring at them intently. They knew that although they had a high chance of dying if they continued to advance, they had a definite chance of death if they turned back and ran away. Thus, the soldiers had no choice but to continue marching toward their deaths.
Pwing! Ping!
A torrent of arrows began to pour down from the sky again. The arrows aimed toward the sky changed their trajectories to the ground and pointed their sharp edges at the sea of soldiers.
“Kuaaah!”
“Ahhh!”
Unable to defend themselves, the allied forces’ soldiers were helplessly shot. Some of them held up shields that they retrieved from somewhere or made themselves, but there were very few of them. Even among these few, there weren’t many who could use them properly because of the lack of training. The only thing that most soldiers could do was watch the arrows fly in the air and hope that they wouldn’t hit them. Nevertheless, the allied forces pushed on. They placed woven ladders onto the wall and tried to climb up the giant wall. Some threw their ropes while some brashly stuck their axes onto the wooden wall.
Yet, whatever they did, the Steelwall soldiers fiercely blocked them. A great number of casualties arose on both sides, but expectedly, the allied forces bore the brunt of these damages. It was then that Count Flaud’s elite forces began to move.
Thud! Thud! Thud!
Count Flaud’s elite forces moved in perfect synchronization as if they shared one consciousness and placed great pressure on the bystanders.
‘They are coming.’ As he swung away the heads of enemies that were endlessly trying to climb above the wall, Zich’s gaze turned sharp. The fact that Count Flaud’s elite forces were moving indicated that their enemies were seriously coming for them now.
‘I’m sure Glen Zenard will move with them,’ Zich thought.
* * *
Although Count Flaud’s elite forces began to move, the ones who began attacking first were their mages. While getting protection from specially selected knights from the Flauds, the mages stood at a distance where they were away from the arrows’ reach but were still in range of their spells. Then, they began to murmur incantations while lifting their staffs.
Sssssh!
A chilly aura, characteristic of the Conrad School of Magic, began to surround the area so that even the knights protecting the mages began to shudder in the cold.
Pooop!
A small ice chip formed in the air. Then, they began to clump together on a single point and began to grow in size. The continuous chilliness aided their growth.
Pop! In an instant, icicles formed in the air, and the Conrad mages pointed their staffs toward the front.
Swoosh! Swoooosh!
The icicles began to fly in unison. The large mass that came with its gigantic size sped across, and only those who were directly struck by them could fathom its destructive power. No matter how sturdy they were, it was clear the wooden walls had been erected temporarily for this war. The walls would be instantly crushed by these ice attacks. The Steelwalls watched the icicles fearfully, but their fear didn’t last long.
Crackle! Craaackle!
Large masses of fire floated from the Steelwalls’ side. The soldiers flinched from these fireballs that looked ready to burn away everything within their reach, but thankfully, the fireballs’ targets weren’t them.
Whoosh! Whoosh!
The fireballs shot forward and clashed against the icicles flying toward the Steelwall.
Baam!
Strong flames danced in the air and hot steam poured out.
“Ahh!”
“Kkkuaaaah!” Soldiers who were below the point where the two spells clashed felt the heat and shrieked in pain. Even those who were well-equipped fell victim to the fire, as the hot steam dug into the gaps between their armor and cooked them alive. Since the location where the hot steam burst was outside of the wall, the only ones who were harmed by it were the allied forces’ soldiers.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
Magic collided in the air a couple of times, and every time this happened, hot steam splashed the soldiers. Yet, the mages appeared to be unconcerned about these soldiers. Their eyes were only focused on the mages in front of them.
“Hm, as expected. They can put up a fight.” Walwiss narrowed his eyes and scanned the Conrad mages from a distance.
A disciple next to him said, “Sir, regardless of their current situation, they’re still one of the biggest schools, and we didn’t even destroy them for the coup d'etat they initiated last time, so it’s only reasonable that they’re still strong. Moreover, they have a lot more mages on their side.”
“So, you’re saying that you’re not confident about winning this battle?”
His disciple laughed as if Walwiss had just told him a joke. “Of course not. I was merely acknowledging my opponent’s skills.”
“If you have time to boast, quickly send out another spell like the others!” Walwiss kicked his disciple’s butt and pushed them forward. Then, he stared at the Conrad mages and raised his staff and said, “Don’t hate me.”
Crackkle! Fireballs appeared in the air. Each fireball was as big as a person’s head, and they quickly increased in number and passed over a hundred. The mages of the Conrad School of Magic also noticed the fireballs, and their movements became even faster. Walwiss lightly swung his staff, but the results of his movement were not light at all. The fireballs floating in the air struck the mages from the Conrad School of Magic one after another.
“Block it!” The Conrad mages didn’t idly stand by either. They hurriedly finished reciting their spells after seeing that Walwiss’ spell was complete. Fist-sized ice balls, ice spikes, and a tall ice wall were formed at the same time. Ice magic desperately created by the Conrad mages faced Walwiss’ flames in the air.
Bam! Bam! Bam! A massive amount of steam formed in the air, just like when the fireballs and ice spikes collided against each other. The Conrad mages expected this to happen, so they attacked from a distance and were able to avoid any direct damage.
“Aghhh!”
“Ugh! Ahhhhh!”
However, the unlucky soldiers were caught up in the massive steam. Even though the Conrad mages intercepted a large number of fireballs, there were still a great number of fireballs left, and the ice walls blocked those fireballs.
Bammmm! The flames could not pierce through the ice walls. However, no one was relieved.
‘They finally stopped it.’ A knight ordered to protect the mages lowered his sword and sighed. He glanced at the mages near him; every single one of them looked nervous, and one was even dripping with sweat.
‘How can they struggle so much to just block one person’s magic?’ Of course, that person was no ordinary opponent. The knight clearly heard the leader of the Conrad mages saying that the former master of the magical tower was attacking them.
The knight already knew that the former master of the magical tower was on their enemy’s side, and due to the former master’s participation, the power balance of the mage forces had completely shifted to their enemy’s side. However, it was a completely different feeling to experience the different power balance in real life. He clearly felt from their attack just now that the mages on their side were no match for the enemy mages.
‘…Count Flaud ordered me to bring back the mages alive at all costs.’ The knight tightened his grip on his sword.
* * *
‘Hmm, it got blocked. Those guys are pretty good.’ Walwiss smacked his lips as the spell he cast with a large amount of mana was blocked. However, his disappointment was brief because he didn’t think that he could defeat all his enemies with just a single attack. When all of Walwiss’ spell was blocked, the Pulru mages began shooting out their magic attacks again. The Conrad mages also began retaliating again, but since they spent so much mana blocking Walwiss’ magic, they couldn’t properly intercept like last time. The Conrad mages weren’t able to intercept a couple of the magic attacks and were about to get hit when—
Bam! Bam! The fireballs exploded in the air. It wasn’t the Conrad mages who made the fireballs explode.
‘It’s the bodyguards.’ Walwiss saw the knights around the Conrad mages pull out their swords and swing them around. Their swords sliced the fireballs and made them explode. Walwiss thought, ‘They seem quite skilled. Since the expert soldiers are guarding the Conrad mages, they must be receiving great treatment.’
When the knights began blocking most of the magic directed toward them, the Conrad mages regained some of their composure. They left most of the spells heading towards them to the knights and began to focus on attacking. Then, on the contrary, the Pulru mages had to go on the defensive. Walwiss thought they couldn’t stay like this and was about to start another magic attack when—
Swoosh! Something flashed past Walwiss and made a small shockwave.
“Ack!” A knight who was slicing a magic attack fell to the ground. There was a stir in the enemy camp. Walwiss glanced behind him. He saw an elf pulling a new arrow out of her quiver.