Walwiss intended to express gratitude to the elf behind him for helping the mages. Although there were quite a few people who had negative prejudice toward elves, he was not such a person. Thus, he turned around, but when he saw who the elf was, Walwiss clicked his tongue instead.
“Is that how you respond to someone who just helped you all out? Is that how humans usually behave?” Leona said mockingly while nocking her arrow onto her bowstring. Then, she added, “Ah, I spoke without thinking. Zich and the other humans I saw are different. It seems like it’s just your personality that’s the problem.”
“You should think long and hard before you speak from now on. It’s not proper for someone of your age to think so little…” Walwiss responded and clicked his tongue a couple more times.
Leona glared at him menacingly, but Walwiss had already turned his gaze back to the mages again.
Shaaaa! A cluster of arrows flew toward Walwiss with a chilling sound. It looked as if the arrowhead would pierce through his skin any moment now.
Crack!
Yet, the fireworks popping in Walwiss’ surroundings burned the arrows completely.
‘As I thought, it’s not safe here either.’ Walwiss surveyed the battlefield. Although the allied forces’ archers’ attacks weren’t as effective as those from the Steelwalls’ archers, they were still launching arrows past the walls. Of course, there was no way an aimless arrow that wasn’t even like the elves’ arrows could threaten Walwiss, but they posed a danger to the other mages. Walwiss looked at the other mages. They were also blocking the arrows by making a firewall, and there were soldiers holding large shields, sticking close to their sides.
Although the Steelwalls didn’t give up their elite knights to protect the mages as the allied forces did, the soldiers protecting them were still formidable. However, that didn’t mean the mages were completely safe from the rain of arrows.
‘I mean, there’s no place that’s safe on a battlefield,’ Walwiss thought. The only scenario when a battlefield became safe was when the battle was over. Walwiss burned with passion to make this scenario a reality.
Crackle!
A fire spark burned at the edge of Walwiss’ staff again. He didn’t create as many fire sparks as before as he created just one. Yet, this one was huge, and the soldiers near Walwiss hurriedly increased their distance from him. Although the fireball was high up in the sky, its heat even reached the surface, and Walwiss swung his staff.
Whoosh! The fireball began to move again. It was a bit of an exaggeration, but it appeared as if the sun was falling down from the heavens. The Conrad mages became busy again, and they aimed a gigantic amount of ice magic at the fireball.
Bam! Bam!
The fireball’s size decreased as ice crashed into it, but its scale was still massive as it moved toward the allied forces’ troops. The knights began to move, and Leona pulled her bowstring.
Sling!
A chilling, swishing sound tickled Walwiss’ ears once again.
Bam!
“Urgh!” One knight fell over when the arrow hit his face. The shot was meticulously shot through the tiny gaps between the armor and once again highlighted the elves’ exquisite archery skills. Leona wasn’t the only elf who came to give her support; several other elves around her also fired arrows.
Sling! Sling! Sling!
There were consecutive arrow shots swishing through the wind, and each arrow was stealthy and strong. Yet, the knights protecting the Conrad knights were chosen with great care and attention. Although they were stunned by an arrow that could even kill knights, they soon swung their swords against them. They couldn’t evade them knowing that they had to protect the mages behind them with their lives hanging on the line. Thanks to them, the alliance was able to limit the damage done by the elves’ arrows. However, they couldn’t simply be happy about that.
Craaaackle!
While the knights were busy dealing with the elves’ arrows, Walwiss’ massive fireball had arrived at their location.
Boooom!
The fireball exploded. It was such an earth-shaking explosion that it wouldn’t have been surprising if some people in the surroundings would have gotten down to the ground thinking that the heavens were unleashing their wrath at them. The scattered fire sparks crawled across the surface in search of more prey.
Drop! Drop!
It was like the hellfire they had heard of only in stories, and it looked as if it would burn forever. Yet, eventually, the fire went out. A couple of fireballs rolled over the charred ground, but that was nothing compared to the sight from before that illustrated a divine punishment. Considering the might of the fireball, it seemed as if no one within its influence would be able to survive; yet, what appeared after the flames disappeared was a hard, ice wall blanketing the surroundings.
“You failed,” Leona remarked.
Walwiss felt humor in her tone and his white-colored eyebrows wiggled. “Those guys are quite the skilled mages. Furthermore, the knights with them are also quite skilled.” Then, Walwiss added, “Also, they don’t seem to be all fine.”
Before Walwiss even finished speaking, the ice wall crumbled. The people inside it clearly looked like they were in disarray. All the mages were alive, but they looked pale as if they had poured so much of their magic and efforts into the defense just now. The knights were in a far worse state than them. To buy time for the mages to activate their magic, they had literally thrown their bodies into the fireball. Their shiny armor which had glistened against the sunlight looked battered now, and there were also numerous knights who had collapsed onto the ground with smoke coming off from them. It was evident what condition those without armor would be in.
Leona immediately pulled her bowstring along with the other elves. Pulru mages also raised their staffs again.
“Ack!”
“Aghh!”
The knights and mages desperately retaliated against the attacks, but victory was leaning towards the Steelwall side. Soon after, the Conrad mages began frantically running back to retreat. However, there was no one on this battlefield who’d let them off so easily. Arrows and magic flew toward them, and the knights protecting the mages glared at this sight. They had been ordered to protect the mages with their lives. The knights dragged their bodies with heavy armor that felt heavier than usual and stood in front of the spells and arrows flying toward the Conrad mages. Then, they literally blocked the attacks while sacrificing their lives.
“Tsk, we lost them!” Leona lowered her arrows and murmured furiously. As she said, she couldn’t stop the mages from escaping their range of attack.
“Well, what’s the matter? We killed a lot of knights instead.”
“Yeah, that's true.” Leona agreed and turned around. “Then, I’ll be going.” The mission that the elves were assigned was to freely move around the battleground and specifically target elite soldiers like knights, mages, or even commanding officials. Since the mages and knights withdrew, it was now time for them to look for new prey.
“Be careful. Make sure not to trip over a falling rock while recklessly jumping around.”
“Do you think I’m a child?” Leona stuck out her tongue and dragged her team to another area.
Walwiss clicked his tongue several times and moved his gaze back to the battlefield. Even though they had successfully pushed back the Conrad mages, the war wasn’t over. He saw a large number of soldiers gathered together like cockroaches. Since the Conrad mages intercepting their attacks were gone, it was now time to show how terrifying mages could be on the battlefield. Walwiss pointed his staff forward.
* * *
While the Conrad magicians fought on the battlefield, the allied forces also mobilized their knights. Since many different groups were part of the allied forces, the number of knights they could mobilize was massive, and this was the reason why they could set aside a large number of knights to protect the Conrad mages.
Puuuuuuuu! With the loud sound of the bugle, the knights began running across the battlefield. The foot soldiers standing in front quickly rushed to the side. It was a spectacular sight to see the soldiers splitting into two with the knights’ charge. Of course, not all the soldiers could flee in time. There were also soldiers who fell and landed in front of the knights’ path. However, the knights showed no consideration toward them.
Tatatata! The horses mercilessly stamped on everyone in front of them, regardless of whether they were a foe or a friend. Blood pools formed wherever the knights passed. The knights’ charge could be seen from the Steelwall’s walls. Soon, an alarm sounded, and the Steelwall knights gathered one after another in the direction of the allied forces’ knights. The soldiers targeting the Steelwall’s barrier moved out to the side like a low tide, and in a matter of minutes, there was nothing between the Steelwall and allied forces’ knights.
The Steelwall knights began to jump down from the barrier one by one. The hastily constructed wooden walls had no advantage as a barrier against the charge of knights. The knights could break the walls into pieces by simply cutting them up with mana. Thus, the Steelwall knights faced the enemy knights outside the wooden walls. The Steelwall knights formed a simple formation outside and the allied forces’ knights turned their horses and charged forward.
Baammmm! The knights from the two sides clashed violently.
** *
Lara swung her sword at the knight in front of her. Swords full of mana continuously collided with each other and made an ear-deafening noise. The knights facing Lara were fairly skilled, but they were no match for Lara, whose innate talent was beginning to blossom.
Pierce! Lara’s sword pierced the knight’s chest. Since the knight’s armor was of high quality, there was strong resistance, but Lara was able to successfully penetrate through the armor and reach her opponent’s heart.
“Ack!” A burning scream erupted from the knight’s voice. However, that lasted only for a moment, and the knight’s body soon dropped.
Thud! Lara pulled out her sword, avoided the knight’s body, and began to look for her next opponent. The battle between the knights was extremely fierce. It was still too early to say that victory was leaning towards the Steelwalls because even though the Steelwall knights had superior skills, the allied forces had a far greater number of knights. Lara was about to move to help the Steelwall knights near her when she suddenly felt a chill run down her body. Without even determining the cause of her chill, she swung her sword sideways.
Bamm! A loud sound erupted, and Lara’s body reeled. She desperately held onto her balance, and after taking several steps back, she was able to regain control of her body. However, she couldn’t help but frown as pain spread throughout her hand. Lara looked for the person who attacked her, and her eyes widened.
“It’s been a while, hasn’t it?” the speaker said with a soft voice. Lara knew that voice very well. There had been a time when her heart always felt calm after hearing his voice. However, the only emotion she felt in his voice now was anxiety.
<If you happen to meet him again, prepare yourself. He won’t be the same person you used to know.>
Lara recalled what Zich said to her before. She sucked in a deep breath and stared at the man she used to love.