Chapter 13
Battle(3)
Three ten-man troops advanced towards the base, each led by a knight. The archers on the tower were prepared, their hands steady on their tightly pulled bows. Two soldiers hit the ground the moment they let go, greatly injured. The sheer speed of the arrows left the three knights surprised.
“Should I send in more soldiers, or should we let them stay?” a knight asked Menta.
Menta shook his head, “There’s no need for that. Those techniques will drain them completely with twenty arrows or so. Also, they only have two archers, how fast can they shoot? Have the troops speed up!”
Without any need for further urging, the knights leading the teams sped up as they charged towards the gate like a flood to a dam. The base didn’t have particularly tall walls, at least not too tall for them to climb over. If not for special materials in the middle of that thick wooden gate, it wouldn’t have been able to withstand their attacks either. They only had to be wary of the suppressing spells Richard would launch.
The leading soldiers actually had a savage task. Their purpose was to exhaust Richard’s mana, stripping the enemy of their long-range firepower to ease up the battle. From their interactions so far, they had determined that the enemy mage was around level 7 or 8. He could probably cast two more fireballs at most. It would be up to the God of Valour to determine who would live through them.
Seeing the frontlines charging into the mage’s range, Menta issued another command, “Troops four and five, raise your shields. Your target is the towers, charge!”
Two more knights moved out, leading their companies as they split off from the main army to charge towards the towers. The archers had no choice but to switch targets, and as he’d anticipated Menta saw a giant fireball fly down from the main gates. Tumultuous fires swallowed an entire troop of soldiers, covering two knights as well.
Richard began reciting incantations in the midst of that raging fire, launching another fireball but three seconds later. This spell landed in nearly the same location as its predecessor, stacking with the older flames to take out all the staggered enemies on the floor.
Mages with no inhibitions about the spells they were casting were like portable meat grinders on the battlefield. Both the knights were left wounded, one more severely than the other, and the entire ten or so soldiers of that company had been wiped out as well!
*Whoosh!* A few sharp arrows flew in Richard’s direction. The opposing archers’ eyes had gone red with immense concentration, and they had all used their greatest skills. This was despite knowing that arrows not supported by magic were useless at such a great distance. Surely enough, the infantry around Richard formed a shield wall between him and the arrows, leaving them to bounce off harmlessly.
More soldiers appeared on the city walls, while Richard left under the cover of the shields. His retreat signified that the battle was finally about to begin!
Menta had finally gotten the opportunity he oh so desired, so he waved his hand forward as he bellowed, “Teams 6 to 10, follow me! Advance together! Hubert, you’re second in command. Lead teams 10 to 15. Everyone else is to await further orders!”
Ten knights shouted their war cries, charging forth under Menta’s lead. The arrows of the few enemy archers couldn’t stop the waves of soldiers, with the two titled knights and ten novices leading the charge.
Menta lead the charge up the base’s walls, leaping up and punching a hole into them to hold onto. He used the momentum of this punch, vaulting himself over to the other side.
However, a battleaxe suddenly showed itself, heading straight in his way. Menta let out a growl in mid-air, twirling his sword with both hands as he defended himself from the attack. The iron weapons collided like thunder, the tall brute that seemed even stronger than Menta himself sent retreating with blood oozing out of the corners of his mouth. But Menta’s plan to scale the walls was obstructed as well, causing him to start cursing as he was flung back by the impact. He fell heavily to the ground.
Falling from four metres high was surely hard for Menta to bear. He struggled for a few moments to get back on his feet once again. Unfortunately, the two soldiers he’d fallen down upon had died to the impact.
That small episode didn’t deter the stream of soldiers from climbing up the city walls one after the other. A novice knight had already made his way up, alongside a few other warriors. Archeron soldiers rushed out of the arrow towers, shield in one hand with hatchet in the other. They viciously rushed forth towards the enemy infantry— melee may have been the soldiers’ strength, but it was even more so for these Archeron elites. Even knights couldn’t compare to them at the same level, forget the ordinary warriors who were still making their way up the base walls. Two of the Archerons had used their extraordinary might to cripple the enemy morale. They chopped off one of the knight’s limbs, sending him hurtling down the walls as he howled in pain. Numerous corpses were sent right behind.
“Retreat!” Menta’s roaring voice sounded once more. The soldiers began to back off in the midst of all the chaos, with the intruders on top of the walls seemingly having no intent to pursue. The archers at Menta’s side shot two more volleys before falling back as well, while the Archerons retreated to the arrow towers once more.
A single charge had left Menta with more than twenty losses, and three novice knights heavily wounded. It also left his entire army devoid of morale, while the young priest busied himself trying to treat the less-injured knights with his limited skill. The youth did not seem well-versed as a cleric, with nearly no visible effects from his spells other than stopping the bleeding.
As the warriors rested, Menta looked at the nearby base and smiled bitterly, “They only had six fellows at the level of novice knights, and a feminine archer. That seems to be it. The mage seems to be only level 8, and he’s exhausted his mana. That’s why he’s choosing to rest— mages can take days to recover.”
Hubert nodded his head, speaking with his normal dark tone, “The next attack should be able to take them down. However, it shouldn’t have been a problem for Kojo to subdue them if they were so weak. Where did he go?”
“Who cares? Can we focus on cleaning up his mess?” Menta grew irritable at the very mention of Kojo. He extended his hand towards the base, remarking harshly, “In any case, this is the place the oracle mentioned. Conquering it is our biggest priority. Of course, it would be a splending touch if we could find Kojo’s corpse in one of the cells!”
Hubert shrugged his shoulders, showing no intent to continue the topic.
Menta shot out a mouthful of spit, cursing Kojo’s unknown location once more. Turning back to look at his exhausted soldiers and the drained priest on the ground, he roared loudly, “All of you, attention! NOW! Soldiers, prepare to attack! Let’s take down these intruders in one go!”
The resting soldiers immediately assembled into formations. Menta explained to Hubert, “We still have eleven knights who can battle, minus the two who’ll need to take care of the priest and make other preparations. Take four and twenty elites, and bring them around to flank. The terrain there surely won’t be a problem. I’ll take the rest, curbing their main force. Of course, I don’t mind taking out everyone on those walls. Go!”
Hubert instantly called out to four knights and some elites, detouring towards the side of the base. Menta and the remaining knights raised their shields, bringing their troops in a concentrated formation as they took sturdy steps towards the base in preparation of an attack.
Gangdor and the rest got on top of the walls once more, with Olar taking up a good vantage point. However, the archer did not pose much of a threat to this shield wall. And even if Olar could take an enemy down with every arrow he shot, the number he killed would still be counted on his fingers by the time they’d charged to the base of the walls.
Standing at the highest point, the soldiers also saw the troops Sir Hubert had brought along to flank them with, only able to send two warriors to hold them back.