Chapter 12
Battle(2)
Drawing his longbow back to the fullest, Olar knocked on a branch with an end of the bow. The trolls walked out atop the hill, panting heavily as they threw an enormous rock weighing multiple tons down the slope. It rolled down with ferocious momentum, heading right into the middle of the advancing troops.
The two priests turned to look, and their faces filled with extreme panic. They were right in the path of the rock! It was rumbling down like thunder, fierce winds already buffeting their faces.
Someone with great strength like Sir Menta could withstand the force behind that rock, but outside of that even a novice knight would be dealt a serious injury if they were hit. The most likely targets would be the priests and the novice knights guarding them, so the troops immediately went into a frenzy. They ran all over the place, disrupting their formations and spreading chaos. Some people were knocked down, losing their orientation when they got back up and running back into the path of the rock instead.
The trolls let loose an astonishingly violent roar, stomping the ground with all their might. The entire slope trembled at once, causing the rolling rock to shift direction slightly towards the frontlines. The situation immediately worsened.
Olar chose that exact moment, narrowing his eyes as he let go of the arrow in his right hand. It shot forth, sheathed in a layer of light green mana that imbued it with a minor targeting enchantment.
Sir Menta hadn’t bothered stopping his subordinates from running wildly all over the place. Just as he was about to charge forward to block the rock, he’d seen a flash of red in his vision. A fireball had been shot out from the jungle, aimed at a group of soldiers huddled together amidst the chaos. It wouldn’t take more than two seconds to reach its target, and the soldiers would be unable to escape the blaze that would soon engulf them.
He’d bellowed in fury, snatching a heavy shield and rushing over in large strides. He just managed to intercept the fireball in the midst of its flight! The spell exploded loudly on the surface of the shields, sending waves of magical flames everywhere. Menta held the shield firmly, however, not taking a single step back. Glowing energy pushed the fires away.
The edges of the shield had softened a little by the time the heat wave passed, but Menta himself hadn’t been hurt in the slightest. However, his sharp ears caught onto the faint yet shrill whistle of an enchanted arrow, rapidly approaching him.
The knight had rushed out from behind the shield, only to see a long arrow sparkling with magic pass him by, plunging its way through the older priest’s back! The tip poked through the other side, a faint sound echoing forth from his body as an indication that his internals were damaged. Looking at how the priest had fallen to the ground, there seemed to be no life left in him anymore at all.
A priest had been killed!
“Damn it!” Sir Menta’s eyes were practically on fire as he drew his saber, bellowing in rage before rushing towards the slope. The alerted knights whipped out their weapons at once, their bodies glowing in different colours of energy. They charged towards the attackers at full speed, a few of the faster ones already next to Menta by the time they made it up the slope.
However, the instant they rushed into the jungle they saw Richard. Both his hands were held flat out, and he’d just completed the last line of an incantation.
A frigid wind poured out from Richard’s hands, countless icicles forming in the air. Menta immediately recognised this to be a level 4 spell, shouting for everyone to be careful even as his own footsteps came to a halt at once. He planted the large shield firmly on the ground before him, shrinking behind it completely. A direct blow from the spell would leave even him seriously injured.
The novice knights quickly entered defensive stances as well, securing themselves in their locations one after the other. However, one of them hadn’t reacted in time, rushing two steps forward into the rain of icicles.
The winds lasted for but two seconds, countless icicles continuously ramming into Menta’s large shield. Clinks echoed in his surroundings as the icicles struck the armour or gauntlet shields of the knights in his surroundings. A few painful howls rang out.
When the wind finally stopped, the surface of Menta’s body was covered in a thick layer of frost. He shook it all off in a jerking motion, letting it disintegrate and fall to the ground. Although his face was still frosted over, he prioritised taking in his surroundings. All of the novices were injured to some extent, with one being severely hurt. Their armour had been limited for the sake of easy movement, but now they had paid the price. The mage himself was nowhere to be seen.
“Leave ten behind. Carry him down, and protect the priest’s dead body. The rest are to follow me. The mage has already cast two spells, so he has another two fireballs left at most. What’s there to be afraid of? Chase them!” Menta roared. The novice knights led the soldiers in a charge into the forest, swiftly running along the tracks Richard had left to hunt him down.
The heavy infantry clearly couldn’t move fast enough to catch up to their enemies, but the scouts managed to track Richard down. After chasing them down for a few kilometres, a novice knight adept at agility and mountain combat returned to report that they’d discovered a base ahead of them. The invaders had escaped behind the high walls.
That did not alarm Menta, pleasing him instead, “The bastards ran back into their den? Perfect! Follow me, we will end them all!”
A moment later, Menta’s troops had already completely encircled the reconnaissance base. The knight wasn’t anxious to attack, instead circling its perimeter and thoroughly familiarising himself with its layout before he returned to the main entrance. He turned to the perspiring younger priest, “Is this the invaders’ base?”
The young priest looked at a map, replying with absolute certainty, “This is where the oracle pointed us!”
Menta nodded, saying to the young priest, “Hide in the back, and do not use your powers randomly. My soldiers could still need you to save their lives, I will appoint people to protect you.”
Soon after, a small group of soldiers escorted the priest and retreated back into the jungle. Menta did not want anything to happen to him— priests had high status, and any further casualties would be difficult to explain to the church. Even if they captured all the invaders and brought them back for divine trial, that would only be considered atoning for their sins. Anyway, he didn’t think a mere level 3 priest was capable of many useful spells.
All his troops were gathered by this point. Menta squinted, looking at the base a few dozen metres away. The walls were made of stone, about four metres tall, and the entrance had two thick wooden doors that were tightly shut. There were archery towers beside the entrance, with marksmen already stationed on top. The grave demeanour of those archers was proof enough of their outstanding capabilities.
“That’s already comparable to a knight. Bastard!” Menta cursed under his breath. His gaze landed on Richard atop the entrance, recognising him as the mage who’d ambushed them in the jungle. Richard was in a dangerous yet crucial position, the sight making Menta want to shoot an arrow at him immediately. However, this fellow had managed to escape in the jungle with speed unbefitting of a mage, and he himself wasn’t confident enough in his archery to shoot him down successfully.
Moreover, there was a warrior with a tower shield at the mage’s side. More than 1.5 metres tall, it made it practically impossible to kill the mage with a single arrow.
Sir Menta stroked his beard, a sinister smile gradually creeping onto his face. He waved his large hand forward, “Teams one to three, attack!”