Chapter 331: The Northern Reclamation War (3)
The Muldine forces, whose retreat had been blocked and were now left with no place to go, had only one choice left.
"Change to a defense formation! Wizards, use shield magic to block the enemy's spells!"
It was defense.
As Count Mediff's orders were given, the soldiers sheathed their swords and drew their shields to protect their heads. Hundreds and thousands of spells and arrows struck the shields.
"Kai, the enemy is holding out much better than we expected," Aden, the young lord of Siris, bit his lower lip as he reported.
They were pushing the enemies back for now, but this situation wouldn't last forever, as the number of troops lying in ambush at Siris Gorge was merely five thousand. If the enemy forces managed to break through the retreat path and escape, their side wouldn’t be able to pursue.
"If they join up with the main force, Commander Hind will be in danger. I remember that the barrier can only hold for a minute."
"That's right. They're holding out better than expected," Kai muttered as he watched the Muldine army stubbornly resist like cockroaches.
Currently, both the soldiers and knights were holding shields.
"Why is the ratio of shield-bearers so high..." Aden wondered aloud.
And Kai could guess the answer.
Their role is to seize this place, and block the royal army until the main force returns.
The main force wouldn't have such a high ratio of shield-bearers. Instead, their army would be made up of soldiers skilled in mobility and weapons like swords and spears.
If they join up with the main force, it’ll definitely become troublesome. We need to finish this before then.
In boxing terms, the enemy was already cornered and had no room to retreat.
Jabs won’t do. I need to land a heavy straight punch.
Rather than small attacks, the enemy needed to be knocked out with a strong, decisive blow.
In that case...
Kai looked up at the Hell Fires floating in the air and thought for a moment.
Other than Absolute Zero, Hell Fire is the most powerful spell I have.
Only four Hell Fires. Depending on how they were used, it would determine who laughed and who cried.
With the weight on his shoulders growing heavier, Kai checked the remaining duration of the petrification status.
"Forty-five seconds."
There was barely any time left. In forty-five seconds, the enemy would kill Harley and create a route to escape.
"Tsk, if only the petrification time were a little longer... Hm?"
While watching the enemies, Kai suddenly tilted his head.
It was then that Aden urged him. "Count Kai, please give orders... If this continues, we’ll miss our chance!"
"... Pull them back."
Aden blinked at Kai's command. "P-pardon?"
"Pull all our forces back."
"Yes, sir!"
Aden didn't speak aloud his thoughts that they should kill as many enemies as possible.
Count Kai must have a plan.
In war, the chain of command was absolute. Moreover, Kai had been entrusted with full authority for this operation by King Beoruk. He had even risen to the position of Count through his remarkable feats, which made him a person of great standing. Thus, Aden followed his orders without a second thought.
"All troops, cease attack! Retreat from the gorge!"
The sound of a warhorn signaling the cease of the battle filled the canyon, and the relentless sounds of attacks that had echoed without pause came to a stop.
Under Kai’s command, the soldiers of the Kingdom of Rashion slowly retreated and distanced themselves from the canyon.
"Fourteen seconds."
As Harley’s petrification time was running out, Kai confirmed that his forces had retreated to a safe distance. At the same time, he flipped his hand and sent all four Hell Fires high into the sky.
"What is he up to?"
Count Mediff tensed as he watched the massive fireballs he had been keeping an eye on soar into the sky.
Our retreat is blocked. If they had continued attacking, we would've been as good as dead...
Unaware that the Petrification skill had a duration, he swallowed hard. After a moment, he seemed to have thought of something and nodded.
I see... He must think the battle is already won and plans to capture me in accordance with noble law.
In most wars, it was an unspoken rule to capture defeated nobles and release them for ransom after victory.
When Count Mediff’s thoughts reached that point, his expression slightly brightened.
Whether the Church of Muldine will pay my ransom is uncertain... but at least this place won’t be my grave.
Just as he felt relieved, one of the fireballs that had shot up into the sky began to fall, and at an absurd, incomprehensibly fast speed.
“Wizards, maximum output on shields!”
“Raise your shields! Minimize the damage!”
A tremendous explosion and shockwave shook the canyon. However, the Hell Fire hadn’t hit the Muldine army. It struck the gorge.
“I-it missed...!”
“Muldine watches over us!”
When Kai’s attack seemingly failed, the Muldine soldiers cheered and praised their god. But Count Mediff’s expression darkened again.
That bastard... He didn’t aim at us on purpose.
The reason he thought that was simple. Kai, standing proudly at the top of the canyon, merely flicked his finger and nodded. And his guess was right.
So this is roughly the level of destructive power when skills are combined, I see.
Kai nodded, thinking about the result of his experiment just now.
In MID Online, how a skill was used could drastically change the outcome. For example, if a player with the same equipment, skill proficiency, and stats cast fireballs, there would be a difference between attacking an enemy right in front of them and one far away. There would also be a difference between hitting a vital spot and hitting a non-vital one, and even under the same conditions, different ways of using the skill could produce greater effects. And Kai was currently testing those conditions.
This time, let’s try increasing gravity fivefold.
At the flick of his finger, one of the waiting Hell Fires descended from beneath the clouds at his call.
“Gravity Field.”
By layering a gravity field over it, the Hell Fire accelerated like a sports car with the pedal slammed to the floor. This time, an even more enormous tremor and explosion rocked the canyon.
Kai’s attack once again missed, pounding into the gorge instead, but the Muldine soldiers no longer praised Muldine’s name in relief. Instead, unmistakable expressions of fear began to creep onto their faces.
Their ears rang from the explosion, and the swaying of their semicircular canals made it difficult to even maintain balance. To make matters worse, the overwhelming tremors flowing through their bodies destabilized their mental state.
Kai, who had been watching every bit of that, finally gave the third Hell Fire its order to fall.
“Apply Gravity Field, eightfold.”
His mana drained out like water leaking from a broken jar. He had only summoned four Hell Fires and used Gravity Field three times, yet already half his mana was gone. Yet, the investment was worth it. No, it was way more than worth it.
Kai had targeted the same spot in the canyon exactly three times with the same skill, stacking absurd damage. As a result, the edge of the gorge, unable to withstand the accumulated shock, began to collapse.
“I-it’s collapsing!”
“Get back!”
“Th-there’s nowhere to run!”
The massive number of fifty thousand of the Muldine force had become a curse rather than a blessing. At the bottom of the gorge, the Muldine troops scrambled about as they screamed in terror, and were mercilessly crushed by rocks falling like raindrops.
“Zero seconds.”
—Kraaaaaah!
At the same time, the petrification status on Harley ended, but the Muldine army had no chance to flee.
“Th-the retreat path is...!”
The rocks that collapsed when one side of the gorge crumbled formed a new wall. Even worse, those boulders now acted as a shield that covered Harley’s massive body.
“All troops, return to position.”
As Kai raised his hand and gave the order, Aden, who had been staring blankly, shouted with gleaming eyes, “All troops! Back to position!”
As the war horn sounded, the five thousand wizards and archers unleashed every skill they had toward the bottom of the gorge.
***
A massive army crossed the plains. Their number was a staggering hundred thousand and every one of them was cavalry, boasting maximum mobility.
“Any word from the Aldebaran side?”
The one who spoke was Krom, one of the Church of Muldine’s Inquisitors. He had been specially dispatched from headquarters to lead the hundred thousand force.
"According to Black Dragon's message, Count Hind and the other nobles are still at the border. That was only fifteen minutes ago, so they should still be inside the fortress."
“Then we’ve definitely caught them from behind,” Krom nodded with a stoic face.
By now, the battle at Siris should be well underway. It may have already been seized.
It had been an incredibly long time, hundreds of years, since Krom’s family had been loyal followers of the Church of Muldine for generations. His ancestors had spent centuries hiding underground, waiting for a day like today.
Then I’ll show them the strength and resolve we’ve gathered over those long centuries. You wretched brats of the continent... This time will be different.
They were cowards who didn’t even have the courage to face the main church as a single force.
My ancestors may have failed, but our preparations are perfect this time.
They had already planted infiltrators in every kingdom, empire, and merchant guild. In fact, had Count Mediff not been exposed, this war would have taken place much later. But Krom, on the contrary, welcomed his foolishness.
The Church’s preparations were perfect anyway. Might as well use this chance to teach the continent a lesson.
Krom gripped the reins tighter and shook them with more force. His warhorse, infused with the Essence of Darkness, neighed fiercely and charged across the plains.
“Hm?”
When Krom arrived at the border of Rashion and the final stronghold guarding their land, Hust Fortress, Krom slowed down.
Something’s off.
Trained since birth as a war machine of the Church of Muldine, his sharpened senses screamed at him that the fortress was not normal.
It’s too quiet. For a fortress housing fifty thousand troops, it’s far too quiet.
The place felt like a ghost fortress.
At that moment, Krom’s gaze turned to the top of the fortress.
“Count Hind.”
Standing there was unmistakably Count Hind, and beside him were the northern nobles who followed him. However, the soldiers visible on the fortress wall numbered barely over a hundred.
Something is definitely wrong...
Just as Krom furrowed his brows, sensing something strange, the sound of hooves began to echo from three different directions.