?General Scoll's voice reached the mage squads stationed in the backlines, and magic barriers protecting the combatants in front of them flew up only moments later.
The battle was a complete mess, and there was no way to separate the two forces. So, the mages cast their barriers so that they aligned in front of the middle of the fighting, on the side of the Alliance of Kingdoms. The barriers were simple and hung in the air above the combatants and shielded the people below from incoming projectiles and magic, the type of attacks that were the most dangerous and the hardest to defend against as a melee combatant.
The barriers made a clear separation between the two forces. The humans and their allies stepped back and under the barriers' shadows. And the demons rushed to escape the numerical disadvantage they found themselves in as their enemies reorganized themselves beneath the barriers.
As the humans reorganized themselves and took control over the battlefield, the demons naturally had to do the same. Since they were the ones with the barriers, the humans would take the lead in the battle. They could attack with impunity without having to worry about defending. But the demons had to defend against the humans' attacks, their own attacks reflected by the barriers and the trampling of raging demonic beasts.
Upon seeing that the demons were about to break ranks and almost initiate a retreat, the combatants on the Alliance of Kingdoms' side wanted to hunt them down. After all, there was no easier target than one fleeing with an exposed back.
With the fierce fighting and all the blood that had been shed and splattered, everyone was so crazed by the battle that no one even thought that it could be a trap. It might not even be a trap at all.
But the sight of the enemies gradually backing away made the Alliance of Kingdoms forget about the barriers that had allowed the humans to take the advantage in the battle.
"Hold! Your! Lines!"
General Scoll's voice rang across the battlefield before any human could begin to chase after the demons and demonic beasts who were gradually increasing the distance between the two sides, bit by bit. While the combatants deeply entrenched in the fighting might not have noticed, General Scoll had a decent vantage point and outlook over the battlefield. He saw through the enemies' plan as soon as they started moving.
Although the demons were still flinging magic across the battlefield and toward the humans, it was only basic magic. They had stopped casting advanced spells that decimated and cut down the humans like flies.
But the war was only in its beginning stages. There was no way they were out of demonic energy and resources just yet. And the barriers would easily be broken if they kept levying attacks on them. It might be a small waste of demonic energy. But it was war. That kind of sacrifice isn't even worth considering unless there's something better to do.
It wasn't an overly complicated plan, but it was the best move to make in that kind of situation. The enemy commander knew what they were doing and could read the flow of battle quite well. General Scoll would have almost admired them if they had succeeded. Unfortunately, the execution was too obvious. Even Cooper noticed what was happening.
The Tribe of Death held back on casting their powerful ritual magic shortly after the barriers flew up. They also began to draw back and provoke the humans to chase after them and leave the barriers' protection.
But rather than pausing their casting, the Tribe of Death had just put a hold on the launching. They had prepared a salvo of magic that would decimate the humans who had been baited to chase the retreating demons.
The humans would then lose morale and a significant number of troops, which would then lead to the Tribe of Death taking the lead in the war.
Unfortunately for them, General Scoll saw through their plan and reined in his troops.
The Alliance of Kingdom's combatants were initially dissatisfied with Scoll's order, but his voice compelled them to obey. Only those with incredible resistance and willpower could resist it. But there was also the fact that General Scoll was the supreme commander of the war, and disobedience during battle was punishable by death.
"Reinforce the barriers!"
General Scoll had seen through the enemy commander's tactic, but that didn't mean it was over. They had prepared an incredible number of spells. Just because the humans hadn't left the barriers' protection didn't mean that the demons would let the spells fade away. The magic would still come flying, but on the barriers instead.
The Alliance of Kingdoms' losses would still be quite significant since the barriers wouldn't have been able to hold up against the assault. But it wouldn't have been as bad as if the humans had chased after the demons.
And now that General Scoll had ordered everyone, including those whose hands were freed from direct combat by the retreating demons, to reinforce the barriers with their magic and aura, their side would take even fewer losses. And the Tribe of Death had wasted a significant amount of demonic energy and resources, as well as dropped the morale of their troops, only to kill a few humans.
The rain of black phantoms from the Tribe of Death's backlines blotted out the sun as it flew through the air toward the domed wall of magic barriers. But despite the terrifying spell and the pressure they emitted, only a few barriers broke.
The phantoms entered the holes and spread terror through the human ranks as they drained the life force of anyone they touched. The agonized screams echoed within the barriers, which made the damage seem worse than it actually was.
The phantoms were quickly subdued and dispelled before they caused any real damage to the human troops.
General Scoll's abrupt interference in the war had instantly changed the tides of the war, and he wasn't done yet.
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