Chapter 39: The border
The ride toward the border was painfully quiet.
Well—
Quiet except for Finn complaining almost the entire way there.
"I still don’t understand how this became my problem."
I ignored him while checking the cartridges stored carefully within a reinforced pouch beside me.
Finn continued anyway.
"I had a perfectly good life, Leon."
"You lived in collaspsing shack."
"It was, a collaspsing shack."
The carriage wheels rattled loudly against the rough roads while the distant sounds of military movement gradually became more noticeable the closer we traveled toward the border.
More soldiers.
Supply wagons.
Smoke rising in the distance.
Even from far away, tension filled the air.
Finn leaned back dramatically.
"And now somehow I’m going to war."
"You volunteered."
"I absolutely did not."
"You agreed."
"Only because you threatened to fire me"
Finn groaned while pulling his coat tighter.
Eventually—
The border walls finally came into view.
Massive stone fortifications stretched across the landscape while banners of the Kingdom of Valenor waved above them.
The area around the walls had practically transformed into a military encampment.
Tents stretched endlessly across the fields while soldiers moved constantly between supply stations, watchtowers, and defensive positions.
The atmosphere felt heavy.
Everyone looked tired.
The closer we got, the more visible the damage became.
Broken wagons.
Makeshift medical tents.
Smoke stains across portions of the walls.
This place had already seen fighting.
The carriage finally stopped near the outer encampment.
Finn immediately looked like he wanted turn around and leave.
Meanwhile Alex approached us while adjusting the bandages across the left side of his face.
"Remember what I said."
I nodded slightly.
"Don’t interfere unless necessary."
"And stay away from the front lines," Alex added immediately.
Then his eyes moved toward the rifles slung across mine and Finn’s shoulders.
The strange weapons looked completely out of place compared to the swords and spears carried by everyone else.
Alex sighed slightly.
"...Just don’t cause problems."
"No promises," Finn muttered quietly.
Alex glared at him.
Eventually he left to rejoin the soldiers near the walls, leaving me and Finn alone within the camp.
Almost immediately—
People started staring.
Soldiers glanced toward us while muttering quietly among themselves.
"Why are there kids here?"
"What are those things?"
"Are those staffs?"
"No idea."
The rifles attracted attention everywhere we walked.
Compared to ordinary weapons, they looked bizarre.
Long polished wood.
Dark steel mechanisms.
No visible mana crystals.
No enchantments.
Nothing about them resembled magical weapons.
Which somehow made them look even stranger.
Finn awkwardly adjusted the rifle on his shoulder while soldiers continued staring.
"I really hate how everyone keeps looking at us."
"That’s because we’re carrying industrialized warfare through a medieval military camp."
Finn blinked.
"...You know, sometimes I think you say things specifically to sound insane."
I ignored him while observing the camp carefully.
The soldiers here looked exhausted.
Many carried fresh bandages.
Others cleaned blood from armor.
And despite the activity around the walls—
Something felt wrong.
Tense.
Like everyone was waiting for the next attack.
Then suddenly—
A distant horn echoed across the battlefield beyond the walls.
The entire camp instantly went silent.
The horn echoed again.
Long.
Loud.
Urgent.
Then from somewhere above the walls, a lookout suddenly screamed:
"ENEMY ATTACK!"
The entire camp exploded into motion.
Soldiers scrambled toward defensive positions while officers shouted orders over the chaos.
Armor clattered.
Horses screamed.
More horns echoed across the fortifications.
Alex rushed past me and Finn while drawing his sword.
"Damn it—we just got here!"
Then he disappeared into the chaos alongside the other knights.
Finn looked toward me nervously.
"...I suddenly regret every life decision I’ve ever made."
I didn’t answer.
Instead we quickly climbed toward the top of the walls.
And the moment we reached them—
I froze.
The battlefield stretched endlessly before us in complete chaos.
Thousands of soldiers rushed to us from below while flaming arrows streaked across the sky like burning rain.
Explosions of small magic erupted throughout the battlefield in flashes of red, blue, and gold.
Smoke covered portions of the field while wounded men screamed beneath the sounds of steel and war horns.
Then beyond the battlefield—
I saw them.
Enemy knights.
Entire formations advancing toward the walls beneath the banners of the Kingdom of Magneto.
The ground itself almost seemed shaking beneath their charge.
A flaming arrow suddenly whistled directly past my head before smashing into the stone nearby.
Finn physically flinched backward.
"WHY ARE WE STANDING UP HERE?!"
"Because I need visibility."
"That is a TERRIBLE REASON!"
For nearly twenty minutes, neither of us fired a single shot.
We simply watched.
Observed.
Waited.
Our ammunition supply was painfully limited.
Every cartridge mattered.
And against an army this size—
Wasting shots would accomplish nothing.
Then suddenly—
The battlefield changed.
A massive sphere of fire the size of a tree tore across the battlefield like a falling star.
My eyes widened instantly.
"MOVE!"
The flaming mass slammed directly into the walls only meters beside us.
BOOOOOOM.
Stone exploded outward violently.
The impact shook the entire wall hard enough nearly throw us off balance while heat blasted across my face.
Part of the fortification crumbled instantly.
Soldiers nearby screamed as debris buried portions of the wall.
Smoke and dust flooded the air.
Then through the chaos—
I saw him.
Floating above the battlefield in the distance.
The mage.
His long dark red robes flowed violently in the wind while glowing orange mana circles rotated around him like burning suns.
The left side of his face was covered in deep scars that stretched from his jaw all the way toward his forehead, twisting his expression into something permanently cruel.
One of his eyes glowed faintly orange with mana.
The air around him itself seemed distorted from heat.
Even from this distance—
His presence felt overwhelming.
"A B-rank..." Finn whispered weakly.
Below us, panic had already started spreading through the soldiers.
Then suddenly—
Alex stepped forward near the breach.
He raised his sword high into the air.
"KNIGHTS WITH ME!"
The remaining knights rallied around him immediately.
Despite the fear.
Despite the explosions.
Despite the mage floating above the battlefield.
They still charged.
Alex led them directly out through the destroyed breach alongside the armored cavalry.
Watching them rush toward that battlefield—
Toward that mage—
I realized something immediately.
If that man wasn’t stopped—
The walls were finished.
The battlefield around the breached wall had descended into complete chaos.
Knights clashed below while arrows and magic tore across the sky, yet somehow—
My attention locked entirely onto the two figures standing apart from the battle.
Alex.
And the mage.
The distance between them wasn’t large.
Maybe thirty meters.
But the pressure between the two felt suffocating.
Alex slowly stepped forward through the dirt and rubble while gripping his sword tightly.
Then—
FWOOSH.
He whipped the blade sharply to the side.
Flames erupted across the steel instantly.
The fire wrapped around the sword in spiraling orange streams while heat distorted the air around him.
Even from atop the wall, I could feel the temperature rise.
Alex pointed the burning blade toward the mage.
"You did quite a number on my father last time."
The flames around his sword intensified.
"So now you’re going down."
The mage simply stared at him silently.
Emotionless.
Cold.
Then slowly—
He raised one hand.
Multiple flaming spheres instantly formed behind him.
Not small fireballs.
Massive ones.
Each nearly the size of a human torso.
The surrounding air warped violently from heat.
Then—
With a simple motion of his fingers—
The spheres launched forward.
BOOM.
BOOM.
BOOM.
They streaked across the battlefield one after another like miniature meteors.
Alex immediately surged forward.
His flaming sword carved upward—
SLASH.
The first fireball split apart violently.
The explosion blasted flames outward around him.
Then another came.
And another.
Alex moved through them continuously, cleaving apart each blazing sphere before the impacts could fully connect.
The battlefield lit orange around him with every explosion.
Then finally—
He broke through the last attack.
Alex leaped forward directly toward the mage.
His burning sword raised high overhead.
For a brief moment—
I genuinely thought he was about cut the man in half.
But then—
The mage calmly lifted his other hand.
And opened it.
A translucent barrier instantly appeared before him.
CRAAASH.
Alex’s flaming blade slammed into the shield hard enough send shockwaves through the air.
The impact alone shattered nearby stone and dirt.
But the barrier didn’t break.
The mage’s expression never changed.
Then slowly—
He pushed his hand forward.
BOOOOOOM.
The shield exploded outward like a physical wall.
Alex was launched backward violently through the battlefield.
He slammed across the ground before stabbing his sword downward desperately.
The burning blade carved through dirt and stone while barely slowing him.
Finally—
He stopped.
Alex breathed heavily before suddenly grabbing a fallen javelin lodged nearby.
Without hesitation, he plucked it out the group brfore spinning it around and hurling it.
FWOOOSH.
Flames engulfed the spear mid-flight.
The weapon transformed into a blazing projectile tearing through the battlefield directly toward the mage.
For the first time—
The mage actually moved slightly.
He lifted one hand before extending only two fingers outward.
Instantly—
A violent gust of wind erupted around him.
The flaming javelin twisted sharply sideways mid-air before flying harmlessly behind him—
Straight into Magneto’s own advancing soldiers.
The spear exploded among them in a burst of flames and screams.
The mage remained completely emotionless.
Then slowly—
He reached toward his side.
And pulled out a book.
A grimoire.
Dark metal reinforcements lined the edges while glowing runes spread across its cover.
The moment he opened it—
Mana exploded outward around him.
My chest tightened instantly.
Behind the mage—
Two massive spheres appeared.
One blazing fire.
One spiraling wind.
The two magic spheres slowly began orbiting each other.
At first—
The movement seemed calm.
Controlled.
But over the next few seconds—
The rotation accelerated.
Faster.
Faster.
Faster.
Until the air itself screamed around them.
The surrounding battlefield began shaking from the pressure alone.
Even soldiers nearby started backing away in fear.
Then the mage slowly raised his entire arm high into the air.
And dropped it.
The spheres vanished.
No—
They moved too fast to see.
An instant later—
BOOOOOOOOOOM.
The battlefield exploded.
A colossal pillar of smoke, dust, fire, and shattered earth erupted directly where Alex stood.
The shockwave slammed against the walls hard enough shake the stone beneath my feet.
For a horrible second—
I couldn’t see anything.
My chest tightened violently.
"ALEX!"
The dust slowly drifted apart.
And finally—
I saw him.
Still standing.
Barely.
Half of Alex’s armor had been completely blown away.
The remaining pieces hung shattered and blackened across his body.
Cuts and tears covered his arms, chest, and face while blood slowly dripped onto the dirt beneath him.
His sword trembled in his hand.
Then suddenly—
He coughed violently.
Blood splattered across the ground.
And finally—
Alex collapsed onto one knee.
