Chapter 127: Total War With Proxia (3)
After a brief rest, the battle loomed near.
All soldiers, tense with anticipation, gripped their weapons tightly.
On the city walls, archers aimed their bows at the enemy, while the magic troops chanted incantations, readying their spells.
Yet, the enemy forces remained unshaken.
Suddenly, dust clouds began to rise from behind the enemy lines, as if a massive army was on the march, stirring the earth into a whirlwind of sand.
The Holy Kingdoms forces tensed to the brink upon realizing the true nature of the approaching force.
Monsters!
Knight Order, to the walls! Protect the mages!
Their strategy lay in ruins.
Faced with such a vast horde of monsters, a counterattack seemed suicidal.
It was beyond what Griaia had predicted.
The sheer number of monsters threatened to breach the walls and turn Gehel into a sea of flames.
Resisting such a force appeared impossible.
With flying, large, toxic monsters, and even some diverse races among their ranks, defeat seemed certain.
Panic swiftly overtook the soldiers.
While knights, healers, and priests had overcome their fear through rigorous training, not all soldiers and officers shared their conviction.
How can we overcome this?
Retreat! Run if you dont want to die!
In the face of imminent death, rank and discipline crumbled.
Even well-trained knights displayed signs of fear, let alone ordinary soldiers.
Griaia gritted her teeth, realizing, Theres no chance of winning. Retreat is our only option.
Acting on her realization, she commanded, Everyone, retreat! Set fires as you go to prevent their pursuit!
As the command was issued, the soldiers, already eager to flee, set fires around them.
The intense flames temporarily halted the monsters advance.
The specially fortified city gates did not catch fire, but the billowing smoke was sufficient to delay the enemys progress.
They narrowly escaped the clutches of Proxia.
Rays eyes snapped open.
Ah, how long has it been since I last saw this room?
His mind was awake, but his body remained immobile.
Occasionally, Aira would cast a cleaning spell, yet he couldnt move, which led to immense discomfort.
Even now, he could not move his body, only his eyes and eyelids slightly.
This was possible only because of the arduous battles he had endured.
Ray looked at his left hand, infused with the original dragons magical energy he absorbed from Zik.
He had never imagined that, in this situation, it would prove so helpful.
As he mentioned before, multiple types of mana cannot coexist in one place.
First, Rays body was devoid of mana.
He utilized the mana from the atmosphere, not creating a circle within his body.
Thats why he could absorb all of Ziks magic without missing a bit.
But now, mana existed in Rays body.
What kind of mana was it?
It was the mana from the magic circle that had spread throughout the academy.
The mana invaded Rays body, consuming it, and the magic in his left arm fought fiercely against it.
Two types of mana couldnt coexist in one place.
At first, the magic in his left arm and the mana inside his body fought, causing excruciating pain, as if he were going to die.
His blood vessels seemed to tear, and his muscles felt like bursting, an intense agony.
The genuine magic of a born dragon and a regional-level magic circle that took decades to install were at odds.
He couldnt even lose consciousness due to their conflict.
After a month, his body began to move slightly.
His fingers twitched, and he could open his eyes, as he did now.
Ray was now focused on making the two manas fight each other.
Though he didnt know what kind of magic it was, moving the atmospheric mana was challenging.
Therefore, the only way to free himself was to make the two manas deplete each other.
A war must be raging outside by now.
The kingdom must have been pushed back so far that even Euclid had to join the battlefield.
Probably everyone, except for children who couldnt wield swords, women, and the elderly, had been drafted into the army.
Ray sighed inwardly and closed his eyes quietly.
Concentrating and guiding the magic was better than keeping his eyes open.
Fortunately, while it was difficult to control the mana inside, he could still manipulate the atmospheric mana.
As he lashed out the conjured mana towards the magic, he quietly withdrew it when the magic began to clash with the mana of the magic circle.
He knew he should not interfere now.
It was preferable for him if the magic prevailed.
In the event that the magic might lose, he readied a small amount of movable mana.
Should the mana of the magic circle completely eradicate the magic, survival would be impossible.
He watched the struggle between the magic and mana with caution.
When they collided, a wave of intense pain struck him.
Aaaargh!
Paralyzed, he could only scream inside his mind.
How could a magic circle be this resilient!
If he ever encountered the creator of such a magic circle, he would definitely kill them!
Not a saintly thought, but he had never been saint-like, so it didnt seem out of character.
He was becoming more like Iriel.
Euclid, commanding the forces from Silien, demonstrated true versatility.
Her immense cold magic froze the enemies alive; her might was fearsome.
Despite being the supreme commander, she fought on the front lines without hesitation while issuing commands.
This allowed her to have a comprehensive view of the battlefield and issue precise orders.
Cornelias Knights, retreat for a moment.
Understood!
Now. The 5th Magic Battalion, begin casting.
Fireball!
Become a sword that slices through the wind! Wind Cutter!
The enemy was devastated by the perfectly timed onslaught of magic.
Aaargh!
Its magic! Retreat!
Euclid, who employed her troops in the most efficacious manner, was akin to a deity of war.
She had managed to overturn the odds against an enemy force outnumbering her own by three thousand.
The soldiers trust in Euclid had transcended simple belief; it had evolved into blind faith.
As evening approached, the armies of Proxia and Euclid began to withdraw, agreeing to a temporary ceasefire.
Fighting at night would have meant heavy losses for both sides.
Of course, there was no guarantee that a surprise attack wouldnt happen, so they couldnt let their guard down.
Euclid poured water over her sweat-soaked hair.
Even in battle, and now during this rest, she maintained an expressionless face, but suddenly, her eyebrows twitched.
I sense the Saint.
Her eyes, curving beautifully like a rainbow, looked towards Selonia.
It seemed she had an intuition, as she couldnt take her eyes off in that direction.
Then Lorein, commanding the 8th Holy Knights, approached her.
Taking off her helmet and shaking out her sweat-drenched hair like Euclid, she started talking.
You were incredible today too! With you, Euclid, I, Lorein, feel like I can go anywhere!
As Ive always said, youre a nuisance. My side is reserved for him.
There you go again. If not on the right, then theres the left side! Ahaha!
Both right and left are his.
The extremely high-spirited commander of the knights and Euclid, cutting down that high spirit with her expressionless demeanor.
Their compatibility was surprisingly good.
They could even joke around like this after a battle.
The deputy commander of Cornelias Knights briefly took off his half armor.
Phew. Finally feeling a bit alive.
His sculpted body, honed from sword practice, was drenched in sweat.
Seeing this, Euclid glanced at her own chest and then her eyebrows twitched again.
Youre an obscene deputy commander. Its not good to show such a figure in front of many.
What? I just took off my half armor because its hot
You dont even understand what you did wrong. Thats really bad.
Eh? But, Euclid, youre dressed the same as me!
His indignant protest, however, was a critical hit for Euclid.
The same outfit, but how different they looked!
Shocked, Euclid felt Loreins hand pat her shoulder.
Glacia is really cruel.
Why?!
Put your hand on your chest and ask yourself.
With these cryptic words, Lorein took Euclid away.
The sting from what she had just heard seemed far worse than any damage the enemies had inflicted.
They had stood firm against Proxias army, not merely defending but also driving them back.
Their morale was not only high, but there was also a deep sense of pride from having defended Silien.
If they continued to fight with such tenacity, they might safeguard not only Silien but also Gehel and Selonia, which were both in grave peril.
Gehel, in particular, where the bulk of the enemy forces was concentrated, would not be an easy task.
What difference would their reinforcements make?
Joining forces to expel the enemy and boost the Holy Kingdoms stature would undoubtedly mark it as a superpower acknowledged across the continent.
Full of grand aspirations for the next days battle, they were oblivious.
Oblivious to the fact that Gehel had already fallen.
Not to an army, but to a swarm of monsters.
There was no chance they could defeat them, even if they went.
It would only lead to more casualties.
Yet, still ignorant of the true circumstances, they planned to march towards Gehel.
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