Chapter 10: Severe Strikes
As the speed of the Attic Knights increased, their formation began to become slightly chaotic. Yet in terms of momentum, they still held a decisive advantage. They continuously tightened their encirclement before tearing it apart to break through, aiming to utterly crush the Homer Knights before they could escape.
The Homer Knights proved extremely tenacious. Although they were retreating while fighting, their formation remained intact. Especially the strategic distance they maintained prevented the Attic Knights from delivering a final blow. At the most critical moments, the Homer Knights would just enough speed to break away, leaving the Attic knights frustrated. This made Viscount Basman eager to charge to the front himself and pounce on those fleeing Homer Knights.
The pursuit and battle on the plain gradually expanded as the fighting intensified, moving further away from the designated main battlefield and spreading toward the edges of the gently undulating slopes. Meanwhile, the Attic cavalry remained quite restrained. Though they followed closely behind the knights, they hardly participated in the actual combat, perhaps believing the knights could handle the war on their own and unwilling to compete for credit.
Bao Ling watched the shifting front lines and, seeing that their target had entered the designated area, calmly signaled the flag bearer beside him.
The mage team, which had already taken cover, silently emerged from the hidden shrubbery on the slopes. Thanks to invisibility magic, the Attic knights and cavalry had no idea these mages were there, and they would soon pay a heavy price for their carelessness.
With the rumbling of thunder, the entire sky seemed to darken instantly. As the massive form of Thor appeared among the dark clouds, a shrill howling wind swept across the low slopes, rapidly transforming into tangible wind blades that sliced through the open terrain.
This was the grand feast Bao Ling had prepared for the Attic Knights—Thor’s Hammer from thunder magic followed by Wind Blades from wind magic. The fierce Thor’s Hammer, mixed with golden lightning, struck the air above the Attic Knights’ heads. Countless golden arcs and dark thunderous forces merged to form spatial force fields that rushed down upon the Attic Knights.
At this moment, the anti-magic cloaks and armor of the Attic knights became the best protection against magical attacks. The fierce lightning spells and solid wind blades from wind-based magic posed the greatest threat to the knights. These wind blades, possessing enough power to shatter ice and stone, flew wildly across the battlefield. The knights had long forgotten about the enemies at the front line; they had almost never faced such a massive assault before, and the power of the mages was undeniable at this time.
Vice Lord Basmann, furious to the point of almost spitting blood, finally understood the cunning tactics of those damned Homer knights. They had already hidden mages in the nearby hillside brushlands. Although these mages couldn’t play a truly decisive role, such a move inevitably dealt a severe blow to the morale of the knights, with devastating consequences. The Attic knights still couldn’t find a suitable solution.
Basmann could only grit his teeth and order the Attic knights to scatter and avoid the fierce magical attacks. He couldn’t afford to worry about much at this point. Though the knights had received training to resist magical attacks, that was just training—this was a real magical onslaught, and their opponents wouldn’t give them any time to prepare. How they could evade or resist these attacks depended entirely on their own luck.
The fierce Thunder God’s Hammer kept exploding, with black clouds swirling and serpentine lightning flashing up and down. The howling wind beneath the clouds was terrifying. Silver-gray, translucent, irregular wind blades flew through the air, with blood droplets and shattered armor pieces swirling around.
The Attic knights, caught off guard, fell into chaos. They never expected their opponents to have hidden mages in the brushlands on these gentle slopes. Judging from the intensity of the magical attacks, there must have been at least six or seven mages—three or five mages alone couldn’t unleash such a powerful combination of spells.
Eng was so enraged he almost crushed his teeth. Seeing that the Homer knights were on the verge of collapse, he never imagined such a sneaky trick. The mages had instantly pushed the Attic knights back to their starting point. The Homer knights, now able to catch their breath, had even begun to regroup, showing signs of counterattacking. Without timely reinforcements, not only might their efforts fail, but the entire Attic knight order could also fall into crisis.
“Sir Gray, please order General Yeller’s cavalry to attack immediately. Magical attacks are not terrifying; our knights and cavalry are trained to resist magic, so such attacks mean nothing. We must seize this opportunity to crush the main force of the Homer Knights in one fell swoop. Once their main force is defeated, those magicians, orcs, and barbarians will be nothing but weaklings!” Eng urged Gray eagerly. Basmann had kept him by Gray’s side to prevent Gray from being influenced by that guy, Yeller. Sir Gray was fine in most aspects, but he was too easily swayed by others—a fact that Yeller was well aware of, as was Basmann. “Uh, General Yeller, is your cavalry ready? The enemy has magicians in ambush—are you sure?” Gray also realized the knights were in danger. He hoped Yeller could save Basmann and the others, but only if the entire army wasn’t dragged into it. Yeller hesitated. Even when the enemy’s magicians launched sudden magical attacks, he remained calm. To be precise, he had expected these noble knights to learn a harsh lesson; a magical baptism was only fitting. If they weren’t given a stern lesson, that would be unjust. But the most dangerous enemies still hadn’t appeared—neither their orc nor barbarian armies had shown up, and the scouts hadn’t brought any reliable news. He had to think carefully before acting.