Volume 5 Chapter 9 Part 3
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Translator: Kell | Editor: Ryunakama
“We’ll be at a disadvantage the longer this goes. We’re gonna have to win quickly. You know from where you can deal the maximum damage, right?”
“Of course! But I doubt we can get that close…”
Mid-range Throwing Skills basically decreases in power the further away you are from the target. However, at a certain distance—approximately seven meters away—the Skills of the assault squad can maintain their maximum power. That distance at which an attack could maintain its maximum power was called the maximum firepower distance.
The mid-range attack just now was shot from outside of that range, so its power was reduced. Perhaps Cardinal Georgis was aware of the max firepower distance as well and cast his spells accordingly.
“I’ll open up a path! Over Guard!”
Mylia activated her defensive Skill and closed the distance between her and Cardinal Georgis straight away. Her movement was much faster and sharper than the assault squad. Cardinal Georgis, however, showed no signs of getting flustered, and instead cast his own spell.
“Flame Circle.”
The spell was cast at the same location as before. If they tried to avoid the wall of flames, they wouldn’t be able to maximize their throwing Skills’ damage. But if they ignored the flames and rushed into it anyway, the Sticky Bomb would fix them in place, unable to escape being burned.
Mylia didn’t slow down and charged straight into the flames. She frowned from the heat, but since she had her strongest defense Skill Over Guard on, she wasn’t injured to the point of being rendered incapable of moving. However, if the flames kept burning her for a long time, even Mylia wouldn’t be able to withstand it.
“Sticky Bomb.”
“Wide slash!”
Cardinal Georgis cast Sticky Bomb to bind Mylia in the flames. At the same time, Wide Slash blew out the flames of the Flame Circle.
“What?” For the first time, Cardinal Georgis wore a look of astonishment.
“Using fire against the Flame Spear?” Mylia said. “You underestimate me.”
The Cardinal didn’t expect his magic to be dispersed by a Skill. Nullifying magic was a characteristic of powerful defensive Skills such as Over Guard. Mylia used both a powerful defensive Skill and her immense capabilities to dispel magic.
“Now!”
The Cardinal’s Sticky Bomb bound Mylia to the ground, but she had already served her purpose. The Flame Circle that kept the assault squad away had already disappeared.
“Over Rage, Blood Drunk, Cast Lance!”
“Over Rage, Blood Drunk, Axe Throw!”
Their Skills had been deflected once, but now they were able to exhibit their maximum power. They had no more spare weapons, but it didn’t matter. After all, if this attack was still deflected then they no longer had any chance of winning.
“Over Rage, Blood Drunk, Shock Wave!”
Mylia also joined them, unleashing a mid-range offensive Skill.
Shock Wave is a Skill that literally shoots shock waves from the tip of one’s spear to hit targets from afar. While it was inferior to Throwing Skills in terms of power, the one she fired was far more powerful than the ones the assault squad cast.
In the face of an all-out attack that all members of the squad put their power into, Cardinal Georgis chanted a spell.
“Magic Shield.”
It was the same magic that deflected their first attack. Each weapon dug through the barrier deployed before the Cardinal. And the barrier withstood the onslaught.
“You’re kidding!”
“How is this possible?”
The all-out attack failed, blocked by a single barrier. It was quite literally a massive failure.
But the men weren’t stunned because of that. Behind the Magic Shield were five more layers of backup barrier magic prepared just in case the first one was destroyed. Though in my opinion, calling them just “backup” wasn’t appropriate. They were in fact the Cardinal’s actual defensive measure.
You can feel the threat emitted by powerful defensive magic even from a distance. It’s because the human body has the natural ability to instinctively sense the magic power in the barrier.
Mylia and the whole squad sensed that the barriers to protect the Cardinal was much more powerful than the Magic Shield he himself cast. Until a moment ago, Cardinal Georgis was the only one casting his spells against Mylia and the squad. However, he didn’t bring a hundred troops with him just for show.
The hundred-men group was the strongest bodyguard unit formed to protect Cardinal Georgis, the main force and the commander of the enemy. The reason they hadn’t used magic until now was probably simply because they didn’t need to.
“I was actually intent in killing him right there,” Mylia muttered as she regarded the barrier.
She must’ve been stunned that the Skill she used, one that had a recoil effect, was unable to break even one of the barriers.
I didn’t really find it surprising. Mylia was up against the magic of several troops.
That unit is in a whole different league, I thought as I observed the enemy.
Although Cardinal Georgis’ army was highly skilled, they shouldn’t have the power to cast support magic so accurately. The Skills they were using could only be learned at higher levels. Normal adventurers and soldiers couldn’t possibly use them. It would be safe to assume, then, that these men were deployed by the Garden of Despair. That would explain the huge difference in power.
“Retreat! We’re gonna die in vain if we stay here!” The squad leader’s voice, filled with frustration, echoed throughout the battlefield. “Don’t waste the time that Lady Mylia bought for us!”
He finally realized that they stood no chance. The assault squad was not stupid enough to think that they could still win with all of their weapons gone and the barrier in front of them. Under the captain’s orders, they began to retreat.
Watching them, I gave my order. “Back them up! Attack all at once!”
The long-range attack squad began a simultaneous magic attack. Arrows and spells rained down on Cardinal Georgis. Although the attacks couldn’t reach Cardinal Georgis, it was still an effective strategy. Focused on defense alone, the Cardinal couldn’t give chase to the retreating squad.
“Our troops are running out of mana!”
“It’s fine. Let them exhaust all of their mana.”
An all-out total attack consumed a great deal of mana, but we had to do it. A half-baked attack would not be able to assist the retreat of our troops.
Our long-range unit had barely any juice left. If they continued their volley, the troops would no longer have the ability to attack. That would be tantamount to Count Meigis’s troops losing their fighting ability in the face of the enemy’s main force.
So why did we pour all their mana to help the troops that violated orders? The answer was simple. We didn’t need their mana in this war anymore.
“All done,” Sachylis said.
“Thank you.”
I eyed the surroundings. All buff Skill wielders were gathered around me.
The enemy’s army had saved its greatest strength, the Sage Cardinal Georgis until now. However, the same was true for us as well. Count Meigis’s army also had a Sage.
“Sachylis, take command of the troops.”
“Yes, sir. Good luck.”
All this time I devoted all my attention to my role as a commander. I didn’t cast magic a single time. All for this moment right here.
“It’s time for the commanders to settle this once and for all.”
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