A group of the army broke off from the main force, bringing a battering ram towards the gates with a group surrounding them with shields. "Fire!" Daisan yelled, the crossbowmen launched a volley at the men carrying the ram. The men with the shields tightened up and blocked most of the volley.
Some of the men with shields took arrows in their unguarded legs and collapsed but the shield wall closed around the ram tighter to sure up the barrier. Daisan looked around and found the mage trio. "Can you take care of that?" He called over to them.
The mage's broad-shouldered leader nodded and ran up to the ramparts. He sighted through the slit and launched a ball of fire towards the ram, arcing it over the shield wall. The ram caught instantly, and the men carrying it were forced to drop the ram as their hands started to blister from the heat.
The soldiers that were holding the ram retreated back into the main force. "Why didn't you kill them?" Daisan asked the broad mage. "Don't you see? We don't stand a chance against these guys, we have to hold them off until Shi returns. Our main goal is to conserve our power until we have no choice but to use it." The mage answered, turning back to the army.
The army split itself into 10 groups, each with 5 ladders and around 50 men. The men started moving towards the walls at a run, ladders leading. The broad-shouldered mage tried to light the ladder on fire but the fireball was intercepted by a blast of water that came from somewhere in the crowd of soldiers.
"Shit." The mage swore, "Daisan, you take care of as many of these ladders you can, I'll see what me and my mages can do." Daisan nodded and started organizing volleys at each group. The mage went down to were Hyousuke was, "We need you on the walls, they're coming with ladders." He said, barely giving Hyousuke time to nod before sprinting off towards the other two mages.
"Come with me now." He told the other two mages, before heading up the ramparts on the right side. The thin mage and the female mage combined wind and fire to make a white-hot stream of flame that jetted towards the far-right group.
A burst of water shot up from the crowd of soldiers, but it fizzled out and the flames killed a good chunk of the men in the group, burning the ladder as well. The broad mage took a second, then summoned a flood of lava, sending it towards another group.
Screams erupted from the group as the soldiers and the mage were burned to death by the lava. The mages moved down the line, using similar spells until the ladder teams were all either fractured or completely destroyed.
5 men stepped forward from the army and started launching fire and earth at the ramparts. The two lesser mages of the trio combined forces to block the assault on the wall. The broad mage stepped forward and summoned all of the spells he had at his command.
He combined his water and lightning and sent an electric flood at the men. Two of the men combined forces to divert the flood away from both them and the army. The broad mage combined sand and fire and launched a volley of glass at the mages, before following that up with a flood of lava that he accelerated with wind magic.
As four of the five mages combined forces to make a pathway with earth magic for the lava to flow through, taking it away from them while deflecting the glass with wind magic, the broad mage summoned a massive boulder, which he froze the core of with ice magic and launched it at the mages.
The mages combined forces to slice through the boulder with wind magic, only for the frozen core to explode outwards on contact with the air, sending ice shards into four of the five mages, killing them.
The broad mage launched a barrage of lightning at the final mage, who raised an earth wall to block it. The broad mage used the other mage's lack of vision to summon a lava ball which he lobbed high in the air, all while keeping up the barrage of lightning.
The ball soared up and over the mage's defensive wall, plummeting onto the mage's head and melting him down until he became only a part of the lava. The broad mage collapsed to one knee, thoroughly drained of mana.
10 more people came out, and launched new magical attacks on the castle which took all of the other two mages of the trio's mana to block. As the 10 mages prepared another assault, a white wolf leaped from behind them and clasped its jaws around one of the mage's throats, tearing it out violently.
The other mages turned to the wolf in shock, another being taken out before they were able to comprehend what had just happened. The remaining mages pummeled the lightning wolf with earth magic, slamming boulders into the wolf's back until it was mush.
As the wolf died, a gout of flame hit one of the mages as Shi's other elemental summons arrived. The mage put himself out with water magic before getting his head slapped off by the earth bear. The water hydra had combined with the tornado, causing a typhoon that destroyed one of the mages who was caught in it.
The remaining 6 mages started dispatching the summons but the mage trio's attention was drawn to the main force. There was a tear being formed in the back of the army that was approaching the 6 mages. As they killed the last summon, the mages were greeted by the reaper.
The reaper grabbed one of the mages by the head and slammed him into the ground, crushing his skull. The reaper then scythed through another mage before throwing its scythe into a third mage. The mages started attacking the reaper but it withdrew its hood, activating its true power.
The reaper dodged the attacks smoothly on its way to its scythe before beheading one of the mages with his retrieved scythe. It then glided up to another mage, grabbing her by the skull and squeezing until it popped.
The reaper glided to the last mage and grabbed him by the throat, absorbing his mana, leaving only a wrinkled sack in his wake. The whole army charged the reaper, who slashed through the men like he was cutting wheat.
After killing a few hundred men, the reaper was overwhelmed by the countless attacks it had received and he dissipated. The castle gates opened, it was time.