"Kugh! Huk! Huk!" Legate Leon, with the fabric of his military uniform torn and fluttering about due to the sheer force of wind generated by the Archon, had barely managed to save his own life by creating several layers of hardened ice in front of his heart, causing Otto to pull away once more.
However, it still hurt! It was like a hammer had smashed into his chest, and with a body not as reinforced as a warrior mage's, a coughing fit took hold of him as the head of the Rici Archonate flew over him and descended to prepare for a second charge.
He tried freezing the floor to catch the elder man off-guard once more, but the Archon had anticipated this and slowed himself down to not let himself be too affected.
Before one could even blink, his sword was once more aimed at Legate Leon- this time, it was going for his head.
The Royal Legate gulped.
This time, he managed to dodge by flying upwards, then using the abundant water energy on his opponent's body to freeze it as much as he could, slowing the Archon down by a small margin, but it was enough to escape the danger.
However, as he readied several more ice spears to give himself more breathing room, a sudden stab caught him off-guard as the more experienced fighter changed his direction on a dime using small bursts of fire, sending a deep thrust towards Leon's arm.
"Argh! Fuck!" He twisted his body, narrowly avoiding another quick stab as the Archon gracefully shot past him, far out of range.
Gritting his teeth, he realized that he had the advantage at that range, immediately conjuring several ice spikes, this time hurling nearly a hundred of them at the more-or-less stationary Archon Otto.
However, his eyes widened as the spikes merely phased through the man.
*Shing!*
"Guh! What the... fuck!"
He cursed again as a heavy object slammed against him, sending him face-first into the hard ground that he had made.
In fact, the tier six Legate Leon would've died right then and there from the impact had he not cushioned his fall at the last second by imbuing water energy once again, making it so soft that it absorbed most of the impact.
However, he had still sustained heavy injuries from the exchange, as he couldn't feel anything in his right arm.
Archon Otto landed by him in an explosion of both ice and dirt while he still registered the shock of the impact.
"Shame. A tier six traditional mage; to think you were so weak." The Archon's eyes glimmered with a murderous glint.
"I've fought many of you, and believe me when I say that you fared even worse than a tier four mage. Of course, that's understandable, as you're a nobleman raised in a cushy environment. Whatever 'training' you might have had was against retainers who didn't dare go all out in fear of endangering you, while I've fought against traitors since I awakened my mana heart!"
Legate Leon, battered and bruised, slowly had a smile form on his lips, showing a few gaps in between his teeth.
"That just proved that this 'country' of yours is less civilised than mine. You yourselves are traitors to the Marlonian Empire, and now you are tasting your own medicine."
*Bang!*
The Archon brought his foot down on Legate Leon's abdomen, causing tears to well up in his eyes as a trickle of blood escaped his gritted teeth.
"You've been defeated, and yet you're still so defiant? Very well then, I won't give you any dignity when you die by my blade!" Not dilly-dallying any longer, he raised his sword up high, pointing its blood-stained tip straight at the Legate's chest.
"W-wait..." Legate Leon raised a dirty, blood-soaked finger up. "Y... urgh!" A jolt of pain suddenly flared up again as he tried to move his body.
'Dammit, I must've broken a rib or something. I must get that fixed later.'
Contrary to his appearance, his mind was very calm at this life-and-death moment.
"You're right about being far more experienced than me, Otto. And you would've won against me every time if we fought a hundred times. B-but there's one thing you missed." He spoke in a hoarse voice, barely sounding out those words.
Staying his hand, puzzlement flashed across the older man's eyes. "Just what do you mean, you dog?"
His stern voice once more sounded in Legate Leon's ears as Leon looked towards the battlefield.
From the start of the fight to the end, less than a minute had passed, so things weren't much different than when he had left it.
"Heh... hah! Ha ha!" Legate Leon chortled. "You still don't re- kugh! realise it?"
This evoked a frown on Archon Otto's face. "realise wha-"
Then, he felt something tingle. It was gentle, but ominous, as he knew what it meant. 'No way...'
At that moment, Legate Leon's voice, now sounding much more ominous, sounded in his ears.
"I... huk! Why do you think I offered battle when it was about to rain? Why do you think I fought you? For fun? No! It was to lure you out, to distract the only person capable of stopping my array."
"Why you little-" Archon Otto's growl was cut short.
"Sir Archon, although I may not be the most combat-oriented traditional mage out there, I sure as hell did my homework! Or did you think that my 'Tsunami' array fell out of the sky?"
Hearing his allegedly defeated opponent's brazen laughter, he once more raised his sword up.
However, before he could bring Legate Leon's life to a premature end, a massive wave of water rose up, as if from nowhere, and engulfed the two of them.
The only thing that could be heard above the roaring of the waves was the enemy commander's laughter.
...
In the blink of an eye, the wave swept downwards and onto the battlefield, smothering many men who were in its way.
The officers, who had directed a contingent to block the charging enemy cavalry, now found themselves at a loss as to what to do.
The wave swept past their defending cavalry, and the following enemy horsemen just ran the remainder through with lances.
Horrible gurgles could be heard from the front as Legate Valery stood affixed, horrified at what had just transpired.
Just a minute ago, they were winning. Just what devious trickery had occurred?
And then, the carnage peaked when the wave hit the main army, devastating the Rici army's right flank.
It was utter chaos as men tried to escape the oncoming disaster, but ended up trampling over each other as the Whitecastle troops, seemingly uncaring about the impending doom, continued their massacre.
The air was filled with screaming and the gushing of waves as men fell to the ground, curling up and crying.
In this situation, it would not be strange if man turned on man, and a son killed his father.
"Quickly! Give the order to retr-"
It was too late.
Thousands of men were swept away, struggling to get to the surface with their heavy gear as the wave left behind nearly two metres of water, forcing many to swim through the battlefield.
Many more were stuck under debris, dying due to asphyxiation.
Though the water failed to reach the hill or even where the children was, it had just done its job brilliantly.
And as the wave rescinded, leaving behind a field littered with 20,000 bodies and half-dead men groaning in agony, the army of the Whitecastle Kingdom stood in their places, unharmed and victorious, to the shock of all!
A golden light enveloped them, and it disappeared soon after the flood was over, the water draining out.
20,000 men had just been killed, while the enemy army was mostly intact. It was a disaster.
Still gaping from the shock, Legate Valery could only utter one word to the horrified officers and mages before him, with only Archmage Reaves keeping his cool.
"Run."
...
Alexius was ahead of the others on that aspect, having had much practice in his past life.
However, he didn't get very far with his friend, Anthony, before they were stopped by a horseman. 'Oh, fuck... how the hell do I convince the guy to let me get away? This person is a hardened soldier, he might not fall for my usual trickery...'
The horseman flew a banner with a pristine white castle amidst a blue background, and Alexius guessed that he was there to capture or kill any remaining soldiers from the Rici Archonate.
"W-what do we do now?" Anthony's fearful voice, no louder than a whisper, sounded in his ears.
Although Alexius was exhausted, he leaned into his friend's ear, whispering, "Don't be scared, whatever I do." This left Anthony confused, but he didn't dare speak anymore as the lone horseman drew nearer. As he got closer, Alexius could spy dirt on his face, with multiple fresh wounds running across his arms and face.
He had probably been one of the men fighting for dear life on the battlefield, and as such lazily asked the two children: "What're you here for? This isn't a place for little kids."
Keeping an eye on the man's blood-soaked lance, Alexius replied while remembering to put on his best puppy eyes. "S-sir!" He pretended to be at a loss.
"Please, my brother here and I wanted to just... see what was going on outside the... *sniff!* walls! Are we... going to get in trouble?"
"What? I'm not your bro-" Anthony stopped himself as he received an intense glare from his friend.
Hearing this, the man smirked.
"Of course not! I'll let you go back home..." At this, Alexius' heart soared. Perhaps he could get away scot-free after all!
Then, the man's next words shattered his hopes.
"...Right after you hand me all your valuables."
What? Was this guy just robbing them in broad daylight? Alexius gaped with his mouth wide open like a goldfish, not daring to believe his ears.
"Sir... we need the money, please! If we give out all our money, then we'll be left with nothing to eat!" He begged, grasping at any straw he could find.
The man's smirk turned into a frown. "Cut the bullshit. Those are nice silk clothes; do you think I'm stupid enough to believe that you're poor? A poor person wouldn't be able to buy a single set of silk clothes if they saved up thirty years of their pay!"
"So, just be good and hand over your valuables. I'm not going to repeat this." His voice became much more stern, but Alexius' mind was racing.
He wasn't lying when he said that he needed that money to survive! Cassidy town and Knight Rowan were over two days away by carriage, which was nearly five days by foot. If they couldn't buy enough food to last them the entire journey, they may very well starve long before reaching home.
'Well, here goes.' Alexius relented, taking out a pouch of gold he kept hidden on himself.
"S-sir, these are five gold crowns... please let us go!"
He had hidden a few more pouches of gold coins on himself just in case he got robbed or a pickpocket got one, but he figured that he may as well use them right now.
However, contrary to his expectations, the horseman didn't let them off. He just snatched the pouch, and, after playing with it for a while, he looked up at the increasingly awkward boys in front of him.
"I want five more gold crowns."
"Sorry?" Alexius was stunned. How greedy must one be to extort a bunch of ten-year-olds?
"You heard me right, five more gold crowns, or I'm bringing you both back to my camp." His voice was lighthearted, but it was somehow also the most dreadful thing Alexius had heard in his past two lives.
"This is madness! How can you be so greedy?" Anthony evidently shared his friend's thoughts, but not his self-control as he blurted those words out.
The soldier's face turned sour as soon as he heard that. "Excuse me? If you're not going to pay, I can capture you and send you back to the Kingdom of Whitecastle as a fucking slave, you little bitch!"
His voice dripped with spite and malice as he pointed his lance at the now-cowering Anthony, who suddenly seriously regretted his life choices. "Or, I could just kill you right now-"
"Stop! Alright, I'll pay for him!" Alexius butted in, surprising the both of them.
"M-my father passed this to me before he died, and I've been carrying it with me ever since... but, please, sir, accept this if it can save my friend!" He mustered all his acting skills, even making some tears come out of his eyes.
"Alexius..." Anthony looked at him with a newfound respect and a look that said, 'You didn't have to', but he didn't stop his friend.
"What's this? It looks like a weird contraption made out of wood and iron?" The horseman, befuddled, leaned in closer.
'Just a bit more...' "Sir, if you look closely, this is made out of the finest steel and wood which my father carefully handcrafted, and is worth over five gold crowns. I'm begging you, take this and let us leave!" Alexius continued his sob story, prompting the soldier to lean closer still, looking down the barrel itself in curiosity.
"Hah! Kid, this can't be worth more than two-"
"Cover your ears!"
*Bam!*
A stone pellet the size of a pea escaped the pistol's barrel and bore through the armour and skull of the horseman, rendering him dead instantly.