We ventured deeper into the forest, while our comrades prepared for the battle with the seven-thousand-strong army.
Algo remained on the bridge to fend off anyone who would break through the first line of defense, while Levris had a surprise prepared since yesterday. Striking her staff on the ground, the girl raised four enormous slabs into the air, creating a barrier in front of the fortress. Small openings of three meters were left between the slabs, allowing the Baron's army to pass through. The left and right slabs were taken by earth mages, while the central one was occupied by Vivien, protected by her sister.
The cavalry rushed into the fray first. There were only a few hundred of them, but with their speed, they could easily bypass the barricades and storm the fortress.
"Do you really think these were all the surprises?" Smirking, the teacher waved her hand over the ground, causing the soil to shift beneath the horses' hooves. "I loosened the soil a bit to make it more manageable."
The girl effortlessly turned the solid earth into loose sands, making the knights fall one after another. Only five horsemen managed to break through to the bridge, but as soon as they stepped onto the wooden platform, Algo swung his blade, and a gust of wind sent them plunging into the trench below.
"Ha, too weak!"
The first wave shattered against our defense, and the heavy infantry advanced. Clad in heavy armor and armed with siege shields, they moved forward, protecting themselves from all long-range attacks by the fortress defenders.
The light infantry followed at a slower pace, shielded by the heavy ones. This could become a problem.
"And what about this?" Grain created a dense one-meter sphere from the ground and pushed it towards the wave of shield-bearers. The boulder pushed back three warriors, but they held their formation and rolled it over themselves by tilting their shields backward. "Damn, that's not interesting."
"I could do something with them," Leira left her post on the wall and joined her friends, "but with such a number, it'll only work at close range."
"Grain, do you know what happens if you put a turtle on its back?" Levris smiled mischievously.
"Heh, that sounds amusing," Grain understood the teacher's hint and began preparing the ground in front of the wall for a massive attack.
We made our way through the thickets. The forest here truly was wild, and ambushing us would have been a piece of cake, but Kurone was invisibly watching over us, so we had nothing to fear from sudden attacks.
Realizing that Sheraza was not an ally of the Baron, the soldiers would surely send someone to intercept us, but the main forces wouldn't catch up with us in any case. Yuki led us forward, indicating the safest and most secure path.
"Krito, you're surrounded. The shadows that bothered me earlier," Kurone's warning came just in time.
We abruptly halted in a small open space amidst the trees.
"Something has changed here," Yuki knew this forest well and could detect any traps. She waved her blade a couple of times, and a thin wire landed in her hand. "If we continued at the same speed, it could have killed someone."
"Tsk, it's THEM after all," Seleria frowned in dissatisfaction. "Better not try to escape, but give them a fight."
"Hey, enough hiding, we know you're here!" With nothing to hide, I called out to the subtle movement in the shadows of the trees.
"There are very few people in the world capable of noticing our presence. You deserve praise," a person in a long black-purple cloak with a hood stepped out of the shadow right in front of us. The cloak resembled the mantles of the Academy's assassins, but there were some differences. A brooch in the shape of two crossed daggers was fastened to the cloak's neck, the same symbol that was on the harpoon. This meant that their last attack, which destroyed the gates, was also their doing.
"Don't flatter yourselves, our friend noticed you yesterday when you were following us," I provoked the assassins to provoke all of them.
"It's indeed a rare gift to see so much," a female voice sounded from behind. Another figure in a cloak appeared from the shadows. One by one, eight warriors in black suits emerged into the light. Even when they showed themselves, they tried to stay in the shadows to obscure their build and weapons.
"Katrina, Asura, Yuki, Werner, and Ragni, break through forward. I don't think their camp will have much security. Yuki, I'm afraid I'll have to ask you to use THAT again," my thoughts could only be heard by my comrades, but at my request, Kurone conveyed them to Yuki.
For a moment, the world was illuminated in white, and I felt the number of allies around me decrease.
"Hoo, quite skillful to evade us. You do indeed possess many worthy skills, but alas, we were hired to kill you. It was foolish to divide the remaining forces," the leader of the assassins smiled and drew a serrated dagger from his sleeve, preparing for battle.
"Grain, as soon as they get close enough, attack!" Levris bent down to the ground. At my request yesterday, she had erased most of the ground under the clearing into sand, allowing us to perform attacks that no one expected.
The shield-bearers reached the obstacles and began crowding into the passages. At the same time, some of them attempted to use their two-handed swords to cut through a few more passages.
"Now's the time!" The earth mages struck the ground in front of them, and two shockwaves spread along the ground, lifting the support under the soldiers' feet. Heavy armor was their weak point; losing their footing, they began to fall like dominoes, toppling the rows behind them.
Those light swordsmen and archers standing in the distance barely had time to react before Leira finished her complex spell.
"Too much iron is harmful to the body, especially in bad weather," she said, gathering a cluster of electricity in her hands and releasing it above the battlefield. Instantly, a storm cloud began to gather above, and dozens of lightning bolts struck the warriors lying on the ground. The steel armor conducted the charge perfectly, and the soldiers, grouped together, were all affected by a single attack. The charge wasn't lethal, but it could paralyze them for hours.
The shield wall collapsed, and nothing held back the enemy archers anymore. They opened fire on the passages where only a few defenders stood, but the earth mages quickly erected protective walls.
"Phew, I was almost turned into a pincushion," Vivien exhaled in relief after the miraculous rescue.
"Don't celebrate too soon; as long as they are shooting at us, we can't lower our shield, which means we can't counterattack the infantry until they get up close. We're hostages to our current position," Grain tried to find a way out of the predicament, but nothing came to mind. It had been so simple when someone else made the decisions, but now they were out of Kurone's reach, and she had to sever the connection with them to keep an eye on the battlefield.
"Grain, from above!" The telepath noticed too late the enemies circling around them from behind. A group of archers approached the edge of a rocky cliff. From there, they could hardly reach the fortress defenders, but the warriors in the field made excellent targets.
Instantly, the first volley rained down, and a hail of arrows struck the defenders.
"HOW dare you forget about ME?!" With an angry cry, an icy wave shattered the hail of arrows. Holding a massive battle-axe with her healthy hand, Hilda ran to help her comrades. "I can't believe you started this battle without me!"
"Heh, well, Krito said you'd only be an armorer until you learn to trust your comrades," Grain shrugged, causing the princess to pout in discontent.
"Ha-hmm, you can consider that I trust you. What should I do?"
"We need to deal with the archers above; we can't retreat to the fortress, and we're exposed here," Grain said. "Don't worry; on our way here, I encountered those three girls. They said they'd take care of the archers."
"Let's hope they succeed. Then create a shield against the arrows while they deal with them, and get ready; they'll break through any moment now."
At that moment, the first warriors reached the mages' protective walls.
"Ha-hmm, it seems Kurone has her own problems, considering I can't hear her anymore," I turned to my companions. We were three against eight opponents, not the best odds. Our only hope was that Katrina would reach the commanders' tent and stop the battle.
"Krito, deal with their leader, and we'll handle the rest," Seleria deftly twirled two daggers borrowed from Yuki on her fingers and assumed a combat stance.
"I have no objections," Aileen drew blades from her gloves and cocked her crossbows.
"Then let's get to it," I leaped toward the assassin with lightning speed, but the enemy's reflexes were top-notch.
He made a half-turn, shifting half a body's length to the side, and the blade passed by. At the same time, he moved his right hand slightly forward, and something barely noticeable flashed on his glove. I swiftly presented my small blade, and the thin edge slid against his metal.
"Tch, I thought I'd finish this quickly," the assassin relaxed his grip, and the blade disappeared back into the mechanism on his glove. "The leader mentioned a warrior with two swords from the Academy. I guess I should have paid better attention."
"That's for sure!" a dissatisfied female voice interrupted the assassins. "What are you waiting for, kill them!"
Three assassins rushed forward, and Seleria blocked their path. The other three remained in the tree branches, preparing to attack from a distance.
"Excellent," Aileen aimed her crossbows at them and released a volley of arrows.
The assassins hid behind the trees, avoiding the attack. They had devices similar to Aileen's hand crossbows but lacked the same rapid fire rate. As soon as the arrows flew past, they emerged from the shadows and fired six arrows in response. In mid-air, Aileen performed a somersault and released a few more arrows. The assassins dodged the attack once again by taking cover in the shadows.
"Well, it could go on like this indefinitely," Aileen jumped forward, hurrying to reach the trees where the assassins were perched. She took out small black balls from her waist bag. "Come down already!"
She tossed the balls into the air, and when they were above the branches where the opponents hid, she fired at them with her crossbows. An explosion shook the treetops, and three warriors fell to the ground. However, the blow wasn't critical, and within a few seconds, they were back on their feet.
"Now it's getting more interesting," Aileen drew a curved blade from behind her back and charged at the enemy.