"What's going on?" Valentino immediately woke up and frantically groped in the darkness to put on his glasses that he had just taken off.
Aurelio glared back at him and said, "You're a jinx! Stay here. Don't move. I'll go out..." Before he could finish speaking, he had already gone outside the tent.
The camp was in chaos as the soldiers of Serencia were engaged in a fierce battle with the enemy.
After taking only a few steps outside, Aurelio, by the light of a nearby campfire, confirmed the positions of three enemies. Almost at the same time, those three enemies also spotted him and raised their weapons and charged at him together.
Before Aurelio's mind was fully focused, it had already spontaneously started chanting silently. A spell consisting of seven words was chanted unconsciously. The surging energy around him emitted a faint blue fluorescence. Without deliberate guidance, the energy naturally gathered in his left palm and then began to transform. The blue shimmer became dimmer, and at the same time, a fireball took shape, followed by a second one, a third one...
With a wave of his left arm, several fireballs the size of fists flew out one after another with a whistling sound. After a burst of explosions, two enemies were blasted three steps away. Before they even landed, they had already lost their breath and now lay on their backs on the ground with unextinguished flames on their bodies.
The only remaining enemy hesitated slightly, and his pace slowed down. He glanced back at his fallen comrades. By the faint firelight, he saw that their bodies were covered with charred marks. He was not frightened by the tragic state of the corpses. After only a pause, he summoned up his courage again, holding his weapon even tighter and raising it even higher. He shouted something like a prayer and then charged at Aurelio.
But his fast sprint was nothing more than rushing towards death. Because while he was hesitating, Aurelio's second spell had already been completed.
A sharp ice spike shot out from Aurelio's palm. In an instant, it flew over a distance of more than ten steps and then pierced through the enemy's abdomen. At this time, the enemy had only taken three steps.
The enemy, after being hit like this, did not die immediately. He staggered two steps and then knelt on the ground. He supported his body with his hands and tried to stand up but couldn't. He fell down and twitched on the ground. He curled up his body again, looked up at Aurelio, and supported himself on the ground with his elbows and knees, moving little by little. He struggled for a long time. Before he died, he used his last strength and got closer to Aurelio a few more steps. But before he could get close enough, his shoulder was hit by the next ice spike.
The ice spike pierced in from above the collarbone and then penetrated deep into the chest, directly destroying the heart and completely cutting off the man's hope.
Aurelio's three castings were all unconscious actions. It was only after the last enemy died that he suddenly realized. His gaze swept over the three corpses on the ground, especially the one closer to him. Only then did he astonishingly discover that what the enemy held tightly in his hand and didn't want to let go even until death was not a proper weapon at all. It was just a sickle.
"Farmers? Are they rebels of the 'Correctionist Sect'? A night attack?" Aurelio was surprised. Enemies who used farm tools as weapons, no matter how fanatical they were, how could they have a chance of winning against a skilled battle mage? But why are they so fearless of death?
And he himself, between gestures, even unconsciously, took three lives. Although they were all killed by magic from a few or more than ten steps away, he felt that his own hands seemed to be stained with blood too. Seeing the state of the last enemy's death, Aurelio recalled the struggle of that person when he was dying. "He and I may want to oppose the same person... But I still killed him."
The ice water mixed with blood was flowing everywhere on the ground. Aurelio looked at the bloodstain and only felt that somewhere in his mind, two forces were colliding with each other. A feeling of dizziness emerged from that part. "Human life is so fragile." He thought. Then he stared at the fire for a moment. Then he shook his head vigorously, trying to dispel the discomfort caused by the dizziness. He repeatedly reminded himself in his heart: "This is a battlefield. There is no choice. I can't die here either." He said this "either" with particular emphasis to himself.
When he saw a comrade-in-arms injured and fallen to the ground in the distance, he finally made up his mind. He loosened his tightly clenched teeth and murmured to himself in a low voice: "Others are still fighting. I can't stop either." He waved his hand and shot out an ice spike, knocking down the enemy and relieving the 困境 of the injured comrade.
In the darkness, Aurelio continued to try to distinguish between friend and foe. At this time, he heard such a sentence coming from behind him: "Au... Aurelio... Wha... What's going on?"
He turned around and saw Valentino running towards him in a panic.
"What are you doing out here? Go back!"
Before the words were finished, from somewhere, another militiaman emerged. Holding a pitchfork, he roared and charged at the green-haired young man.
Seeing this, Valentino exclaimed, "Ah! Help!" He scrambled and crawled towards Aurelio. In his panic, he was unsteady on his feet. He fell several times and got up 狼狈 ly several times. The militiaman thrust the pitchfork several times in succession. Instead, because his movements were unpredictable, none of his attacks hit.
Seeing that he was only three or four steps away from Aurelio, Valentino suddenly felt weak in his legs and fell into the mud again. Finally, he felt completely exhausted and couldn't get up anymore. Seeing the enemy raise the pitchfork and about to stab again, he was completely desperate. He could only cover his head with his hands and curl up his body as much as possible.
But the enemy's stab did not come down. Instead, the man fell in front of Valentino.
Aurelio was afraid that magic would accidentally injure his friend, so he had to step forward and swing his staff forcefully. The oak staff in his hand was quite heavy and had excellent striking performance. The enemy was hit hard on the back of the head and immediately fainted.
"That scared me to death... Thanks." Valentino was lying on the ground, supporting himself with his hands on the ground and panting heavily. This shock made his heart race wildly.
Aurelio glanced at Valentino. Seeing that his friend was safe and sound, he picked up the pitchfork again. Thinking "to save magic", he stepped on the militiaman's lower back and repeatedly and forcefully stabbed the enemy's back. Every time the pitchfork was thrust in and pulled out, blood splattered.
"Uh..." Valentino stared in astonishment, raised his hand to wipe off the blood splattered on his face and glasses. For a moment, he couldn't speak. He couldn't believe that his friend, a mage, had "overkilled" an enemy with a pitchfork.
After stabbing about seven or eight times and making sure that the enemy was definitely dead, Aurelio raised his hand and threw the pitchfork away. After the pitchfork was released, like a javelin, it pierced the calf of an enemy in the distance, making him kneel down.
"You don't know how to fight. Go back and hide well!" Aurelio said. Just as he was about to pull his friend up from the ground, he heard a huge noise coming from beside their feet.
The loud noise shook Aurelio's eardrums. He wanted to cover his ears, but it was too late. He felt himself being overturned by a powerful shock wave. Then his head hit something. Then everything went black and he lost consciousness.