21st Century Archmage

Chapter 134: Counterattack

“Detonate!”

“As you command!”

In an underground space next to the central gate of Denfors, Derval worked to carry out the order he received from his liege. At his shouted command to ‘detonate,’ the territory’s seven mages poured mana into the plate-sized mana receptors in their hands.

Flash!

The mana receptors were connected to mithril lines laid underground. It was a tool that would activate the magic arrays Lord Kyre had set up last winter outside the castle.

CRAAAAAAAASH! BOOOOOOOOOOOOM. FWOOOOOOOOOOOOOSH!

The powerful vibrations and explosions could be heard even through the sturdy castle walls.

“KYAAAAAAAAAAAAK!”

“UAAAAGHHHHHH!”

The screams of imperial soldiers rang out in quick succession.

“Send them out as well.”

“As you command!”

It wasn’t over yet. The empire’s infantry, which was just beginning to climb the walls, would get a taste of fear they would never be able to forget for the rest of their lives.

* * *

“…!”

CRAAAAAAAASH! BOOOOOOM! FWOOOOOOOOOOSH!

Kyre had taken six wyverns with him into shooting range. Duke Yanovis flew at the front and was just about to throw his spear when he heard an enormous boom.

‘W-What in the world is that!’

A great number of spells were exploding amongst the soldiers, who had been attacking the old walls of Denfors with good momentum. There were clearly no magicians on the walls, but the massive spells exploded one after another all around the walls. Most of them were AoE spells of at least the 5th Circle or above. The bodies of soldiers burned, were ripped apart, and blown up. For the Laviter infantry, who were in dense formations, it was like an apocalypse falling from the skies. Big gaps were opened up in what had been, up until just a few moments ago, a throng of Laviter soldiers so thick one could hardly see the ground.

Ruuuuuuuumble.

And that wasn’t all. Yanovis saw a certain scene through the mana scope installed in his helmet. Enormous hunks of metal burst out of the ground underneath the walls.

‘Dravits!’

They were the wall-destroying war golems that each castle had possessed at least one or two of back in the day. However, these dravits looked different. The dravits emerging from the ground were not grasping siege hammers or axes, but trams glistening with pale blades.

Thud, thud, thud!

As soon as they emerged from the dirt, the dravits began to push the trams loaded with revolving blades at least 5 meters long.

Krrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrk. Splaaaaaaaaaaaatter.

“KUAAAAAGH!”

“Ahhh! Out of the way!”

“AAAGHHHH!”

The soldiers staring dazedly at the dravits were ripped apart head to toe, armor to bone and tossed in every direction by the pale blades. The nightmare that appeared before the 200,000 soldiers excitedly attacking the walls instantly plunged the soldiers into a state of panic, and the spirited imperial elites began turning their backs to flee in desperation due to the blades of hell being pushed by dozens of dravits. However, the problem was that the troops had been in the middle of attacking in close-knit formation. The soldiers who turned back and the soldiers advancing forward tangled together, but the dravits’ trams brandished their blades and charged towards them, ignorant of their panic.

“UWAHHH!”

“S-Save meeee!!!!”

“Move, you son of a bitch!”

It was utter pandemonium. As the comrades in front of them turned their backs to flee, the panic and fear infected the rest of the soldiers, sending them all scattering. In their panic, some of them even attacked the soldiers ignorantly blocking their escape routes.

‘W-What’re those guys?!’

Duke Yanovis wasn’t able to regain his bearings. Unexpected horrors were popping up one by one. This time, thousands of spearmen suddenly came to the front of the Nerman soldiers on the city wall.

Flash!

The spears they were holding shone brilliantly with the characteristic mana glow of Blessed Spears.

Schwiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiip.

Not only did they look like Blessed Spears, but they had the characteristic speed of Blessed Spears.

Ba-ba-ba-ba-ba-baaam!

“KUAAAAAAAAGH!”

The soldiers that had been standing in the places where dravits didn’t appear were skewered and sent flying backwards. The line of imperial soldiers that had been attacking the walls in high spirits was broken up in mere moments, as if flayed by a massive whip.

Clank clank clank.

The rain of spears didn’t end with just one volley. The enemy spearmen then raised yet another round of Blessed Spears.

Schwip scwhip scwhip scwhip scwhiiiiip.

And then, they threw them with absolutely no emotion at the imperial soldiers standing around in a daze.

‘YOUUUUUU!’

Yanovis and Laviter’s army had suffered the full brunt of battle methods heretofore unheard of on the continent. The appearance of proud elites that died by command and lived by command had scattered into the wind, leaving pathetic troops that were desperately turning their backs to flee despite the lack of the drumbeat of retreat. That was the last scene Yanovis caught before he raised his head and looked straight ahead.

His foe was flying towards them. The distance had decreased to around 1.5 km, a distance at which not a single soul could flee a spear coming their way, no matter how skilled they were. With his teeth clenched, Duke Yanovis raised his spear.

‘I’ll kill you, you devil-spawn!’

The weather was still cold, but Kyre had removed his helmet and was flying forward, his crimson cloak fluttering behind him and the unique silver armor of his wyvern glinting in the sun. He and his huge black wyvern painted with golden stripes were rushing straight into the lion’s den. The ground troops were hammered by unexpected tactics, but their wyvern fighting force, the factor that would decide the outcome of the battle, was still mostly intact. They still had more than enough fighting force to achieve the victory, so Duke Yanovis focused his mind and sneered at the man flying fearlessly their way.

‘You foolish bastard, you’re done for now.’

The Lord of Nerman, Kyre, the man who flaunted recklessness dressed as bravery and had a spear in one hand and reins in the other… Feeling absolutely certain of the man’s death, Duke Yanovis put strength into his hand to throw the spear. With his attack, 100 other spears would go hurtling towards Kyre. Even if Kyre were to survive this, there were 200 wyverns in attack formation that would quickly join them in the rear once the battle on the ground was finished, and the flights that had survived the attack from Kyre’s spirit were taking a wide berth and preparing to attack.

There was no other place for him to flee but hell.

Piiiiiiing!

‘Who is it!’

Suddenly, a Blessed Spear whistled past him. His men weren’t allowed to throw their spears before he did, but it seemed that someone had mistakenly fired one.

Piiiiiing, piiiiiiiiiing.

However, it didn’t end with one ‘mistake.’

Kyaaaaaaaaaaaaaak! Kuaaaaaaaaaak!

Behind him came the wretched screams of wyverns. Yanovis instinctively turned his head.

“!!!!!”

The instant he did so, Yanovis froze with his spear aloft, struck by an unimaginable sight. His eyes became as wide as they could possibly become.

Appearing in the skies behind the Imperial Army was a massive flock of wyverns with what easily appeared to be at least 300 wyverns.

BAAAAAAM! Kyaaaaaaaaaaak!

“Fly!!”

Like hailstones falling from the sky, wyverns and Skyknights began to drop one by one under the onslaught of the unforeseen ambush.

“W-We’ve lost…”

Even in his shock, words of defeat flashed in his head.

The Skyknights that appeared were like a group of bandits. They were dressed in leather instead of airplates while their wyverns lacked armor.

“KIOOOOOOOOOO!”

But the Blessed Spears they hurled while screeching like wild beasts were the real deal.

“Protect His Highness!!!”

Despite their horror, the loyal Laviter Skyknights gathered around the Gold Wyvern Alskane rode in order to protect him.

“Hahaha… Hahahahahahahahahaha!!!!!!!!!!!!”

The moment Laviter’s defeat was about to be set in stone, everyone heard the unrestrained laughter of a certain man.

‘K-Kyre…’

For the first time in his life, Duke Yanovis’ body trembled in fear.

The Lord of Nerman, Kyre, was a truly dangerous man.

Although Kyre had told her to flee if Denfors was endangered, Princess Igis was unable to wait around in the covert. She went aloft with the Skyknights of the Bajran Imperial Guard and witnessed today’s battle, which would go down in history as a legend, with her own two eyes.

Igis saw it. She saw an incredible battle that the continent had never seen the likes of, and would never see again. Who could possibly believe it? That the forces of a mere count’s territory could defeat 200,000 elites and 500 Skyknights of the Laviter Empire, a nation that dominated the continent?

It was a perfect, sweeping victory.

There were traces of battle everywhere, but Denfors’ castle walls still stood. There were likely some casualties, but compared to the pile of Laviter corpses in front of the walls, it was like a Fire Ball next to the sun.

“NOW! Full-scale Attaaaack!” came Kyre’s powerful voice from above. He was flying unhelmeted, despite the cold weather.

“GOOOOO! Open the gates!”

“Attackkkkk!”

Schwiiiiiiiiiip. BOOOOOM.

With the help of the Temir Skyknights that suddenly appeared, Kyre seized the initiative. His energetic voice planted fear in the hearts of the enemies, and with that, the morale of the enemy army visibly wilted.

But the battle wasn’t over yet. The Imperial Army possessed a great number of wyverns, some of whom were launching counterattacks.

“Air Bomb!”

BOOOOOOOOOM!

Kyre and his mages cast magic right into the throng of wyverns gathered to protect the empire’s prince. A deafening explosion several times louder than thunder came crashing down, and several dozen wyverns fell haphazardly to the ground. Most of them were Gold Wyverns, the symbol of the Laviter Imperial Family.

‘I can’t just stand around like this.’

Simply watching made her heart grow red-hot. Igis took a spear in her hand and flew forward to join the fray still ensuing above the city. Bajran Imperial Skyknights flew by her side, the mana-charged spears in their hands shining brilliantly as well.

* * *

‘We got off easy because of that stupid prince.’

Their idiotic sense of loyalty doomed them. The Temir Skyknights had launched a rear ambush, but even so, a fierce battle would have ensued if Laviter’s Skyknights had fought back with all their strength. However, the empire’s Skyknights broke formation to protect the prince left flying in the rear. The loyalty they showed with their lives on the line might be worthy of applause, but in my eyes, it was the height of foolishness. If it were me, or at least my knights, they should know that it was better to act for the good of the whole rather than for one person. If my death would allow Nerman to be saved, that was the right decision, and one that should be made without hesitation.

Scwhip scwhip scwhip scwhip scwhiiiip.

Even as I thought that, I continued mechanically hurling my spears. A Gold Wyvern wobbling because of the impact of Air Bomb was flying unsteadily towards the Kovilan Mountains, and the empire’s Skyknights were covering its rear. Their numbers had been halved in no time.

‘It was truly dangerous.’

If the Temir Skyknights hadn’t shown up just in time, not only would I have lost my life, but Denfors would have fallen as well.

I put on my helmet again to give a set of commands. “The 1st and 2nd Flights are to pursue the enemy at once. Do not get into close range battle. Simply fire from within range. The 3rd Flight is to stay in the city and assist Sir Derval in cleaning up the enemy remnants.”

“As you command!”

Before I knew it, the battle that had been taking place above Denfors was coming to an end. Under the coordination of the Imperial Skyknights under Igis’ lead and the assistance of the Temir Skyknights, most of the enemy wyverns had been shot down. However, I could see that many of the territory’s wyverns were also on the ground. My heart ached, but I could not stop here. There was still the matter of harassing the fleeing enemies as much as possible to plant the seed of fear within them. That was the villainous role I was slated to play today.

‘Derval will take care of the rest.’

Once the empire’s wyverns tucked their tails and fled, the ground troops below completely lost all will to fight. There were people who cast aside their weapons and surrendered, but also many who simply scattered in all directions. 200,000 was a truly staggering number. But the poor bastards were unaware that the bridges they had crossed to get here had already been destroyed, and there were only two fates left for them: struggling in the plains until they starved, or becoming prisoners.

GUOOOOOOOOOO!

I turned Bebeto’s reins, directing him towards the east, where the Prince was fleeing.

The time to hunt a toothless lion was nigh, and I intended on savoring the hunt.

The pain my soldiers had suffered today… I would return it… magnified many times over.

* * *

Prince Alskane could still feel his head ringing from the Air Bomb that had exploded in close proximity to him. A pained groan came from his lips as he grasped the reins in order to live.

Baaaaaaam! KYAAAAAAAAK!

He didn’t know what was going on, but he moved to follow the Skyknights that took the lead to show the path… Then he heard the pained screams of wyverns again and again.

This was fear. For the second time in his life, he felt the fear of death.

Trickle.

Atop his wyvern, urine dripped from Prince Alskane’s pants.

His mind was blank. The only thing that gripped him was the desperate need for a safe place where he could breathe easy.

* * *

“Surrender! Those who throw down their weapons and surrender will be treated for their injuries and given prisoner treatment! However, any and all who resist will be stabbed to death!” yelled a Skyknight with mana as he flew above the scattered imperial troops.

Schwiiiiiiiip. Baaaaaam!

“KYAAAK!”

“Gagh!”

Ballista bolts came flying at the knights or soldiers that continued to flee without casting down their weapons even after receiving the notice to surrender. The empire’s soldiers were in formation just as they had been trained even while fleeing, but the bolts that flew in at incredible speeds and robbed the lives of their comrades, at the same time as the notice to surrender coming above them, completely squashed the last remnants of their will to fight.

Clang! Clatter!

They had fled on impulse, but when the last of their strength dried up, the men dropped their weapons one after another and knelt. However, the knights and cavalry with strong pride did their utmost to run their horses or flee with Mana Step.

Scwhip. BAM!

Punishment from the Skyknights above rained down ruthlessly upon them.

Neeeeeigh.

The horses unlucky enough to meet the wrong master let out one last dying neigh, pierced in the backs by spears that went straight through their riders.

Thud thud thud thud thud thud.

Even so, the cavalrymen did not stop.

Three thousand of them still lived. They thought they could still escape this hell if they just ran their horses, even without the help of Skyknights.

But the cavalrymen and knights didn’t know that the bridges they expected to cross existed in Nerman no more.