13 The Battle's Bloody Conclusion

Sweat covered Ethan's forehead as, for the 27th time, he chanted "Create for me a small point of burning heat in a spherical shape which is one millimeter in diameter, the center of which is at the center of this box of pine, five centimeters from each of four sides of the box of pine, five centimeters from the bottom of the box of pine, and five centimeters from the roof of the box of pine. Set the condition for the creation of this small point of burning heat in a spherical shape which is one millimeter in diameter that once the point five centimeters from each of four sides of the box of pine, five centimeters from the bottom of the box of pine, and five centimeters from the roof of the box gets within two meters of any member of the lizard-person species, the spell will activate. Set this spell to last for 0.1 seconds after the creation of the small point of burning heat in a spherical shape which is one millimeter in diameter." in the Magicae language over a small wooden box which was filled with gunpowder while dispersing 1/100th of a standard mana unit.

"That's the last one. I-I suppose that I shouldn't second-guess myself now. I need to distribute these to the knights." Ethan said nervously in English to himself.

He then picked up a cloth bag and gently placed the 27 makeshift explosive devices inside of it. After he had done that, he left the alchemist's abandoned workshop with the now heavy cloth bag in his hands. He then walked in the direction that Mia and Pieter had walked in earlier. It took only a short time before he had arrived at the village gates to see Mia, Pieter, Hans, and Friedrich all wearing armor and with their swords drawn. They were surrounded by all of the Sun Knights, the knights of Lord Verafgelegen, and the C-ranked adventurers. He walked up to Mia and asked her what he should do.

"Pass them out to everyone with the exception of me, Hans, Friedrich, and Pieter. You should have two left over after that. You will throw one yourself and leave one as a spare." Mia said.

"Why won't the four of you need one?" Ethan asked.

"Pieter and I will be bait to get the lizard-people to swarm. Hans and Friedrich will cast 'bronze protective barriers' to protect us from the lizard-people and the explosions." Mia said.

"What?! Why would you make such a risky plan? If anything goes wrong-" Ethan said.

"I know! If anything goes wrong, we're all dead. This plan is the best way to inflict maximum casualties on the enemy in a short period of time. We're under siege here, and we don't have the supplies to last a drawn out conflict. If we run out of mana, food, or water, we're dead anyway. I'm relying on this gunpowder of yours working and ending things quickly." Mia said.

For the first time, Ethan understood just how brave Mia and the Sun Knights actually were. He didn't say anything further, and just began distributing the makeshift explosives among those present.

"I have distributed them." Ethan said to Mia while holding one explosive device, and leaving one in his bag.

"Good. Hans, get ready to cast the barrier. Don't cast it too soon as a bronze protective barrier only lasts 120 seconds. Friedrich, stay sharp and make a lot of noise as soon as the barrier is up to get the lizard-people to swarm us. Pieter, tell your men to open up the gates." Mia said.

"Open the gates, and shut them as soon as the four of us are outside! Open them up again 160 seconds after you shut them to throw the gunpowder devices." Pieter said to his knights who were standing next to the gates.

They obeyed him immediately, and opened the gates. Mia, Hans, Friedrich, and Pieter then rushed outside of the gates which were immediately shut again making it so that Ethan could no longer see the four people who had rushed outside.

[I hope that they survive.] Ethan thought while holding his makeshift explosive device prepared to throw it as soon as the gates were opened again 160 seconds later.

That 160 seconds drew on and felt like hours to Ethan. He could only stare at the gate and listen. He heard Hans casting a 'bronze protective barrier' enchantment in the Magicae language. He then heard Mia, Hans, Friedrich, and Pieter making noise and issuing taunts to the lizard-people claiming that they were the leaders of those inside the village and that the four of them alone were capable of defeating all of the lizard-people. Ethan heard the lizard-people roar with anger as they seemed to be swarming around those four people. Ethan looked around him to see that the knights and adventurers were almost as nervous as he was. Two minutes after Hans had cast the 'bronze protective barrier', Ethan heard Friedrich cast the same spell. Mia, Hans, Friedrich, and Pieter then continued to taunt and provoke the lizard-people. About 40 seconds after Friedrich had cast the second protective barrier the gates opened once more, and what Ethan saw surprised him. There were at least 500 bipedal reptilian monsters armed with clubs and spears, and armored in a brown cloth armor that only covered their torso swarming around Mia, Hans, Friedrich, and Pieter. What surprised Ethan about these lizard-people was the blue glow of mana within them. The glow of mana of these monsters was very bright; much, much brighter than even he or Mia glowed making Ethan think that there were at least 30 standard mana units within these monsters, but it was not evenly distributed around their entire bodies. The blue light was concentrated in a circular shape at the center of their chests which was about 10 centimeters in diameter. Without wasting much time to think about this, he immediately threw his explosive device as hard as he could at the center of a large group of about 35 lizard-people that were clumped together while swarming the four people who had gone outside. While Ethan threw that, the knights and adventurers who were present also threw their explosive devices similarly at other large groups of lizard-people at around the same time. A few moments later, Ethan learned exactly how terrifyingly effective his gunpowder devices were as they reached near the lizard-people. Just as the weapons were a couple of meters in the air and about to fall on the confused lizard-people, 26 almost simultaneous explosive blasts pierced the sound of battle, silencing everything else. The shockwave from the initial blasts knocked down many of the lizard-people, but the shrapnel delt even more damage. The pine wood that the boxes were made of splintered and became deadly projectiles, with the small pieces of wood embedding themselves in the flesh of the lizard-people who were now crying out in pain if they were not killed instantly. Unlike Friedrich's 'bronze protective barrier' spell which was still intact and protecting the four people inside, the cloth armor of the lizard-people stood no chance against this wooden shrapnel. In an instant, the vast majority of the lizard people present were either killed, or very badly injured. Those few lizard-people who could still wield their weapons attempted to regroup and get into a defensive formation, but it was too late for them. The knights and adventurers had already rushed out of the village and were already upon the lizard-people. It was at this point that Ethan turned away, not wanting to see the gore of this battle's conclusion, even if it looked very clear that the humans were going to easily win it. After less than a minute, he could no longer hear the lizard-people screaming in pain, but could only hear cheers and sounds of jubilation coming from the knights and adventurers, with the exception of one human who sounded to Ethan like he was begging Pieter and Mia for mercy, though Ethan didn't know what to make of that and really didn't want to look in the direction that the battle had gone down. Ethan felt sick thinking about all the death that he himself had caused in the battle. Even if he knew with his brain that that was the best possible result given the circumstances, and that the lizard-people were only there to hurt the innocent villagers, it didn't help him reconcile with it on an emotional level. With a pale and sweaty face, walked back inside of the alchemist's abandoned workshop wanting to be alone for a while. It wasn't long though before Mia walked in.