The Vanguard Attacks

The alliance between the Purple Snake gang and the other three gangs consisted of one hundred and eighty-four men. Twenty men, with a peak second-stage Guardian mage in charge, were stationed at the mountain's base to act as the first line of defence and lookouts for any suspicious party. Another sixty bandits were stationed at the gate and the fortress at the midway point of the mountain while the remaining bulk of the force was at the hideout close to the peak.

Asher and his men had bypassed the group at the mountain's base to prevent alerting those at the midway point. When they arrived at the gate, they seized control of it and eliminated all sixty men stationed there, including one of the five peak-rank second-stage Guardian mages of the alliance, who belonged to the Purple Snake gang. However, by doing so, they had alerted the bandits at the peak and the base and it looked like they were sandwiched and at a disadvantage, but things were going all according to Asher's plans.

"Luther, Aaron. You both focus on the two main heads; Kieran and Tarik. Savia, you take Viper while the hidden bandit would be handled by one of the other three. The remaining two would work with our men to hold down the fort and defeat the enemies. One team would take on the bandits coming from the base, while the others would face those coming from the peak." Asher commanded.

The thirty men were divided into two sections led by Aaron and Luther respectively. Each section was divided into three teams of five men, meaning that the entire group was composed of six teams. Aaron and Luther had a team each while leading the remaining four teams were the four third-stage Guardian mages including Savia.

With Asher's arrangements made, it meant that twenty-one men would have to face a force of one hundred bandits without being at their full power. No matter how one looked at it, there was a huge risk that these mages belonging to Asher would end up dying. But of course, with Asher present, none of the such would happen, but his men didn't know that, or rather, they were made to think so.

They quickly followed orders and arranged themselves according to Asher's commands. The twenty-one mages, including Luther, Aaron, Savia, and the third-stage Guardian mage selected to take on the fourth powerhouse of the enemy, made their way to the roof of the fortress to get a better view. The selected squad of five men, on the other hand, had moved to the gate that separated the peak from the base of the mountain as they were tasked with handling the twenty bandits coming from below.

"They are coming." One of the third-stage Guardian mages at the top of the roof announced.

Standing on the roof of the fortress, the group could see a dust cloud making its way toward them. In a battle of thousands, a hundred-man platoon was like a drop in the ocean, but when up against a team of barely twenty opponents, they were a powerful force to be reckoned with.

"The forces behind are also making their way up." The third-stage Guardian mage at the gate who led the team of five communicated using a mental spell.

"Let me see the fruit of your months of training." Asher said.

"Begin."

Aaron dashed towards the invaders with his own personal team of four mages while Luther stood on standby with the others.

Since the opponents outnumbered them, guerilla tactics were the way to go. Aaron had dropped the warrior's pride of facing those weaker than them and had decided to dive into the enemy forces and create confusion within them while reducing their numbers as much as possible before they could approach the main force.

Of the six teams, Aaron's team had the swiftest mages in the entire group. Even their training routine was different from the rest as they mostly focused on agility, dexterity, and reflexes. They also trained in quick offence and retreat, while learning guerilla tactics in detail compared to the others. The team was meant to function as a vanguard unit and they now had an opportunity to show off what they had learned.

"Hmm, what's that?" Viper, who was on a horse charging down the mountain, noticed a few figures moving toward them.

"The enemy's reaction." A young man with glasses spoke.

He looked more like a scholar than a bandit, but there was something different about him. He radiated a scholarly air as well as a sense of authority that implied that the young man had been in places of power for some time.

This young man in glasses was Kieran, the head of the Purple Snake gang as well as the de-facto leader of this alliance between bandit groups.

While the one-hundred-man group of bandits rode down the mountain, Kieran, Viper, Tarik, and a few other important elites rode amidst the bandit troop, right at the centre of the formation. Although they were some distance away from the front, it wasn't difficult for them to see up ahead with their strength and skills.

"Only a five-man team." Kieran smirked.

"So small. Are they seriously underestimating us or are they that confident?" Tarik couldn't help but question.

"Viper, take twenty men with you and defeat those idiots. Make it fast and prioritize the man in the front leading them. He should be your personal target. Don't underestimate them." Kieran ordered.

Viper nodded and immediately charged to the front, bringing twenty bandits with him as he moved ahead of the group at full speed toward Aaron's team.

Kieran watched as this happened before setting his sights on Aaron's team.

'He's the only one that would be problematic to handle. According to the report, there should be one other mage like him among them.'

Kieran glanced at the fortress, to be specific, the roof of the fortress where Asher and his group stood.

'I still can't believe they sent a child to lead this team, even if he's the duke's son.'

Kieran recognized Asher easily after all, his gang had been based in Red Maple for a long time, so it was natural for him to collect information on those they could offend and those they shouldn't.

'It doesn't matter. We will win this battle and then capture you. As the duke's only son, your head should be worth a lot to your father. Even the black market wouldn't mind paying a steep fee to have you.' Kieran grinned as he thought.

'As long as we can wipe out this first unit of their with low losses, their morale will tumble. And with the death of an elite mage from their side, their overall lower would be lower than ours. It's game over for them.'

. . .

Asher felt a strange gaze on him and he briefly glanced in the direction of the gaze before looking away as if it was a coincidence that he had looked that way.

'That should be Kieran, the boss of the Purple Snake gang, or maybe the hidden figure.' Asher thought.

Asher already had information on the notable figures on the bandits' side including Tarik and Viper. He only lacked information on the rumoured hidden piece of the Purple Snake gang, and the boss of the gang, Kieran. Since this was a battle that would determine the survival of the bandits, it was natural for the boss to take command of the attack.

'He's not a peak third-stage Guardian mage.' Asher frowned.

"Doesn't matter." Asher muttered before setting his sights on Aaron's side of the battlefield.

. . .

Viper charged forward with twenty bandits following him. Right now, he knew that this battle of his was the centre of attention of both sides. The result of the battle would determine who would have the upper hand, especially in terms of morale. The results didn't just mean who would come out victorious, but at what cost and difficulty.

What Viper wanted to achieve was to wipe out Aaron's five-man unit in one charge. He was confident of this because he outnumbered them, and overpowered them, based on the information they had about the enemy's forces. The only variable was the man who led them, but Viper was confident that he could hold him down long enough for his men to defeat the other four mages and then gang up on him.

"Die!"

Viper roared when he was a few metres away but still within attacking range, slashing his sword at Aaron and sending an azure green mana blade at him.

"Hehe." Aaron smirked as he punched in retaliation.

A pulse blast of yellow mana shot out of his fist and broke the azure green mana blade, dispersing the mana into the air. The remaining force of the blow shot towards Viper who raised an eyebrow at the development but hurried and successfully blocked it.

Although he had his attack broken, Viper wasn't anxious and was instead pleased.

'He's indeed just a third-stage Guardian like myself.' Viper thought.

The azure green mana blade he shot from his sword was a move to feel out his target's skill and strength using only 60% of his power. Now that he had confirmed his opponent's strength, Viper was more confident in his task ending in success.

"Kill!"