Defensive Fighting

Shi stood up and pulled his bow off his back, shooting the man who had shot at him with the man's own arrow. The army launched another volley of arrows but Shi dropped behind the wall before the arrows reached him.

"Fire!" Daisan yelled to the men and Shi's crossbowmen launched a volley of crossbow bolts at the approaching army. Screams came from the army as the bolts landed, killing some and injuring others.

As Shi's men worked on reloading their crossbows, the approaching army wheeled out their cannons, a team of men working on each. Shi rushed over to Daisan, "You see those cannons?" Shi asked. "Yeah, we gotta get rid of them as soon as possible," Daisan replied nervously.

"Don't, I took care of them yesterday, they'll just kill themselves if they fire them. Just let them blow themselves up then shoot at the main army." Shi said before rushing back to the front.

The men loaded the gunpowder and ball into the cannon before lighting the fuse. As the fuze burned down the cannon exploded, sending the parts of the cannon flying into the men who had loaded it, killing some and knocking others over.

"Fire!" Daisan yelled, prompting the crossbowmen to launch another volley into the approaching army. Shi popped up long enough to launch a couple of mana sickles at the army, killing a dozen or so men.

The approaching army split into groups, with 10 ladder teams rushing the walls and 5 rams rushing the gates, with the majority of the army staying back to protect the generals.

"Daisan, work on the rams, Daichi, get your men on the ladders, Hyousuke, keep that damn gate closed!" Shi yelled before activating war cry and jumping off the wall and charging one of the ladder teams.

Shi ducked and weaved around the arrows that flew at him from all angles. The ladder team quickly noticed his charge and turned their weapons towards him as well. Arrows and a couple of spells came hurtling towards Shi as he approached.

Shi jumped over the onslaught, raising an earth platform for him to launch off of to avoid the next volley. This took Shi above the ladder team so he rained lava upon them, using a concentrated burst of fire magic on the ladder itself to make sure they wouldn't be able to use it.

Shi drained the mages that were with the ladder team of their mana as they tried to stop the river of lava heading their way, leaving them to burn to death. Shi brought out his reaper summon and sent it towards another ladder team as he moved on to the next one as well.

Daichi launched a volley of ice at one of the ladder teams, forcing the mages who accompanied it to raise an earth wall to block it, while blocking the ladder's path towards the castle walls.

One of the newly acquired green-core mages sent a flood of water at the ladder team, flooding the area. When the team got soaked, Daichi sent a current of electricity through the water, frying the ladder team.

The reaper glided towards a ladder team, throwing its scythe at the foremost man before it arrived. The scythe slammed into the man's neck as the reaper came closer. The reaper grabbed hold of its scythe and tore it out, taking the front of the man's neck with it.

The reaper grabbed another man with its hand, slamming his face onto the point of the scythe before pulling him off of it with a squelch. The reaper then threw the man's body at one of his cohorts before decapitating another man with its scythe.

One of the men tried to stab at the reaper, but the spear only met space as it passed through the reaper's ribs. The reaper jumped up, ripping the spear out of the man's hands as the spear caught in between its ribs.

As the reaper leaped over the man, it impaled him through his midsection with its scythe, lifting him off the ground as it landed. The reaper swung its scythe, flinging the man's body off of it. The reaper used the swing to transition into a spinning back fist that splattered a man's brains all over another man.

The reaper grabbed the ladder and ripped it apart, before driving the broken ends into another man's torso, forcing the man to fall over because of the ladder's weight. The reaper grabbed another man by the head and squeezed, popping the man's head like a balloon. The reaper swung its scythe at the last man, cutting him in half at the waist before moving on to the next team.

Shi rushed the next team, raising an earth wall to block the arrows and fire blast that came at him. Shi leaped over the wall, corkscrewing to put himself upside-down. He then used the same type of spell that he would use to make a mana weapon, but instead made a round platform above him that he kicked off of to launch himself towards the ground, dodging the next volley of attacks that came his way.

Shi then closed the remaining distance and slit the first man's throat, before hooking the man's neck with his arm, dragging the man in front of him to block the next volley of arrows.

Shi feinted to the side before sliding between the dead man's legs and slashing the ankles of two of the men in front of him. As the men collapsed to the ground, Shi sprung up and to the side to avoid the strikes of three of the men while getting back to his feet.

Shi jumped over another spear strike, corkscrewing into a kick that slammed through a man's skull. Shi used his other foot to launch himself off of the man, removing his foot from what was left of the man's brain with a squelch.

Shi used the momentum of his launch to transition into a precise punch that crushed another man's windpipe. Shi sensed a mana fluctuation from behind him and leaped up into half of a backflip, narrowly avoiding a barrage of wind blades. Shi made another mana platform but angled it diagonally so he could launch off towards the mage.

Shi hurtled at the mage while upside-down, and finished his backflip, bringing his foot down on the back of the mage's neck. A thunderous crack sounded as the mage's vertebrae shattered and he fell to the ground like a sack of potatoes.

Shi took out his bow and shot down the remaining few men before burning the ladder to ashes with a burst of fire magic. He then turned to the next team. "Damn, today's going to be a long day." He said wearily, before heading off to get to work.