37 Operation 'Pushback'

"Is your friend crazy? He wants to fight the whole of Agni Mandir with a few platoon of shadow goblins against thousands?" Malik asked. "Clan Agni was the crazy one for kidnapping the twin." Mailee ignored her brother for a while.

She created an 'Ice Dome' around Raizan and the glass cage while making sure it complements with Raizan's spell barrier. Sen casted Shroud fog at the edge of the circular 'Ice Wave Wall' while inserting his Saviour Bowie knife at the tip of his Zinger Rifle to act as a bayonet.

"Raizan, you are all set!" Mailee shouted and nodded at Feng to start part two of the plan. Feng held his hammer on his left hand and slammed on the Ice Wave Wall with his spell 'Reconstruct.' Feng's ability changed the properties of the massive circular Ice Wave Wall that were protecting them instantly turned into water!

Agni warriors and mages that were hacking and casting fire magic towards the Ice Wave Wall shocked by the sudden change but unable to retaliate nor escape in time. Hundreds were devoured by the tsunami of water and killed by the unrelenting power of the tsunami.

The soldiers at the back noticed the wave and tried to push themselves out of the sea of people in the palace grounds to somewhere safer. As if it had a will of its own, the wave went against their wishes of safety and consume them all as a whole for revenge.

Feng was constantly tempering the 'Ice Wave Wall' with 'Strengthen' ability to not just defend themselves against the Agni warriors but to also increase magical strength of the wall once his reconstruct ability change the property of the 'Ice Wave Wall'.

"Why just defend when you can use it to attack?" Feng grinned at the thought of Sen's ingenious idea of using Feng's ability.

Chief Priest Rahul was shocked that this chosen champion of Shiva had the ability to change ice into water. Either that or the minor clans like the Water Clan of Ganga were collaborating with each other in order to get revenge against Clan Agni.

However, things do not add up. He knew some of the clans will get a whiff of rumours with regards to this resurrection ritual and he had called up the entire military might of Clan Agni just for this ritual.

Yet, this current situation is so ridiculous that it was beyond his comprehension. The portal with his magical signature? Ken was most probably killed or captured for them to obtain the portal scroll but he knew his portal gate was meant for just Ken himself and at most the portal allowed two additional individuals. How was it able to transport 10 Dune worms?!

Also, the great Dune Worms? To his understanding, only the four major clans might have the military resource to get one of them under their control with considerable losses. However, ten Dune Worms?

He cannot warp his head on how his enemies were able to outmaneuver him when the entire plans were revealed to only trusted few. And of course, Malik was not one of them. To foresee that Malik will rebel along with the enemies was also part of his plan.

He had men secretly following him 24 hours a day and a high level 'Foresight' magic placed on him. Hence, he already knew what Malik was planning and placed sufficient security measure against Malik. In order not to alert his prey, he feigned and hid behind the mask of ignorance. Keep your enemies closer than your friends was how Chief Priest Rahul managed to reach the top position of Clan Agni.

Unfortunately for him, things really went south with the new developments but he had a backup plan in mind and he would not hesitate to use it. All he need is time for the new moon to reach to the peak in the night.

"All who can bring Chief High Priest Rahul the heads of the enemies to me will be personally rewarded with riches and blessings of Agni!" He commanded all with his 'Amplify' spell again along with a massive area of effect (AoE) buff skill,' Enchant Weapon (Fire)'. For this spell, he used a fair quantity of fire fate crystals but it allowed all his warriors to have a chance to have their weapons be enchanted with fire whenever they strike.

As the water wave starts to subside to knee level, Mailee casted an AoE 'Spatial Freeze' with the aid of the Shiva's accessories and used the water wave as a catalyst to freeze the warriors into place. The ice was potent enough to cut their legs off if they are not careful in moving themselves.

"Now, Advance! Attack! " Sen shouted as he magically pushed the shroud fog forward.

The Agni warriors and mages were too distracted in order to get out of the immobilising ice trap they suddenly found themselves in that they could not see the advancing fog. With the fog as another distraction, many Agni warriors and mages found themselves losing arms, being stabbed into the chest or being bashed out from the ice, causing them to lose their legs.

The phantom goblin spearmen advanced swiftly without being hindered by the ice due to their phantom nature. Like a herd of bulls, they crashed every obstacle away from the march. Arrows from the phantom crossbow goblins thinned out their archers and mages with precise aim. This was mainly due to the aid of Sen's new Warboard function which allowed him to see where his enemies were.

The phantom Goblin Wolf Riders rode in high speed and took out enemies that were out of reach from the phantom goblin spearmen. Most were knocked down by after being stuck in the ice and caused them to bleed profusely from their loss of legs.

The Phantom Hobgoblins having the build of an Orc, the shroud magic had also simulated heavy armour and tower shields for it. As Sen directed to the direction of Chief Priest Rahul, they stormed their way through the path of a platoon of phantom goblin spearsmen helped clear.

Within the platoon of heavily armoured hobgoblins were three cloaked people. Sen requested Mailee, Malik and Feng to wear the cloak they looted from the previous encounters. Those cloaks was temporarily enhanced with Shroud magic before hand to keep them under the covers in the Hobgoblins.

Mailee, Malik and Feng bid their time as the hobgoblins escorted them. The frozen elevated ice floor was not an issue in terms of movement to these trio as two of them were Ice magic users. Feng had the boots that Raizan created which enhanced the grip, allowing him to move with ease..

Mailee precasted 'Ice Armour' in a soft whisper which allowed them to tolerate intense fire magics by reducing the effectiveness of the attacks. While both Feng and Mailee has the defensive vest, it would be good to have more protection against an enemy that was able to cast such extensive magic.

Meanwhile Malik precasted 'Icy Presence' to prevent negative aliment status such as Burning on the three of them. Feng nimbly and quietly casted 'Strengthen' on their blades, vests, armour and his shotguns with multiple taps of the hammer. Despite the constant use of his spells, he no longer feel as tired as he was when he first started.

Operation 'Pushback' was somewhat a success. With surprise the only advantage he has against thousands of soldiers. Sen needed to act swiftly while creating sufficient distraction to confuse the enemy leader. He knows that the enemy will soon realise that the only platoon of Hobgoblins was coming for him.

As he looked at the Saviour Warboard with the progress he had made, he felt that he needed a different approach to catch the leader's attention from the actual assassination team. He spent one fate crystal from his own stash since all of the crystals that was converted from the fire fate crystals were used. From his hand, a large phantom creature slowly appeared in front of him.

"Lets take to the skies."