Reforged Chapter 80: Unexpected Intervention

Mage Hand—A 0-level spell often treated as a mere trick, even magic apprentices can easily perform it.

But what about a hundred Mage Hands?

For a moment, General Bolvar Fordragon almost thought the entire royal mage corps of Stormwind City had arrived. He didn't really expect the royal mage corps, treasured by the king and nobles, to appear here.

Once, there was a saying among the military elite that unless the enemy reached the gates of Stormwind City, one should not expect the royal mage corps to mobilize fully.

Mages were mysterious, powerful, and noble. They demanded the best food and accommodations, even if the entire army was surviving on roots. The mages insisted on eating white bread, and they wouldn't tolerate any noise during their rest.

The scarcity of mages led to their rare appearances on the battlefield.

Today's mage squad on the battlefield was a joint effort of Lord Bolvar Fordragon and several nobles. They were the first to withdraw when the decision to retreat was made.

Why were there still mages on the battlefield?

And they seemed to be on their side!

Wiping the bloodstains from his eyes, Simos was astonished to find that the objects embedded in the orcs were peculiar. They were crafted diamond-shaped cones, larger than arrowheads but not quite the size of daggers.

Yet these cones were causing hundreds of orcs to writhe in pain on the ground, clutching their eyes, while twice as many orcs were flung down the hillside, clearly dead.

Was this magic too?

In the next instant, a striking figure in a black robe descended from the mountaintop. His face was concealed within the hood, and he was surrounded by over a hundred Mage Hands made of arcane energy. As he descended, the Mage Hands ferociously unleashed a barrage of arcane missiles.

No, this couldn't be called arcane missiles anymore; it was more like a bullet hell!

Denser than a downpour and more brutal than a rain of arrows, these were Arcane Missiles that only certified mages could cast. As an experienced general, Simos recognized that these were not the work of a novice earth mage from the royal mage corps.

Each of the purple-blue Arcane Missiles was not only fast but also immensely powerful. A single missile to the face could instantly blow away the skull of an orc, even one with a bone structure that might catch a sword.

What was even more terrifying was that these Arcane Missiles were fired from the Mage Hands as they descended.

Moving while firing and still maintaining order!

What kind of spell control was this?

And it wasn't just one Mage Hand, but more than a hundred!?

Simos couldn't believe his eyes!

For a moment, he almost thought the damned, mysterious Guardian Medivh had returned to King Llane's side to fight for all of Azeroth.

He was certain that it was not Medivh.

Medivh never hid his identity, and he rarely used such low-level spells.

Although Medivh seldom cast spells, as far as Simos could recall, Medivh was a fan of aggressive, explosive magic.

So… who was he?

General Simos' curiosity nearly burst his chest.

At that moment, an aged voice came from beneath the hood of the black-robed mage: "General Fordragon, take your men and retreat; I'll handle this."

On the battlefield, soldiers only follow military orders.

General Fordragon instinctively wanted to refuse, but as he saw the faces of his subordinates, he hesitated. Though their faces were still filled with determination, their eyes couldn't hide the fatigue and sadness. Many of their comrades already laid to rest here.

If necessary, they would willingly join their fallen comrades for eternal rest.

But was it necessary?

General Fordragon knew that this was the last of the Gryphon Legion. If they were wiped out, the Gryphon Legion would forever vanish from the ranks of the Kingdom of Stormwind.

Biting his lip, General Fordragon shouted, "Mage, we appreciate your help, but the last order the Gryphon Legion received was to defend this position."

Duke, beneath the black robe, was taken aback; he hadn't expected Fordragon to be so stubborn, or rather, so unyielding.

How could he persuade this man?

Growing desperate, Duke lightly tapped his left chest, revealing a mage emblem that gleamed brightly.

"King Varian has ordered you to fall back. You have done an excellent job of holding off the enemy. Retreat immediately; after descending the mountain, there will be support to cover you."

General Fordragon trembled. Serving in the military for many years, he couldn't help but suspect that the black-robed figure was falsely delivering royal orders. The Kingdom of Stormwind had a strict military system, and its secrets were not for outsiders to know.

He nearly wanted to curse the old man in the black robe.

But the emblem of the royal mage corps was undoubtedly genuine, and most importantly, he saw the sudden will to live on the young faces around him.

Could he bear to let so many young men die in a hopeless rearguard action?

"What is the backup plan? Tell me, or I cannot risk the possibility of 10,000 soldiers and 20,000 civilians being pursued and accept the king's order like this."

Duke, growing even more desperate, eventually used [Mage's Message] to inform Fordragon of one of the backup plans.

Upon hearing this, Fordragon immediately rallied: "Hear me, warriors of the Kingdom of Stormwind. The main force has successfully withdrawn; we shall now retreat in an orderly fashion!"

Fordragon' loud shout undoubtedly injected a strong dose of courage into the Gryphon Legion's soldiers.

Under Duke's torrential rain of magic missiles, the Gryphon Legion on this side of the mountain began to retreat in an orderly manner.

On the other side of the mountain, Anduin, who was in the midst of a bloody battle, immediately noticed something was amiss.

"Damn it! How can Fordragon retreat at a time like this!?" In that instant, Lothar felt like killing Fordragon.

The two mountain peaks served as barriers for each other; however, once one of them fell, the other would easily be surrounded by the enemy.

Lothar had witnessed the orcs' ability to traverse mountains as if they were flat ground.

One moment the orcs were out of the archers' range, and in the blink of an eye, they had closed the distance from being targeted by arrows to entering melee combat, rendering even long spears useless.

However, Anduin quickly realized that the orcs on the opposing mountain peak were not pursuing them. Instead, they seemed to be dispersing. Their green skin was quite visible under the sunlight.

Before Lothar could react, he suddenly noticed that something was wrong with the orcs in front of him.

A large area of ice appeared beneath the orcs' feet, the frosty boundary following the line of battle between the orcish forces and the human soldiers. The intense slipperiness severely diminished the orcs' mountain-climbing abilities.