CHAPTER 79: I've been waiting for this day (2)

"What… what is this?"

The massive wall of flames completely encircled the enemy forces.

Not only were they unable to advance, but even retreat was impossible.

Everyone was stunned by this sudden phenomenon.

Viktor was the first to snap out of it, shouting at the mages beside him.

"Dispel this magic! Break it down!"

But the mages stood frozen, wide-eyed, unable to move.

"We… we cannot dispel this magic."

"What?! Aren't you mages?!"

"This magic… it's beyond our circle's capacity."

One of the mages stammered as he spoke.

"Look at it closely. Does this look like a normal spell to you? Have you ever seen anything like this? Not even the lord of a prominent magic tower could use such magic. We cannot break this magic."

Another mage, staring intently at the wall of flames, added, "This is at the level of a 4th-circle spell. But the caster… they must be beyond the 4th circle. At least…"

"At least?" Viktor urged.

"…At least 7th circle."

"Don't talk nonsense! There are only two 7th-circle mages in the entire kingdom! Are you saying a mage of such high caliber is here?"

Viktor ground his teeth, shouting, but the mage, as if not hearing him, muttered to himself.

"No, even a 7th-circle mage shouldn't be able to do this. What is this? It defies the usual concepts of magic. This is no ordinary power. Is it some kind of magic circle? An artifact? There must be an intermediary of some kind."

Even in the midst of chaos, the mages prioritized their curiosity over the situation at hand, analyzing the patterns of the magic in the wall of flames.

Viktor, however, cared little for the principles behind the spell.

"The Count sent you to deal with any mages they might have! Are you really telling me there's nothing you can do right now?"

"There… there's nothing we can do."

"Not even the Count could have foreseen this."

Viktor's frustration reached its peak as the mages made their excuses.

"Useless fools! Weren't you sent for situations like this?"

Count Desmond had assigned two mages to prepare for the possibility that Perdium might hire a mage with the funds from selling the rune stones.

But even the meticulous Harold had not expected a mage of higher than the 5th circle to be present in Perdium.

Across the kingdom, there were fewer than fifty mages of 5th circle or higher.

Even with ample money, the best Perdium could have hoped to hire in such a short time was a 4th-circle mage.

"Even the Count didn't foresee this?" Viktor muttered, raising his head abruptly.

The wall of flames surrounding them on all sides made a siege impossible.

They would have to wait until the magic was exhausted.

Though flames blocked them in, if they moved quickly, they might be able to retreat through the outer edges.

"Fall back! Regroup at the rear and prepare to advance once the flames subside! Move out of this area as quickly as possible!"

He shouted and turned his horse to leave when one of the mages spoke up.

"Come to think of it, the concentration of mana here is unusually dense. Something feels wrong…"

Rumble!

Suddenly, the ground shook, causing their horses to stumble. The mage couldn't finish his sentence as he pulled on the reins.

Vanessa had initiated the next stage of the spell.

The golden magic circle in her eyes rotated.

Crack!

The rune stone bracelets worn by her, Alpoi, and the others shattered into dust.

The wall of flames had only been a means to immobilize the enemy temporarily. The real attack was just beginning.

The surrounding mana began to take physical form, seeping into the ground and meeting with something that had been lying dormant beneath the earth.

The conditions were now fully met.

Vanessa whispered softly.

"…Flame Strike."

The earth trembled, and mana erupted like an explosion.

Boom!

Rumble!

Ka-boom!

With a deafening roar, dozens of massive pillars of fire burst from the ground.

"Aaaargh!"

Viktor's soldiers screamed as they were consumed by the flames.

Those caught at the heart of the fire pillars couldn't even scream, disintegrating into ash.

"This…!"

Boom!

Viktor and the mages couldn't avoid the blast either.

The battlefield became a hellscape.

Those who survived threw down their weapons and began to scatter in terror.

"Aaaargh!"

"Save me!"

"Retreat! Get back!"

Flames surged, filling every corner of the field.

The towering pillars of fire devoured siege towers and ladder carts, growing larger.

Soldiers whose clothes caught fire rolled desperately on the ground.

Inside the gates, the soldiers of Perdium swallowed nervously as they watched the scene unfold, a vision of hell.

Who could have prepared something like this?

Zwalter, his mind numb with shock, staggered but managed to steady himself, looking down.

Unlike the panicked soldiers, Ghislain and the mercenaries appeared calm.

"Could it be… Ghislain, was this your doing?"

Just then, Vanessa collapsed, coughing up blood.

A mercenary nearby caught her as she fell from the air.

Ghislain glanced back and spoke.

"Belinda, take care of the mages."

"Huh? Y-yes!"

Belinda, along with a few soldiers, lifted the fallen mages and carried them to safety.

Ghislain turned back and started walking. The mercenaries followed him.

Zwalter shouted loudly.

"Ghislain! What are you doing?!"

But Ghislain didn't answer or stop. Zwalter called out urgently again.

"Stop! Stop, now! We've already won! The enemy will flee through the flames! Why are you going out there? It's a sea of fire out there!"

At last, Ghislain paused and looked back at him.

His reply was calm and unfeeling.

"Because they must die."

"What?"

"We will kill every one of them fleeing. They need to understand the price of coveting Perdium."

"Are you serious…?"

"From now on, any enemy who considers targeting this place will have to think twice. They'll have to wonder if they're truly willing to risk their lives."

Boom.

A fierce killing intent radiated from Ghislain. It was a presence born from a lifetime spent piling up corpses.

Seeing this side of his son, Zwalter felt chills down his spine.

How could he possess such an aura?

But stopping his son was more important than his fear.

"I understand your resolve, but how will you enter those flames?"

Even if they protected themselves with mana, they could only endure such intense flames for so long.

Trying to push through could be fatal.

Despite Zwalter's desperate plea, Ghislain only gave him a faint smile.

***

Meanwhile, Count Tamos, observing from the rear, was taken aback by the sudden eruption of flames.

"What… what is this? Where did these flames come from? There was nothing there!"

He couldn't grasp what was happening or even understand the nature of the phenomenon.

The soldiers on the outskirts had barely managed to escape, but many more had perished.

Some, aflame, ran out of the inferno, only to collapse soon after.

While Tamos stared in shock, a young aide shouted at him.

"Get a hold of yourself! We need to order a retreat! Blow the horn and send out any remaining soldiers to rescue the wounded!"

The aide continued urgently, trying to bring Tamos back to reality.

"This isn't a forest! It's an open plain with no cover or transport! Once we're out, we can regroup and gather our forces."

One reason fire attacks were feared was because flames could rapidly spread through nearby trees and vegetation.

But on this open plain, the fire would likely burn out quickly.

"You… you're one of the aides under the secretary… was your name Lowell? What if they pursue us? Shouldn't we retreat immediately…"

"Just as the flames prevent us from advancing, they also prevent the enemy from pursuing us. They'll likely be waiting to see if we either flee or burn. It will take them time to come around from another direction. We need to move now."

Tamos stammered, asking, "But… What if they catch up before we regroup? Wouldn't it be better to run?"

"Oh, for… Lord! Without our forces, surrender won't even be an option! We need troops to negotiate, even if it's to surrender. We must save as many as we can!"

"You're… right. Move the wounded! Once we're assembled, we'll retreat!"

Tamos barked the order, and the remaining hundred or so of his guard began to move.

***

Meanwhile, Ghislain dusted off his armor, glancing back at the mercenaries.

"We won't last long in there. Kill as many as possible, and then take out the survivors."

The black armor worn by Ghislain and his mercenaries was lined with the inner skin of a Dirus Ent.

As material capable of withstanding a 4th-circle fire spell, it would hold out against the massive fire for a short time.

Gillian shook his head, smirking.

"This must be the most expensive trap in history."

"Indeed. We burned through all the rune stones we dug up this time."

"Don't you regret wasting the rune stones?"

"Money is just a means to an end."

The mercenaries, who had followed orders without understanding, now grasped the true strategy Ghislain had been planning.

Since the war was declared, he had instructed them to bury rune stones throughout the ground outside the castle.

"Who would have thought they'd use them like this instead of hiding them? All those guys, just wiped out like that."

"Don't you think it's a waste?"

"I was hoping to dig up a few for myself later, but now they're all blown up."

The mercenaries let out hollow laughs.

Normally, they would have taken those rune stones and run; the amount was enough to live off comfortably for a lifetime.

Yet here they were, every last stone detonated in a single trap. They couldn't decide whether it was impressive or just too much.

"That woman is something else. She's a real mage."

"What level would she be? Is she some kind of grand mage?"

"I thought she was just a maid."

The mercenaries, impressed by the results, didn't realize the full truth.

Even with the mana transfer, Vanessa, at her current level, couldn't have triggered all the rune stones at once.

She had only managed to detonate a few.

But each rune stone had been meticulously inscribed with spells for focusing, chaining, and explosive effects.

Before the war had even been declared, Vanessa had worked tirelessly under Ghislain's orders to prepare the spells.

It was a task that only someone with her remarkable magic intuition and knowledge could complete.

Ghislain had been preparing this trap since the moment he excavated the rune stones from the Forest of Demonic Beasts.

Bringing Vanessa from the Magic Tower was all part of this plan.

Now, at last, it was time to make these invaders pay.

To finally unleash the fury he had held back.

"Kill every enemy you see!"

Ghislain shouted, charging forward.

Gillian and Kaor followed closely, and after a brief hesitation, the other mercenaries gritted their teeth and joined in.

"To hell with it! Let's go!"

"If he says it's fine, it must be fine!"

"Let's get them all before they can escape!"

Hiss!

The Dirus Ent inner armor hissed as it began to dry and steam upon contact with the flames.

"Oh, it's warm! Nice and warm!"

"It's holding up pretty well!"

"Kill them fast and let's get out!"

The battlefield, now a fiery hell, still had several survivors clinging to life.

The mercenaries chased down those desperately fleeing, slashing with their weapons.

"Aaargh!"

Enemies writhing in the flames fell, overcome.

While the mercenaries were slaughtering survivors, Ghislain searched through the inferno for a specific target.

'I need to kill that bastard Viktor first.'

Even now, Viktor was strong. With time, he would only become a more formidable enemy.

Ghislain knew he had to kill him in this war.

'If he's dead from a direct hit by the fire pillars, then good. But I need to confirm it, even if it's just a fragment of his corpse.'

He pushed through the ghastly screams of the enemy soldiers, piercing the wall of fire.

'There. Found him.'

Finally, he saw a lone figure standing in the flames.

"Aaaaah! My army! How dare you?!"

Viktor screamed, seething with rage.

One side of his face was a blistered, seared mess, and his armor was cracked and dented all over.

But he was still alive.

"I'll kill every one of you! I'll slice open your bellies and hang your heads on the castle walls!"

His eyes blazed with madness.

There was no turning back now.

Even if he had to do it alone, he would cut down the Lord of Perdium and his vassals.

Even if he died here, it was the only way to preserve his honor and dignity.

Viktor began surging with mana, charging toward Perdium's castle.

Just then—

Thwack!

Something shot through the flames, heading straight for him.

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