Siege of T'cammen 2

The square was filled with tribesmen soldiers. Mago quickly calculated that at least 30,000 of them were surrounding them, meaning they outnumbered the Imperial soldiers two to one.

As if that was not enough, powerful mana signatures appeared on the rooftops of the buildings around the square, and shamans started to walk out one by one. There were easily over two thousand of them, outnumbering the mages on Mago's side by five hundred. The only comforting thing about the situation was the fact that no members of the Poison tribe could be seen among the shamans.

Colonel Portus looked at the situation with a grim expression on his face. The long-distance message orb that he had was clutched in his hands. He had sent word of their situation to Commander Gauder, but the Commander had simply told him to hold on as long as possible.

"Everyone, brace yourselves. The upcoming battle will be an atrocious one.", Portus declared while brandishing his sword and shield. The Imperial soldiers were tightly huddled up in a defensive formation, waiting for the enemy to strike.

Nervously licking his lips, Mago glanced at the shamans on the rooftops. He had pinpointed the three mana signatures that were a lot stronger compared to the others. Two of them were from the Beast tribe, while the third one came from a member of the Spirit tribe.

Noticing Mago's stare, one of the shamans of the Beast tribe gave a slight smirk to Mago. He clearly didn't see the young man as a threat.

'You. You will be my target.' Mago thought while narrowing his eyes at the smirking shaman.

Seconds passed, every one of them feeling like an eternity until finally, a loud war-cry came from one of the Beast tribe leaders and the tribesmen rushed forth, like a raging tide.

As the two forces clashed against each other, the ringing of swords clashing against each other and the screams and wails of the dying and wounded could be heard throughout the city. Fountains of blood flew everywhere the eye could see, dyeing the square crimson red.

Mago was cutting down the tribesmen left and right, with Bismark and Ragan at his side, while keeping a constant watch on the three powerful shamans. They had not moved a step since the battle started.

The battle continued to rage on. Men continued to fall down lifelessly every second. The ground had become slippery from the blood and body parts that were strewn around, and the soldiers on both sides were constantly stumbling.

While the tribesmen outnumbered the Imperial soldiers, the latter was not known as the mightiest force of the continent for nothing. They were steadily gaining ground, pushing back the tide of tribesmen that came surging forward.

At this time, the enemy shamans finally made their move. Jumping down from the rooftops they sprinted towards the Imperial soldiers, easily cutting through their ranks like a hot knife cutting through butter. The regular soldiers didn't stand a chance against these magically infused human and beast hybrids.

Seeing the shamans joining the fray, Bismark instantly disappeared before appearing behind two shamans. With a flick of his wrists, he easily cut their throats.

Ragan as well decided to take action. With a blue flash, he dashed towards a shaman that was making his way towards regular soldiers. Barely having a chance to react, the shaman was blasted by a current of lightning, instantly being fried and dying on the spot.

Seeing his comrades dying so easily, the shaman that had earlier sneered at Mago, dashed towards Ragan, deeming him a suitable target and figuring he would be able to quickly finish him off.

But before he managed to arrive at Ragan's location, the shaman felt a sense of danger and reflexively lifted his warhammer to block the incoming blow that he couldn't see.

Mago's greatsword clashed against the shaman's hammer, with sparks flying everywhere. Mago could feel from that blow that their strength was evenly matched, which made him frown. He had taken the shaman by surprise, so he shouldn't have had time to exert his full strength while hastily blocking, meaning his strength most likely surpassed Mago's.

The shaman turned towards Mago with a bloodthirsty look in his eyes, sending chills down Mago's spine. Mago was used to being the strong one, the predator. Ever since he was young none of his peers could match him, but now he finally understood how arrogant and complacent he had become.

It wasn't enough to be the strongest amongst his peers. The older generation still had plenty of monsters within their ranks, far surpassing Mago in strength.

For the first time in his life, Mago felt the fear of dying. The pressure this man gave him was unfathomable. This man before him was an apex predator. He stood at the top of the food chain and while Mago was a predator as well; in front of this man, he was like a rabbit going against a wolf.

Sweat started to form on Mago's brow as he nervously stared at the man before him. Seeing the nervous look on Mago's face, the shaman shook his head and gave Mago a condescending smile, as if saying, 'I tried to tell you before, you aren't my match, but you just wouldn't listen'.

Mago stared intently at the shaman before him, not missing a single movement of his muscles, bracing himself for the fight that was about to ensue.

Seeing that the boy in front of him didn't try to run or evade him, the man gave a slight nod of approval and the ridicule in his eyes lessened. The Beast tribe respected the strong and brave, and this pup was at least brave.

After staring at each other for a few seconds, while the battle raged all around them, the shaman and Mago finally clashed. Both Mago and the shaman exerted their full strength in their blows, causing a shockwave around them. Mago was sent reeling backward by the force, while the shaman easily stood his ground.

Giving Mago no time to collect himself, the shaman dashed forward. Mago could see him closing in and frantically circulated the mana within him, reinforcing every fiber of his being, while trying to bring his greatsword up to block the incoming blow, but to no avail.

The shaman's warhammer smashed into Mago, sending him flying like a toddler launched from a catapult. Blood spurted from Mago's mouth as he was soaring through the air, and he could feel that three of his ribs were broken. Mago crashed through one of the buildings at the edge of the square and was gasping for breath as he shakily to stood up. Every breath he took was labored and sent a sharp stab of pain through him.

Mago could see the shaman slowly making his way over to him, easily dodging the arrows flying through the battlefield or the spells that came near him.

Meanwhile, on the battlefield, the two other powerful shamans were making their way towards Colonel Portus. The Colonel was a cyan-core Warrior and only slightly stronger than Mago. He wouldn't stand a chance against the two monstrous shamans.

Unaware of the danger he was in, Portus was frantically commanding the Imperial troops to push forward towards the location they had come from to the square.

Just as the two shamans were about to pounce on him, could Portus feel a sense of danger befalling him and quickly circulated his mana to cover his entire body. The next second spikes of earth tried to pierce through him but didn't manage to break through his defense, only managing to make him slightly fall off balance. As Portus was straightening up, a dagger flashed before his eyes, narrowly missing him.

Portus hastily retreated a few steps before looking at the two assailants. He could see the immense mana flowing through them and had a sinking feeling. He knew these two were stronger than him. Even one of them would force him to go all out, but two? He would die for sure.

Looking around, he could see all the high-ranking Warriors and mages around him being occupied with opponents of their own, unable to help him.

Tightly clutching his sword and shield, Portus got ready to face the two shamans before him.

Suddenly the earth below his feet crumbled and Portus fell down waist-deep into a small pit. The earth started to move again, enveloping Portus. He quickly circulated mana to his feet and sprung up, but the shaman assassin was already upon him with his two daggers stabbing towards Portus's heart and throat. Using his shield, he blocked the dagger aiming at his heart and managed to throw off the second strike, making it only graze his throat.

Sadly, this wound still proved out to be deadly. Poison seeped in through the wound and began to quickly flow through Portus's veins.

'Shit.' Portus thought. He didn't despair, he knew that every time he set off to the battlefield there was a chance he might not come back. But he hadn't even managed to lay a finger on his enemies, which greatly pissed him off.

The earth below him started to crumble once more, and the assassin dashed towards him at the same time.

Making a split-second decision, Portus charged forwards towards the assassin, narrowly keeping his footing before the surrounding earth crumbled.

The assassin, seeing that Portus wanted to take him head-on, let out a small sneer. Just as they were about to clash, spikes of earth formed behind Portus, stabbing him in the back. As his body jerked forward, the assassin stabbed Portus in the throat, while giving him a mocking smile.

But Portus wasn't done yet. He had sent all of his remaining mana into the arm that held his sword, not bothering to defend himself at all during this exchange. Before the assassin had a chance to react, Portus's sword had slashed his head cleanly off, decapitating him.

Blood flowed out of Portus's mouth and every time he tried to breathe, only a small gurgling sound could be heard while blood filled his lungs. Portus lost strength in his legs and started to fall down on the ground. He could faintly hear an enraged scream coming from the remaining shaman and a spike of earth formed below him, piercing through his head as he fell.