Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation

  A status report on the enemies outside Arfin would probably go like this:

  After a massive reshuffle of the Church’s army, not of the six million frontline soldiers was mercenary paid by nobles allied with the Church. After Grant’s suicide attack made them suffer heavy losses, most of the soldiers were discharged. A small number of them were dispatched to guard the camp in Shamshire and the army’s new logistics route. Not even one of them remained on the battlefield.

  A sixth of the army was tasked with the provision of ammunition and other supplies during the battle, while the rest were at the frontlines. These soldiers — who had been group into battalions, standing about 1000 meters away from the gate of Arfin city — were the Church’s own militia. Mentally boosted by their faith and their belief in the righteousness of their actions, these soldiers stood straight, ready to fight. Despite suffering many losses, their spirit was not broken.

  The Haydyns, who led the Church’s magic users, stood far away from the front line. However, they were just at the right distance for casting long-range spells. They were all waiting for Matthew Haydyn to attack first, which was the signal they had agreed on.

  On the other hand, the people defending Arfin city did not feel that confident. The smart ones could tell that the Church’s army, despite suffering numerous losses, outnumbered theirs six to one. Not only had the enemy had placed their sorcerers behind their infantry, making them harder to get to, but they had also erected anti-magical barriers overhead for added protection.

  Taking a defensive approach in a siege battle placed one in a disadvantageous position, but the Church had taken it a step forward. Those defending Arfin city could not retaliate with magic, as their enemies were encased in the anti-magic barriers of the Church’s clerics.

  Hence, some on the side of good already felt hopeless. So long as the Church’s infantry did not attempt to siege the city, those defending Arfin city would not have to fight back; however, they knew that the Church planned to bombard them with magic spells, and when their defenses had crumbled, the heavy-hitters would then charge in. This was a siege tactic that had been used many times before, yet those defending Arfin city could not come up with a solution.

  There was no doubt that this was Sir Aaron’s plan. The tactic was effective in battle and in alarming the enemy.

  The Paladin Grand Cross, who was on his horse, commanded, “Signal Master Haydyn. Let us begin.”

  Haydyn was already eager to start. He raised his staff and began to chant loudly.

  The air distorted as a devastating spell took form, yet the Voidwalkers remained motionless. As though he were watching a show, the Archmage made no move to calm the soldiers that were scrambling for cover.

  \r \r \r

  Before the First Walker could lift a finger, a fine, grey arrow tore through the air towards Hadyn like a bolt of lightning.

  Haydyn spotted the arrow instantly, but he continued chanting, inwardly sneering at the Voidwalker’s attempt to disrupt him with simple arrows.

  There was a quote that was famous within the Sorcerers’ Association, which says: ‘A sorcerer killed by a sneak arrow is no sorcerer.’ Mages ought to know how to protect themselves against sneak attacks like this one, let alone seasoned veterans like Matthew. He already had on three different gears designed to protect him from arrows. Before making his move, Haydyn had already cast two defense spells on himself. The first one was to throw off any range attacks headed his way, and the second one was to mess with the enemy’s aim so that ranged attacks would lose their target as soon as they were shot. Haydyn was also surrounded by clerics that continuously strengthened his magical attacks.

  Haydyn was confident that the arrow — even if shot at point-blank range — would not break his skin. It was not a secret that the best human archer would fail to hit their target from so far away. If that was the case, then whoever shot this arrow stood no chance.

  Unfortunately, Haydyn did not know who the shooter was, neither did he know the bow she used to carry out his execution. Although the arrow looked fairly normal, the moment it left its bow, it made a shrieking sound as it tore through the air, crossing a thousand meters in one second. All six defense spells around Haydyn were instantly triggered, encasing him a partially transparent cocoon.

  The arrow eerily tore through the barriers — causing every one of them to shatter like glass — and Haydyn suddenly felt a sharp pain at his throat. Before he could process another thought, the sky and ground switched places, and then everything turned dark — forever.

  The arrow did not just pierce Haydyn’s neck, it decapitated him, too.

  The arrow faded into thin air, afterward. Blood sprayed out of Haydyn’s neck like a fountain. It was only then the people around him realized what had happened.

  Before the plan could be enacted, it had already begun to fail. The sorcerers that were ready to attack right after Haydyn did suddenly scattered in different directions, fleeing for their lives. Many had only joined the battle because Haydyn’s family coerced them to. They did not mind attacking powerless soldiers, but they were not ready to risk their lives fighting people much stronger than they were.

  Sir Aaron — who was stationed in the central battalion, which was far away from the frontline — could not see what was causing the holdup, so he asked, “Why is Master Haydyn taking so long? Where’s his spell?”

  When news of Haydyn’s death reached him, along with Haydyn’s head, Aaron was in a daze. With a shaky voice, he said, “Master Haydyn…… had just been assassinated…… by an arrow fired by the enemies?”

  “Impossible! This isn’t real! It can’t be real!!” Haydyn Sr. bellowed, his old heart almost giving out due to shock. “Matthew, my son, has always been a vigilant man! It’s impossible for him to go to battle without a watertight defense. With strong protective measures like that, how was he…… killed by one arrow?! No! You and I know that he was killed by a mole among us! That must be it!”

  As they cried foul, a loud cheer erupted from the top of the Arfin city wall.

  Sharp eyes on the side of the Arfin city already noticed that an arrow had decapitated the head of the scary-looking enemy sorcerer, causing his companions to flee for their lives. Relieved at the sudden turn of events, these people could not help celebrating.

  Roars of passions rang out when the mysterious sniper decided to emerge. It was a female. She was not just any woman; she was Baiyi’s beautiful, elven grandniece, who had come from his accidental entanglement with the Fairy had brought him.

  The fairy’s armor did almost nothing to hide her sensual curves. The short skirt did even lesser to hide her lean, long legs that were clad in silk socks. This view was enough to get any man’s blood boiling. Nydore had emerged with a huge butterfly-shaped bow.

  No one knew how this beautiful maiden had managed to behead that scary sorcerer, but this did not bother men with simple pleasures; having a bodacious sniper on their side worked wonders on the soldiers’ morale. The Archmage and the Engineer Walker’s demonstrations and speeches could not make as much a difference as the hot lady making an impossible shot!

  Nydore was only able to make that shot because of the Law-defying Caudillo Butterfly bow. In front of this bow, a target’s defense did not matter. Once a person is targetted with an arrow nocked to this bow, they were better of preparing for their demise. Even the Demigod Lich Walker was killed with it. He was only able to tell the tale because he was made a Voidwalker after his death.

  “What the hell? Why is this lass welcomed more warmly than I, huh? And, this happened right when I was about to show my hand. What a show-off,” the Archmage muttered. He had not arranged for Nydore to attack. The fairy only did so because she found Matthew “pretty scary and dangerous”.

  “Well, whatever; allow me to make the next move!” The Engineer Walker said in a sing-song voice as he gave the Caveman Walker, who was standing in the distance, a thumbs up.

  The Caveman Walker raised a massive silver-white globe with his herculean strength and hurled it as hard as it could. The globe careened through the air and crashed onto a plain a few yards away with a resounding explosion.

  The Church’s army watched the huge globe wobble a little before rolling towards them. It stopped a hundred meters away from them and did nothing else. The soldiers watched the still globe with raised brows.

  “Huehuehue! Time to direct Nydore’s applause to me!” The Engineer Walker cackled and pulled out what resembled the controller of a video game console. Without further ado, he pressed L1 and R1 simultaneously.

  A series of clicks rang out through the plain. It sounded like the turning of a large number of mechanical cogs. The globe suddenly split apart and formed a massive spider marionette. The moment this marionette took form, it cried out, “It appears that I have been summoned to engage in a fun co-operation!”

  “Hey, I thought I already changed this guy’s lines,” the Engineer Walker muttered in confusion, fumbling with the controller. The spider marionette began to speak gibberish, and after a few moments, it ended its unintelligible speech with, “The naivety of humans become apparent when they struggle in vain against their fate.”

  An incandescent disc sprung up from behind the marionette and arcs of energy at the Church’s army. The enemy soldiers took a step back and braced for impact. However, the arcs of energy failed to break the defense barrier around them. Pew! Pew! Pew! After the barrage of energy attacks ended, the Church’s soldiers were unscathed.

  “Oops! I should have known that pure magical attacks will do nothing to anti-magic barriers,” the Engineer Walker muttered to himself. “Well, no matter! After all, this marionette is not the same as my prototype, ‘The Pheonix’. It is a revolutionary, nuclear-powered, hyper-transforming robot — Tarantula!”

  The Voidwalker pressed Triangle and Square at the same time, after which he flicked the analog stick. It was as though he was clearing an in-game quick-time scene.

  The spider marionette shattered and quickly reassembled into a three-meter tall humanoid robot. “Never learning from their mistakes. Such is the foolishness of humans!!!” The robot bellowed as it charged at the enemy soldiers, who had quickly raised their swords. The robot charge through the enemy’s formation, causing bodies to fly around, including those of the paladins that had tried to stop its charge.

  A few foolish crusaders blocked its path. They quickly drew their swords and struck the robot, but they could not make even a dent on it. “Curses! This devil’s plaything is insanely strong and hard!”

  “Do you honestly think that having good intentions is enough to protect anything?” The robot made more nonsensical comments as it tore through the battalion toward the clerics at the back.