After two days, count Lancephil and the 7th corps organized their camp and fell back to the west.

  No, precisely speaking, they pretended to fall back.

  Actually, the army consisting of more than 10.000 divided in small troops and moved towards the supply storage the 7th corps discovered.

  In this process, the gathered and analyzed information Oren and Pens brought was of great help.

  The army charged through enemy territory while using the safest and secret route.

  They didn’t only move.

  Differently to the main force, a troop consisting of 2.000 soldiers went to the fake storage Oren’s agency found on purpose.

  They moved to pretend they had fallen in a trap.

  Lastly Io, that remained at the rear of the camp, sent a report to Benjamin saying that they would attack Istel kingdom’s headquarters.

  They were precautions to raise the chance of victory even a little bit more.

  Meanwhile, the 10.000 soldiers that were divided in small troops used the night and dawn and moved to the east little by little.

  Their destination was the entrance of a plain located near the boundary of the east.

  Because the location of Istel kingdom’s storage was between mountains, it was difficult for Rinse kingdom to grasp that location.

  Rinse kingdom’s army made a turn on a mountain at the west and went to a deep part of enemy territory.

  Based on the reconnaissance of the information troop and Oren’s agency, most of the enemy forces were gathered at the eastern part of the mountain.

  Because of that, they didn’t face them head on but aimed for their back.

  Rinse kingdom arrived at their destination only after 10 days had passed.

  And there were also many cases that the small troops got discovered by the enemies and got killed or fled.

  The soldiers that arrived at the appointed time was 9.000.

  They hid themselves and didn’t move until the sun had set and darkness fell.

  Roan looked at the storage located at the end of the plains.

  The preparations certainly seemed solid.

  ‘However, the number of knights is lower than the fake storage.’


  Istel kingdom had used too many resources on carving the trap.

  ‘The number of soldiers that have mana in their bodies are merely 30.’


  It was plain night, but because of Kalian’s tear he didn’t have any problems on checking the camp.

  ‘Compared to that, the knights of count Lancephil are more than 50.’


  On top of that, there were also 10 mages.

  Although Istel kingdom had more normal soldiers, in the side of soldiers quality, they were quite ahead.

  ‘But of course, what they show won’t be everything.’


  They wouldn’t manage a place so important it may determine defeat and victory so sloppily.

  But even so, Roan was confident.

  ‘In their position, it would be a surprise attack at an unexpected direction and one which they wouldn’t even have been able to think of.’


  On top of that, the morale of Rinse kingdom was as high as the sky.

  ‘But even so, we have a need to check if there are other traps or not.’


  Roan checked the storage thoroughly to not make the same mistakes as before.

  ‘Hm?’


  His sight got fixed in one place.

  A wooden fence that was at the left of the entrance.

  ‘The flow of mana is strange.’


  Precisely speaking, the air above that was weird.

  ‘There’s a fixed flow above the empty air of the fence.’


  Normally, if it was a place filled with mana, it would move everywhere without any rules.

  ‘Maybe?’


  What he had to be suspicious of in this situation.

  ‘Magic array?’


  Roan frowned.

  The weakest point that was related to wars and battle.

  That was the things related to magic.

  His sight moved once again to the air above the fence.

  The mana that flows just like a whirlpool.

  ‘It seems like the core of the magic array……’


  But he couldn’t be certain.

  He didn’t know anything about that field.

  Then, he saw the leader of the mages, Tairo Bess, moving busily,

  Roan pretended to take care of the soldiers and followed his back.

  Tairo went to find Kali Owells, that was in charge of the supreme commanding.

  “Commander Owells. In the process of mana scanning, we discovered a magic array.”


  It was just like Roan had thought.

  Kali frowned.

  “Magic array? What kind of magic?”


  “It’s Grand Shield.”


  Grand shield.

  A huge scaled protection magic.

  It was the specialty of a school that used magic as it’s theme.

  ALthough they were useless existences in a 1vs1 battle or surprise attacks, but they accomplished quite an outstanding role at defending, just like right now.

  “Mmm. They are more thoroughly prepared than what I thought.”


  Kali exclaimed and shook his head.

  ‘If we can’t make the grand shield powerless, this tactic becomes a failure.’


  There were two methods.

  ‘One is to attack the grand shield until it breaks.’


  ALthough it was a solid shield, it wasn’t that it couldn’t break.

  However, you needed quite a lot of time and effort in a situation where you didn’t have siege weapons and cavalrymen.

  ‘The second method………’


  Is to destroy the core of the array.

  The core was the center and essence that permitted the magir array to be maintained.

  “Have you found the core of the array?”


  At Kali’s questions, Tairo shook his head.

  “It’s impossible to scan it at this distance.”


  Kali nodded.

  He also knew about this truth.

  ‘For now, we can only approach the most we can.’


  They couldn’t just wait time by waiting.

  The moment they discovered that the other party that attacked the fake storage was a bait, the tide would change once again.

  They had to end the battle before that.

  A situation where they had to hope for the mages to find the core of the array quickly.

  ‘Tch. If the skills of the mages was a bit better……’


  He smacked his lips at the regretting feeling.

  If the abilities of the mages were great, they would be able to use mana scan, dispel, and attack magics to make the grand shield powerless.

  However, the level of Lancephil’s mages wasn’t that high.

  No, it wasn’t only them.

  Right now, it was difficult to find high classed mages.

  ‘After all the dragons disappeared, they started to decay little by little.’


  Even so, as many schools appeared and developed in their own specialties, they became able to preserve their existence.

  However, it was true that the effectiveness in wars and battles declined even more.

  ‘Rather, the shamans are giving treatments.’


  Kali sighed and shook his head.

  ‘If it becomes like this, we can only fire thousands of arrows without stop.’


  If they were lucky, one of them may pierce through the core.

  He organized his thoughts and raised his right hand.

  “We are getting the closest possible to the storage.”


  In the end, they could only clash.

  The soldiers placed their right fist in their chest instead of replying.

  Sususu.

  The wind of the dawn shook the grass.

  Meanwhile, Rinse kingdom army started to move stealthily.

  The knights of Lancephil were at the front, behind them the region’s army, and behind them the 7th corps followed. And at the rear, there were the 10 mages taking place.

  Kali, that stood at the front, soon arrived near the storage.

  “Mages.”


  At the lowly calling sound, the mages that were at the rear started to come to the front.

  The two arms that appeared below the robes.

  They executed the mana scan in front of the huge storage.

  Silence.

  The nasty silence just continued.

  Rinse kingdom couldn’t even breathe loudly for fear of getting discovered.

  However, even after quite a lot of time had passed, the mages couldn’t find the core.

  Tairo’s expression stiffened even more.

  In the end, Kali couldn’t endure it and asked.

  “You still couldn’t find it?”


  “I’m sorry.”


  Tairo bowed.

  The size of the storage was too immense.

  For only 10 mages to scan all that place thoroughly was nearly impossible.

  Kali took in a deep breath.

  ‘We can’t keep wasting time like this.’


  If it wasn’t the best option, they had to go with the second best one.

  “The mages are to keep looking for the core.”


  “Yes. Understood.”


  Tairo nodded and fell to the sides.

  Kali pulled his long sword.

  “Prepare to fire. We are pouring arrows.”


  “Yes.”


  The leader of the territory’s army, Perr Wilson, replied shortly and prepared the archers.

  Chiiik!

  Fire was put on the tip of the arrows.

  “Fire!”


  Right before he finished the order, the archers fired off their arrows.

  Sweeeeee!

  Thousands of arrows split the wind along a sharp sound.

  It was an intent that seemed to pierce through the tents, and sacks.

  However.

  Cheng! Checheng! Cheng!

  A displeasing sound of metal.

  The thousands of arrows hit on the empty air above the fences like a lie and fell to the ground.

  The arrows that fell caught fire.

  “It really was grand shield.”


  Kali frowned.

  Then.

  Piiiiiii!

  A sharp sound that carved in their ears.

  “They even prepared an alarm magic?”


  Certainly, there was no way they would protect the storage sloppily.

  At the sound of the alarm magic, the soldiers of Istel started to gather one by one.

  Anyways, the surprise attack was now useless. But even so, it wasn’t a hopeless situation.

  Because the grand shield didn’t differentiate between inside and outside, friend and foe.

  Just like Rinse kingdom couldn’t get inside the storage, Istel kingdom also couldn’t get outside of it.

  ‘We have to finish it before their reinforcements come.’


  If the day was bright, the enemy troop would come to assist them.

  They had to break the grand shield before that.

  Sweeeeeeek!

  Hundreds, thousands of arrows split the night sky.

  Then.

  Tat!

  One young soldier got out of the ranks and ran towards the storage.

  “Huh?”


  “What is it?”


  Kali and the knights all frowned.

  “Roan!”


  Aaron, that discovered the identity of the young soldier late, yelled in a loud voice.

  At that moment.

  Roan took a big step with his left leg and threw away his spear.

  Swaaaaaa!

  A sound that was different to the arrow.

  The spear shook like a fish and flew towards the grand shield.

  “That stupid bastard.”


  “He thinks that a spear may do it because an arrow can’t.”


  The knights clicked their tongues and shook their heads.

  However, Roan’s expression was quite calm.

  He could see something others couldn’t.

  ‘Right. Just go like that!’


  Roan’s sight moved over the core of the array.

  He put an earnest desire behind.

  The spear split the air and precisely pierced the core of the array.

  Bang!

  A sound exploded.

  At the same time.

  Craaaak.

  Just like ice was breaking.

  Poong!

  The grand shield, that received a dent, got completely destroyed and disappeared.

  “Huh?!”


  “What?”


  “Uh?”


  At that moment, an awkward atmosphere fell on the battlefield.

  It was obvious for Rinse kingdom, but Istel kingdom was also hugely surprised at the sudden situation.

  The two sides just blinked with their mouths hanging open.

  Then, Roan yelled towards Kali.

  “Commander!!!”


  Only then did Kali get a hold of himself.

  “Ah, Ah!”


  Still a confused expression.

  ‘Fo, for the grand shield to break!’


  He raised his long sword high.

  ‘I will have to check if he was lucky or if he has something else after the battle.’


  As soon as he got a hold of himself, suspiciousness came first.

  But that was something for later.

  Now was the time to attack the open storage.

  Kali raised his sword.

  “Charge!”


  The order that got finally sent.

  The 10.000 soldiers charged towards the storage with a fierce intent.

  “Block them!”


  “Fire arrows!”


  The counterattack of Istel kingdom also wasn’t light.

  ‘If we get this storage taken over, everything ends!’


  They were desperate.

  ‘Damn. For the grand shield to break this quickly.’


  The grand shield was to protect them in case they got attacked until reinforcements came.

  But that grand shield got broken by only one spear.

  What was fortunate was that they could prepare to some degree because of Grand shield and the alarm magic, even if it wasn’t perfect.

  Bang!

  The entrance and the fences broke and Rinse kingdom entered above that.

  “Son of a b*tches!”


  “Die!”


  Rinse kingdom ground their teeth.

  Swords, axes, and spears split the air.

  Cheng! Checheng! Cheng!

  Sparks flung along with the sound of metal.

  Sweeeee!

  Arrows flew without stop from both sides.

  Flaaaaame!

  The inside and the outside of the storage started to transform to a sea of fire.

  “Fireball!”


  Here on, the mages of Lancephil attacked.

  Following the extended arms, fireballs split the wind.

  ‘KuK! Dman. It was our mistake to have sent most of the knights and mages to the fake storage.’


  The commanders of Istel kingdom clenched their fists.

  ‘We certainly, heard that the Rinse bastards were heading to the trap we had prepared, but were we the ones that took the blow?!’


  Their bodies trembled.

  At the sides, the voices of Rinse soldiers was heard.

  “Set it on fire!”


  “Let’s show an example to the Istel bastards!”


  Bonfired crumbled and torches flew over.

  At the same time, thousands of fire arrows covered the sky.

  Pung! Pubung!

  The tents caught fire and started to spread to the insides following the wind.

  “Put the fire off!”


  “Protect the supplies!”


  The commanders of Istel yelled and urged the soldiers.

  “Hmph! Useless sounds!”


  Kali was a problem because he was narrow minded and fought desperately, but at least his skills were great.

  He lead the 50 knights and massacred the soldiers of Istel.

  “We are the knight guards of Lancephil’s family!”


  A loud yell.

  It was a voice filled with proudness.

  Then, a serious voice was heard at the other side.

  “Bastards! We are the cool breeze knights of Istel kingdom!”


  30 knights came running with a fierce intent.

  Bang!

  Knight against knight.

  Knight squad against a Knight squad.

  A confrontation occurred in the middle of the fiery storage.

  Leaving them in the middle, the soldiers of both sides started to fight in confusion.

  Flaaaaaaame!

  The fire burned more fiercely.

  Finally, it gulped down the tents that had the provision sacks in it.

  Tadak. Tadak.

  Fire and sparks flew to the air.

  A dark smoke blew with the wind.

  It seemed like a rain of fire was raining inside the storage.

  ‘This is a battlefield.’


  Roan looked at the fire laying down over his armour and took a breath.

  It was because he felt full of vitality even when he hadn’t operated Flamdor mana technique.

  The red flames surging up at his sides.

  The scattering fire.

  This place was just like heaven for him.

  A battlefield of fire.

  Roan gripped his spear.

  Behind him, rose troop appeared with Austin and Harrison at the front.

  “Troop commander.”


  Austin’s voice was slightly trembling.

  And not only him.

  THe apple of adam of all the other soldiers was moving roughly up and down.

  Roan slightly turned his head and looked at the nervous expressions of the troop’s soldier.

  The eyes that were as hot as the flames.

  Roan’s mouth slightly moved.

  A smile that made you feel assured.

  Soon, a low voice but with strength was heard.

  “Just trust in me and follow me.”


  End

  Translator: Subak

  Proofreader: st8_lupe.