Chapter 30: Spellstorm

After the strategy meeting ended and I stepped outside, all the preparations for the battle had already been completed.

The enemy’s 8,000 soldiers were fully armed and had even drawn their swords.

They exuded a deadly aura, as if they were ready to charge the moment an order was given.

The formation of the soldiers from the Marquisate of Tristan was a typical noble line-up.

Thirty-five knights were waiting on horseback at the very front.

Behind them stood a thousand Shield Bearers, a thousand spearmen, and a thousand archers lined up, with swordsmen split evenly on both flanks.

Our formation, however, was somewhat special.

We had a thousand Shield Bearers, a thousand spearmen, and a thousand archers as well.

Moreover, the Shield Bearers were arranged to surround the spearmen and archers.

Knights were stationed between the ranks, leading the soldiers.

The three mages were waiting behind the knights.

By the time all the forces that had moved in the morning had taken their positions, it was already past noon.

The heat rising from the sun blazing overhead began to intensify.

As the heat thickened, the soldiers’ morale started to rise, and the soldiers from the Marquisate of Tristan moved first.

Clack, thud.

It was a single step forward, but that alone was enough.

Both sides had created an atmosphere where it seemed they were ready to fight at any moment.

That was when I finally moved.

Step, step, step.

I walked through the soldiers.

Jenny followed closely behind me.

The allied soldiers stared at me with admiration.

They already knew who I was, and having heard about this operation beforehand, they looked at me with expectation.

If I didn’t start moving first, they couldn’t act either.

Passing through the soldiers, I reached the knights and glanced sideways.

Jenny looked tense, her movements a bit stiff as if nervous.

She was clad from head to toe in heavy armor.

I couldn’t recall exactly when, but it was the armor she had bought after a big success.

It was similar to the armor worn by the knights here — Three-Circle Magic Armor — which could withstand magic and was both sturdy and light.

Because the armor covered her entire body, her eyes were the only visible part, and they trembled slightly.

She must have been very nervous.

“Tense?” I said casually, and she flinched slightly, as if surprised.

“Relax. You’ve gotten strong enough now. You only need to protect me. What’s there to worry about?”

“Yes, yes, Master.”

She was definitely tense — she said “Master,” a word she rarely used except at night.

I placed a hand gently on her shoulder and patted it softly.

After taking a few deep breaths on her own, she finally calmed down, her eyes burning with renewed determination, quite different from before.

“Then, let’s get started.”

I spoke to Berrki, who stood beside me.

He nodded slightly, and I stepped forward a pace ahead of the knights.

Jenny stood beside me.

If we moved just a few more steps, we would enter the archers’ firing range, but even now we were well within the range of the enemy mages.

I smiled faintly and began to initiate the engagement.

“Let’s see how skilled these fourteen mages really are.”

I quickly activated my skills right then and there.

“Fireball, Magic Missile.”

I conjured one in each hand and immediately launched them toward the enemy formation.

Whoosh~! Crack.

The Fireball and Magic Missile cut through the air but vanished upon reaching the enemy lines.

“Oh ho…”

Knowing the enemy mages had dispelled them, I continued unleashing spells in rapid succession.

“Fire Spear, Wind Spear, Rock Spear, Aqua Spear.”

Every time one formed in a hand, I fired it at the enemy front line.

Swoosh!

My magic sliced through the air and disappeared into the enemy formation.

It wasn’t just the spear series spells.

All the magic flying toward the enemy was being wiped out by their mages.

“They’re using Dispel Magic. Let’s see how long they can hold out!”

I smiled with satisfaction and continued casting.

“Rock Burst, Fire Bomb, Magic Missile, Fire Burst.”

My hands moved nonstop.

I continuously fired spears of four different elements, intermittently mixing in Fireballs, Magic Missiles, and Firebolts.

“This is true firepower, you pests!”

My spells painted the sky.

For the first time here, I was casting spells wildly and confidently.

-Skill ‘Fireball’ leveled up.

-Skill ‘Magic Missile’ leveled up.

-Skill ‘Multi-Casting’ leveled up.

Thanks to that, my skill proficiency rapidly increased.

What pleased me the most was not that, but that usually slow-to-level skills were rising as well.

-Skill ‘Transcendent Mana Recovery’ leveled up.

-Skill ‘High Concentration’ leveled up.

It felt like a surge of power was coursing through me, like my Transcendent Mana Recovery was soaring.

“Oh, yes!”

I could feel the amount of magic inside me swelling.

I just kept casting spells.

“Rock Spear.”

A Rock Spear conjured in my left hand flew toward the enemy formation.

“Aqua Spear.”

The next spell wasn’t in my right hand but again in my left.

“Solo?”

Jenny watched anxiously as my magic halved.

But that was because I was preparing the next spell.

Unlike other spells, Four-Circle Magic requires time, so I was using Multi-Casting to prepare the Four-Circle spell with my right hand while continuing to fire spells normally with my left.

“Hmm.”

Several allied knights muttered quietly.

They probably thought my magic was running low.

It wasn’t just our side.

Several enemy mages looked uneasy, lowering their staffs as if relieved.

One mage even vacated his position and retreated toward the rear, where the Marquess was!

“Not stopping now.”

I activated the skill immediately.

“Inferno!”

The spell exploded from my right hand.

Fwoosh!

A fierce wall of flames shot forward, engulfing the entire front line in an instant.

Kuwak!

Ewwak!

“Hot!”

The blaze I unleashed tore through the enemy lines.

The flames swallowed the three knights standing right in front of me, and even the soldiers behind them.

But I didn’t stop there.

“Wind Blade!”

I cast another Four-Circle spell.

Swish, swish, swish.

The wind blades formed in my hands sliced through the soldiers.

“Ah! My arm!”

“My leg!”

The wind blades cut off limbs mercilessly, and many soldiers were unlucky enough to have their necks severed as well.

Just two Four-Circle spells had slightly disrupted the enemy formation.

But it was still impossible for our soldiers to charge in at this point.

I then used the most effective skill from recent battles.

“Lightning Bolt!”

A bolt of lightning shot from my hand, piercing directly into the enemy lines.

Uraaa!

“Gorok!”

The best thing about the Lightning Bolt was its penetration effect.

It could pierce through at least ten soldiers.

Since the soldiers wore iron armor, its effect was all the more devastating.

“Fireball, Lightning Bolt!”

I fired spells again at the enemy, but they vanished before reaching the formation.

The enemy mages had recovered and used Dispel Magic once more.

“Let’s see who can last longer!”

I kept casting skill after skill.

I only used skills under Three-Circle Magic to restrict the mages’ attention solely on me and prevent them from targeting others.

“Advance, all troops!”

While I engaged the mages, the knights apparently felt this was enough and shouted to charge.

Waaaah!

The allied soldiers surged forward past me.

“Charge!”

The opposing side shouted back.

As our soldiers charged, the enemy began to fire arrows in response.

“Raise your shields!”

A knight on our side shouted, and the Shield Bearers in front of the charge lifted their shields high and slanted forward together.

Tok, du-du-du-du.

Arrows poured down like rain on the shields.

The Lakazet Shieldbearers’ shields were quite large, so not only did they protect themselves but also provided cover for the other allied soldiers.

After a barrage of arrows struck the shields, the silence returned, and the Shield Bearers lowered their shields and charged again.

Clack, clack, clack, clack.

The sound of drums came from somewhere as our soldiers advanced, and I kept launching spells without pause.

It seemed the other three allied mages had joined forces, adding one or two more spells targeting the enemy lines.

Kwang!

But maybe because it was too much even for me, or perhaps because enemy mages were being taken out one by one, magic attacks began to land on the enemy formation steadily.

“Ah!”

Kuwaa!

Screams began to rise from the enemy lines as more and more soldiers fell.

“Fire Burst, Magic Missile, Lightning Bolt.”

My spells hit the enemies one after another.

“Ugh, gah, gah!”

Especially the Lightning Bolts, which were remarkably effective, swiftly devastated the enemy formation.

“Kill that one first!”

Someone shouted at me.

At the same time, suddenly arrows flew swiftly overhead.

Shu, shu, shu, swish.

Just as I was about to quickly prepare my defense against the incoming arrows—

Kugugugung!

Shield Bearers suddenly appeared in front of me, raising their shields to protect me.

Tok, du-du-du-du.

The arrows struck the shields right above my head.

I couldn’t help but shudder.

Without them, I might have taken a serious hit.

I waited for the storm of arrows to stop.

When the arrows ceased and the Shield Bearers secured my position again, I immediately launched spells.

“Fireball, Fire Burst!”

The two most powerful spells fell right in the middle of the enemy archers.

Boom, flash!

A huge explosion and a fiery blast swept through the area.

“Charge!”

With the archers’ arrows no longer flying, the knights led the soldiers in a fierce charge at my command.

Our knights began to weave through the enemy soldiers.

The enemy knights couldn’t respond properly to our knights’ activity and stumbled, allowing our soldiers with spears and shields to raid the enemy lines in no time.

“Jenny, follow me and provide cover!”

“Yes, Solo!”

I already felt the tide of battle turning in our favor and dashed forward to deliver the final blow.

Then I immediately used my skills to seize the prime target.

“…Dig.”

A huge hole suddenly opened beneath a knight on horseback, and he plunged down with his horse.

“Huhh!”

Caught off guard by the sudden fall, the knight was bewildered.

I used two spells simultaneously.

“Shield, Fireball.”

A transparent barrier formed around me as I fed the Fireball into my right hand.

Kwang!

The Fireball exploded right in front of the knight’s face.

Puff, puff, bang!

With an enormous blast, the knight’s face armor melted away, and his body slowly collapsed to the ground.

-Level up.

-You have received 5 additional skill points.

This was the first level-up notification I had seen since arriving on this battlefield.