Chapter 32: Night Ambush

As I cast the Light Magic, I saw the enemy’s formation.

All of them had their faces painted black and wore light leather armor.

Even their swords were painted black, preventing any reflection, making their camouflage almost perfect.

Their numbers exceeded two hundred.

The fact that none of our Allied Soldiers detected them as they approached here spoke volumes about their capability.

“Attack!”

Having been spotted, they launched their assault without hesitation.

“Kuh, k-wak!”

The enemies swiftly closed in and attacked the nearby Soldiers.

It didn’t seem like they were simply trying to reduce our Soldier count—they moved only in one direction, killing every Allied Soldier blocking their path.

The first to rush at such foes were our Allied Knights.

Without proper armor, armed only with swords, they saw the brightly shining Light Magic and pinpointed the enemy’s direction before charging headlong.

The Soldiers followed behind the Knights.

The Soldiers were barely equipped—no proper armor, just weapons in hand, trailing after the Knights.

The enemy abandoned their own formation and ran toward one side, where the Allied Knights and Soldiers engaged them in battle.

Watching this, I could feel one thing clearly.

“What? They’re heading this way?”

The enemy was charging directly toward me.

No, I was certain.

They were targeting none other than me.

“Ugh, what a pain.”

I hurriedly slipped out from under my tent.

Then, I ran in the opposite direction of the approaching enemy.

“Moving over there!”

Someone from the enemy shouted, and they turned their direction toward me.

Faced with those blatantly charging at me, there was only one thing I could do.

“Lightning Bolt.”

Two streaks of lightning shot from my hands, piercing through the enemies.

“Kraaagh!”

“Uuugh!”

The enemies foolishly threw themselves at me; by just immobilizing them, I had already done all I needed to do.

The rest would be handled by the Allied Knights and Soldiers.

I put my fingers to my lips and whistled.

Wheeeek!

The whistle called my beloved pet, Toma, who galloped over from afar.

Clack clack clack.

I jumped onto Toma as he ran, lightly kicking his flank to adjust direction.

It was precisely the direction from which the enemy charged.

Thud thud thud thud.

On Toma’s back, I prepared my spells in both hands.

I unleashed them toward the enemy.

“Fire Spear, Ice Spear.”

Powerful area spells had to be controlled carefully.

One wrong move could wipe out our own forces as well.

Thinking this, Lightning Bolt was also a bit risky, but that was already in the past.

“Toma, go!”

I weaved through them cautiously, sending spells behind us.

“Dig.”

The Dig Magic I invested much mana into created a massive hole where Toma and I had passed.

***

No matter how much Light Magic illuminated the surroundings, it wasn’t like broad daylight where everything was perfectly visible.

Several enemy Soldiers naturally fell into the hole.

“Wow, haven’t even cut their numbers in half yet?”

However, because of the reckless enemies trailing behind, our front line was already in chaos.

The Allied Soldiers in the front were all awake and alert, and the Knights moved busily.

I scanned the area with detection magic.

There were no additional enemy forces arriving.

Instead, I saw Allied Soldiers slowly surrounding the enemy Soldiers around me.

The encirclement was tightening.

I gradually stopped Toma and turned around.

Enemies were still frantically charging at me.

But that didn’t last long.

All at once, fully armed Allied Soldiers surrounded them.

“You are surrounded. I advise you to surrender.”

A Knight spoke.

Yet the enemy Soldiers didn’t surrender willingly.

Rather, showing determination to get to me at any cost, they relentlessly swung their swords at the Allied Soldiers.

In the end, they all died right there.

With the enemy suppressed, only silence remained.

“Hurry and clean this up. And if there are any Allied bodies in the direction they came from, make sure to recover them.”

The Count himself gave the orders.

Only then did the Soldiers move.

The Count and I stayed behind.

“They targeted you. And at that—launching a surprise attack right at the border.”

“I didn’t expect that either.”

“Still, Baron Solo, you’re impressive. How did you know?”

“It was a spell I cast half-asleep. Mercenary work often means danger at dawn.”

“That experience saved your life.”

The Count nodded, acknowledging my words.

Then, telling me to rest as he reinforced the guards, he hurried off.

I returned to the tent.

Despite the commotion outside, Jenny was sleeping soundly.

“Impressive, truly impressive.”

I nestled into Jenny’s embrace, who was sleeping peacefully.

Perhaps from exhaustion, I quickly fell asleep.

***

The next morning, enemy movement was detected.

Boom!

Unexpectedly, a spell landed in the middle of our formation.

“Kill them!”

The enemy shouted a charge and attacked.

Unlike yesterday’s coordinated formation, this was a reckless, brute-force assault.

Surprisingly, enemy numbers had increased overnight.

Originally, there should have been just over three thousand Soldiers.

Among the eight thousand strong, half had become cold corpses on the battlefield, and after excluding five hundred hostages and two hundred who carried out last night’s ambush, only about 3,300 remained.

However, reinforcements from the rear had crossed the forest overnight and joined the enemy forces, bringing the total attacking strength to around five thousand.

Knights were also in the thick of it, numbering twenty on each side.

Waaaah!

As Knights clashed in the middle of the battlefield, Soldiers began fighting behind them.

The battlefield turned chaotic instantly, and I hurriedly joined, unleashing spells.

“Fireball, Magic Missile, Ice Spear, Rock Spear.”

I randomly cast spells toward the enemy.

But I didn’t stop there.

“Lightning Bolt, Grease, Stone Edge, Aqua Spear, Fire Bolt.”

Excluding 4 Circle Magic, which takes time to activate, I summoned all the magic I could muster.

Shuwooong!

My spells tore through the air, fiercely striking the enemy formation.

But the alert I expected did not appear.

“Haaa… are you waiting for me?”

All the magic disappeared into thin air before hitting anything.

Not a single one remained.

It was the same as yesterday.

The only difference was that, far off in the distance, some enemy Soldiers were slowly approaching me.

After the dawn attack and now this, it seemed they were deliberately targeting me.

“What a damn nuisance.”

I was slightly irritated.

It’s frustrating enough to be blocked just when I need to accumulate experience points, and now even Soldiers are bothering me.

But unlike last night, today I felt more confident.

“Jenny, cover me.”

“Yes, Solo!”

Unlike at dawn, Jenny now stood firmly by my side, fully armed.

Not even Knights of ordinary rank would be enough—Jenny alone was more than capable of fighting.

I stepped back behind Jenny and used spells.

“Rock Burst, Fog, Darkness, Fire Spear!”

My spells flew toward the enemy formation.

“Dispel Magic.”

A voice came from the enemy formation, canceling my spells.

“All right, let’s do this again today.”

The enemy Mages struck once more.

Although I had more mana than them, one round of training obviously wasn’t enough.

So I was ready to show them once again who was superior.

“Magic Missile, Fire Bolt, Magic Missile, Fireball.”

I enthusiastically cast spells from behind.

Continuously launching various spells until the enemy Mages faltered.

“Die, Mage!”

“If I kill you, my family’s future changes!”

“I can be a Knight, too!”

“Haak, haak, Knight!”

While I was firing off spells, enemy Soldiers shouted such things as they advanced toward me.

But most were killed by Allied Soldiers before reaching me.

Those who managed to approach only extended their lives briefly before quickly falling to Jenny’s blade.

“No one can get close to Solo!”

Jenny deeply regretted not protecting me last night.

Grateful I survived, she kneeled and apologized profusely.

I calmed her down and kept her here, but maybe because of that, she was extraordinarily vicious from the start.

Swish, thud.

The combination of swift movements and quick swordplay suited her perfectly, producing tremendous power.

Even now, two Soldiers tried to approach.

One’s neck was cut, collapsing instantly; the other took a large gaping wound in the chest, bleeding out before falling.

More Soldiers continued to approach.

But none could touch even the edge of my robe, all dealt with by Jenny’s frontline.

Meanwhile, the mana battle between me and the enemy Mages was nearing its end.

“Lightning Bolt, Fireball.”

Lightning Bolt vanished into thin air, but Fireball landed squarely in the enemy formation.

Boom!

“Uuagh!”

My Fireball struck where many enemy archers were gathered.

An alert window popped up, proving the huge number of enemies fallen.

-Level up.

-You have acquired 5 additional skill points.

I rejoiced at the message.

I had defeated enemy Mages and leveled up.

“Jenny! Let’s go. Cover me!”

“Yes, Solo.”

“Haste, Strength!”

I cast the two skills that I could immediately, boosting Jenny’s abilities.

Then I charged toward the enemy formation, holding my sword in one hand for the first time in a while.

This time, I planned to show exactly who I was.

Jenny and I charged forward, swinging our swords.

Swish, swish!

Two Soldiers fell dead, their necks cut by our blades.

“There! There’s the Mage!”

A shout came from the enemy as I moved.

Instead of replying, I cast spells toward the source of the shout.

“Fire Spear, Ice Spear.”

The two spears pierced through the shouting Soldier’s body.

Thud thud thud thud.

Horse hooves came from nearby, so I cast another spell.

“Grease.”

In an instant, the ground’s friction coefficient dropped to zero, causing the charging horse and its Knight to slip and fall sideways.

Crash!

Because the Knight fell first, then the horse landed on top, both died instantly.

I didn’t stop and continued charging into the heart of the battlefield.

With every swing of our swords, two or three enemies fell, and countless more died to my magical skills.

Was it because I was working hard?

A huge reward came my way.

-You have become a Five Circle Mage.

Though it was just a single notification, it was wonderful news for me.

Along with that, the sound of a horn announced the enemy’s retreat order across the battlefield.

It was a victory for the Allies.