NOVEL NEXT Chapter 169: The ways of the old (part 2)
'Fuck!'
Luan cursed right as the dull pain of falling down on his back squeezed all the air out of his lungs, turning his curse into a fleeting whisper that rode the escaping air.
The young legionnaire's vision darkened, the pain and shock threatening to fully cut his consciousness.
And the moment Luan managed to fight off the pain…
He realized that it had more than just one source.
His eyes moved down, scanning his iconic plate armor that only the cavalry of the elite, golden legion could wear. And against any reason…
It was broken.
In three points, his pristine plates were broken, opened up in three, tiny spots. Two of them marked his stomach while the last one cut straight through his armbrace. The blood trickling out of the gaps in the metal indicated that whatever struck him had reached his body.
'I'm in a shock,' Luan quickly realized, gritting his teeth as he reached out to his belt and grabbed the soldier's crutch.
Then, squeezing his hand and crushing the small bag in it, he ignored the new pain of his pierced flesh and struck his tightened fist against his chest plate.
Tick.
The crystalline structure within the bag shattered, releasing the healing spell hidden within.
"Haaa…" Luan released a long, pained sigh as the magical power rushed into his body to fix and regrow the tissue cut open by whatever struck him.
The moment Luan sighed was also when the shock factor finally dried out, turning their entire unit into a chaotic mess.
'I can't give in to the darkness…' Luan told himself, gritting his teeth as he struggled with the pain that only grew stronger when the healing spell started to work.
It was healing his body, alright, but did nothing to reduce the pain. And the pain…
The pain of using a healing spell was insane. It felt as if Luan could feel every tiniest part of his body being born anew, paying for this miracle with the pain those lost parts of his flesh went through when they died.
'Don't scream, hold it in!'
Following the procedure all the legionaries had to know by heart, Luan gritted his teeth and held back his screams of pain.
He couldn't afford to let this life-saving magic escape through his scream, not while it still hurt. For since it hurt, the crutch was still working its magic.
"Bring him up!" someone's, strangely familiar voice reached Luan's ears. And before he could even realize what was going on, someone grabbed him before bringing him up from the ground.
'Wait, why are we stationary?' Balancing the line between staying awake and giving in to the overwhelming exhaustion that started to replace the pain by now, Luan struggled to process even the simplest things.
"Soldier!"
This time, Luan recognized the voice. It was the very same voice that he complained about bothering them to Carl, just a few moments before.
'Why are we stationary…'
"I know it hurts, but I need a report."
'Why are we standing still…'
"What happened here?"
Sir Major asked, going as far as to put his hand out and rest it on Luan's shoulder.
"Move…"
Luan managed to squeeze a single word out of his tightened throat.
The major's escorts stepped up, openly grasping at the handles of their swords.
'Just who is he to shoo Major away?'
Despite his state, Luan couldn't hold himself back from an inner remark.
"Artillery spell," Luan then spoke again after taking a deep breath and gathering as much strength as he could.
In just a few more moments, the crutch would finish the job and restore him back to the original state, along with all the vitality and energy he had before the attack.
But Luan already went through a situation like this. All the way back in the last campaign, when his legion laid siege to the Lunagar forces, the mighty keep that held an important trading route in check.
It was back then when Luan experienced the might of the legendary artillery spells. And while the attack he saw just now was obviously different…
"We are under fire!" Luan finally managed to squeeze out the most important part of the report.
"But by whom?" Major asked, turning his face away from his recovering soldier and looking over in the direction they were heading.
"Maybe the mercs rebelled?" one of the higher-ranking officers surrounding the major came up with a suggestion. "They have Cessayah and Ramirez, not to speak about that Moretto guy," the officer mentioned, looking in the same direction as the major before turning his eyes to look at his commander instead.
"And what would they do that for?" the major asked, only to shake his head. "What's important, is that we are sitting ducks here, we need to…"
*BOOM*
Another explosion shook the air, right as a cone of fresh fire swallowed two raiders while the shockwave sent three more flying off their saddles.
'Wait, that's not it…' Luan thought, his keen senses starting to return to their usual state.
And it was with his own eyes that he saw thin lines of blood drawn along the route his companions made on their path to falling down to the ground.
Luan then looked down, at his already near perfectly recovered body.
There was still this tingling, sharp pain deep in his abdomen... But right now, he had no time to care for it.
"BARRIERS!" Major screamed out, ignoring the procedure of passing the order to his acting officer who would then pass it over to the sergeants. "RAISE YOUR BARRIERS!"
Shaking with excitement only a soldier would know, Sir Major turned towards where the spells appeared to come from and clasped his hands together while making a small "han!" noise.
In a single second, the air around the officer flickered, distorting the image of the man and all those around him. A mere second later, the air cleared out as the barrier of its magically solidified form enveloped the officer before collapsing inwards to tightly cover the man's flesh and clothes.
'Barriers, right,' still shaken by the recovery, Luan followed the order and clasped his hands, sending the mana from his body through the memory circuits ingrained into the palms of his hands.
His barrier was an entire class or two worse than what the major could construct, retaining its original, spherical shape.
And not a second too late, yet another artillery spell came, instantly shattering the half-formed barrier of a soldier ahead, showering the surroundings with flames and shocking waves… and small, tiny pieces of something red.
"Huh?"
While all the soldiers around scrambled to raise their barriers and get back into formation, Luan kneeled down and looked closer to the ground.
There, a small piece of metal was quickly losing its temperature, cooling down in the winds and turning from the red that Luan noticed to the simple, ordinary shard of some sort of metal that it actually was.
'How devious,' Luan thought, before shaking his head and jumping back to his feet.
Everyone around him was almost ready to rush away from the strike zone of the artillery spell. And Luan had no designs on staying back in the kill zone all on his own.
"This is nothing like Lunagar!" Sir Major shouted, already mounted atop his massive horse. "We have all this open space ahead, so what are you still doing here?!"
As unreal as it sounded, Luan could swear he could hear notes of unrest in the major's voice. Something he could notice only thanks to how his thoughts were still muddled, still recovering from the brutal kick of the crutch he used.
And so, when the major pulled out his saber and slashed it forward, giving the silent order to charge ahead… Luan could see it.
The fear flashed in the powerful veteran's eyes.
But when the mass of just shy of five hundred cavalrymen began to move, there was nothing else Luan could do but to fall in line and follow.
Artillery spells were near the pinnacle of all human magic, just a grade below supreme magic and two grades below divine. And for how powerful it was, it also came with important drawbacks.
"Without rest! Jump ahead!" Sir Major shouted, digging his heels into the sides of his mount.
An artillery spell was as powerful as hard it was to cast. And for how hard it was to aim it the further away one wanted to send the attack, the best bet against it was to simply move outside of the designed strike zone.
A tactic impossible to perform on the narrow slope that led up to the Lunagar's fortress main gate. But one that was as easy as spitting down on the open plain they were at right now!