Steel and Mana

"Are you sure about this, Merlin?" I asked as we were having a meeting in my tent, and he repeated everything he had discovered within the past 24 hours.

"100%, My Sovereign!" Although he was standing on a box to be leveled with us and the tall table, nobody looked at him as a kid at that moment. "I was analyzing those magical pulses, thinking what they could have been. Then, it suddenly made sense! I could feel my mana replicate it and align with its function!"

With a clap, a small formation appeared behind his back, and although I didn't feel it, I was sure those same waves were going out from his body. Even without him saying it, I came to the same conclusion... they were using a magical radar of some sort.

"I am fairly certain, my lord, that we are dealing with some kind of scouting spell! When I use it, I can pinpoint anybody in the camp and know with every pulse where they are, even if they are moving!"

"So we were discovered..." I grunted, biting my lips, and truly happy that I had brought this little genius with me. "We will need to change camp and relocate!"

"My version of the spell is only working on a very short distance as I am yet to perfect it, but going by how their version was, I am sure their range is way above what we can imagine! Even if we change locations, they will have to simply run it again to come and find us."

"Can we counter it? Any ideas?" Oleg asked, watching Merlin think, but he was visibly flustered and unsure.

"I am still not certain how it works. I just let my magic attune itself to the pulse I was feeling and replicated it..."

"It is probably like radar." I answered my General's question, condensing what I knew for Merlin before he could raise a hand, "Think of it as something that sends out magical waves, which travel through the air until they encounter an object. These ripples bounce back to the radar receiver when they hit a target. In this case, this receiver is you, Merlin. By measuring the time it takes for the waves to return and analyzing the changes in their frequency and phase, radars can determine the object's distance, speed, and direction. This is the main idea behind it, and if you are right about it, their version has to work by following the same principle."

"Um, um! I see! Then if..." There it was; his brain was already in overdrive, implementing what I had just told him. "Sorry..." He stopped, looking up at me with a dejected expression. "I know too little about how it really works, what type of different spells make it up... I can't think of anything yet..."

"I would have thought you are Wyland, The God of Magic himself, if you did!" I added with a laugh, making him blush while the others in the tent also let out low chuckles. "It is enough that we know what we do! Otherwise, we would be sitting ducks... We will have to break up the camp!"

"Are we going to spread out?" Oleg asked, making me nod.

"We will make it so that we will be a challenging target. Would they waste shooting at single individuals or target the city instead? But that is not all; we must get into the city as soon as possible and begin extracting our people before the ship returns. They came, mapped their target, and retreated to gather their forces... whatever they thought up, I don't want to be here when it happens!"

"About that..." Oleg groaned, rubbing his head, and I knew exactly why, "I don't like the plan, My Lord."

"I know, but you will come with me anyway, so it is too late to argue! Not that you can. I am your Sovereign, after all!" I answered with a grin.

Getting in was not the hard part; instead, it was getting back out. So we needed a diversion. Luckily, we didn't come empty-handed. We had two smaller, hand-cannon versions of the Dragonfire with us. These were less capable than the ones we used to kill the behemoth, but they would still be helpful. The only downside is that after one or two shots, these would deform, no matter what, and become useless. Besides those, we brought a handful of mines along, which I was most keen on using. My plan was straightforward: Get in, place the mines down at the other end of the city, and when they go off, drawing the guards' attention, we can slip away. Theoretically speaking.

"We are going to be swift." I continued, looking at everyone present. "We will retreat at once. If we are followed, use the Dragonfire to blast our pursuers as we fall back."

"I don't understand why you need to sneak into the city with us for that, My Lord." Oleg protested, trying to make me change my mind about it.

"You sound like my mother... Because I want to go. Simple as that. Enough! Let's discuss our positions and how to spread out! When the firecrackers go off..." I continued explaining where we were expected to regroup after escaping.

Of course, hoping everything would go as planned would have been a lot to ask... and life likes to throw curveballs at us.

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At first, everything went smoothly. The weather was on our side because the night was dark, and the heavy rain obstructed most noises and our figures moving around. We followed Yuri's notes, arriving at the walls at the exact moment when her girls were there to patrol. Getting in was indeed easy with the throwing ropes down and helping us scale the walls.

"Didn't expect to see you here!" Yuri grinned when we finally met in the cellar of her hideout, and before I could answer, she was already on me, hand in my pants while kissing me passionately.

"L-later!" I groaned, finally managing to push her off of me. "Trust me, I am just as glad, but we have little time to gather everything and leave!"

"Um, um!" Merlin nodded, looking at us with a flushed face, standing beside Oleg.

"I know, I know!" Yuri answered with a shrug, looking at Oleg, who was already opening his backpack and handing out the stone tablets with the explosive formations on them. "I assume this is why the pipsqueak is here?"

"Yes!" He nodded, pouting after being called that, "These people are not monsters, so they won't trigger the formation simply by their presence! I already modified them so they have a timing spell engraved into them. Here are the charged CCs! It's best to get moving after you slot them into the hole in the middle! All of them are set to go live and explode around 15 minutes after you put it in."

"You heard him! We will have to get moving after the first one goes off, and in the confusion, we slip away!" I added, handing out the pebble-sized CC to everyone as we were ready to head out and stealthily place them on the other side of the city.

I can't lie; I felt excited and happy. Was it something from my previous life? A little bit of adrenaline addiction rearing its ugly head? Possibly. I didn't know I was missing this, but hell... I was. Yet, before I could open my mouth again, a loud, deep call reverberated all around us, followed by sounds of loud explosions.

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"Weird..." Nahl murmured, standing in the Imaginary, his words echoing within Kustov's mind just the same. "The group in the forest has changed. They are fewer in number, and there is no longer a mage with them. I guess they realized the feeling was coming from us? Heh, they are not braindead after all!"

"..." Kustov wanted to say many things, including that this was Nahl's fault, but he would have refused to acknowledge it anyway.

"No matter. The Gods are on our side as the weather masks our arrival! We will fly in and drop the soldiers while blasting our cannons like the symphony of slaughter, ahaha! Let death rain from the skies!"

Those on board were picked up from the noble armies at the new border and were told that their mission would be simple. They were about to be dropped in to attack the strange weapon in the middle of the city before the Justice could pick them back up. On paper, this was a critical mission, and while they worked to sabotage the enemy, the ship would be above them, bombarding the enemy troops and providing its full support.

Of course, this was nothing but a lie. Nahl and Kustov never intended to stay for long. They simply wanted to cause wanton destruction and kill as many as possible before the ship's shields failed, forcing them to retreat. As for why? Nahl would not say, but Kustov knew enough. He heard the stories from the high-ranking nobles and how one of the Empire's mages was so hideous that nobody wanted to work with him. The reason? He could raise and control the dead while finding pleasure in the suffering of others.

"At least the Gods are looking out for us..." Kustov whispered, standing on the deck, holding the control wheel while wild winds were blowing and cold rains splashing against his thick jacket.

They were going fast and already past their previous position, using the storm as a cover. It was at that time when Kustov audibly cursed as the ship's warhorn began blasting at full force, accompanied by the roars of its cannons in the front, firing at full force without his orders. He knew full well it was Nahl's doing which endangered the ship and made the landing of the soldiers even harder.

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We were watching from the streets when the second salvo occurred. The western walls were blasted apart, and multiple houses caught on fire at once while from the sky, soldiers began falling down, a flicker of blue magic circle flashing before they landed, slowing their fall at the last moment. It was the first time I witnessed this world's paratroopers, and I was surprised at how they utilized the anti-gravity spells. I was suddenly thinking about how they did it? Was it an artifact, or was the spell operated by the ship? Probably the latter, hm...

"What now?" Oleg asked, placing his hand on my shoulders, making me jolt.

"Well... that's it for our distraction. Now, we will use the mines to cover our retreat instead! Let's head to the walls and slip away while this nonsense continues!"

Nobody argued against it, and our group began heading towards the same wall we had come in, closest to the forest. Of course, thanks to the chaos, we ran into a group of Scorc warriors, and I didn't need to give any orders. Oleg and Yuri worked together as a team as my soldiers simply bodied the enemy. It was that moment when I finally noticed the physical difference between my men and the Kingdom's bastards.

Oleg and the rest were all 200 centimeters tall at a minimum, paired with a bulky body, which I was already used to. What I forgot was that it was not the norm as the enemy warriors were around my height, between 180 and 190 centimeters or so... and they were half the size in their weight. I watched as one of my men simply grabbed and threw a guy in chainmail armor to the ground before bashing his head in with a war hammer. Damn. It was an especially stark contrast watching them when they worked with Yuri's gang, who were thin, petite women dancing in the tight spaces between houses, slitting throats and joints like some kind of ballerina of death.

"You good?" I asked, looking at Merlin, who was standing beside me while a few other soldiers were guarding the rear.

"Yes." He answered, furrowing his brows, "I feel... I feel as if this is not something new... I can't... tell."

So his previous life did include some battles, huh? No wonder he was this unfazed about all that was happening around us. Well, that didn't last long because Merlin snapped his head toward the city center just as we had dispatched the group we ran into. I instinctively followed his gaze and managed to capture half of a golden magic circle appearing in the sky before I had to avert my eyes, or it would have blinded me.

Without a sound or a shockwave, a beam of light burst out from the top of the obelisk, built by the enslaved people, and it went straight towards the Justice, flying above us, constantly bombarding the city. When it hit, purple energy shields appeared around the ship, like a cocoon, absorbing the bright energy but not without a consequence.

We watched while Roria, in its entirety, was illuminated like it was midday, and the ship in the sky was being lifted upwards and rocked heavily, just as if it hit a giant wave in the ocean. When the glow died down, the shields were still holding, but the ship itself was rocking back and forth, trying to stabilize itself, its cannons going silent.

"Did you catch it...?" I gulped, asking Merlin who was holding his chest.

"Not much, My Lord... My magic almost resonated with it! I almost lost control!" He exclaimed, looking pale and troubled, fighting with everything he had to hold back his powers.

"When they fire again... let it loose! I had a sudden idea...."