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CHAPTER 304 The Battle of Spells and Steel
297 AC
POV THIRD PERSON
Amidst the chaos and carnage, the Vale men found themselves ensnared inside the gate. They were not able to break the mountain men's ranks. The Vale's ranks faltered under the relentless assault of mountain men armed with Aermir's enchanted weapons and armor. The strategic positioning of the mountain men further compounded their predicament, turning the tide of battle against them.
They were beset on all sides by a relentless onslaught. Arrows whistled through the air from the wall and rooftops, finding their marks amidst the chaos. Stones and javelins rained down upon them, adding to the cacophony of battle.
With each passing moment, the situation grew increasingly dire. Those pushed back toward the gate found themselves confronted with a merciless wall of flame, their only path to retreat engulfed in searing heat.
Amidst the chaos, the ferocious onslaught of Sith and Artio added to their woes, their deadly claws and fangs claiming lives with ruthless efficiency as the Vale soldiers were pushed toward the fire.
Artio exchanged a playful glance with Sith, a smirk tugging at her lips. "Big sis Sith, I am killing more than you, Ahahah," she boasted, her voice filled with mirth despite the surrounding violence.
Before Sith could respond, a Vale knight lunged forward, aiming a spear at Artio's head with lethal intent. However, thanks to their innate defenses and the protective enchantments bestowed upon them by Aermir, the blow was deflected, albeit with a jarring impact.
Artio winced at the force of the strike, her expression twisting in pain. "Ouch! You bad man! It hurts!" she growled in frustration, her temper flaring. In response to the attack, Artio retaliated swiftly, her massive claws slicing through the air. With a single swipe, she severed the knight's head from his shoulders, the force of the blow sending his helmet, with his head still encased inside, hurtling into the distance.
The gruesome spectacle served as a grim reminder of her brutality. She might sound like an innocent child since she was still young, but that child was inside the body of a monster. Sith's frustration simmered as she found herself steadily falling back in kill numbers as the battle continued. Unable to fully unleash her formidable strength in her true form without risking exposure to Aermir's identity as the Druid, she had to make some sacrifice from her pride.
Utilizing the miniaturization spell, Sith diminished her size to a mere 1.20 meters at shoulder height, akin to that of a tiger, significantly smaller than her usual majestic stature of 2.5 meters, towering over most horses. Despite the reduction in size, her ferocity remained. With razor-sharp claws and a powerful bite, Sith tore through men encased in plate armor effortlessly, leaving a gruesome trail of carnage in her wake.
...
Thorn and Ravenna bowed before Aermir, and Ravenna said, "Please, my lord, allow us to fight too." Aermir turned towards Berus with a solemn gaze. "Protect Thorn and Ravenna. Let them engage until their mana wanes, then escort them to safety within the Keep." He retrieved Imu from his shirt, addressing the creature firmly. "Guard the walls; prevent any foes from scaling them."
Before Thorn and Ravenna, Imu underwent a remarkable transformation, swelling to a formidable height of 10 meters, and he was almost as thick as a human. Emitting a piercing hiss, Imu enveloped himself in dense stone armor, a testament to the extensive training it had undergone alongside Aermir. Since he was always with Aermir, constant exposure to the infinite training space had honed Imu's abilities, enabling it to manifest a new application of his magic.
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Meanwhile, Aermir diligently utilized every moment within the infinite training space, refining his mastery of elemental magic. Since Rickon had successfully crafted his mana heart, Aermir had dedicated himself to the development of many level 1 spells for each elemental affinity.
...
Imu, towering over the walls like a guardian sentinel, wielded its tail. With a sweeping motion, it lashed out, sending ladders and grappling hooks tumbling from the walls. Each swat of Imu's tail sent the invaders scrambling, their ascent halted by the relentless barrage of stones from the towering creature. Imu would fling his tail like a whip and cause his armor to shatter into many small stones raining down on the Vale soldiers. He would renew his stone armor and continue doing this. The Vale soldiers, attempting to gain a foothold in the fortress, were thwarted by Imu's defense; their attempts to scale the walls were a failure.
...
Thorn and Ravenna started unleashing their spells upon the Vale forces. They were using the new level 1 spells Aermir developed. Since he had more magical knowledge and practice, he created more powerful level 1 spells than the ones he used at that level.
Thorn conjured fiery bolts, each one searing through the air with deadly accuracy, killing 1-5 soldiers depending on their proximity to each other. He was aiming at locations with more soldiers.
"Perzys Drēgōn(Fire Bolt)!" Thorn roared, casting forth a blazing projectile that streaked toward the advancing soldiers, engulfing them in flames. This spell was really similar to the fireball spell Aermi used, but the projectile traveled at least two times faster and used a bit less mana.
Beside him, Ravenna called upon the earth. "Pryjagon Skoros(Stone Darts)!" she shouted. Tens of small, sharp stones, a little bigger than fingers, were raised from the ground. Sending sharpened stone fragments hurtling toward their foes. The stones rained down from the walls. The soldiers tried to hide behind their shields, but not all were lucky. The spell had a bigger area of effect than a fire bolt, but it was not as deadly. Most of those who were hit were wounded but not dead.
The Vale soldiers, undeterred by the onslaught, pressed forward, their ranks bolstered by sheer numbers, but a sense of fear rippled through their ranks, spurred on by the formidable presence of Aermir and Imu looming above.
On the other east side of the castle, Aermir was holding more than 3,000 men away from the walls. The remaining mountain men's army defended the remaining two walls, but most of them were still in front of the gate, fighting against the trapped soldiers. Only around 2,000 Vale soldiers remained inside the walls, and the mountain army had lost around a hundred men.
The western wall, which was protected by the mountain clans, could not hold the attacks anymore, and Vale's forces started to climb onto the wall. As they gained a foothold, their forces attacked Thorn and Ravenna. Berus, tasked with protecting Thorn and Ravenna, fought ferociously. Berus was powerful; if they aimed for him, Berus could kill all of them, but they were going for the young druids. There were too many of them, and he couldn't hold back the tide of invaders.
Seeing what was happening on the other side, Aermir shouted, "Imu, defend the west wall!" his voice rang out above the din of battle. "Don't let them reach Thorn and Ravenna!"
Responding to his master's call, Imu dived into the walls and traveled toward the young druids in a matter of seconds, passing under all the soldiers who were fighting. He emerged right between the Vale forces and the druids. Imu unleashed a shrill hiss as he whipped his tail towards the Vale forces, killing some of them and pushing most of them down the wall, preventing the Vale soldiers from gaining a foothold near Thorn and Ravenna.
Thorn and Ravenna continued to cast one spell after another. Thorn aimed his hand toward the charging knights and shouted, "Dāezagon Ondagon (Ember Spray)." This created a brief spray of intensely burning embers in a cone-shaped 2-meter area. The embers showered the charging knights with intense flames, turning their full-plate armor into an oven. They screamed in pain as they were cooked alive. This spell cost him a bit too much mana since it was a constant channel.
Two of them continued to cast spells one after another. Their mana dwindled, but they continued to unleash devastation upon their foes. With each incantation, burst of flame, or shower of stones, they pushed back against the encroaching tide without giving up. Seeing this, Aermir was content with their mettle; they might not be as talented as Rickon and Dacey, but they at least had guts and didn't run away when the wall was breached.
But as the night wore on and their energy waned, the Vale forces redoubled their efforts, their relentless assault taking its toll on them. As they felt like they were being pushed back, they saw a freezing air spread through the part of the wall that the Vale forces were coming up. In a matter of minutes, the temperature dropped massively, and Vale forces were having a hard time even holding onto their weapons.
...
After sending another poison breath and exploding it with some fire spells, Aermir turned around and looked at Thorn and Ravenna to see how they were doing. Aermir could see they were spent. Now that his druids had earned some experience fighting a battle, it was time for Aermir to go all out.
In a field battle with all of his familiars, Aermir was only confident of beating around 2-3 thousand soldiers, but when it came to defending a castle, he was confident that he could beat five times that number by himself. Until now, Aermir has only been using basic level 4 and 5 area-of-effect spells. He raised his arms and shouted, "Suvion Caligo (Icy Mist)."