The barrier dome was visible for longstrides around and the strike force zeroed in on it immediately. Steelds flushed with Elemental energy kicked off against the ground, propelling itself and its riders several times faster than their normal speed.

Dust kicked up from the pounding hooves hung in the air, and the riders at the back had to cast spells that filtered the air to stop themselves from coughing their lungs out. Above, the Ib’honara scouts flew in lazy circles, while Message spells cast towards the commander happened every ten minutes or so.

The rush from Greyith Fortress to the backwoods of the Virtalla Region, a distance of twenty leagues, give or take another league, would have taken a couple of hours, at least, but with the headlong, careless rush, made by a troop of Steeld cavalry mounted by Magi of at least the Apprentice Elemental Heart level, and led by a veteran True Magus? They made the battlefield in slightly less than an hour, and the sight of the arrogant display, one made with not a care for the local defenders, stirred Monica Coinoch’s wrath into a burning inferno.

And, considering her Affinity was strongly of the Fire variety, that image almost became reality as a corona of Fire Elemental energy wafted from her uniform. Still, they needed all the concentrated Elemental energy the brigade could harness to punch through the offensive barrier.

Cillian's old subordinate, the Ib'honara scout, Adan Ortiz, flew down and glided next to her Steeld. She could just as easily use her own flight spell but she couldn't spare the focus.

"Report."

"Professor Davar is currently engaged with the enemy. She has all of their attention and none of their reserves or scouts have taken note of us…" he frowned and tilted his head. "Correction, the 7th Brigade has been spotted by opposing sky watchers."

"It's too late to worry about them now," Monica said grimly. "Fend off attacks from above." She touched one of the tools arrayed in front of her saddle and activated it. "Begin the siege spell, Barrier Burst."

As the 7th Brigade galloped towards the barrier, Monica and the other Magi, about three hundred who were at the Journeyman level, plus a dozen Magi, and a single Advanced Magus who was her second-in-command, began casting. The Bresian army’s siege spells didn’t require a specific positioning amongst the casters, but each one needed to use a specially tuned spell activation tool, most of which were embedded in their saddles.

Being a Fire Magus, Monica’s siege spell took on that Element. Great gouts of Elemental Fire coalesced above them, obscuring the skies, and acting as a secondary shield against attacks from above. The drone of their murmuring voices wove into a seamless symphony of power, Resonating with the Elements, and converting all of it into a cycle that continued to increase the primary Element.

Finally, their advance remained unanswered as they closed in. The sporadic attacks from their aerial scouts easily deflected.

Monica wove the gathered energies into a large spear that hovered above the brigade. She compressed certain portions of it, the spell designed to pierce a barrier, then explode while embedded. “Release in three…two…one… Strike!” Her voice reverberated across the entire brigade, and the casters made the sigil to attack.

The Barrier Breaking Lance shot out from their midst, roughly fifty paces long, and several inches thick. The point drove into the barrier, and the resistance was practically non-existent. Monica blinked in surprise before she guffawed, “The fools didn’t think they’d be struck from outside!”

The barrier was faced entirely inward and sought to contain Professor Davar. A glimmer of worry ran over Monica’s heart. Did she survive? Was she captured?

The lance point sank inside the barrier but stopped before it could enter the space within. All of the Fire Elemental energies contained by the shaft and outer part of the spearhead compressed into the point, turning it into an orb that was several paces wide. The surface of the barrier bubbled, looking as though it was a head with a large contusion.

A moment later, the contained Fire Elemental energies burst, spread across the entirety of the barrier’s weave, and overloaded the spell circles comprising it.

The barrier shattered like an eggshell, only to reveal a smaller barrier within, this one oriented properly to defend against outside attacks. And it was clear why the enemy battalion had not been able to react to the 7th Brigade’s assault.

The interior barrier rippled as it struggled to keep out volley after volley of golden arrows cast by the beautiful Professor Davar, who hovered in the air and showered down her wrath like a vengeful goddess. Any counterattack from the battalion was easily swept away by the same golden weapons, or she simply flew out of the way.

The shattering of the outer barrier caused the professor to pause for a slight moment, but she continued to bombard the battalion’s shield. Monica could see the empire’s signature Control Field surrounding them, could even feel it wrest control of the brigade’s siege spellcasting, but the casters activated the republic’s countermeasure. Monica flipped a switch on her Steeld, right next to the resonance-enhancing device. It altered the frequency of the resonating Elements, allowing for a slight resistance to the empire’s Control. It was just enough that the Elements continued to answer the republic magi’s call, and all that was needed to fight back.

“Ready a second siege spell,” Monica said urgently and began to cast the necessary nodes. A heartbeat later, the rest of the brigade’s magi followed suit.

All the while, Professor Davar continued her bombardment, and while the barrier showed no signs of cracking, the ripples crossing its surface grew evermore violent.

The casting of the siege spell took several minutes, and it felt as though time slowed down like dripping molasses. Monica’s brow was dripping with nervous sweat as the battalion had not just hunkered down while Professor Davar laid down suppressive fire. Projectiles from within the barrier passed through its threshold as if it weren’t there, and struck at the professor. Some were aimed at the brigade, and she lost some soldiers. Most were just wounded, knocked unconscious, or otherwise crippled, but she saw a dozen killed outright. Seething with anger, she could do little as any other action besides casting the spell would only result in more casualties.

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At last the siege spell completed and was flung at the barrier. At the same time, Professor Davar unleashed a brightly glowing golden spear. They were aimed at the same point, their efforts coordinated by Monica’s second. The golden spear struck first, and the monstrous ripples meant that the barrier breaker struck when the defences were at their weakest.

The Fire Lance broke through and shattered the barrier, only to reveal a foe that was more than ready to retaliate.

An equal number of soldiers rushed towards the brigade’s position, but they were infantry to Monica’s Steeld cavalry. They clashed directly, and the Arcana-drive, mechanical steeds mowed through their forces. Not all went through unharmed, of course, but the losses were bearable considering the number of foes.

The battalion’s gunnery crews focused fire on Professor Davar, who inexplicably moved towards the brigade, taking the hits as they came and shrugging them off nonchalantly. When she was above the brigade, her light flashed and covered the entirety of the army.

“Attack, I will support,” Yuriko Davar’s voice whispered in Monica’s ear, and from how her staff startled, she spoke the same way to everyone.

“Shoot!” Monica commanded and the cavalry brigade raised and aimed their rifles at the infantry battalion.

But instead of the familiar bullets, what came out of the muzzles was blindingly bright. The projectiles ripped through the enemy’s personal shields as though they were no tougher than paper, and a second volley cut down nearly all of their foes. But the third did not fire the golden bullets.

Obsidian arrows came from the battalion’s command centre and they ripped right through the hasty barriers put up by the abjurers up front, adding dozens to the casualty list. Monica’s teeth ground so hard she wondered if she had broken something.

Professor Yuriko Davar growled, and somehow, the sound reverberated through Monica’s bones, and everyone else’s, too, from the look of it. She felt her spine stiffen in righteous anger, and her counterspell shattered the volley that came afterwards.

Then, the gorgeous woman gestured fiercely, then hundreds, then thousands of golden arrows…swords? Swords. Thousands of swords emerged from under her coat, enlarged so that they were normal-sized, then they flew towards the battalion’s centre. She followed behind them, and her every gesture blocked or diverted the enemy attack. Another gesture had the swords pummel the remnants of the enemy vanguard. Each blade either killed them outright or disarmed them, often literally.

Monica drove her Steeld closer to the action, intent on helping her grandson’s benefactor, and when she saw who was beside the battalion commander, she broke out in cold sweat.

“No, it can’t be…” She muttered, feeling the cold shiver running down her spine. “It can’t be him… wait, if it's him, then we’re dead.” She tilted her head, “And since we’re not, it isn’t. Then…” She glared at the apparition, impostor, or whatever in the gods’ punishment realm that thing was, and glanced at Professor Davar.

The impostor struck with obsidian arrows, and the professor simply deflected them with her golden weapons. The creature cast another spell, and his body shifted in space and time, appearing dozens of paces from Yuriko’s attack. The only reason Monica managed to keep track of him was because she had encountered his brand of Personal Truth, and the fact that it was so much weaker than the original. But then again, it didn’t seem that the thing was unrelated. A clone spell powered by a fragment of thought? That was well within the powers of an Archmagus.

So an incarnation? Monica pursed her lips. She actually wanted to capture it now and dissect it. Find out how the Archmagus built or grew it, and how he connected fragments of his Anima into the thing and still have it act as a full human.

But based on the professor’s expression, there would be little left of the thing after she was done with it. Monica smiled. She’d much rather learn from the obviously superior combatant. From the looks of it, no one within the woman’s level, which included Monica, of course, could match her in direct conflict. It was clear with the way the clone tried to avoid and dance around the woman.

But it would be for naught.

The brigade continued to attack the enemy battalion, and though there were at least twice as many Ishodirians as Bresians, the past hour must have been harrowing. She could see corpses strewn all over the countryside, a giant pile of rubble, and churned-up earth from the frequent running and battling.

“Aim for the escapee!” Monica said, commanding her troops to finish the higher-ranking foe. The rest of the battalion was still reeling from the broken barrier, and Monica’s Magus corp was targeting the opposite side.

The clone continued to dart through time and space, but Yuriko continued to close in. Once he was within a hundred paces of her, it was all over.

Thousands of golden swords struck the area, covering nearly the entire hundred paces with a sword. One of them struck the clone’s shield and shattered it. And when he jumped across space, where he came out was where another set of blades were. Before he could do anything, the swords all exploded in golden light.

Brakooom!!!

Displaced air fell back into the area with a loud burst, and a blackened corpse slammed down into the hillside. It was still twitching!

But a moment later, Professor Davar landed next to it. Then she stabbed its head with a blade she conjured out of the same golden light, her expression one of vindictive joy.

The battalion broke off and began to retreat, and Monica was faced with the choice of harrying them back to the border, and risking getting ambushed in turn, or of accompanying a powerful asset back to the fortress where they could have the chance to actually settle this war before it got any worse.

Well, the choice was clear.

“Professor!” She called out, and Yuriko turned to give her a brilliant smile. Monica’s heart skipped a beat and she cursed under her breath. No time for that now!