Sir Herbert stood at the head of his temple knight formation and turned his head upwards to look at Fayde who was still floating above the battlefield. His expression was hidden beneath his helmet, but it was not an expression of fear.
He knew his role here wasn’t to defeat Fayde or the army of Demihumans, it was just to bide some time for Glafandal to restore his strength. Sir Herbert didn’t really understand the reasons for this, nor did he know exactly what Glafandal was.
Glafandal wasn’t human, Sir Herbert knew that much. A part of him felt some disgust at having to take orders from a non-human and he realized at this point that he had been basically thrown away like trash.
It was to be expected, he had grown old and was deemed no longer necessary by his superiors. That was the only reasoning he could think of with his limited information. Either way, he had served his country for a long time and he would fulfill his last mission to the best of his ability.
“You are Fayde I presume?” Sir Herbert shouted towards the human shaped flame burning in the afternoon sky.
There was still a good distance between them, but Sir Herbert projected his voice while pointing a gauntleted fist towards the man in the sky.
Fayde was watching them carefully and responded, “Are words necessary?”
He then pointed his palm towards the knight formation.
Sir Herbert grunted before stepping back behind the wall of tower shields.
His men opened up a brief hole in the formation allowing him to step behind them and then closed the formation once again.
Fayde wasn’t bothered by it and even let him step behind the formation. He was confident in his power.
Once again, his power began to form at his palm, pulsing violently. The black flames converged, building pressure and fluctuating rapidly until the flames formed a dense beam of light that fired out of his palm.
The ‘Void Beam’ struck the tower shields instantaneously causing an explosion, but the sight that Fayde had expected to see did not happen. He was expecting a similar scene from when he had unleashed his power upon the Jaspelian and Quijon armies. A scene of destruction, death, and chaos.
Instead, the ‘Void Beam’ struck the shields and was repulsed. The initial impact produced a slight explosive force, pushing the shield bearers back but the ‘Void Beam’ was sent hurtling in another direction. It was similar to the effect of light being reflected by a mirror.
Fayde was shocked. He was of course aware that magic could be deflected or repulsed by mirror shields, especially those constructed with magical properties of their own. He just never expected it would work on his ‘Void Beam’.
The Jaspelian and Quijon forces which were in disarray and confusion began to calm down after seeing Fayde’s magic was ineffective against their formation. There was still fear present in their hearts, but the commanders and officers were finally able to retain some semblance of order.
Some deaths had been caused from stampeding soldiers who were running for their lives and some had been killed for their desertion by officers. Some others had escaped, but the majority of the army was still able to be held together despite this.
After reforming their lines, they looked on with hope as they watched the temple knights stand firm against Fayde’s power. He was attempting to bombard them with continuous ‘Void Beams’ but he was met with only failure.
“Ugh, fine, how about a fireball then!?”
While Fayde’s ‘Void Beam’ attack was a concentrated attack over a small area, his ‘Void Fireball’ was an attack that caused destruction over a wide area but wasn’t as concentrated.
An immense fireball, much larger than any other anyone had ever seen, descended from the sky and fell upon the tower knights. Even with their shields, Fayde felt the attack should be somewhat effective.
“Shields up! Tortoise formation!” Shouted Sir Herbert.
The formation of the temple knights began to move becoming more tightly packed. Some of the knights raised their shields, linking them together forming an enormous shell. Despite the fact that the shields were large and bulky, the knights had little trouble raising them and the shields were constructed in a way that those at the base provided some support for those being raised.
This action showed that each of these knights was the equivalent of a high ranked adventurer and possessed incredible strength.
The ‘Void Fireball’ crashed downward unto the enemy tortoise formation and a loud explosion shook the ground sending flames everywhere but the flames were deflected and pushed outward away from the knights.
Fayde noticed that when his magic crashed against the shields, that strange aura he felt earlier seemed to form a powerful magical field around the knights. He realized that it wasn’t just the tower shields which were causing his power to be ineffective but also the power of the aura surrounding them.
The aura was strange and unfamiliar and seemed to be releasing an oppressive might which was aiding the knights in suppressing the power of his magic.
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“It doesn’t look like my magic is going to be effective against them and I am getting low on ‘Void Power’.” Fayde sighed realizing he wouldn’t be able to quickly finish this battle.
He descended, landing once again on the ground and was approached by his three wives.
“I didn’t realize that these temple knights were so powerful. I have never seen anything like it before, even among adventurers.” Said Reia with a thoughtful expression.
“That’s because you have only lived here in the northern kingdoms. La’gun especially is a relatively poor kingdom. In the empire, there are many powerful humans among the Imperial army and also adventurers. Their level of civilization is far greater than the northern kingdoms and they have a long history with a deep foundation. My brother and I have fought the Empire our entire lives and our people were eventually defeated despite our strength and the advantages of our species.” Interjected Laila while moving to stand beside Fayde.
“Hmph, there are only two hundred of them! What can they do? We outnumber the enemy, let’s just charge and kill them!” Said Felicia enthusiastically, clearly looking down on the enemy with disdain.
‘When did she get here?’ Fayde was surprised and hadn’t even noticed she was standing closely behind him.
“Felicia, you are young and have never participated in a real battle. You can’t just thoughtlessly charge your enemy to solve every situation. You are right in that we do outnumber the enemy, but you should never underestimate the impact of a small unit of elite soldiers. We would certainly win with our numbers, but at a great cost of lives. The whole point of Fayde wanting to attack the enemy on his own was to limit casualties. The Jaspelian and Quijon commanders have already brought order back to their army and it would be unwise for us to launch an all out attack.”
Laila sounded much like an older sister as she continued to explain the details of the battle to Felicia. She had a warm smile and even though she was explaining the faults in Felicia’s statement, she didn’t speak condescendingly. Laila could no doubt appear haughty to an outsider, but in reality she was kind and patient to those she cared for.
Although when it came to her brother, she was a constant nuisance to him due to his own arrogance and hotheaded nature.
“Oh I see... “ Felicia said while nodding her head and listening attentively.
Felicia too was prideful, but she treated Laila as if she were a big sister. If it had been someone other than one of Fayde’s wives, she would have most likely acted much differently. It was due to the respect deserving of a wife of a Great Khan and the fact that she herself was a candidate to be one as well.
“I know that in war, people die, but I want to limit the casualties as much as possible. Not just for us, but for the Humans too. War begets war and also, we will need as many people as possible to stabilize these lands. Many of these soldiers are also farmers and craftsmen. If too many die, it will cause a lot of issues.”
Fayde glanced towards Allein and she met his gaze. He was considering whether he should use her power or not.
‘Only if there is no other way’ He thought.
Fayde continued to watch as the formation of knights moved once more and returned to a square formation. The soldiers in front moved slightly creating an opening for which the knight Fayde saw earlier once again strode towards the front.
“Did you think it would be so simple to defeat us? We are blessed by the goddess and you are nothing more than a heretic! How could your petty magic defy the power of a divinity?” Sir Herbert shouted once more across the battlefield.
Hearing his shout, Fayde frowned and the enemy army cheered as their morale soared. Even though they were facing a precarious situation, they felt heartened by the show of force presented by the temple knights.
In their minds too, they looked down on the Demihumans thinking they were not their match. If not for Fayde’s powerful magic, they would never have even feared facing them on the battlefield.
Fayde looked back at his own warriors and saw eagerness in their eyes. It was clear they wished to do battle even if he hoped to avoid it as much as possible.
“Fayde, I challenge you to a duel! Do you dare?” Shouted Sir Herbert once more across the battlefield.
He stepped forward and planted his huge sword into the ground in front of him while placing both hands on the pommel. He appeared to be fully confident in his challenge. His only thoughts were to delay as long as possible and he saw this as a chance to do so.
“Fayde, there is no need for you accept this duel. I will fight in your stead, stay here and rest until your power is restored. It doesn’t matter if the battle takes a little bit longer than what we hoped for. Even if the temple knights can defend against your magic, they can’t protect the entire army. Once your power is restored enough we can finish this battle.” Said Reia while unsheathing her magic sword.
She stepped forward without waiting for Fayde to respond and he could only watch her back with concern. He chose not to say anything but gave laila a meaningful look. She nodded in response to Fayde’s glance, no words were necessary. She understood exactly what his intentions were.
As Reia walked out to face Sir Herbert, Laila turned and waved towards one of her servants. They soon returned with an enormous black bow and arrows that appeared more like they might be fired from a ballista.
Fayde had no issue with throwing honor to the wind if it meant the safety of the ones he loved. Even though he was worried for Reia’s safety, he felt more comfortable knowing Laila could support her if she fell into danger.
Laila’s accuracy with her bow was exceptional and the danger posed by her arrows was nothing to scoff at. She could easily pierce heavy armor with her attack.
“I will accept your challenge.” Said Reia with a cool demeanor as she approached the fully clad knight who had met her halfway between the two armies.
“Hah, so Fayde was too afraid to challenge me himself and he sends a woman to fight his battle?” Despite his comment, he eyed Reia carefully and wouldn’t underestimate her.
“The amount of Demihumans I have killed with these hands would frighten you little fox girl. Do you think that your fate will be any different?” His voice was cold and murderous intent flashed in his eyes.
Reia didn’t bother to respond and instead readied her blade. Lightning crackled along the surface, giving off a deadly light.
She gritted her teeth and her battle intent grew as her magical power swelled inside her. She wasn’t in anyway inferior to the knight standing before her and even if she couldn’t match him in strength, she could easily outclass him in speed.
Reia summoned her magic and strengthened her body with various incantations. Sir Herbert chuckled and gripped his immense sword, lifting it from the ground sending dirt flying.
He raised his blade, “I commend you for your bravery, but today shall be your death!”
Sir Herbert’s aura surged with seemingly divine power and he readied himself for battle.