Even after many of those attacks, Gaius didn't see anyone standing out and giving orders. He also used Observe to check anyone with unusual parameters or weapons, but there wasn't anything like that.

"My spidey senses are tingling… something feels off here," Gaius thought and squinted his eyes. "I guess I should go and kill some of them since they took all of their remaining gear and split into the tents… it will take too long to destroy all of those."

Although Gaius had planned that, he had to take a break because the hawk was low on stamina. Not being able to see the enemy's actions now was troublesome, but it couldn't be helped.

Gaius had to wait for the hawk to rest for three hours, and when he returned to check the enemy's camp, it was already mid-afternoon, but nothing had changed.

"It seems that they didn't think that I would need a long break and that I was just messing with them," Gaius thought while seeing the enemy soldiers separated into groups and all of them armed with tower shields. "Those shields can take the mana bomb head-on, and if they maintain a line, they should be able to block almost all of the damage. Without their horses and without their provisions, most of them will have to walk on foot toward their territory without food, but even so…"

It didn't look like the enemies were planning to retreat. Were they thinking that they could just kill all the villagers and use their provisions? That seemed a bit weird since they didn't have any means to stop Gaius yet.

Gaius assumed that they would be more methodical and practical than that. Their current actions were nothing but pure recklessness. It seemed that they were truly in a bind and needed terrain, good terrain.

Although not everyone had those shields, those who didn't were behind those who did. Gaius also confirmed that they were moving suspiciously while packing the things that they could use in the attack.

"Persistent bastards… Do you want to make me a mass murderer that much?" Gaius asked while biting his lips in anger. "I am not worrying about it that much, but I am not looking forward to it either. At least let me grow some beard before making so many enemies..."

Gaius calmed down after a deep sigh. Most likely, the enemy wanted to bait him since they knew that he had to rely on those tactics since he couldn't face them directly. They also should be aware that, for one reason or another, he couldn't cooperate with the villagers. They lost their provisions, most of their tools, and horses, but they still had the numerical advantage. Even if they lost five hundred soldiers, it would still be worth it for them.

"Since it has come down to this, I should be able to find their leader if I fly above them and use Observe on all of them," Gaius thought. "But I also can show them all my cards and piss them off trying to show off… what should I do?"

Gaius considered his options. If he faced the enemy's army head-on, that would be the final straw and make them think that he is really an ally of the village. As long as he massacres them, they won't think of trying to get revenge. However, if he does things half-assed, that will only give birth to an even larger conflict.

Looking for the commander might take time, but it would be the best method to turn the soldiers into an unorganized mob. Depending on their abilities, they could also become a good asset for Gaius.

In the end, Gaius decided to wait for a while since the enemies definitely wouldn't launch their attack in that situation at night. He confirmed that when the sun began to set and the enemy soldiers stopped to camp. They were only two kilometers away from the place where the villagers were, but they stopped to rest even though they couldn't sleep and didn't have food to eat.

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While they were nervously waiting for the attack that was definitely going to come, the enemy soldiers suddenly felt some shivers when they heard a wind sound coming from behind them. Eventually, they saw a small figure covered in a dark cloak approaching.

Many of them saw the creature during the day, and they thought that it was a new species of demon, or maybe the spirit of the land that could tame demons. Either way, they didn't know what to do, and as they were busy hesitantly, some of their allies began to be killed. Arrows, Poison Bullets, Wind Spheres… they began to kill a lot of the enemies.

The enemies didn't see him doing anything, nor could they see his minions in the shadows, and their eyes were too focused on him. Since he wasn't doing anything, they were confused and didn't know what to do. Would he stay like that if they headed to look for the other enemies, or would he attack them?

Much to Gaius's surprise, some people began to move across the camp and pass some orders to the soldiers, and they quickly assumed a formation where they created four battalions and headed toward the four sides.

"Their commander still can give these orders without revealing themselves…" Gaius thought and then gave the order for his soldiers to retreat since the battalions were advancing using the phalanx formation.

Attacking them now would be useless, and Gaius also took a few steps backward as well, but the enemies were determined to follow him through the darkness with only a few torches.

In the distance, he saw the other battalions stopping and heading in the direction of the village. That wasn't good. Gaius didn't have time to kill a lot of them in that situation and summon them as allies. He had yet to find their leader as well.

"The leadership skills of their commander are top-notch. I want him in my army…" Gaius thought. "Letting him control the humans that I summoned will make things a lot more efficient."

Regardless, Gaius had more pressing matters now. He quickly considered his options and started by using a mana bomb. The enemy soldiers flinched for a moment when they saw that large attack, but then they dashed toward Gaius. Unfortunately for them, he attacked before they could do anything.

The enemies in the front of the formation were thrown away like bowling pins when the attack landed. The attack didn't kill anyone because of the damn shields, but the blast sure knocked down a lot of them. When the enemies got up and looked for Gaius, he was no longer there.

Using the phalanx formation had been a good idea, but it wasn't perfect since it had weaknesses. The weakness wasn't flying enemies; it was attacked from the back, and the enemies never saw that coming or Gaius approaching from behind. In the end, he wondered if he should stealthily attack them from behind and decrease their numbers or destroy a lot of them with a big attack and get their attention. In the end, Gaius went for the second option since he couldn't let those guys fight the villagers.

After pointing his right hand at them and charging for a while, Gaius fired a mana bomb that killed dozens of the soldiers and destroyed half of the formation of the battalion. Before they could find him, he decided to move, but someone suddenly grabbed his neck from behind and then pressed a knife against his neck.

"Don't move unless you want to die," a woman's voice came from behind.

Gaius wanted to click his tongue. Everything made sense. He couldn't see the hand holding the knife, but he could see the knife. That was why he was never able to see the commander of that army. It was a woman who could turn invisible. She probably didn't know that kind of magic, but the chances of her having a relic that let her do that were high. Gaius messed up, but it wasn't over yet.

"You are a kid, aren't you?" the woman asked. "What kind of monster is able to use that much magic at your age and even control demons?"

It seemed that magic wasn't that rare, but the woman hadn't seen a kid that could use it. Anyway, Gaius decided to stay quiet and make her wonder if her assumptions were right. He needed some time to prepare his second option, but then the soldiers in the area began to approach.

Gaius didn't have that much time left, so he decided to go with option one and gave the order for the desert wolf to attack. Some impacts happened behind him, but it looked like the desert wolf didn't aim well since the woman was invisible, and she only got hit in the back with the first few strikes.

Gaius used enhanced magic on his neck to increase his defenses, but the woman never attacked and, in the end, was almost killed by the desert wolf attacks. Gaius finished her off with a magic arrow in her chest.

The human Relia was added to your summoning list.