After two hours, the armies in their camp began to prepare for the task ahead. Gaius heard that the infantry would stay in the middle of the formation, while the cavalry would work on the side of their formation… that wasn't a half-bad formation. The only problem was that the front would have to cause a lot of damage to the enemy's lines… Otherwise, the sides of the formation would be in dire straits.
"For situations like this, I wished that my magic was more versatile," Gaius thought. "Anyway, I am sure the right opportunities will come… no need to worry too much about it. The guys leading all this have this figured out... they wouldn't make any stupid moves that would decide the end of the war so soon."
Another advantage of not making many friends and allies over the years was the fact that Gaius only had to worry about himself in situations like that. Again, if push comes to shove, he can always escape by using his magic and some melee skills… as long as a powerhouse doesn't block his path, he will be fine. Still, once he starts doing that, he will always consider that an option and that wasn't a good thing. It was a better option to nip in the bud this kind of issue before it escalated.
When the time for the mission came, everyone was ready… Gaius looked at the enemies once more and confirmed that they slowed down with their attacks in the walls… they were waiting for them since more than half of their forces had retreated.
Kennil also realized, but he still silently raised his spear and everyone raised their weapons. It would be better if they weren't too loud about their intentions, after all. There was also the possibility that by showing that they didn't care about some losses, they would scare the enemy. That could be a good tactic.
Once the whole army began to move, the enemies also turned around like they had expected that to happen… the enemies on that side were armed with bows, but even from far away, Gaius could tell that they weren't normal… the soldiers looked more tired than he had expected, some of them even looked blue and purple… at least their faces looked like that from a distance. After taking a closer look, Gaius also confirmed that they were all armed with longbows as well.
"I want to raise the levels of my Bow Mastery, but I also have the feeling that fighting them here isn't a good idea," Gaius furrowed his eyebrows. "Well, what now... I always want new additions to my army, but..."
When they were five hundred meters away from the archers, Gaius saw them nocking their arrows and pulling their strings… it seemed a bit too early for that. Still, Gaius felt shivers when they were three hundred meters away.
"To the right side!" Kennil raised his voice and then began to guide the army to the right side of the area.
It didn't look like Gaius was the only one who felt the danger… Kennil acted fast and despite the surprise, all the soldiers followed his lead without hesitation. Gaius was only a couple of meters behind while following Kennil, so he still had the chance to see the enemies firing their arrows… they fired them upward, but even so, it was hard to believe that they would cross such a distance… and yet, they did it…
Hundreds of arrows flew in a wide arc and almost hit the army… Gaius realized that the wind was on the enemy's side, but for them to cross that much distance… they definitely were a specialized unity and they were used to that kind of situation.
While the army avoided the direct hits. A sweet fragrance began to spread around the area… Gaius soon realized what it was, it was poison.
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"Even without direct hits… the arrows are embedded by a powerful poison that works even with the smell alone," Gaius thought. "This could be a problem, even for me..."
Since the wind was against them, the smell began to spread, but it took a while before the horses began to slow down and the riders also began to feel like they were losing their strength. Gaius felt like his arms and legs were as heavy as steel.
"Only a single wave of attacks caused this…" Gaius thought and then used his Spiritual Armor.
Although not completely, Gaius felt half of his strength had returned… he would be fine fighting like that, but the others wouldn't. Moreover, they were about to reach the wall on the southern side, and the infantry there was already ready to face them. The horses wouldn't be able to show their true might in that situation…
Still, the atmosphere began to change when the sound of more horses began to echo around the area… the ginger was leading a group of three hundred riders who were ready to fight. The plan was for them to join their side and hide in their formation, but they dashed toward the enemies without a care, even though they had dozens of wagons in the middle of their formation with the supplies that the people of the city needed.
“I guess they were testing us…” Gaius thought.
Kennil reached the same conclusion and looked over his shoulder to check the conditions of their infantry. They were having a hard time running, but it looked like the poison did not reach them completely. Moreover, now that the enemy's infantry was being attacked from behind, they didn’t have to increase their pace all that much.
Even though the infantry saw their allies being attacked from behind, those who were about to face Gaius and the others didn’t turn around and raised their spears to fight them. Still, Kennil easily broke their first line by swinging his spear from one side to the other… he ended up beheading three enemy soldiers and then opening the chest of another.
His closest allies clenched their teeth and began to thrust their spears forward with all their might… It looked like they were able to ignore the poison for a short while thanks to that. The front of the two groups met each other and Kennil had a hard time hiding his displeasure in front of the ginger… Still, he had better things to do in that situation.
The two armies began to turn a bit to the side and then Gaius saw one of the gates of the city. They were five hundred meters away, but at the same time, the remnants of the enemy infantry assumed their positions there with tower shields to block them close to the gates… Still, that had been a bad choice since Gaius could see a bunch of soldiers on the walls.
While the two armies were advancing, the soldiers on the walls began to fire continuous waves of arrows on the infantrymen there… the enemies began to fall left and right and thanks to it, their line of defense began to fall apart. They had a lot of firepower, but they didn't have much when it comes to defending.
“I guess I won’t have the chance to do anything here…” Gaius furrowed his eyebrows.
Even while tired thanks to the poison, the cavalry began to wipe out the enemies on their way. Gaius thought that they would resist for a while and try to enter the city through the gates since it would take a while for more than five thousand soldiers to pass through it, but they actually began to move away from the area to cut their losses. There was no point in trying any longer when they were being attacked on two fronts…
“You bring dishonor to our families, cowards!” Gaius thought. “Anyway, they are playing the long game here, so I guess their choice is the correct one.”
The gates of the town opened completely and Kennil and the ginger were the first to cross the gate. Kennil planned to jump from his horse and defend the gate, but soon he saw dozens of archers ready to attack the enemies if they tried to pass through it. Gaius soon saw that as well, but he focused on looking around and checking the conditions of the town… that part of the town looked fine, but Gaius could see a lot of smoke emerging on the other side of the city… the siege weapons caused a lot of damage there.
Gaius jumped from his horse, but he still remained close to Kennil who was still on his horse, and watched the army entering the city. The place was like three kilometers long and wide… but it would be cramped with forty thousand people there… they probably were going to sleep in some alleys.