Water Magician

The City of Fion sits in the center of a basin.

Since the east and west ends are sandwiched between 100-meter-tall mountains and the Devil’s Mountain is in the south, a large army could only attack from the northern side of the basin.

In the north, the mountains converge on the left and right, forming a natural bottleneck.

It resembled the neck of a bottle or the waist of a gourd, in the way it narrows tightly, and expands outward once you advance further forward.

Truly a location that is difficult to attack and easy to protect.

“Enemy attack!”

A soldier on the lookout shouted and rang the bell.

The sound of the bell echoed throughout the City of Fion.

The military leaders, including Loris, the Duke of Inbury, anticipated it.

The military leaders were tense.

“Launch the ‘Green Storm’.”

Instructions from the garrison captain Meredith echoed in the Fion Central Command Center.

At the same time, Loris, the Duke of Inbury, and Stanley, the Knight Captain, arrived at the command center.

“What is the situation of the enemy?”

“Currently north of the bottleneck. Cavalry. At their speed, they will enter our range in a minute.”

Knight Captain Stanley’s question was answered by Garrison Captain Meredith.

Garrison Captain Meredith … a man who once served as the deputy garrison captain in the Duchy capital Aberdeen.

Under the instructions of Nigel, the Duchy capital garrison captain, he retrieved the two wind magic stones that powered the Green Storm from the Duchy capital and delivered them safely to the City of Fion when the Duchy capital fell.

Naturally, he later become the garrison captain of the City of Fion and was appointed responsible for the firing of the Green Storm.

“Okay. Draw them deeper to some extent and then wipe them out with a diffused beam.”

Instructions from the Knight Captain flew across the room.

The garrison captain Meredith was certainly responsible for the Green Storm, but in reality, its operation was decided by a higher position.

For example, like this time, the Knight Captain.

Little was left to Meredith to command.

However, since he had seen the fall of the ducal capital, he couldn’t help but give his opinion.

“Your Excellency Knight Captain, it’s dangerous to draw them in too much.”

“I understand your feelings, but if we defeat just a few of the enemy and frighten them from entering, we will not be able to make effective use of this weapon.”

The Knight Captain was justified in his strategy.

As long as there was an overwhelming difference in strength, if they aimed for a reversal, it depended on the effective use of the Green Storm … there may be no other way.

But in reality, neither concern became a reality.

The Union stopped at the border between the bottleneck and the basin, that is, at their range limit.

After that moment, the Union army split down the middle and ‘something’ came out slowly.

“Artificial golem …”

Knight captain Stanley muttered softly.

They had received a report.

In the Duchy capital, the converged beam of the Green Storm did not work.

“Meredith!”

Loris, Duke of Inbury, looked at the Garrison Captain Meredith and called out.

He could understand what Loris was trying to say.

“Your Excellency, that’s the artificial golem. Green Storm won’t work on them.”

Meredith reiterated facts that were heartbreaking but must be told.

Of course, he mentioned it in his report when he arrived, but he repeated it once again now.

“Stanley, what will you do?”

Loris looked at Knight Captain Stanley and asked.

That was because the person in charge on-site was Stanley.

Stanley understood that, and he had to make some suggestions as his face contorted.

“If we know that the Green Storm won’t work, we have no choice but initiate the assault.”

“Is it possible?”

“I don’t know, but if it’s an assault of the Knights Order who bet everything in this battle, or …”

To be honest, even Stanley didn’t know if it would work.

But there was no other way.

“Okay. Stanley, please do so.”

When Loris, the Duke of Inbury, announced, Knight Commander Stanley bowed and left the Central Command Center to lead the Knights himself.

Three minutes later.

The gates of the City of Fion were opened, and the Duchy Knights led the assault of the Duchy Army.

The rain of arrows falling from the Union could not stop their assault, nor did they even slow them down.

The Knights’ assault took just over a minute to reach the Union forces and artificial golems a kilometer away.

The enthusiastic assault unbelievably broke the vanguard of the Union army in an instant.

At that instance, cheers naturally rose in Fion’s central command center.

The Union army managed to endure the Duchy Knights crushing their vanguard in a single charge.

However, the morale of the main body of the Duchy’s army, which arrived after the Knights, was also unusually high.

From the beginning of the war, even though it was an operation, they had repeatedly withdrawn and were never allowed to engage in full-scale battles.

The wrath that had accumulated was substantial.

The sole artificial golem that the Central Command Center could confirm had already been swarmed by many Duchy soldiers, stopped working, and was abandoned in the bottleneck. A true embodiment of the violence of numbers.

About 2,000 soldiers from the Duchy army participated in the assault.

It was considerably smaller than the entire Union Army. But, at least in the bottleneck, their momentum and frenzy were overwhelming the Union.

Finally, the Duchy army pushed the Union forces beyond the bottleneck and pressured them further.

The Duchy Army rushed forward.

The Union Army repeatedly withdrew.

The scene was repeated many times.

However, the commander classes of the Duchy Army were also calmly observing the battle.

“Isn’t it too brittle?”

They started thinking so.

Already, most of the 2,000 attacking Duchy soldiers had passed through the bottleneck and were fighting on the northern plains.

What if a Union detached force gets in between the Duchy and the bottleneck?

The two thousand Duchy soldiers would be trapped.

The enthusiasm had subsided, and the Duchy’s frontline commanders, who had come to that conclusion, lost the strength to command the assault.

Their subordinates were also sensitive to the change in the commanders.

Even if they didn’t know they could be trapped, they could tell that the commanders were worried about something.

Morale on the battlefield was slipped away easily.

And Stanley, the commander-in-chief of the Knights Order, could not dispel the suspicion that arose in him, and finally gave the order.

“Retreat!”

Fortunately, the bottleneck had not been closed yet.

The command was in time.

But a sharp withdrawal was much more difficult than a frenzied assault.

Subordinates did not fully understand why they were withdrawing.

Furthermore, they did not know how far they should retreat or how they would retreat.

In addition, the Union pushed back in an unusually orderly manner.

Without exhausting themselves, not overextending, orderly.

Knight Captain Stanley acted as the rearguard and commanded the withdrawal while tying up with the Union forces that were rushing to the front line.

However, Stanley felt uncomfortable with the Union’s style of battle.

(There is no edge or sharpness. Is it really led by the rumored Great General Lord Aubrey?)

The Duchy army was slowly returning to the City of Fion from the bottleneck.

The withdrawal was succeeding.

And finally, Stanley also left the bottleneck.

With the rearguard Stanley crossing the bottleneck, it meant that the entire Duchy Army had left the bottleneck and could retreat to the City of Fion … he saw hope.

At that moment, Stanley wasn’t aware that Lord Aubrey’s mouth was raised into a grin.

The Duchy army was returning to the City of Fion after the bottleneck … but the skirmishes continued.

Naturally, fights occur while withdrawing, but the battles in this withdrawal were not only at the rear but even in considerably deep positions within the Duchy army.

The Duchy and Union armies were in a mess.

And that jumbled mess approached the City of Fion.

The first person to notice this was the Garrison Captain Meredith.

He was thinking about firing the Green Storm, which he could command at any time.

However, if he gave the command to shoot now … he would hit his allies.

That had continued since they passed through the bottleneck. That was obviously strange?

“Your Excellency. The enemy and our allies are jumbled into a mess, and I can’t fire the Green Storm.”

“Hm? There’s no need to fire yet?”

Loris, Duke of Inbury, did not understand what was wrong.

“Your Excellency, a mixture of enemies and allies are approaching the City of Fion. This will allow the enemy to reach the city while preventing us from firing the Green Storm.”

Loris finally noticed.

The Union’s aim.

“Parallel pursuit!”

A tactic that causes the city to hesitate from launching a large-scale attack by pursuing in parallel with or mixing with the withdrawing Duchy Army.

The city gates were also open to receive the withdrawing Duchy army.

And even Green Storm, Fion city’s greatest deterrent force, couldn’t be shot because it would likely hit allies.

Invasion of the city by parallel pursuit.

That was Lord Aubrey’s aim.

With artificial golems that repel the magic weapon, they would have no choice but to set up for close combat.

From the beginning, the Duchy army was operating on Lord Aubrey’s palm.

Once the Duchy’s army was drawn to the bottleneck, they pursued at the same pace as the Duchy withdrew.

He had intentionally made the Duchy withdraw from the bottleneck.

It was also intentional to not defeat them on the way.

On the contrary, he may have even intentionally allowed for a successful first assault.

“Crafty!”

Loris squeezed out a word of praise but he felt empty inside.

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