Chapter 181 - Sneaky (3)

"Haaaarrrhhgggg!"

"What is this? What is this?"

"Hiiiiiiiiiiiaaaaaaaaaaaaa"

The enemy soldiers panicked as they saw their friends being burned to a crisp, and they panicked even more as the tornado of flames approached them. They tried to run, but the tornado was faster and engulfed hundreds of soldiers in just a few seconds. The entire battlefield grew silent and watched in awe and terror that powerful spell devastating everything around. Billy had achieved his first goal, but he needed the second as well.

The fire tornado passed through the first battalion as if they weren't even there and then reached the second and kept its destruction. However, even though Billy had such a high level of magic, he couldn't reach the third. He ran out of mana, and a terrible headache began to afflict him.

When the fire tornado disappeared, only the dying screams of those that got hit by it could be heard on the entire battlefield. Aside from those close to Billy, no one knew who could have made that. Using that chance, all the defenders nearby charged toward the enemy who had lost the momentum to fight and began to slaughter them. That day, the enemies suffered a defeat like no other, but the war was far from over.

— —

"What the hell was that?" Commander Ignace asked after he slammed the table in front of him with both of his hands.

Ignace was a man in his fifties that ruled over the Toles state since he was fifteen. He had short black hair and green eyes. If he had tanned skin, one would think that he belonged to Billy's tribe. Regardless, he looked dignified while he was wearing his golden armor as a commander. Still, now one could only see a golden and pissed asshole.

"First explosive fireballs and now a fucking fire tornado… what the hell are my spies doing?" Commander Ignace asked. "They never informed me of anyone on their side that could do this."

"It is them, sir," Count Fabrice said. "The group that made me escape that state could use this weird magic. As I told you before, they built a two hundred meters bridges with nothing but their magic. There was a kid who killed dozens of my guards in a single moment with magic as well."

Count Fabrice was the man who tried to capture Billy, Anna, and their group one year ago. He was a shady guy who had an unnerving look in his blue eyes, but aside from that, he looked like a fairly handsome nobleman in his thirties. Just like his partner, he was having a hard time controlling his anger since Billy and his group were getting on their way again.

"You said that he used the ground before!" Ignace raised his voice. "You also said that the watchtowers were his doing… Manuel also said that a kid took down two of his best men with projectiles made of earth."

"Indeed, sir, projectiles faster than arrows," Manuel said. "However, our tents were burned the last time… I assumed that it was due to arrows, but… it seems I was wrong."

When Ignace became the ruler of the state, he was fed up with the policies left by his father. His people seemed dead in his eyes, so he worked for several years to build up a powerful military in order to conquest other states. Among the soldiers he raised, Manuel was one of the bests. He was talented like no other with swords. He could even face ten soldiers by himself and eliminate them without getting a single scratch. Thanks to that, despite his position, he also didn't have the appearance of a soldier or a high-ranked commander. With his light brown hair and eyes and straight-faced expression, he had many offers to get married, some women were even fine if he had more than one wife, but he refused them all.

"Good, you admitted that you were wrong. How exactly does that help us in this battle anyway?" Ignace asked.

"From what I can see, it doesn't seem like they didn't bring many of those wildlings with them, and since he didn't use his magic that often, he must have a limit to what he can do," Manuel said. "I propose to assassinate him on the battlefield before he can recover his energy."

"True… the fire tornado didn't last long, and the other magic was used two days ago," Ignace nodded while he was thinking about it. "We focused too much on Marie… but it is clear that those wildlings are working for her. We will attack her unit again but targetting the wildings this time. Once they are done, no one will be able to protect her. Get it done, then."

"Yes, sir, I will do the job myself," Manuel said.

Ignace smiled in satisfaction since that was very reassuring. Regardless, he finally could understand why the Marie unit was so hard to kill. They lost so many on her sides, and yet she went to face them like nothing was wrong. He had imagined that Jean was up to something, but he didn't think it was something of that level… Nevertheless, they were about to seal with that unknown factor, so things would soon be fine. It had to be… because I'd they suffer another defeat like that one… he was certain that they would lose the backing of the Neles state.

While they offered a lot to enhance of half of the dungeons on Hiloh state, they hadn't lost or spent many of their resources yet, so they could back down now without suffering big losses…

Since the mentioned kid was only good at magic, Ignace was certain that Manuel would finish him off without facing any trouble. Marie might get on the way, but he had the means to deal with her as well.. Despite that, Ignace was feeling that something was off… he couldn't quite tell what it was, but it would be better to be careful on that operation.