"Everything ready?" I asked as I raised a spyglass high, positioned at the walls of the town that lay at the direct approach vector of the enemy forces. Rosie and Liam were with me, while Harold handled the infantry below. Terry stayed near the gate, tasked with the evacuation through the gate if proved necessary.
"Yes, sir. We can begin bombardment upon your signal," Liam said.
"Wait ten seconds, then start with the ordinary shells," I ordered, my attention firmly on the approaching force.
I had to admit, they looked impressive enough to be from a movie scene. The four hundred cavalry moved in perfect alignment, enough to suggest that they had at least one person with high Charisma to organize their operation.
Their equipment was even more impressive. Black and silver, even from a distance, I could see they were high quality, enough to be a challenge even without the addition of whatever enchantment they had on it. They looked formidable enough to let me know Drakka's reasoning. A swift strike would be all that was needed to take us down.
A cunning plan … but not a smart one.
"Let's see how well you'll resist the ordinary attacks," I said even as I heard the steam cannons going off, delivering a hundred decay shells at once, our first salvo. The steam cannons lacked the sound of their gunpowder equivalent, but that didn't mean they were silent. The loud hiss of steam release was like an angry dragon, covering the skies.
However, for all its impressive nature, the shells proved to be completely useless. A blue dome appeared above them, blocking the shells with ease.
"Deliver the next salvo on their path, wide range, use soft shells," I ordered, happy that we didn't have to ration all shells like Radiant Flame. The logistic chain we established was proving its worth excellently.
The hiss of the cannons rose again, landing the shells on the path of the cavalry. This time, they had landed, spreading into a cloud of decay, which was the function of the soft shells. The cavalry passed right through it, their armor proving impervious to the effect.
That lack of effectiveness didn't ruin my mood. All I wanted was to see if their shield would push away the released cloud of decay. It did not.
However, looking around, I could see the soldiers were tense. "They are falling into our trap," I said to Rosie, louder than necessary, which helped the soldiers to feel safer. "Continue repeating the same tactic for a while more. I want them to be complacent."
Not only that, but I also want them to be closer before we let them retreat. I didn't want them to retreat with small losses. I tried to stay away from killing, but against Drakka, I didn't have the luxury of playing with kid gloves.
They needed to learn that any attempt against us would cost them valuable resources.
"I can see five mages mixed among them," Rosie said.
I couldn't see them, but I didn't doubt Rosie. Just like Wisdom, Perception had its own perks as well. "Can you handle them?" I asked.
"Not with them keeping their formation so tight. They are near the center," she said.
"The disruption of that can be arranged," I said. "Are they responsible for the shield?"
"No, that seems to be an artifact their ascended commander is carrying," she said.
I didn't ask her to point at him. There was no need, as he was leading the center of the formation, radiating an aura of absolute confidence. "How about Charisma?" I asked.
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"They have three sub-commanders, two at the wings, one at the rear," she said. "They are easier to assassinate."
"No need to hurry," I said as I watched cannon shells either exploding ineffectively against their shield, or fizzling on their path, turning their charge into something truly majestic. I was glad that I didn't have to put a shield wall and spears against them, not with the convenience of modern weaponry.
I looked at Rosie. "Once they clear the three-mile mark, I will start using my mana attacks against their shield, but only when they are less than a mile away, I'll use the shrapnel shells," I said.
"Perfect," Rosie said with a vicious smile. "Keep the ascended warrior busy, and we'll handle the rest," she said as she jumped down the walls, and four of her guild members joined her. I was happy to see Jennifer was not a part of it.
It was too early for her to join a battlefield of such scale.
I pulled my blade as I watched them approach. "Increase the frequency, but spread the area of the decay attacks further," I ordered as I brought down the blade, using a Radiant Flame attack.
I had held back with my attack, but that had more to do with maintaining the coherency of the attack as it traveled three miles than anything else.
The ascended warrior separated from the rest of the army, riding directly toward the attack. When he drifted to the melee range, he dispelled the attack in one swing. Not a surprise. If it was possible to take them down with just that, they wouldn't have been a threat in the first place.
I followed up with five attacks, spreading it across the whole range, forcing the ascended warrior to counter it with his own ranged attacks. I continued to attack even faster, each attack forcing his attention to split even further.
"A mixture of the new shrapnel shells right in the center of the formation, and mix them with stronger decay shells on their path," I ordered Liam, watching the results tensely. If this didn't work, things would turn … challenging.
The shells exploded above the magical shield, the small pieces of metal raining on the shield, creating flares as they cut through the mana barrier. The moment the breach happened, all four hundred cavalry raised their shields, though I could see three distinct patterns, probably about the Charisma control from three commanders.
The shrapnel imbued with Radiant Flame rained on their shields, enough to damage their surfaces somewhat. "Spread out," the order came, but that order was too late. They had already entered the cloud of decay, and with the surface damaged, it was enough to infect their shields, the rot spread visible.
I jumped forward even as the ascended warrior launched his own ranged attack, thick and overwhelming. I pushed toward it, starting to throw full-powered attacks.
It took five full-powered attacks for me to cancel it out, showing the great gap between me and a true ascended.
"Luckily I have piled a lot of advantages," I muttered happily, the biggest being the instant mana regeneration and superior equipment.
I pushed forward, alone. Interestingly, there was no follow-up attack from him, which suggested it was not as cheap for him.
"Is this how Drakka acts?" I asked loudly as I pushed. "A bunch of barbarians on the raid, attacking how they wish?"
"A little dingy town, and you think you deserve our respect," the ascended warrior shouted. "But, you'll have a lot of time to consider your folly in your cell."
I sighed. There was no hint of reproach from them even with our latest display, which was a tragedy. A part of me was still hoping that the battle could have been avoided. Unfortunately, that seemed to be a fool's hope.
I rushed forward as the shells continued to rain above the army, forcing them to spread. However, unlike the rest, the ascended warrior shook off the attacks with no damage, a thin layer of Health above his armor — one that functioned perfectly despite its small nature.
He closed the distance by jumping down his mount, his speed faster than mine, but he wasn't prepared for me to change my approach angle, allowing me to keep him to the side as I faced his army.
All he needed was to continue toward the town for me to turn back, but I knew he wouldn't do that. He believed that he had the superior army, which meant losing any of his soldiers against a weak town was nothing more than a display of weakness.
Though, if he did, I could have returned to the town using a portal.
"Coward," he declared, which was all he was able to say before I lashed out with several full-power ranged attacks. The mounted warriors were fast enough to avoid it, which didn't surprise me. I was fighting against elites, under the control of Charisma.
That was all I was able to achieve before he caught up with me, forcing me into a melee fight.
Even If it wasn't for Rosie, I would have been able to escape through a portal. Instead, I let my Legendary skill take control, my blade dancing to push his away.
My first duel against a real ascended.