Acosta saw the markings of the mana barrier disappear.
“Impact H.E. Rounds Explosive shot spell! Impact H.E. Rounds Explosive shot spell,” she yelled.
The squad leaders repeated it as the ammunition bearers grabbed Impact H.E. rounds, tossing away auxiliary charges, passing it to the mage who added the explosive shot spell, and then to the first ammunition bearer who hung and released the round.
There was only a half-second lull as rounds that had already been released continued to hit the barrierless sect. Mana barrier busting piercing shots smashed through people, dirt, and stone.
A new rain rose.
“Drop five hundred. Drop a turn each round!” Acosta's words echoed through the mortar pits as gunners whirled, elevating gears.
Her eyes tracked the enemy running into the forests. Others laid down on the ground.
The impact rounds fell as the newly adjusted guns were loaded and fired.
A wave of destruction covered where the barrier had stood and swept forward.
Spread out to all hell and most of them lying down. Shit.
Acosta watched her brand of retribution. The air force had taken a heavy blow this morning. Twenty-eight dead, another forty-two wounded. Of that, five were behind enemy lines and still working toward a teleportation formation. If they were captured, death would claim them through torture or suicide.
Master Sergeant Sirel, her second-in-command, smacked her on the shoulder. “Command said there’s a group of aerial beasts headed for our location. Four minutes.”
“Shit!” In the same breath, she used the platoon-wide channel. “Enemy aerial forces incoming! Defensive positions!”
The last rounds went off, and the gun units covered their weapons. Mages gathered their power, remaining on their enhancing formations. Close Protection forces ran to their ready position at the four cardinal points of the ring of mortar pits. Artillery gunners moved to the front of their pits, pulling out their repeaters and aiming at the heavens.
“Use flak spells!” Squad leaders reminded them of their anti-air drills.
As they rushed to their positions, Acosta grabbed her own repeater, her head snapping to Sirel. “Direction?”
“Northeast.”
“Be ready on the northeast!” Acosta repeated on the platoon channel.
The silence of the artillery position only added to the tension.
The aerial mounts came in all different forms, grouped together by sect as they cleared the trees.
“Fire!” Acosta's platoon fired their repeaters. Their arrows shot into the sky. Their spells activated, generating air blades that blasted out along the path they were heading, shredding what lay before them. Personal mana barriers stopped many.
Spells ignited in the sky. Spears and blades of air became red lines as they cut through unprotected beasts and fighters.
They were a half second faster than the sects who attacked. Spears of flame, water, and air crashed into the mana barrier covering the artillery position. Meteors roared, creating ripples.
A group of fighters worked together, their hands shining with runes to create a spell formation between them. The land seemed to darken, drawing the sunlight into the formation before it was released.
Acosta ducked as the formation created a second sun, a pillar of light as bright as the sun and lightning struck the mana barrier, drawing a line across its surface and passing over.
Stone melted and burned while trees were turned to charcoal without time to catch aflame.
Acosta blinked the light out of her eyes. Seeing movement in the sky, she aimed and fired.
They paid the reaper’s bill for their attacks.
Dozens fell from the skies. Repeaters left lines of spell-enhanced bolts. Their unnerving aim that came from Rugrat’s teaching and had been honed through years of training, plucked riders from the sky.
They broke and fled.
Acosta turned, leading her target as she fired. Their barrier appeared; several other repeaters added their attacks. The barrier cracked as a red spray and tombstone filled the air.
The beast and rider dropped from sight as Acosta looked for more targets.
“Sirel?” She turned and yelled.
“Don't see anything coming in.” He looked over to her from the covered command center.
Acosta changed to the platoon channel. “Pack it up! Moving out in ten! CPD, watch the skies.”
She reloaded her repeater as she walked into the command center again. “We're moving position. Advise higher. I want our CPD's on aerial protection. Fuck, that sunlight spell was a bitch.” She stored her repeater. “Sirel, you head to the next location with the first squad that's ready. Start prepping the position for us.”
“Yes, ma'am. I'll hurry them along.” Sirel ran out of the command post.
“Well, this looks promising,” Colonel Domonos said as he walked into Matt’s blueprint office. He waved off several officers and foremen from Alva’s construction companies, moving to the light display showing Vuzgal’s growing defensive plans.
“You wanted impossible to cross.” Matt walked up beside him.
“Care to explain?”
“Okay, so, we have plenty of barbed wire traps and shovels. Earth moving spells, same thing.” Matt waved off Domonos’ smirk.
“This all looks rather intensive.”
“Not all that complicated. Get a few earth movers making the trenches, some laborers pulling out the barbed wire. Triple Concertina wire. Basically, just posts nailed into bedrock with these coils of wire with razor-sharp barbs. Put two on the bottom and one on top, link them all together.”
Domonos nodded with the air of one who was intimately familiar. “What about removing the earth and leaving stone?”
Matt paused. “Manipulating stone takes more mana and going deep enough, in the range of the dungeon core.”
“We can put the reservists to work,” Domonos said.
“That should help.”
They devolved into planning, the officers and foreman mobilizing every dastardly part of their brain. They came up with trap enchantments on the ground, the barbed wire, the posts affixing it to the very ground, random hidden holes and slit trenches a few centimeters to meters deep to capture beast and human ankles. They went through several iterations of obstacles, changing Matt’s plans, and creating three different areas.
Matt felt the cold stroke at his spine. “That’d be nasty.”
“So would sticking our strongest mana gathering formations right under their feet,” Domonos said.
“And we use it all to charge our barriers.” Matt let out a low whistle. “The more people they throw at us, the more spells they use, the faster we gather power.”
Domonos snapped his fingers and pointed at Matt. “Turn the dirt into mud. The should have the stamina for it, but should make some of them trip and it’s a pain in the ass to wade through every damn day. All churned up they’ll get stuck deeper and deeper.”
“We could pull in a weather spell to saturate the place with rain. But it’s just mud.”
“Even better. Morale, Hall. If they believe that they won’t take Vuzgal, they won’t, and we make it a damn hell for them to try. Rain and sloshing through mud rarely makes one’s day.”
“Could we tunnel under the battlefield and have some undead mages casting spells to turn the ground into mud? They could wander around randomly, making sure that it’s a soupy mess. Then if the enemy mages cast hardening spells, they’ll get broken up.” Matt asked.
“Have them casting spell traps as well. Sow them all over the place.”
Matt made some notations on the blueprint, and the light display changed. He tapped his pencil on his lips before pressing on. “So, for the second line of defense, they hit the trenches and terrain obstacles. If it’s connected to the dungeon, then there is little chance in hell they’re going to be able to fix that. Create chasms under the ground so they have to create bridges to cross them and thin sheets between
so they have to be a damn cat to not fall down. Add spikes in the bottom and razor-sharp protrusions on the wall. Have the dungeon maintain them as well. Make them progressively deeper as they get close. Put barbed wire on the spaces between the pits.”
“Traps inside the chasms?” Matt looked up.
“Link them to the razor walls or the floor.” Domonos paused and nodded. “Why the hell not?”
“It will take time to do that up to the wall,” An officer said.
“Anything we link to the dungeon will have a power cost,” Matt added.
“We have access to all of Vuzgal’s resources, including the mana stones we’ve saved up.”
“Okay, then what about alchemy poisons? We could toss those on the barbed wire and any pits. Turn any scrape into a potentially lethal wound.”
“We’d have to have the reg force do it. They’ve tempered their bodies with poison. Not all the reservists did,” Domonos said.
“Fair,” Matt nodded.
“What about fuses on the different traps? That way they could go off immediately or a few seconds later. Say they stuff it into their storage ring. They pull it out later and it could go off, or they break through, think they’re safe, charge ahead, and it goes off behind them,” a devious officer said.
“Done,” Domonos said.
“So, the first line is the mud, roving mages, and traps. Second are the random potholes, chasms, and trenches,” Matt said.
“Three,” Domonos said, taking over, “a field of barbed wire. Reaches to the mountain walls on either side of us, semi-circle around our defenses, out three and a half kilometers. Fields of it. Posts, trap enabled. Chasms hidden underneath, traps, roving mages underground. Everything. The whole thing should follow the incline up to Vuzgal. Dug right into the bedrock.”
“To add in randomization, we could sow reserve squads all over the place, have them take care of different areas. They just update and repeat, butt up against other squads doing whatever they have thought up,” Matt said.
“That’ll make it a damn mess. I like it! Give them time to improve, update, talk to one another, and come up with more traps.” He shared a look with the officers in the room who had all added their own nasty touches to the plan.
“I’m starting to feel a little sorry for the bastards,” Matt said.
“Why? We’re just warming up. They haven’t seen shit yet,” Domonos said.
34
Trading Blows
Marco and the other master teachers half-ducked in the command tent as explosions boomed in the distance.
“Come down here and fight, you damn cowards!” Onam yelled, covering for his embarrassment.
“Since we started attacking their aerial forces, they have increased their height to the point where it is hard to see them. When their attacks land, they are already gone. The roads are covered in spell traps and hidden traps. The forces moving down the east and west roads have had more issues than us,” Hae Woo-Sung, the mustachioed Willful Institute teacher-turned-commander, said.
“Have a force remain where they are. The rest of them are to teleport over and catch up with us,” Marco said.
“What about the forces in the south?”
“They have been moving slower. There are fewer of our people among their ranks. With word sent back of how far ahead we are, I’m sure they’ll speed up,” Feng Dan said. Her armor had remained untouched through the fighting.
Bombs went off one after another, making it difficult to see through the tent as the mana barriers fought to hold on.
The group waited for the noise and light to die down.
Only the agonized cries and sounds of freshly burning wood were left behind.
“We will push ahead to Vuzgal until we reach the city. Then we will lay down teleportation formations to move our forces as fast as possible. Teacher Medina, do you think that you and your students will be able to move faster if I set you free?”
Everyone turned to look at the covered man standing at the rear of the room. Their hands moved closer to their weapons in unease.
“We can reach Vuzgal by tomorrow afternoon and place the teleportation formations.”
“Take anything you need.” Marco bowed his head to teacher Medina, maybe a little lower than the others.
Out of them all, Medina was the strongest. He didn’t rely on just his strength to kill the enemy. He used anything he could to win.
“I believe the enemy already knows where we are. I do not think that all of my students will evade detection.”
“I understand, teacher, but this is the best option. We will use the teleportation formations to shift our forces forward. That should focus their attention,” Marco said.
“I do not mind their deaths. I just have to remind you of the cost it takes to train someone to their level. I hope you don’t waste it.”
Teacher Medina turned without creating a ripple in the air and left the tent.
“Knows where we are. They would have to be casting searching spells all the time,” Onam, the muscled, shorter man said.
“Crafting,” Marco said. “Teacher Hae Woo-Sung, I hope you can split up your mages among the other groups. They are our only effective way of engaging the aerial beasts and their riders.”
“If we were to have casting wagons, we would be more effective.”
“Though it would make you a greater target. I agree with Teacher Medina. The enemy must know our every move.”
“Wait a minute, lad. What do you mean by crafting?”
“Vuzgal is a city of crafters. It has the crafting dungeon, the Vuzgal academy, and one of the largest and most advanced crafting districts in the Fourth Realm. Most cities in the Fifth Realm can’t meet their abilities. The whistling spells, the formation carved metal barrels… They are all crafting items. With tens of Expert crafters backing them, their crafting is unrivaled in the Earth Realms. Spells would certainly exhaust them. We know that the people of Vuzgal, while capable, are not high in level. They use crafting to make up for their weaknesses. They’re using sensing formations and they have shown a high capability in other formations in the past and tonight.”
Explosions rumbled in the distance as another group was attacked.
“You think they seeded the valley with sensing formations?” Eva Marino asked, her hands resting on her waist, just above her whips.
“I think they’ve covered the entire valley with them. We must assume that they can see our every move.”
“That would take a massive amount of resources and time.” Teacher Feng Dan’s brows pinched together.
“They have been here for several years, and while construction might have stalled within their walls, their defensive box structures only multiplied. Their watch towers were constantly upgraded, as were their military bases. If the Battle Arena is as strong as reported, how much stronger must their military training facilities be? They never once slowed on defense, or on advancing their own people’s training.”
“You make it seem like you admire them,” Onam said.
Marco shook his head and let out a frustrated breath.
“Boy,” Onam warned.
“How much do we truly know about them? Some surface information at best? It’s not like we will learn anything else. Our spies and informants stopped reporting to us days ago. Vuzgal purged their city and plucked out the eyes and ears within it. Do you know how hard it is to find out all of a sect’s sources? They did it to every informant within their walls. That fact alone should make you respect them, should make you brace for what is to come, and understand why I am marshaling these powerful assets.”
“Gather all the earth alteration spell scrolls among your ranks. Once the sun rises, we will use them to create a path forward. We won’t be able to avoid the buried traps, but it should remove the threat of the traps that are being dropped from the sky.”
Marco nodded to the teachers and left the tent. The forest had been torn apart by fighting techniques and stomped into submission by
the hundreds of feet that passing through.
Marco jumped onto his waiting mount and headed off toward his clan’s army.
The moonless night didn’t give them any indication of where the aerial beasts were; their silent bombs arrived suddenly.
If it is bad out here in the forests, just how many traps have they prepared in front of the city?
Captain Wazny woke with a start, taking in a deep breath, sitting up on his bed. He looked around the ward, feeling one hundred percent rested. Damn, I need a piss.
He got off the bed, the formations underneath and carved into the frame dimmed. Stamina regeneration, healing, increased mana density. No wonder I feel like a million mana stones.
He headed out of the hyper-recovery ward, checking the time. Only an hour had passed.
He exited, heading for the closest teleportation hub.
The under-city was lit up. The factories and crafting workshops were a hub of activity. Crafters passed him, rushing back to work. Others, like zombies, shuffled to the hyper recovery ward, their eyes dull and arms limp from overuse. Just how hard had they been working? They were Journeyman crafters with body and mana cultivation.
Wazny grit his teeth and jogged toward the teleportation hub. He stepped on a teleportation formation with several supply carts and other air force personnel. All the time he and the others in his team had been resting, the crafters had kept working non-stop to create the supplies and gear they needed.
Wazny balled his fists as light covered the teleportation formation. The crafters were doing so much for them. He had to do more.
He and the rest of the air force personnel left the teleportation hub at a run. He rushed toward his squadron’s hangars. Sparrows were resting on their perches. Formations all around them were lit up, increasing their recovery rate.
“Wazny!” Major Sullivan waved him over to a group of pilots.
Wazny nodded to them, seeing a few familiar faces.
“They’re fresh in from the First Realm. I need someone to take them out, show them the ropes.”
“Anything change?”
“Altitude increase. They got smart about using ranged spells. Started using wind and thermal spells. Out of range for the repeaters, but not the bombs. They’re using some of their own aerial beasts in the air now. Make sure you’re scanning for them. Wing Eleven got hit.”
Seventh Realm Part 1: A LitRPG Fantasy series (The Ten Realms Book 8) Page 38
