Powerful Institute mages threw lances of power as they found trap spells that had been cast in the depths of the night. They soaked up the losses and trudged on.
They might be bastards, but they are a strong enemy.
Mana barriers came down, and the mounted force broke apart, fleeing back to Camp Sierra and its promised safety. Many didn’t make it.
The majority pushed forward; a third got within two hundred meters. At this range, the density of spell traps rose, and the defenders attacked with ease, though the attackers were so close that the siege weapons on the mid and inner walls couldn’t hit them anymore. The possibility of striking their own walls and people was just too high.
Bai Ping didn’t know how many times he had called out corrections, altering the crew’s aim, but now the enemy was too close to reload the siege weapons anymore.
“Ready weapons!” he barked. The mounted beasts would close the few hundred meters quickly.
Everyone grabbed their melee weapons, ready to repel attackers.
“They’re heading for the wall!” a spotter called out.
“Drop rocks!” someone yelled. People kicked rocks down the slits in the wall, dropping them onto the enemy below, creating ripples on their different mana barriers.
Inside the mana barriers, the Willful Institute riders attacked the defenses, tearing into the walls.
Formations carved into the stone came to life, making it harder for the enemy to break through.
Bai Ping saw several people place formations on the wall that drew massive amounts of Water and Wind energy, creating a sideways whirlpool.
“Get off the wall!” Bai Ping’s words were drowned out as the whirlpools condensed, slamming into the wall, one after another. They were like elemental drills, with the force of Wind and Water. Those on the wall couldn’t hold their footing anymore and were tossed backward as stone exploded outward.
Bai Ping hit the ground heavily and rolled.
Mana barrier!
The spell snapped into existence, covering him as he tasted dirt and blood in his mouth. Boulders smashed against his mana barrier, bouncing off.
Other sections of the wall were taken down by different attack formations and spell scrolls. Even the mounted raiders were breaking through, using their beasts and combat techniques.
Bai Ping canceled his mana barrier, getting covered in stones. He pushed himself up and pulled out his sword.
“Rally to me!” he yelled. “Adventurer’s Guild, up and at ‘em! Check on your buddies! Pull the wounded back to the mid-wall!” The walls were like broken teeth. Some people had managed to keep their footing; others had been tossed free. He saw legs sticking out from underneath a pile of rubble.
He spat the dust and blood in his mouth as a beast roared. A man was just picking himself up off the ground as a spear sprouted through his chest. Through the dust and smoke, a mounted warrior appeared; he shifted his spear, shaking the dying man free.
Bai Ping ran forward; his speed increased, and he jumped onto a rock, then to another pile of rubble.
More mounted members of the Willful Institute came out of the breach behind the man with the bloodied spear. With the close-in walls and the uneven terrain, they didn’t have the protection of their mana barriers anymore.
The spear user turned toward Bai Ping, only to feel a cool breeze on his neck. Bai Ping jumped onto another section of wall, pulling three throwing blades. Power flooded through his body, lighting up his arm and the daggers.
“Fly true!” he yelled. Spells settled on the throwing blades, and he followed their trajectory. The blades seemed to have eyes as they shifted their point of aim before sinking into the necks of three more mounted attackers.
Bai Ping’s sword deflected a spear thrust. A mana spike shot out from his left hand. He stabbed out with the spike, using it like a lance to drive it into the attacker’s chest.
He heard yells and felt the rush of air of a passing spell. His squad had gathered themselves together and attacked. One grabbed a mounted man’s spear, dragging them off their mount in a display of Strength and Agility.
Another stabbed the spear user as they landed on the ground.
A spell crossed over their backs, slamming into a rider, leaning over to slash at them with a sword. The spell sent the riders flying into a pile of rubble. The rider started to get up another squad member’s war hammer slammed into their back, embedding them in the ground and releasing them from life’s hold.
The war hammer user raised his hammer as a lance of mana struck him, exploding and tossing him away.
“Wounded to the rear! Pull back to the shed!” Bai Ping yelled as he checked the area with a quick scan.
The Willful Institute wasn’t charging in anymore; they tossed out spells that covered the area in smoke.
Bai Ping grabbed a wheezing woman who was on her knees. In one motion, he picked her up and put her over his shoulders. Using a mild healing spell on her, he helped her back toward the rear.
He saw his squad coming back. He counted his people.
“Where are Ahkmet and Gwen?”
“Gwen was in the path of one of those tornados,” the war hammer user said with a dark look and shook his head as he hauled his bloody war hammer.
“Ahkmet got hit with rubble,” the girl holding onto Bai Ping forced out.
Bai Ping gritted his teeth. “All right, keep pushing back.”
There were only four people who were combat capable. The rest were wounded or fucked up. He didn’t remember how they got to the shed.
They reached the simple defenses, weaving between wooden furniture that had been fused with stone and earth.
“Fire!” Several mana cannons let loose, shooting at the openings in the wall and firing blindly into the smoke. Mages were using Air spells to clear the smoke, but it was a losing battle.
Bai Ping passed off the woman he had carried to a healer. They had set up a casualty collection point, assessing the wounded rapidly before sending them on the back of modified carts to medical stations.
Bai Ping gathered his people and moved to the defensive wall. He saw a familiar face from the CPD and walked over. “How are things looking, John?”
“Walls are fucked in several places, just as we planned. We took some wounded but nothing serious. You?”
“Two down, thirteen wounded.”
John grimaced. “Shit. Sorry, man.”
Bai Ping grunted.
“We’re holding here. There are some stragglers still coming in. We just need to hold for five more minutes.”
“All right. Where do you want me?”
“Take the defenses on the right side.”
“All right.” Bai Ping waved to his people and pushed to the right side. The wall was circular, running from the right to the left. Now it was broken with multiple holes in it. Their ad-hoc defensive line was back a hundred meters from the walls, creating an uneven semi-circle behind the main wall.
Bai Ping jogged with his people to the right. The ground had been hardened, so they weren’t stuck in the mud. They passed other groups who were getting organized. Wounded poured through and were sent to the casualty points. Bai Ping checked behind from the second wall; a third wall was coming together on the road that angled up with switchbacks that led up to the mid-wall.
Bai Ping got his people in place. “Check your gear and re-stock.” He looked around. Mana cannons fired out at the walls.
They got to their positions, and Bai Ping was spreading them out when beasts charged out of the smoke.
The defenders fired on them.
“Hold your fire, hold your fire! Watch for riders!” Bai Ping yelled. He checked on his people and scanned the area in front of the defenses.
The defenders couldn’t be held back and kept attacking the poor beasts.
The riders charged out, throwing down mana barriers and creating forward fighting positions. They tossed out formations, creating a series of positions.
“Hit the
people to the rear!” Bai Ping yelled. He drew and released his arrow, hitting a rider and dropping them.
Others with ranged attacks changed their focus.
More beasts ran out of the smoke from different locations.
“Riders on the beasts!” Bai Ping yelled, feeling frustrated. They were being pressed from every side, keeping them off-balance.
His arrow was smacked out of the air by a rider, smashing it into rocks on the ground. He drew another arrow, aiming at the beasts and sending piercing spell-enhanced arrows through the creatures and into the rider on top of them or killing the beast and sending the rider tumbling.
Some riders tossed out barrier formations, creating new positions for those behind to advance. Others were formed up and charging the half-wall.
Bai Ping saw a group of riders jump over the spike-covered half-wall on their beasts.
Some fell to the spikes or to spells and arrows. Most of the Willful Institute riders landed and charged after the Reynir defenders who were retreating.
A yell came from behind as a group of Grey Peak sect riders appeared on their armored bears. They crashed into the Willful Institute riders who were fighting the ground forces.
Bai Ping turned back to his fight, sending arrow after arrow into the enemy. Defenders started to get into a rhythm, and they held on against the Institute’s attack.
Newly wounded were pulled back as bear-mounted Grey Peak members charged any Institute riders who made it over, overwhelming them with numbers and home-ground advantage.
Their defenses were stabilizing.
“Mages!” someone yelled.
Bai Ping looked over to see a stream of lightning shooting across the barrier. Errant arcs tore up the ground and barriers before striking several fighters, causing them to stiffen and drop to the ground.
Rocks and debris rose from the ground around a mage, protected by a mana barrier, before she cast her hand out. The debris turned into projectiles and hammered the defenses, hitting some defenders and forcing others to get cover.
A Grey Peak sect mage covered in spells chanted. His first spell was overlaid by a second and then a third that rotated into place before they stuck together, stopping suddenly like seized gears. The wind whistled as Air darts, small in size but great in number, shot out. They shredded the ground, leaving numerous holes. Several soldiers collapsed under a spray of dirt.
A group of Institute warriors charging forward under the cover of mana barriers that had been tossed out by the wave of riders.
Their yells rose as they charged.
“Hold the wall! Hold the wall!” Bai Ping yelled, storing his bow as he threw out a formation plate.
There was no thinking; there was just doing. He had trained as a sharpshooter of bows and rifles of every kind. He had trained with mortars and on the principles of artillery, learned the ways of magic, how to break and heal one’s body, and the technical aspects of engineering. It had not been easy, but he had made it.
Now, all that training backed him up.
He stood on the formation. Power surged through his body. His eyes lit up as the world seemed to become his domain. “Burning Sand!” he yelled out, using the words to increase his control over the spell as he threw his hand forward. The power of the formation increased the power of his simple spell many times over as rocks the size of a man’s fist appeared in the sky above. They glowed red-hot, just barely cool enough to not turn into glass.
They hit the ground like bombs, exploding on impact and sending burning shards in every direction. Impacts lit up the mobile mana barriers.
Bai Ping changed his point of aim.
He threw out his other hand, casting the spell again. Institute warriors who were charging the defenses yelled. The charge broke apart as they tried to get away from the attack from above. Others sped up or raised their shields.
“Stand with me! Stand, you motherfuckers!” another CPD leader yelled as he shook his spear. Power rushed through his body, igniting the air around him as his muscles bulged.
The adventurers got to their feet.
“Buffing spells! Ready on the heals!”
“Titan’s Roar!” Bai Ping sent over the mid-level buffing spell, enhancing their reaction speed and Strength while increasing their body’s toughness.
Buffs fell on the adventurers, and the enemy had to jump over the wall.
The adventurers, feeling their allies at their backs, roared. The Willful Institute warriors were coming back down to earth when three were hit with arrows, and another one was tossed back into the sky with a blast of Wind. The CPD leader’s spear jabbed out, and the ground rose with him; several Earth spears shot out, as if he were the lord of the Earth. His spear killed one, and the Earth spears wounded two others.
The Institute’s people landed and were met with the blades and shields of the Adventurer’s Guild, cutting them down in moments.
“For the guild!” one person yelled out.
“For our guild members!” others yelled back. The fighting spirit along the line rose.
“Burning Sand!” Bai Ping harassed the enemy with one hand.
“Titan’s Roar!” His buffing spell spread out to the allies around him. They didn’t take time to wipe off the blood and sweat as they raised their bodies, feeling clear-headed and energetic.
“The wounded have been pulled back. The Institute is sending reinforcements. Set out magical traps. We’re going to pull back!” The order came from the local commander.
“Those of you without ranged weapons, start using those trap spell scrolls!”
His people rushed to obey.
“Mana barrier-protected routes will activate upon the pullback. Remember to not bunch up and to follow the barriers,” the commander spoke in the CPD leader’s ears.
“Mana barrier-protected routes will activate upon the pullback. Remember to not bunch up and to follow the barriers,” Bai Ping repeated. “We are not leaving anyone behind!”
His words were washed out by a tinkling noise that made his spine shiver.
Shit—ice!
Darts of ice shot out at Bai Ping. He pulled out a spell scroll and tore it.
A weird noise that rose and dropped like a wave came from the spell scroll as it blasted over the battlefield. Ice shattered and crumbled, turning into dust as it covered the sky.
“Covering fire!” a Grey Peak sect leader yelled.
Mages waved their hands on the mid-walls. Ice and Earth were combined and rose in the sky like a guillotine before shooting forward, one after another like cannon balls.
They struck the ground ahead of the defenses, tearing apart mana barriers. They struck, killing or wounding those unfortunate enough to be hiding underneath. Many more hit the open ground, causing explosions and leaving a massive crater.
The mages staggered from the attacks, but the Willful Institute took minimal losses. Emboldened by narrowly missing fate and not wanting to be caught by more attacks, they charged forward.
From the smoke between the broken walls, new yells were heard.
Mounted riders from the Willful Institute charged across the open ground.
Bai Ping raised a whip of ice and lashed out, hitting two Institute fighters.
His warriors looked up from what they were doing.
“Keep putting the traps down!” Bai Ping barked.
The enemy rushed across the ground like an unstoppable tide.
Graa-kerr!
A strange noise came from the ground, as if the earth were complaining. A few heard it before the ground a few meters ahead of the craters exploded.
Hands of dirt with ice veins smacked beasts and grabbed riders as the ground shifted. Heads appeared out of the ground.
“Golems!” a Willful Institute warrior cried out as a golem smashed its arms into the ground, sending out a ripple that exploded within the charging riders.
Beasts and fighters were thrown in the air. Beasts broke their ankles and stumbled on ground that rippled like the surfac
e on a lake.
Bai Ping looked up to the mages standing on the walls. They were pale-faced but moved their bodies as if they were in the fight.
It is not just golem creation; this is golem control.
A golem pushed out of the ground and dragged out a sword. It slashed back and down. The ground was torn apart, a snake of earth and ice that rose up under the feet of a Willful Institute commander.
Guards rushed forward to defend, using combat techniques. Red shields appeared in front of them. Mages cast Fire spells, striking the golems. It tore away chunks of their bodies and left them smoking as they tried to weather the attacks and advance.
The golems were being worn down, collapsing back into dirt.
“Attack the spells and the mages!” Bai Ping ordered. A spell formation as big as his chest appeared in front of him as he showed deep concentration. He worked for several moments before he released it.
The spell formations grew to be several meters large, and the formation under his feet enhanced it.
A pill shot out of the spell formation and toward the enemy. The light coming from it shifted, mixing blacks with greens, golds and yellows, brilliant red sparks and silver threads.
The Chaotic Blast entered deep into the Willful Institute area and ignited. Lightning surged out, then swapped to Wind, then Ice blades and Fire spears. Enchanted metals warped, and the mana in the area was distorted, tossed into chaos before it was sucked in and then exploded into a rain of burning flames.
“Pull back, first echelon!” a Grey Peak sect commander of the area yelled.
People turned and jogged through the mana barriers to the rear.
Bai Ping shot out spears of ice at the mages. The mana had been churned up with the mana blast, and other CPD members were using the same spell, forcing the mages to use their internal mana, making their spells much weaker, as they couldn’t influence the mana around them as much as they had before.
Golems broke free of their chains and prisons and rushed to meet the riders and warriors on the ground.
“Second echelon!” the local commander yelled.
Bai Ping checked on his people with a glance and used the buff Clear-minded. Their spellcasting became easier, and they focused on their trap-laying, not worrying about the battle around them as much.
Sixth Realm Part 2: A litRPG Fantasy series (The Ten Realms Book 7) Page 50