Regressor of the Fallen Family Chapter 152
After that day, there were two more battles. The coalition forces, not in harmony with the two factions, repeated the pattern of incurring damages and retreating under concentrated enemy fire. However, when the united forces of the factions finally began their advance after three days of silence following the last battle, a clearly different air was beginning to emerge.
“This time it’s somewhat different.”
“Yes. The army of the Second Prince seemed to have an easier time, but…”
At the forefront of the Second Prince’s army, Luther Kaihl was present after a long absence, while Duke Yordan was missing. Consequently, the Second Prince’s forces appeared to have lost some of their gravitas, but the situation with the army of the First Prince was notably different. Wicken Callian’s presence at the front remained unchanged; however, a middle-aged magician with white hair and clad in a white robe now stood behind him, exuding an otherworldly aura with his mere presence that seemed to distort the surroundings, a force of mana that transcended Magic force.
“Juan Douglas has come to the forefront; the prince must have left his side, which means…”
“We should assume some sort of agreement has been reached. Still, for all that, it’s puzzling that Duke Yordan isn’t making a move.”
“We’ll also need to consider the sudden appearance of the Blaze Sword.”
“It wouldn’t work to use that tactic again, would it?”
“There are no longer any spies planted within. And even if we tried, it won’t work. We could only use that trick once.”
The enemy had reached an agreement faster than expected.
Any unnecessary comments about the current situation were simply swallowed.
As the faces of the McLaine father and son hardened during their conversation, the faction coalition army began their advance.
“The strength behind their arrows has indeed weakened.”
It was an exaggeration to say that about the crossbows, including their repeating ones, but none disputed Juan’s claim. In fact, the number of quarrels coming from the bastion had halved compared to two or three days prior.
“Their resources must be diminishing, or perhaps the soldiers are growing tired. Personally, I think it’s both.”
“Yes, it’s indeed time to bring this to an end. But that Yordan fellow…”
After glancing northeast toward the seat of the rival Second Prince’s encampment, Juan clicked his tongue lightly but, Wicken shook his head instead at the retreating figure.
‘It’s strange to trust him after he’s already broken a promise once.’
Whose fault was it that unnecessary losses had accumulated in this battle that could have ended in three days? Wicken did not believe in his father-in-law’s excuses that nothing was his doing. He knew Juan Douglas too well, a man capable of blindsiding everyone in an unforeseen situation. It’s probably only because the Second Prince’s guard was stronger than expected that he failed.
Duke Yordan must be thinking the same, hence his inaction despite the losses.
Ah, speaking of Yordan Waltmayer, if craftiness was the metric, he might even surpass the father-in-law…
“Is Sir Luther doing alright? It would be worrisome if they started getting rogue ideas…”
“I’ll be fine for a day.”
“Pardon?”
“Unless Yordan or Luther takes action directly, I’ve taken measures to ensure absolute safety. This showcases another strength of a mage, distinct from an aura user.”
It was suspected when one easily took to the front lines, but evidently, there was yet another unspoken move in play.
Wicken felt bitter but did not press the issue further. He didn’t want to cause unnecessary trouble with his father-in-law at a time like this.
“I’m just concerned about them making their move.”
“Hah. You’re rather timid for a superhuman. Do you think I stood there without any defense? The one at the front line is obvious to the eye, and as for Yordan, well, one would immediately know if he moved.”
“Remarkable, as always.”
Having a spy placed close at hand.
Reassured by past suspicions, Wicken simply smiled and nodded.
As problematic as it could be to have allies who keep secrets, on the other hand, it was also reassuring.
Wicken set aside his worries.
“Let’s go then. As promised, we begin by subduing the half-giant ice mage.”
“Understood!”
The inspection was over.
Wicken’s spirited reply marked the beginning of the elite First Prince’s army advancing into the battlefield, with arrows and magic bombs flying all around.
“They’re coming!”
With a crisp shout, the faces of the soldiers on the southern and western walls, who were shooting crossbows, tensed up. The sign from the knight signaled the emergence of the most attentive human, superhuman. Monsters resilient even against overwhelming firepower, instantly dampening the morale of the soldiers.
Moreover, this time, in addition to the monstrous beings that the eldest prince barely managed to fend off, there was an ominous presence among them that made the situation even graver.
“That man… that’s the Ice Mage! Aim carefully and concentrate!”
The knight’s words made the already weary, dark-rimmed eyes of the soldiers grow even gloomier.
Reading the mood, Logan’s thunderous voice echoed in and out of the fortress.
“Mages differ from aura users! Attack relentlessly! As long as we don’t give them the leisure to cast spells we’ll be fine! And the Storm Sword, as usual, I’ll handle it. Hold on! If we persist, we’ll win!”
The words they heard too often over the past week.
But those words brought a bit of color back to the soldiers’ faces.
“Yes, we can do this!”
“Let’s give it a shot!”
“We’ve been winning all this time!”
To an outsider’s eye, the situation might look peculiar.
It was odd to see the morale risning on baseless, vague reassurances from the commander.
However, those in the midst of the battlefield did not feel this strangeness. Everyone but the one who created that scene.
‘It’s still a mere trick.’
With his newfound ability to perceive more fundamental energies beyond force, Logan could slightly bend his allies’ momentum in the desired direction.
He believed that if he could surpass his current limit, this skill would evolve phenomenally.
‘Of course, before that…’
The immediate challenge had to be overcome.
While Luther turning around was an unsettling sight, for McLaine, whose essential forces relied on crossbows and liberatio to be entirely ineffective against Wicken Callian, Logan was the only one who could confront this superhuman.
Regardless of the level, given the nature of his abilities, Wicken Callian stood as the most dangerous superhuman to the McLaine family.
“Hang on! If we persist, we’ll win!”
Juan sneered at the foolish nonsense coming from within the fortress.
‘Can you really endure? This will be different than before, you novice. I have personally joined the fray.’
Even Juan found it unbelievable that Wicken could hold his own against an aura user despite not being one himself, but in another sense, that was all he could do.
Juan was confident he could turn the man into a block of ice within the time it takes to sip tea if he tried to confront him.
Of course, his current task was not to deal with him.
‘Regrettable.’
The most significant cause for the Second Prince’s army’s defeat and Yordan’s injuries wasn’t their new weapon but the enemy magician’s peculiar magic.
To Juan, a ‘true’ mage, that magic was fatally flawed.
‘First, to deal with the half-baked practitioner…’
Wooong.
The mana that was weaving around as his will stimulated began to color the surroundings.
The ice attribute circle he naturally had, now combined with the wind attribute he gained by transcending human limitations, moved and sought out another owner of magical power within the fortress.
‘I’ve found you.’
And immediately,
‘Freeze. And trap.’
Magic that halted everything, a superior concept to the ice attribute, combined with a magic that harnessed the concept of wind to restrict all movement—this revealed the power of a ‘true’ mage.
A real mage could easily shake off such a magical interference based on a dual attribute. But…
‘As expected…’
The half-grown practitioner using 6-circle magic as a crutch couldn’t overcome it. The sensation of the magic contact alone was enough for Juan to feel the practitioner’s panic.
Smiling at this, Juan once again raised his artifact, the Kelahan’s staffn, aiming above the fortress wall.
“I will block their weapons! Advance!”
Alongside rendering the half-practitioner powerless, Juan imposed protective barriers of wind and ice over the heads of the frontlining allies. While he could not shield all the allies due to ongoing critical tasks, he could significantly reduce the impact of the quarrels and bombs falling on the heads of a hundred men at the front line.
And that was enough for the knights.
“The attack has weakened!”
“Move up now!”
“It’s our chance!”
‘What do you think? This is the power of a real mage.’
Freed from the weakness of being a prince, even for just a moment, Juan, a true mage, watched the evolving battlefield with ease.
“Shoot!”
“Pour everything out!”
Roar. Boom.
How had it come to this?
The gigantic superhuman, who had suffered a miserable defeat in the initial clash, was now rampaging around entirely unlike before.
When he reached the wall and struck it with a war hammer as big as he was, it felt as if the entire fortress might crumble. And then,
“Huh, it seems like some magic has been put on the world.”
Stepping on the fractured gap in the wall caused by his strike, he began storming up the rampart.
“Block him!”
Despite Patrick swiftly dashing out in front of him, the watching soldiers paled.
To them, their lord’s blazing force blade seemed nothing more than a flickering candle compared to the radiant red aura created by the giant’s hammer.
That grim prediction quickly became reality.
Boom!
“I’ll turn you into mush!”
Where the giant war hammer passed, a monstrous scene unfolded: in an instant, men turned into a spray of blood.
‘Do not confront directly.’
Having tasted defeat at the hands of aura users before, Patrick focused on dodging all attacks and sought only to exploit the giant’s weaknesses. It was somewhat of a relief to him that Luther Kaihl was on the slower side among superhumans.
Crash!
The transient aura that colored his armor was enough to shatter even his meager hope.
“Hahahaha. Playing the lord fits you about as well as a rat!”
The wicked hammer devoid of aura still looked as if it would pulverize everything, devastating the surroundings.
Patrick could do nothing but draw the superhuman’s attention to minimize the harm.
Unsurprisingly, it contorted his expression.
In that situation,
Flash.
Tat-tat-tat!
“What’s this…?!”
Luther Kaihl irritably swatted away two streams of light, his eyes rapidly scanning the area.
Confident that an average knight’s attack wouldn’t scratch him even if he took it head-on, Luther found the light beams too powerful to disregard.
‘No more than intermediate…doesn’t seem right? Intermediate is this powerful?’
Seeing two young knights with red and blue hair, who stood ten meters apart, aiming orange and gray beams of light at him, Luther Kaihl’s eyes narrowed.
His expression seemed more vicious, but it was more akin to interest than anger.
“Puhahaha! Do knights also wield magic-like skills now? This is fun. Come on, attack me all at once!”
Boom!
The superhuman, in full display of his maximized physical prowess, continued to unleash a storm of blood.
Ching. Ching. Ching. Ching.
Boom!
Crack!
“Aren’t you using that technique? Keep holding back, and you’ll die just like that!”
A slight wound on the cheek caused by the streak of a blade, tingling from the contact with the aura, was keenly felt. The force seeping in began to necrotize the skin, but the strong golden light force managed to push the destructive aftershock away.
And as Logan watched the snake blade inflict an equivalent wound on the enemy, he couldn’t help but smile back.
“I’m saving that to end your life. You must already feel there’s not much difference now, Marquis.”
The twisted expression of Wicken Callian.
Even as he saw the enemy caught in his taunting, Logan’s heart couldn’t be completely at ease.
He could sense the overall momentum of his side being pushed back, just from the atmosphere around him.
‘Just show a small opening. I’ll end it right then.’
The very fact that he could entertain such thoughts against a superhuman signified an achievement incomparable to before.
Although his current prowess was bolstered by two powerful artifacts enhancing his abilities and the power of Lux, Wicken Callian himself was also using no ordinary artifacts.
His personal martial might was nearly equivalent to that of Wicken standing before him.
Logan focused on his progressively improving swordplay and his own accomplishments, fighting off the impatience rising within.
Yet, as the fight with Wicken intensified and they kept their frenzied dance of strikes and counters, sounds from afar caught his attention.
– Aaaaaaah!
– It’s an ambush!
– Behind!!
He turned his head naturally.
And in the distant east end, Logan saw a group of soldiers pounding the Second Prince’s army’s rear and marching forward.
Compared to the large factional army, they were just a fraction in numbers. However,
The mature leader at the forefront.
Upon recognizing the eagle emblem on the army’s banner, Logan’s face naturally brightened with a smile.