Chapter 194: The War Between the South and North 9

The annihilation of their vanguard mere moments from completing the river crossing momentarily paralyzed the soldiers, their advance faltering.

“What…what is this?”

“Dammit! A mage?”

“What sorcery wields such power…?”

The single strike had unleashed devastation surpassing artillery barrages, instilling the troops with an instantaneous, paralyzing dread that impeded their progression.

However, their commanding officers’ stern voices soon rang out from the rear:

“What are you imbeciles doing? Push forward at once! No matter how formidable her magic, she remains but one foe!”

“Move, damn you! We have tens of thousands behind us!”

Accompanied by their comrades’ scathing gazes, that remorseless tone brooked no refusal or cowardice – only the implicit threat of summary execution for insubordination.

Despite their trepidation, the soldiers found themselves compelled to resume their advance.

‘Dammit…come what may, we die either way…’

Gripping their weapons, they rejoined their comrades’ inexorable push, trailed by Mansfeld’s remaining mercenaries who reluctantly followed suit.

After all, their mission demanded seizing the bridge and engaging the enemy beyond – no alternative remained.

They could only cling to desperate hopes that the foreboding display proved mere illusion as they charged ahead.

Upon reaching the far bank, the troops hastily dispersed while warily monitoring the sorceress.

Mercifully, she exhibited no immediate intent to replicate that devastation, allowing Mansfeld’s forces to swiftly reestablish their formations on the opposite shore.

Within seconds, the disciplined mercenaries had reformed their ranks – infantry at the vanguard, mages and musketeers arrayed behind them in firing positions.

“Die, vile witch!”

-Ratatatatang!-

Mansfeld’s musketeers opened fire, their volleys undeniably striking the sorceress accurately.

Yet despite the evident hits, she displayed no discernible reaction beyond mild annoyance – presaging her formidable capabilities that had momentarily stunned them earlier.

Realizing conventional firearms proved ineffective, the mercenary mages readied their most potent offensive spells.

“We intended these for the enemy’s main camp…”

“But if she can shrug off that barrage, she must rank among the elite…perhaps even an archmage.”

“We cannot protract this confrontation. Let us end it swiftly and decisively!”

Though relatively few in number, Mansfeld’s 4th and 5th-rank battle-mages possessed confidence in their combined prowess – believing themselves capable of slaying adversaries of the 7th-rank or higher through concerted efforts.

Brimming with such conviction, they unleashed a concentrated volley of their deadliest spells upon the instigator who had drawn their ire.

“Die!”

Simultaneously discharging their accumulated mystical energies, an apocalyptic conflagration erupted:

-KWAKWAKWANGGG!!! –

Flames erupted, ice detonated, and lightning struck in a cascading maelstrom of annihilating devastation.

The ensuing shockwave thundered deafeningly as the mages’ smirks emerged, anticipating their adversary’s demise.

“Got her?”

“Direct hit – took the full brunt.”

“Undoubtedly vaporized.”

While initially startled, they had deemed the lone mage’s brazen confrontation against their combined might sheer folly.

Until:

“…Tch. That stung a fair bit…”

“!”

“Wha…what?”

A feminine voice emanated from amidst the dissipating smoke…revealing the selfsame sorceress emerging utterly unscathed, one hand extended stoically before her.

“What…what is this? This…this cannot be…”

“Impossible…that barrage should have overwhelmed fortified gates…”

“Yet she withstood it with one hand…?!”

Soldiers and mages alike froze, their faces ashen – confronted by a sight defying all conventional logic and comprehension.

At the inconceivable spectacle’s core, the ‘sorceress’ – no, this monster – nonchalantly dusted her palm as she remarked with chilling aloofness:

“Even paltry spells pack quite a sting when combined, don’t they? Admittedly, I may have overexerted myself slightly…but restraint remains advisable.”

Her wry, weary tone belied the profound menace her presence exuded as her cold gaze swept over the numberless mercenaries before her.

“Well then…since you attacked first, only fair I retaliate in kind, is it not? Quid pro quo.”

Adopting an almost playful lilt, her aura suddenly intensified as immense mystical power erupted from her very being – a force dwarfing the combined might of the mercenary mages’ earlier onslaught.

The soldiers’ hearts turned to lead, an existential dread gripping them witnessing her unfathomable prowess firsthand.

Surveying the multitudes of puny mortals radiating primal terror toward her inexorable advance, a sinister smile played across her lips.

‘Frail, foolish humans…become my sacrifices obediently.’

Concluding that thought, she raised her staff, channeling those unbridled energies as twenty-odd fist-sized luminescent spheres manifested, orbiting her in an ethereal vortex.

Innocuous at first glance, their brilliant, pulsating radiance exuded an unsettling, ominous aura instilling profound disquiet within all observers.

“This…light…what is it…?”

Even the common soldiery untrained in the arcane could sense the lurking peril from those effervescent orbs drifting hypnotically around the mage.

Then, without warning:

“HAAAAAAAAHHHH!!!”

Unleashing a bloodcurdling warcry, the sorceress charged directly at the massed troops – encircled by that orbit of ominous spheres, hurtling toward their ranks like a lone berserker.

An insane spectacle, yet her reality-defying prowess transformed that seeming madness into an existential nightmare.

“Wha…what is she doing? Open fire! FIRE!”

“Again – unleash your magic! Kill that witch before she reaches us! Stop her at all costs!”

Panicked commands prompted a torrent of concentrated firepower as the disciplined formation directed every available offensive asset against the solitary, recklessly advancing figure.

Optimized for delivering overwhelming, mutually-supported volume of fire, such massed volleys could overwhelm virtually any conventional defense when properly arrayed.

Yet against her…their desperate barrage amounted to a mere gnat assailing a thundering stampede.

The twenty orbs whirling about her form abruptly launched themselves directly at the terrified soldiers in uncannily lifelike trajectories.

And then…