The Liberomancer [Isekai Progression LitRPG]

No one responded to what I had said, so I shouted it out again, louder this time.

"Do you see something?" someone asked.

"Yeah," I said. I got off the stack of crates. "Everyone! Wake up and sound the alarm! The enemy's making a move!"

At the sound of my voice, the entire wall burst into activity. Drake also came up running five minutes later from wherever he had been. "There's something happening on the enemy side," I said.

To someone who didn't have [Night Vision] it was almost imperceptible - but I could now more clearly see something advancing towards the city. It would become apparent in a few more minutes when the sun finally came up, not to mention it looked like there were other areas that were mobilizing and heading towards different parts of the wall. However, every minute was precious in a fight like this, and it was better to sound the alarm as soon as possible.

"Can you see what it is though?" Drake asked. He sounded slightly exasperated and was rubbing the sleep from his eyes. He had [Night Vision] as well but I was standing on a pile of crates.

"There's a bunch of them crowded around something, and they're headed towards the gate," I said. "And not just that, but there are some coming this way and the other side as well."

By the time it was more clear as to what we were facing, the morning team had already begun to trickle in, and it was now bright enough that the others could see what I had seen.

About ten thousand dryads were moving towards either end of the wall, while twice that number were advancing towards the center.

Of the group that was advancing towards the gate, there was a large crowd walking in front of a group that was carrying something - a large amount of fallen trees tied together with vines.

A battering ram!

It was rather primitive, but still looked pretty heavy. It was covered with what I guessed was leather in an attempt to shield whoever was carrying it from arrows.

The dryads, while advancing, were diving into the river water, in an attempt to coat themselves with water before their assault.

I didn't know if that would do anything to protect them from fire elemental spells, but it might do something against actual fire.

"Wake my father up," Drake said to one of the other Liberomancers. "We're going to need him. Master Stefan, there is a huge mass of them, please start off with your combination spell. No wait - summon that spider first, I think there's something I can do to help out…"

I didn't bother correcting him this time, but used [Summon Tyrant Arachnea], bringing out the huge spider on the ground below us.

This time, I didn't light it on fire, but Drake did.

I could see his line of reasoning - his fire spells were far more effective, and hence, this combo was more effective as well.

The reason being was that the Tyrant Arachnea got stronger the more powerful the fire spell was cast on it - it could truly be said to be the nemesis of any fire elementalist! There was a limit to its fire resistance though as it only went up to Rank Three, a Rank Four spell from Lance would still end up roasting it.

On top of the flames, several Rank Two and Rank One Liberomancers began casting various buffs on it.

Even from this distance, the spider, with the huge cloak of flames coiling around it must've been visible to the dryads, and they seemed to balk the moment it appeared - which only got worse as the spider ran towards them.

The dryads were not exactly marching in tight formation, but there was still a loose structure to their organization.

This nearly crumbled the moment that they saw the Tyrant Arachnea.

I lived in modern times, so I'd never seen an actual cavalry charge, of course, but I had heard of the principle behind them. As with most things in war, it was about fear rather than actual threat.

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Horses, no matter how well trained they are for war, will not willingly ram into a line of spearmen and die. Likewise, those riding those horses will also not willingly ram into the spearmen and forfeit their own lives, even though they would certainly take a portion of the spearmen with them.

But that's all assuming that the spearmen remained in formation.

The people holding the spears might know, instinctively, that it was better to stay in formation. And that as long as they remained in formation, the advancing cavalry charge would stop and turn.

However, it was here that fear came in. There was something that awakened a primal instinct in the hearts of people when they saw an animal weighing several times them charging right at them - and with an armored soldier on top to boot, let alone several hundreds of them. Logic? Reason? Both would usually go out the window upon such a sight, and when people were in larger groups, it was easier for them to panic.

Why should I remain on the front line? I don't want to die! And if I surrender, what's the worse that will happen?

These thoughts would run through the minds of those people holding the spears. Depending on the time period, those who were defeated would become slaves, in which case they would hope for a kind master or for their freedom to be bought. Or, they would return to becoming peasants and tilling their fields, and in the case of nobility would be ransomed off. Fates many would prefer when compared to dying.

And even if you were brave - were the people around you the same? All it took was for a few people to drop their weapons and your formation was suddenly less effective, meaning it would incentivize even more people to desert.

The line of spearmen would usually break, and the cavalry would then ram their weapons into their fleeing backs, which is when most deaths in ancient battles occurred. Not with two sides clashing at each other (such things did happen, but were rarer than you'd think) - but when one side broke formation and was mowed down by the enemy.

There was a reason that veteran soldiers were considered superior to conscripts, even in this world. Experienced Roman legions could operate at half their usual capacity and still be completely functional, simply because veteran soldiers were less likely to break formation than their younger counterparts.

Arachnophobia is quite common on Earth. Most people were already scared enough of regular spiders - I couldn't imagine that they would handle the sight of one the size of a truck running at them at about a truck's maximum speed enveloped in flames with no regard for its own life and only bent on causing as much damage as possible, very well.

And all of that not considering the fact that they were even more flammable than humans, being dryads.

Understandably, they tried to put on a brave front, but their barely-kept formation collapsed almost immediately.

Those of them who had rudimentary ranged weapons used them - the arrows were nearly useless as the flames burnt them to a crisp before they could even make contact, and while the spears fared better, they could barely scratch the surface of its chitinous exoskeleton before the wounds rapidly closed up thanks to the flames.

Ten thousand dryads - the Tyrant Arachnea was no match for them, even with its improved coat of fire armor from Drake and buffs. But it didn't need to be - because the panic spread faster than the flames would.

It was actually a bit of an issue if they ran away - as long as they had been in a tight group, the flames would've spread rapidly from one dryad to the other, but this would not nearly be as effective now.

Out of the corner of my eye, I spotted movement - a speck that was moving through the horizon above the city. Something came out from the direction of the palace, moving through the air towards the dryads carrying the battering ram, much like a helicopter. It looked like Lance was flying out to deal with the dryads and their battering ram.

So we were covered from two positions, but that still left Zeke's side.

"Is your brother going to be alright?" I asked Drake. With our side relatively safe, I was wondering if we should've sent some forces over there. I doubted that he had finished the grimoire I had given him and could perform the same combo as me in such a short period of time. I had only finished about a quarter of mine up till this point. And if anything, he was sometimes busier than I was.

"He can handle himself," Drake said after clicking his tongue, a verbal tic of his that I realized he did whenever he was under stress or annoyed. He did however, ask for a portion of those stationed near the seaside to move towards that side of the wall. The dryads were not launching an amphibious assault, and given how slow they moved through the water, we'd have more than enough time to reform if they switched tactics.

The dryad's plan was to distract the rest of us with two separate forces while they tried to batter the front gate down - it was a solid plan on paper.

But as I saw the spell [Inferno] kick up a massive wall of flames even from my position, I knew that whoever was carrying that battering ram was probably nothing but ashes now.

I couldn't help but turn my head to try and catch a glimpse of what [Inferno] looked like - I had heard a lot about it but never witnessed it firsthand until now. The dryads before us had scattered, so I felt that I could afford the distraction right now.

The pillar of flame was quite apparent even at this distance, as it rose above even the height of the walls of the city. If I was closer, I might've even felt the heat of the explosion.

Rank Four magic truly was incredible! Not only that, but [Inferno] was boosted by the rest of Lance's build and any other buffs he might've had cast on him before he had flown out. I didn't doubt that the sight of his figure flying among the clouds was probably even more frightening to the dryads than my Tyrant Arachnea was.