NOVEL NEXT Chapter 212: Attack
While we get up to speed about the tactical situation of the surrounding area a sudden commotion starts erupting around us, putting us all on alert. Not long after, a couple of soldiers run towards us.
“The enemy is attacking!” They shout at us.
One of the commanders steps forward. “Where are they attacking exactly?”
“All across the defensive perimeter!”
“That doesn’t sound good.” Sid takes his spiked maul from his back and rests it on his shoulder.
The other officers quickly start dishing out orders to the troops who are resting up around the area as bells and horns start sounding off throughout the settlement.
“Are they pressing the attack because they know we are here?” Sam asks.
“I think so, they might want to get to us before we are prepared.” Veanya nods but makes a wooden staff appear in her hand. “Let’s show them we are more than ready to face them, even now.”
Gamma smiles. “So we are going to blunt their offense and counter attack?”
“That’s what I was thinking.” Veanya nods once more and then looks at me. “Amicia, would you turn into your other form, please?”
“Already? Sh-shouldn’t we wait a bit to save it up for when it’s really needed?”
“While we could do that it would boost more of the troops a lot. And we don’t really want to have long drawn out fights. Using your power from the get-go will make our fights shorter.” She then leans in to whisper something, not that the officers are paying much attention anymore as they are planning the defense. “To add to that, the three of us are here too and it’s not like we are going to throw in all of our power immediately.”
“Ah…” I nod. “Fair enough.” I proceed by taking a couple of steps back just so that I have plenty of room to spread my wings and start concentrating. Within moments I feel the weight of my armor on me and my sword in my hand. The officers around me gasp as they see my changed form. It’s not the first time they’ve seen me like this but it must still be quite impressive to see it happen in front of you. “We’ll head to the front.” I say to one of the commanders who is staring at me. “Please continue holding the line. We’ll try to blunt the assault a little.”
The man manages to give me a shy nod in return. “I-if you need anything while fighting, please send word, we’ll see what we can do.”
I nod again and then look at my party around me. They are all smiling confidently at me.
“Let’s go and kick some ass?” Sam smirks.
“Yes, let’s.” I give her one final nod after which we all run out of the central command post and head outside.
“Amicia, could you fly up and give us directions to where the fighting is most intense?” Veanya asks as we are running through the village square right now, heading towards the noise of battle.
“On it.” Without really waiting any further I flap my wings once and swoosh straight up in the air until I’m about 20 meters above the ground. The forested area makes it somewhat harder to get a perfect view of what’s happening but it’s clear from the spells that are going off that there’s fighting pretty much everywhere along a line stretching for as far as I can see. Although it looks to me like the enemy is focussing most of its forces in two attacks, with a big group of them trying to force their way forward along the river and another one further inland. It’s clear that they are trying to force an encirclement of our vanguard troops.
I then quickly swoop back down again to go and relay the news to my party.
Sidolphus takes the word. “I’ll take Sam and Veanya to the river to quench that assault while you and Gamma take the other flank?”
“Sounds good to me.” Gamma nods and already takes a pistol in each of her two hands.
“Sounds good to me too.” Sam agrees and walks over to me, giving me a kiss on my cheek. “Stay safe, okay?”
“I should be the one saying that to you…” I reply.
Sam gives me a wink.
“Don’t worry, Amicia, we will keep her out of trouble.” Sid gives me a confident nod and then beckons Sam and Veanya to follow him.
Gamma stays standing next to me and gives me a cheeky smile. “Ami, could you take me up with you. It’s gonna be faster if you carry me over to the frontline. If you could fly me over their line I’ve got a couple of surprises for the enemy too.”
“Sure thing.” I make my shield disappear and take Gamma by the back of her coat.
“Lift off!” Gamma cheers as I swoosh back up with her dangling beneath her. It really seems like the crazy purple catgirl is having the time of her life.
Within moments we are flying over the defensive lines towards our destination. All along the way our appearance makes the crowds of soldiers and adventurers below cheer. As Veanya said just a little bit earlier, my mere presence is boosting morale tremendously. What also appears to be helping are the explosions caused by the ‘presents’ Gamma is throwing into the enemy lines. As a seemingly limitless supply of hand grenades are being magicked into existence from underneath her coat. The steel balls with fuses getting thrown out every second or so.
“How many of these do you even have?”
“Plenty.” Gamma laughs as she tosses three more down into a denser group of enemies. “But these will only work well on the grunts. I’m a bit better with the tougher guys.”
“Tougher guys?” At that exact moment a purple bolt, which I know off all too well, shoots out towards me from deeper into the forest. If I had noticed just a little bit later I wouldn’t have been able to dodge it as easily as that.
“One of those guys.” In the blink of an eye Gamma has one of her guns back in her hand and shoots it off in the direction the bolt came from, a loud inhuman screech resounding through the area just a moment later. “Boom. Headshot.” She grins. “Be careful though, there are definitely going to be more of them around. It’s best to attack them with single target attacks. They can soak up a lot of area of effect damage.”
“Uh… Thanks for the tip.” I make sure to make a mental note of that although it’s going to be hard to forget considering the circumstances.
We fly a bit further until we are well and truly above the highest concentration of troops that I had spotted earlier with Gamma unleashing even more explosions. It creates a temporary relief for the people on the ground who are scrambling to defend as it’s clear that this is the weakest part of the line for the defenders.
“You can set me down here, Amicia.”
“Sure you don’t want to drop some more bombs?”
“No, I can do that from the ground anyway. Now I’m just keeping you from unleashing hell. In the meantime I’ll try to hunt those bigger guys whenever I see them, but don’t be afraid to get a couple of yourself too.”
I hum and set the purple catgirl down on the ground. “Good hunting then I guess.”
“Same to you.” She grins once more and starts throwing some more grenades.
Instead of immediately flying up though, an idea comes to mind. Just in case I make my shield appear and direct it towards the forest the enemy is coming from while I plant my sword into the ground. As most of these enemy grunts appear to be the soulless humans that we saw a couple of days ago, it might be somewhat hard for them to cross a physical barrier. A barrier that I can create.
I channel my magic into my sword and into the ground in front of me as I form a mental path that divides the lines of the enemy and our own. With an even bigger impulse of magic the ground cracks over the length of at least a few kilometers, forming a fissure and pulling the two sides apart. It takes a tremendous amount of power but it’s doable as I direct the terrain of our side up while I slightly push the other side underneath. Creating a wall of dirt and stone for the enemy to climb in case they want to advance on this weak part of our line any further. Effectively working as a force multiplier like ditches and walls would do. Not exactly invincible, but much better than nothing.
With that done, I take flight once more and start blasting the living crap out of the enemy.