Chapter 37: The Stereotype of Mages

After eliminating one target, the Teutonic Knights’ offensive became even fiercer. They paid the heavy price of four Armored Knights down and nearly half of their Knight Attendants killed before finally destroying all the enemy Knight Attendants and overturning another Garde Knight.

Through Morin’s binoculars, the fallen Armored Knight was quickly surrounded by three Teutonic Knights, who used their Spiked Maces and battle axes, flashing with a certain magical glow, to smash its limbs and front armor piece by piece. This was the nature of the fighting between Armored Knights—a deadly fight to the finish with no quarter given.

Now, only two Order of Garter Armored Knights remained, struggling to hold on. They fought while retreating, clearly intending to break away and escape through the weakest point of the encirclement. But Ludwig, who had the upper hand, would not easily give up the chance to wipe them out. He charged forward, swinging his weapon. The other Armored Knights followed suit, determined to keep these last two targets here.

Just as the Teutonic Knights were about to achieve a decisive victory in this ‘hunt,’ a figure in a Wizard Robe quickly flew in from the distant sky. The figure suddenly stopped mid-air in a manner that defied the laws of physics, looking down upon the scene below.

The sight filled Morin’s heart with a strong sense of foreboding. Immediately after, the system’s alert sounded—this time a somewhat harsh siren.

[Holy Britannian Empire Highland Mage Corps: High Mentor – Eldridge]

This was the Highland Mage who had nearly locked eyes with Morin during the forward reconnaissance! Morin knew clearly that the only reason for this person’s appearance was to support the Order of Garter Armored Knights.

Just as he wondered what the mysterious Highland Mage would do, Eldridge in the air slowly raised his hands, made a downward pressing motion, and chanted an obscure incantation. Then, he pointed his finger toward the land beneath the pursuing Teutonic Knights.

[Fifth-Circle Spell – Transmute Rock]

Instantly, a strange phenomenon occurred! The solid, scorched earth beneath the Teutonic Knights’ feet seemed to turn into flowing quicksand. Large swathes of the ground quickly softened, liquefied, and turned into a muddy mire that should not have been there. The Armored Knights, with a combat weight of over ten tons, and the Knight Attendants in Magic-powered Armor immediately lost their balance. Their heavy bodies sank uncontrollably into the mud.

“Damn it!” Ludwig’s roar echoed in his cockpit. He desperately maneuvered his machine, trying to escape the mire, but the frantic roar of the internal combustion engine only led to a faster rate of sinking.

The situation on the ground was completely reversed in just a few seconds. The two surviving Order of Garter Armored Knights had hesitated briefly, but after Eldridge pointed toward Seville, they immediately wheeled around and quickly fled the area.

Morin looked at the god-like figure in the sky, a feeling of helplessness, as if he had been ‘brutally beaten’ by idealism, rising within him. Is this what a high-level spellcaster in this world is like? Able to change the terrain and turn the tide of a localized battle with a mere gesture. And with the existence of these Armored Knights, what the hell are the miserable infantry supposed to do? Are we really just going to be trench-fodder?

Morin’s mind raced, and a thought flashed through it. No! He can’t be allowed to keep casting spells! He knew how vital the Teutonic Knights’ Armored Knights were to the Saxon infantry. If these Armored Knights were all lost here, the infantry would be in for a rough time.

Morin glanced at the system map’s notation. Next to the Mage’s special unit marker, there was a line of information and a Shield icon.

[Status: Continuous spellcasting, can be interrupted]

[Mage Armor – Current Durability: 100%]

“That’s right. How could there be no weakness at all? That would be unplayable.”

“The Mage has lived a life of ease for too long. To run onto the battlefield and cast spells so brazenly… how afraid were the old-world infantry of Mage units?”

Seeing this line of information, Morin immediately felt a sense of relief. A Mage whose spells couldn’t be interrupted would be far too powerful.

“3rd Platoon! All men, fire! Target the Mage in the sky! Free Fire!!” Morin loudly commanded his soldiers.

The 3rd Platoon soldiers lying prone on the high ground were startled at first, but quickly reacted, aiming their Gew.98 rifles at the figure 300 meters in the air and firing from the prone position.

“Bang!”

As Morin opened fire first, dozens of Gew.98 rifles spat out flames simultaneously. The dense gunfire broke the short silence on the high ground.

Morin’s action was like lighting a fuse. The International Brigades soldiers next to him quickly caught on. Everyone understood they couldn’t let this Mage eliminate their Armored Knights. Under the order of their bearded commander, they all raised their rifles and fired.

Immediately following, 1st Battalion Commander Major Thomas and the other officers, including Captain Hauser, also reacted. The remaining three hundred-plus combat soldiers of the entire 1st Battalion turned their muzzles toward the sky.

A hail of bullets from hundreds of rifles poured toward Eldridge. Although hitting a human-sized target at 300 meters with mechanically-sighted rifles posed a challenge, quantity still led to quality. A significant number of bullets accurately struck the target.

A transparent Shield constantly rippled around Eldridge—the effect of [Mage Armor]. He had intended to maintain the spell, completely burying the damned Teutonic Knights to achieve a tactical victory and turn that into an overall advantage. But the continuous impact of the 7.92mm full-power rounds caused more and more cracks to appear on the Shield.

Eldridge’s face turned grim. [Mage Armor] was not invincible; it was fundamentally only a First-Circle spell. While his high-level casting made the defense threshold much higher than that of a lower-tier Mage, it still had its limits. He had heard the warnings from old Mages during his apprenticeship at the Scottish Mage Tower two decades ago: “Though we can easily handle mortal soldiers, never try to confront firearms with your bare bodies, and do not think that a simple protection spell will make you immune to gunfire.” The most famous example was the tragedy twenty years prior of a Highland Grand Mage who faced enemy artillery with [Mage Armor] and was blown to pieces, man and shield.

However, in Eldridge’s previous colonial support missions, mortal soldiers would often lose their will to fight in terror and turn tail upon seeing him, let alone shoot at him. Today, however, that belief was shattered by the attack from the Saxon soldiers. He never expected that these mortals, whom he viewed as ants, could threaten him in this manner.

Finally, just before the Shield was about to collapse, he had to abandon the continuous casting and began to evade in the air. The mud on the ground quickly solidified, but half of the Teutonic Knights’ bodies were already stuck and unable to move.

Eldridge glared viciously at the infantry below who were still firing. He was about to cast another spell he had prepared to make these ‘ants’ regret shooting him, but a white flare rising from Seville city behind him abruptly interrupted his action.

It was the signal for the Coalition forces to retreat.

“Those useless wretches!” Eldridge swore angrily. He finally recast a [Shield Spell] to block the incoming fire, then flew toward Seville without looking back.

(End of Chapter 37)