Dragon's Tale 87

A square mage formation was not something that could be easily dismissed. 

The formation represented a nice utility to the mages, allowing them to share the pressure of any attack, easily defending against frontal assaults while letting the ones behind the attack. And the one in the center was ready to support the attacks or assist in the defense. 

The patrician weapons they yielded, combined with the power of the dragon hearts, turned the formidable defense into a dangerous castle. So much that, even with the Spear of Scipio in hand, I wouldn’t have dared to test them with my transformation impairing my casting abilities horribly, if it wasn’t for the endless months I had spent in a magic thick environment to give me an advantage thanks to the concealment effect from my core’s reaction. 

As I charged forward, I summoned fifteen bolts of lightning, each receiving three, with two important exceptions. I targeted the one at the center by five of them, while using only one on the one on the left corner. Yet, even the power distribution of the bolts was different. The first five attacks were strong, strong enough to be a threat for them even with their armament. 

It worked as intended as they swung their weapons, and rather than retaliating immediately, they turned their full attention to defending. 

They swung their weapons again, preparing to deflect the second assault — one that looked more impressive than it actually was. 

Giving me the opportunity I had been looking for, even though it was a horrible decision. Not that it was a bad idea on paper to rely on their weapons rather than casting, as it forced the enemy to expand their power while they kept theirs ready — one that was critical even with dragon hearts, as their effect was not easy to handle. 

Yet, it was a horrible decision in our actual conditions, one that would have made anyone suspicious. 

There were three reasons behind my complicated attack pattern. First, I wanted them to unbalance themselves trying to defend against my lightning bolts — an attack that looked much scarier than it actually was, but I trusted that my other attacks worked enough to enhance the credibility. 

Second, by targeting the one in the center, I baited the one holding the left back corner to change his position even further, forcing him to support the center blindly.  After all, as the one holding the back line, he was responsible for supporting the center if necessary, and the limited attack he received only reinforced that it was easier to defend him. 

The third reason, the one in the left corner was using an axe, which was the slowest and most unwieldy weapon among their armament. 

So, even though they prepared to defend against the second wave, I tightened my grip over the spear, and charged forward, using the power of the Spear to enhance my assault. 

And, that, combined with the speed my forceful core mishap was giving me, allowed me to push into their formation, before the axe wielder could even react. 

Admittedly, with the spear buried in his brain, it was hard for him to react. 

That move was not free, of course. It left me in the middle of their formation. Even if they were still struggling to defend themselves against my lightning spell. Their emotionless state showed its benefits as they changed the formation in an instant, two of them casting shields to protect against the lightning assault while the other two attacked against me. 

One targeted me directly, while the second one already targeted my path to retreat. 

Yet, I did the last thing one might expect from a sorcerer. I loosened my grip around the spear and continued to charge forward, slamming my body against the one at the center, forcibly pushing through the shield they created.

Cutting through the shield through my physical body was hardly a pleasant sensation.  

Such a collision was hardly the safest strategy. Not only did I have to contend with strategy, but also I left my back vulnerable to their attacks. Yet, there were benefits to my transformation. The first was the claws I sported — luckily flexible enough to hold a spear — turned a tackle into a deadly assault as I buried my claw into his chest, pulverizing his heart. 

The second was the scales that already covered my back, allowing me to take their assault using my back. The earlier experimentation with my arm had already shown me that they were almost immune to direct assault. 

A Patrician weapon was not an ordinary challenge, I realized as the pain exploded on my back despite the scales, but luckily, after my charge, the best they could achieve was a glancing blow before they could recover. 

The one on the right back corner started swinging his sword, but not before I completed the assault. 

The remaining three tried to react to my assault, but with the shield displayed, the remaining bolts of lightning distracted them just enough to slow their reaction. 

And, three on one, against my transformed body. 

They didn’t even have a chance. 

A few more slashes, and just like that, the battle was finally over, I thought even as I finally turned toward the entrance, only to see my poor ally trying to defend herself against an impressive number of soldiers, her shield about to shatter.

Luckily, with my opponents defeated, I had the luxury of helping her. 

Her survival was rather paramount with my transformation going out of control.

I only paused enough to take the spear before rushing forward, giving myself a little time to examine the formation of the soldiers. Luckily, there were no mages among them to support their attack. Not that it was completely simple.  

They were set up in three layers, the foremost layer carrying shields. Yet, they were not ordinary shields, each glowing with blindingly strong enchantments. They were already plenty strong alone, but they had an additional feature, that their strength overlapped, sharing their strength to resist the spells of my ally.  

It reminded me of the throwing spears they had used when I first broke the ward. Impressively strong, but designed for explosive performance rather than longevity. Considering the work and the materials that were required to create a magical item of such caliber, it was wasteful… 

Yet, it was hard to say that it was not worthwhile, considering it allowed some ordinary soldiers to resist a sorcerer — although one that was not geared for combat. 

The second layer was armed with swords and shields. Their shields were smaller, and as a consequence, weaker, than the huge tower shields that the first layer carried, but they glowed with the same kind of energy, ready to support the first layer, or charge forward to deliver the killing blow if necessary. 

The third layer was the most interesting part, as they were only armed with large, weighted nets, the kind that reminded me of the fancy weapons the gladiators used in the arena during show matches. Yet, the weapons of the gladiators didn’t glow with an intensity of the magic that would force a sorcerer to be careful. 

I was impressed by the effort they had put to create that number of equipment just to catch her rather than kill them. I glanced at my ally as I charged forward to cover the remaining distance, who had been doing her best to defend against the combined attack, but struggling to resist. 

Unfortunately, while their gear was impressively overwhelming, ultimately, they were designed to capture a sorceress with a special deficiency in combat, and not something that could stand against a proper battle sorcerer, certainly not against one that was occupied with a Patrician weapon. 

If dealing with sorcerers would have been that easy, we wouldn’t be treated as a strategic weapon.  

I stood in front of my ally, my spear twirling, its magical impact significant as it collided against the shields. With each contact, one of their shields lost its shine. 

Meanwhile, my ally gasped behind me. “H-how are you still alive?” she gasped. It didn’t take a genius to realize she was referring to my transformation. 

I ignored her statement, not because I thought that my transformation was not dangerous, but since I was still alive, it could wait until I dealt with the rest of the soldiers, still doing their best to take us down with a determination that was only possible due to the brainwashing they suffered.

A different group had long started to retreat, realizing the helplessness of the situation, every hit of my spear destroying another layer of their protection. They tried to throw their nets at me as a distraction, but against them, I had a particularly impressive advantage. Just a small blast of lightning, and they were destroyed. 

I had a feeling that this formation would have been much deadlier if they had been equipped with the throwing spears that had been used on me earlier. Maybe that was the intention, but they never expected that they had to defend themselves against an attack coming from the heart of their base. 

Yet, despite all the setup, the end of the battle came easily, almost ignobly so. With their shields broken under the might of Spear of Scipio, they were open against magical assault once more. And while the amount of magic I could apply to the spells was limited, the same didn’t apply to my ally. 

Several area spells and several spikes later, the whole formation was destroyed.