The Vastness of Magical Destiny
Chapter 626: Volume 16: Mists and Illusions, - 19: Fierce Army

Chapter 626: Volume 16: Mists and Illusions, Chapter 19: Fierce Army

Vladimir Koff and Solonberg strictly followed Komer’s instructions, selectively targeting the officers of the Storm Infantry Corps for assassination. Disguised as ordinary infantry from the Storm Infantry Corps, they had the advantage from the start. Amidst the frenzied attacks by the Gray Wolves, hardly anyone paid attention to two seemingly normal soldiers. However, it was these two soldiers who continuously weaved through the troops, their killer moves claiming the lives of no fewer than thirty officers at the hands of Vladimir Koff, while the blood of at least twenty more officers was licked by Solonberg’s lance.

This selective assassination inflicted considerable damage on the Storm Infantry Corps. Without the officers’ command and coordination, the soldiers’ efficiency in forming effective defense circles greatly diminished. The Gray Wolves found it easy to spot vulnerabilities and break through, leading to several previously stable defensive groups descending into chaos and ultimately being torn apart.

Shatima, however, was indiscriminately unleashing her killing desire. Even though she also donned the outfit of a Storm Infantry soldier, her behavior was too ferocious and brutal. Like a wild boar crashing into a farmland, her hefty Dragon Spear, a death-scourge to lives, charged towards those distinctly-dressed knights. The knights’ uplifted Knight Spears were no match for this abnormally strong soldier, and in less than half an hour, over a dozen knights had fallen to her Dragon Spear, forcing Mejernov to join the fray and cast continuous defensive buffs on the knights, while also deploying small-scale offensive magic to stem Shatima’s onslaught. Even so, the knights were still unable to restrain this red-eyed maniac.

With troops spread out over several kilometers of road, Carl Libukneisi simply couldn’t grasp the enemy’s intentions in such a situation. He cursed the terrible luck of his troop deployment timing, which had encountered such a once-in-a-hundred-years phenomenon as the migration of a Gray Wolf Pack. Only when an increasing number of officers mysteriously perished did he begin to sense something strange, but by then, at least an hour had already passed.

Finally losing their patience, the Gray Wolf Pack faced an overwhelming number of human soldiers, realizing that completely annihilating such a massive target was unrealistic. Once a few Purple-maned Gray Wolves took the lead in breaking away towards the depths of the forest, the rest of the pack began to loosen. More and more wolves joined the retreat, and within a mere ten minutes or so, all the Gray Wolves had disappeared deep into the forest, leaving behind only the painful moans and groans of the wounded soldiers.

Viscount Saliman could hardly believe his eyes. In just over an hour, more than two thousand soldiers had perished in this unexpected disaster, and the number of fallen officers had reached over eighty—a ratio unimaginable even in war. The wounded numbered more than four thousand, many suffering from frostbite caused by the ice mist sprayed by the wolves. The knights suffered even greater losses, with over one hundred forty from three hundred falling in battle and more than eighty grievously injured. Almost every knight was injured, as if the Gray Wolves took a particular interest in them, nearly crippling the Knights regiment’s combat power.

When this calamity struck, Viscount Saliman could only shrink within the soldiers’ formation and silently pray. He had never encountered nor heard of such an attack by thousands of Magical Beasts and certainly did not wish to perish pathetically without accomplishing his mission, especially not by such lower-tier Magical Beasts—it would be an enormous joke.

Carl Libukneisi calmly investigated the causes of his subordinates’ deaths. Aside from a very few who were killed by the Gray Wolves’ assaults, the vast majority had been slain by lance thrusts, confirming his suspicion: this Gray Wolf attack had been orchestrated by someone. The enemies lurking in the shadows had taken advantage of the chaos created by the attack to carry out assassinations, an utterly despicable act.

Bronin was likewise seething with indignation. Although many of the knights, apart from those killed by the crazed monstrosity, had mostly fallen to the Gray Wolves’ fangs and claws, he did not believe his troops had been so unprepared against the attacks. Surely, the unseen enemy had employed some method to compromise his subordinates’ defenses, with magic being the most probable cause. Yet where did the enemy’s mages come from? Besides Caucasus, were there other enemies joining the strike against Homer? If not, from where had Caucasus recruited such formidable mages, and surely in numbers greater than just one or two?

The overall situation filled Saliman and the two commanders with apprehension. The enemy was not just passively defensive; they had launched the attacks much earlier. They feared that the eight Magicians and seven Knights were likely doomed, having received no communication for so long, it was imaginable what had befallen them.

The effectiveness of the Gray Wolves’ attack could only be described as barely satisfactory. Komer had not anticipated the combat strength of the Storm Infantry Corps to be as tenacious as they were, managing to react so swiftly to the Gray Wolves’ onslaught, causing his plan to suffer a setback. Although the attacks by Vladimir Koff, Solonberg, and the Dark Magicians had some effect, it was impractical to expect this alone to completely strip the army of its fighting capacity.

But Komer, not willing to expose himself directly, had issued the retreat order before the Gray Wolves withdrew. He believed that the time was not yet ripe to reveal his true strength to these soldiers. A temporary retreat was the best choice, to see what reaction this army would have after reaching Bruce Fortress and then devise the best counterstrategy.

The long-awaited reinforcement had encountered an ambush like never before, which instantly chilled the hearts of the defenders of Bruce Fortress. Although details were vague, everyone understood that even before a battle had begun, they had already lost thousands of wounded and more than two thousand had perished in the Greenland Forest. The harsh reality filled everyone with dread.

Just as Viscount Saliman believed that the several mages and knights had all fallen to the enemy’s ambush and felt despair, a severely wounded knight finally made it back to Bruce Fortress. Upon learning that the mages and knights might have all perished in an attack by the Blue Flood Dragon, Viscount Saliman, who had clung to a sliver of hope, had to face the cruel reality. Without the mages as support, directly confronting those fierce and imposing Half-Beastmen—despite the Storm Infantry Corps demonstrating their combat ability—was daunting. With the battlefield being in the Half-Beastmen-infested Leon Region, whether the Homer Army could secure a complete victory was not something Viscount Saliman could be sure of.

Bronin had already asserted that the enemy possessed formidable mage power, and not just one or two. They would certainly appear in this war, and this bad news made Viscount Saliman even more indecisive.

The scouts of Bruce Fortress had already spotted the Caucasus Army active on the southern bank of the Nissai River. It was an army composed of fierce Half-Beastmen; moreover, according to the intelligence gathered by the scouts, this army was well-equipped and clearly underwent formal training. They were obviously ready and waiting, prepared to deliver a heavy blow to the Homer Army. If these various factors were taken into account, it meant that the side of Caucasus had long been preparing for this battle, and perhaps they were even longing for its onset, but was his side ready?

Having returned to the south bank of the Nissai River, Komer quickly joined Fran, who commanded the 3,000-strong Caucasus-Leon Self-defense Army. It should be said that the level this army achieved in such a short time was inseparable from Fran’s intense and painstaking reinforcement training during this period.

As for these Half-Beastmen, to expect them to make significant tactical improvements in this short amount of time was purely unrealistic. Fran had no other choice but to focus on disciplining their obedience with targeted training—unconditional compliance with orders from above. As long as they followed their commander’s orders in combat, their naturally strong physiques made up for many deficiencies. As long as they could follow orders, this army could be considered barely successful.

Watching the processions of soldiers, with fierce looks and fully armed, bellowing as they marched past wielding hefty lances, those accompanying Komer for the review of troops—whether Rebry or Mihailovich, Vladimir Koff or Solonberg, as well as the group of Mysterious Magicians standing at a distance—all wore expressions of disdain and scorn. Many among them could not understand why their Lord was so keen on training these simple-minded Half-Beastmen. In their view, no matter how much training these Half-Beastmen underwent, they could never become a competent army; otherwise, they wouldn’t have been enslaved under the feet of Humans all this time.

However, Komer did not care about these laypeople’s opinions. Perhaps they were talented in individual combat or magic confrontation, but their views often went against the grain in real military training and only had a counterproductive effect. What he cared about was Fran’s opinion; the perspectives and thoughts of a professional military officer were the only factors that swayed his decisions.

Fran had long told him that although Half-Beastmen might be slower in adaptability and take longer to train into an army than mortals, once they were shaped, their bravery and might would bring threats to the enemy beyond imagination. Their physique, barely inferior to the Beastmen, was the guarantee of their survival in war. If anyone underestimated this fact, they would pay a heavy price. After every war, this army would become more mature and more formidable, which was the main reason why Komer valued this force.

(To be continued. If you want to know what happens next, please visit WWW.CMFU.COM. More Chapters are available. Support the author, support authorized reading!)