C52: Initial Clash

After watching the first siege spell Ann launched kill several hundred people, Cera watched numbly as a second one rose into the sky.  Not long after, fire once again flowed across the terrain, engulfing hundreds more.

“Good work, Ann, almost the entire right wing got caught!” the aide shouted before lowering the spyglass.

Turning to where Ann had set up the metal plates she was using to create the ritual circles, Cera saw the woman struggling to remain upright.  She was tempted to go try to help her, despite her discomfort at what she’d done, but a hand on her shoulder stopped her.

Turning her head, she saw the general beside her, and he warned her, “Don’t approach.  She has a guardian golem hidden somewhere, and it will kill anyone who gets near her in this condition without the proper token.  Not even I can approach.”

Cera nodded at his warning, then turned back to the opposing army.  As she watched the chaos unfolding, she heard General Oran call for the mages to go prepare, telling them they were following ‘plan seven,’ though she had no idea what that was.

Before she could ask, the man stated, “I need you to shield us, and the command tent, if you can, though that is less important.  Once you do, the others can leave.”

The mage who’d nearly shouted earlier began to speak, “Are you sure that’s wise, sir, she’s—”

“Silence, I’m aware, don’t make it worse by saying it!” Oran shouted in response.

Cera was unsure what he meant, but he turned to her with a deep frown and admitted, “I’m bound by my oath to report you if I survive.  I do not like the idea of betraying an ally, however, and will do my best to keep you from being found.  We can talk about it later, if we survive.  Fortunately, it is unlikely I’ll be subjected to truthspell if I report you without being pressed first.”

That statement only intensified Cera’s worries, though she supposed that could wait, as the general had said.  His remark about not wanting to betray her did do a lot to help, as well.  She was also upset with the number of deaths they’d inflicted already, and how many more were to come.

It wasn’t like she hadn’t caused far, far more in her prior life, but those hadn’t been fellow humans, and had all been hostile, and often beyond sanity.  Then again, would it be ‘fellow humans’ now that she was a kitsune?  And these were hostile as well; it was just that they were still sane.

Cera eventually shook her head, then looked up again, finding that she’d put up her shields without consciously thinking about it, and the other mages had left.  A moment of focus revealed that she’d put the shield over the command tent as well, which meant the drain would be higher on her mana.

On the plus side, her earlier work meant her spells, when attached to her assisting constructs, like the shield, used incredibly little mana compared to what they should.  Instead, they drained the ambient chaotic mana for most of their upkeep.

While she wondered what she was supposed to do, if anything, besides maintain her shields, the general’s aide was fiddling with the spyglass as he observed the distant army.  A glance to the side showed Ann sitting on the ground meditating.  Looking toward their own tiny army, she saw that most were still working on fortifying the area.

It seemed odd not to be getting ready to fight when they’d already struck the enemy, but she wasn’t an expert at this sort of combat, and the general seemed to be respected, so she just had to assume it was okay.  It wasn’t long after, however, that she was asked if she could repeat her prior attack.

She was hardly going to lie, given her views on that, so she sighed and admitted that she could do so multiple times with ease, though she’d prefer to minimize how many people died on either side.  To her surprise, the general laughed, only to remark that he felt the same.

“The problem is that they put a lot of time, effort, and resources into this attack, so they won’t be easy to stop.  We’ve already done immense damage to their morale, I’m sure, with the flames and decapitation strike.  But they still have most of their subcommanders, who can maintain order for the most part.  I suspect they’ve already begun fighting over who takes precedence after the loss of the general.  If you can eliminate enough of them, it is likely that the army will retreat after enough losses, and we’ve already inflicted quite a few,” he explained, gesturing at the still-burning areas the army had pulled away from.

Oran then continued, “I’m going to have our knights try to hit their supply line, then strike them from behind.  That should increase tension, as will the number of golems we’ll be deploying.  No one wants to fight a war golem with spears.  And even plate won’t protect against a swing from one, to say nothing of the effect on someone without good armor.  I’m hoping we can drive them off, because they have enough forces to beat us in a straight fight.”

Cera frowned before asking, “If the golems are so potent, why not send them straight into the enemy army to wreak havoc?”

In response, the general looked confused before stating, “Are you not aware of how easy it is for a mage to disrupt them?  Well, it isn’t easy, I suppose, but a powerful enough mage can destroy an enchantment, even complex and warded ones like those running a golem.  Without support, their mages can simply disable the golems without risk.”

“Ahh, I see.  I have to admit I can’t get my head around enchantments.  I have… issues… with things like that.  It’s too simple in a way, which makes it too difficult.  It’s hard to explain.  The basics seem nearly impossible to me, but if I did understand them, I’d likely have no trouble with the more complex stuff,” Cera stated, then paused for a moment.

“Actually, that’d work.  Here, look at this, I’m assuming your monocle gives you mana sight and pierces illusions, given what I’ve seen so far,” she continued as she moved the construct handling the shield around them out of her body, making it possible to observe.

General Oran seemed suitably impressed at the complexity.  She’d improved her original design significantly, as her ability to maintain more components at once had improved, and it was now composed of several hundred components, some independent, some working in parallel, and others performing complex processes across dozens of components.

“This is easy for me and barely requires any thought to design.  The hard part is keeping enough of my focus on it to keep it from dissipating.  The basic enchantments, they’re too simple.  I can’t help but try to make them more complex and capable, but I don’t know the rules—I need to understand the basics before I can improve them, but I can’t understand them because they’re not complex enough.  It’s dumb, I know,” Cera explained with a sigh and shrug before pulling the construct back inside herself.

After a while, Oran nodded, remarking, “I won’t pretend to understand, but I’ll just accept your statement.  Put simply, don’t let a hostile mage near an enchantment without keeping them occupied, because they can break it.  Anyway, check the tables in the tent and see if you can take out more of the command staff.”

Cera sighed again, then did as she was asked.  This time, she didn’t bother to leave the tent, simply imprinting faces into constructs, lifting water from the barrels outside as she shifted it into ice, then hurling the spikes into the distance.  Naturally, now that she was in the tent, she didn’t move the spikes to hover over it.  She didn’t want to advertise that she was the one doing it, after all.

As she continued, faces began to be removed from the table even as new ones appeared.  She assumed the spyglass the general’s aide had was able to transmit what it was looking at and control the content of the table.

Eventually, the table stopped updating, several faces having remained on it, and the general entered, letting her know to stop and come outside again.

“It appears the remainder of the higher command have figured out how to protect themselves; they’re all wearing face-concealing helmets now.  The lower commanders are still unprotected, however.  Too many of them to single out, take the spyglass and attack at will.  Keep the majority of your focus on defense, however.  If there’s ever any concern, discard attacking in favor of defense,” the man informed her.

As they exited the tent, but before he could move away, Cera inquired, “By defense, do you mean I should also intercept incoming spells if I can?  Naturally, I’ll prioritize the shield.”

After a moment of thought, Oran responded, “First, focus on the shield.  Then, if you can easily stop a spell with little cost, do so; otherwise, try to take out leaders.  Oh, and much as it may harm their morale, do not target banner-carriers.  It’s one of the rules I insist on for personal reasons.  Accidents or collateral damage are fine, but do not actively target them.”

Cera nodded, then stated, “It’ll take a few moments before I can target spells.  I need to meditate and redesign some of my constructs.”

The general frowned, looked at the approaching army, then shook his head before stating, “It should be fine; just keep the shield up.”

With another nod, Cera moved back to the side of the tent before sitting down and closing her eyes, then getting to work mentally.  She was surprised when she stood back up, finding that the enemy army still hadn’t reached them.  This war was much slower than she was used to from her experiences in the astral during her prior life.

She simply shrugged, then moved to pick up the spare spyglass on the nearby table, starting to observe the enemy army herself.  It took nearly no time at all to spot the higher-ups in the army.  Some were wearing fairly standard helmets, but others had simply grabbed cloth and tossed it over their heads, including all of the mages she could identify.

There obviously wasn’t enough for everyone, however, or they simply hadn’t been informed, as no one even close to the front line had any form of concealment.  As such, she took a while to pick out people who seemed important, both leaders and fighters that seemed to be held in high regard.  The latter were harder to identify, but occasionally one person would receive a lot of glances from those around them, who then seemed more confident.

She hadn’t been told to engage such targets, but with both herself and the general seeming to care more about driving them off and morale damage…

Cera sighed, then began another barrage, this time watching her own work and changing targets based on her own observations.  She took a moment to look at their own people, and was surprised to see that they’d managed to form up into a solid-looking defensive formation without any significant noise while she was busy.  She was unsure if it was while she was meditating or while she was attacking, but it was good to see that her hope that the general knew what he was doing was correct.

As the enemy got close enough, Cera watched a surprisingly small number of arrows fly from the opposing army.  It appeared they only had archers in the two areas, after all, and Ann had obliterated most of them.  Her side nearly matched the volume, despite having far, far fewer people to begin with.  Not long after, fireballs began being lobbed by both sides.  Cera nearly began trying to stop them, but spotted the three mages from before near the front lines, each raising their hands.

The next moment, a distortion passed through the air, and both the arrows and fireballs from the other side were thrown into disarray, almost none of them reaching friendly lines.  Cera decided to take a few more moments to modify her constructs again, specifically the targeting ones, and observed the action while doing so.

It was interesting, watching the armies actually collide.  The opposing forces were obviously trying to avoid the golems, only approaching when forced to do so by the press of those behind them and the shouts of the officers.  They were beginning to envelop her side, however, by sheer weight of numbers, rather than by strategy, for the most part, it seemed.

She’d finished her modifications, however, so she began targeting the opposing mages once again, her spells now going to points she focused on instead of aiming themselves, typically three bolts at a time to the chest.  It shocked her, however, when one mage successfully dodged and then fled, only to be cut down by one of his own allies, one of the squad commanders.

That single action seemed to set off a storm of chaos, however.  Another mage spotted the event, blasting the man with a fireball, which led to him being shot by an archer.  His shield protected him, and he spun and blasted the archer as well.  Not long after, as he fled, another mage fired on him, only to be attacked by another nearby soldier.

Meanwhile, at the front lines, Ann’s golems were literally hurling people into the air with each strike, plowing through the peasant spearmen like they were walking through a stream, armored men following them.  The adventurers and mercenaries were easy to pick out, the former struggling against fellow humans, but clearly skilled.  The mercs, meanwhile, were much more careful, their experience in fighting humans leading to them easily dispatching their enemies, for the most part.

A short while later, which Cera spent mostly observing, the armies began to draw apart again.  She didn’t see any major disruptions within the enemy formations, however, other than them simply being rather poorly coordinated, so she assumed it was planned rather than a true retreat.

Despite the advantages and surprise attack, the enemy still outnumbered them at least seven to one, however.  Not long after the sides split, General Oran approached, informing her that they were likely done for the day, and he wanted her to protect them overnight, if she could.

Cera promptly had to ask, “I heard the assassin guild was going to participate as well.  Do you think the enemy has some on their side?”

The man nodded as he sighed, stating, “I’m expecting we’ll likely lose some important people tonight.  Be sure to keep yourself safe.”

In response, Cera couldn’t help but chuckle, then replied, “In that case, how about we set up an alarm and a bit of a surprise for them?  I can make a shield that activates a spell if bypassed, and have it create a small bolt of fire or lightning.  Have someone watch for that, and call an alarm if it is spotted.  I can also have the shield launch attacks at any such breaches.  Or at least, I can manage that if I spend a while preparing.  Hmm.  In fact, we can have the shield launch a fireball from the top-center directly to the breach point, showing exactly where someone is coming from.”

The general couldn’t help but pause in surprise, then nodded before asking, “How large can you make such a shield?  Our encampment may be smaller than our enemies, but it still is a lot larger than the command area here.”

Cera nodded, then asked, “I heard we would get support eventually.  How long do you think I need to protect us?  I have modified my own body to store a great deal more mana than I ought to be able to handle, and I can use ambient mana, to a large degree, reducing my spell upkeep costs significantly.”

After a pause, the man finally remarked, “I believe two more days at most, Cera.”

With another nod, Cera asked to be shown the encampment.  She’d already expected that they’d be made to remain in the field once the enemy attacked, so she wasn’t even slightly surprised by it.  She wasn’t exactly happy about the size of the encampment, however.

“I think I can only manage to shield the encampment tonight, if you want me to protect us tomorrow during the battle,” she admitted upon seeing how large an area it encompassed.

“That’s unfortunate, but the highest risk is probably tonight, to begin with.  If you are confident, I can have several of our sentries get extra rest tonight into tomorrow, in order to be more alert tomorrow night,” the general responded.

Cera nodded, replying, “That would work, I think.  Are you sure we’re clear for today?”

The man shook his head, stating, “There’s always the chance of another attack, but it is unlikely.  We did a lot more damage to them than I expected, due to your attacks on their chain of command.  I heard you also went after some other troops; was there a reason for that?”

Once again nodding, Cera explained her reasoning that they seemed to be improving the confidence of others around them.  She also mentioned the chaos that occurred when she targeted the mages, and the general gave her an odd expression for a moment.

“Well, that’s going to create some issues.  I’m assuming what happened was noticed and will be reported if those who saw it survive.  Some of those mages are nobles, or children of nobles, and there will be consequences for betrayal, both for the mages and those who attacked them,” he stated as he shook his head.

After a moment, he continued, “Well, regardless, both of those are good things for us.  Feel free to relax, just keep an eye out and defend as needed.  You can hold off on further attacks, unless you think there’s an opportunity too good to pass up.”

Cera nodded, and a moment later, the general turned and headed toward the rest of the army.  Surprisingly, to her at least, there were indeed no further attacks, and both armies began to prepare for the night.

As she’d offered, Cera set up an immense shield for the evening, though it was fairly draining.  While she’d been watching for attacks, she’d spent the time preparing the new constructs she’d need for it.

Several hours after going to sleep, she awoke to a horn being blown and jumped up, racing out of the tent she’d been assigned.  Surprisingly, there were multiple balls of fire being launched in several different directions.

As she’d hoped, however, the fireballs were very obvious signs of where attacks were coming from, and even before commanders began shouting orders, people had begun racing toward the incoming enemies.  Cera herself, however, ran the opposite direction.  She’d been placed near the command staff in order to both give her more protection, and to make it easier for her to add to their protection.

Once she arrived, she quickly created another layer of shielding, though as minutes passed, it appeared it wasn’t needed.  Not long after the call came to stand down, she learned that eighteen assassins had been slain, with several being captured, and nearly sixty well-equipped soldiers had attacked, only to be unlucky enough to have been near where Ann’s golems were situated, leading to their pulping.

She had to admit she was surprised at how well her idea had worked, and was quite glad when she was told she could return to sleep.  She highly doubted there’d be any further attacks that night, at least, since what happened would have been clearly visible, given the whole balls of fire in the middle of the night.