Chương 129: Chapter 126 - An Order

The battle raged on. After taking an injury to my hand, I was rotated out by one of the Tier-2 supply soldiers. That gave me some time to recover. I still had to assist the front line, but most importantly my [Operational Cognition (A)] had been working since the start of the battle, trying to analyze the barbarians and our own squad's battle, and now I finally got time to communicate with Peter. After exchanging some details, he and I started creating a plan to counter.

Technically, I did not have the authority to command the vanguard, and I was not sure what Sergeant Cole's plan was. Most probably, after finishing their leader they would support us, hoping our line would hold that long. But looking at the front, the barbarian leader was going toe-to-toe against Sergeant Cole and Roland. His earth armor had partially negated the effect of the flaming sword of Sergeant Cole and the wind blades of Roland. The barbarian leader was surprisingly fast for his stature and earth affinity.

Even after being covered with earth, he was able to keep up with both of them. He almost looked at ease. Seeing this, I was not confident how long we would be able to hold the barbarian unit off. Almost all of us had fought on the front line, expended a significant portion of our mana, suffered minor injuries, and constantly had to dodge arrows from the barbarians even at the rear. The morale of our squad had started to suffer.

The worst part of it all was that there were still at least five to seven members of the barbarians in fresh condition. So I decided to do something myself. I was not letting my squad or myself die just because of a technicality.

"That earth displacement you used earlier… was that your limit?" I asked the vanguard private beside me. He was rotated out just like me.

"Yes, a little more if needed," he replied with a nod, his eyes still on the barbarians.

"Would you be able to coordinate with other earth-affinity users in your team?" I asked.

"No!" he replied, understandably getting frustrated by my constant interruptions. After taking a pause for a second to gather my mana, I went over my plan once more, then took action.

"All earth-affinity mages gather as much earth mana as you can near your feet, like you do to displace the ground — it's an order," I ordered, removing any chance of doubt or question. The vanguard had three earth-affinity users, and they followed my command as soon as I finished speaking.

"Fire-affinity users prepare," I said. I issued every command using [Battlefield Command (UC)] to increase concentration and counter the effects of low morale within the squad. Keeping [Battlefield Command (UC)] active, this time my mana surrounded everyone, even the barbarians.

"MY DEATH SQUAD! A lot of people have fun at our expense. They think we are meat shields!"

"BUT it's time for us to show them what we can do!"

"NOW!" I shouted and moved my right leg behind. As if the ground beneath the barbarians was connected by a string to my leg, it also shifted. The timing of the pull was calculated by Peter and me, ensuring the loss of balance could be maximized as they lost their rhythm. At the same time, two vanguard soldiers fighting in the front sent a long line of flame, disturbing the line of sight of as many barbarians as they could.

I had seen them do this before to distract their opponents, only this time it was over a larger area. Everyone jumped on the opportunity created. Varric, Rokan, and Deran smashed their hammers onto the heads of the barbarians in front of them. I saw Barry disregarding his shield and spear, jumping onto the shoulders of the barbarian in front of him. The author's tale has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.

The sudden shift boosted the morale of the vanguard privates more than expected. Taking advantage of the surprise, the archers of the vanguard shot at the two archers behind while the rest charged forward with ferocity I had not seen before. Some ignited the tips of their swords while others sent out spikes of water daggers. But we were not the only ones attacking. After seeing the earth displacement and hearing my speech, they knew I was the one behind all this.

While two archers were injured by the vanguard, the remaining two targeted me, firing two consecutive arrows each. I tried to dodge the incoming arrows. I successfully dodged one and stopped two with my shield, but one hit me in my thigh. I stood my ground, taking support of my spear while the rest of the fighters rushed in to attack. The battle had changed; now we had the upper hand, and the vanguard did not miss the chance. But in their enthusiasm Barry and Varric had also been hit. Then came the sound of a horn.

I looked ahead and saw the leader retreating, leaving Sergeant Cole and Roland standing. He made a run for the forest. I was surprised that Sergeant Cole allowed it, but then I saw Roland, who was missing one of his wrists. While the leader's retreat was clean, the same could not be said for the barbarians attacking. Those who were engaged were left behind for the vanguard and my squad to slaughter, while the rest made for the forest following their leader.

Seeing the battle was coming to an end, I slowly started using [Vital Restoration (UC)] on myself and pulled out the arrow stuck in my thigh. This whole fight, from start to end, did not make sense to me. While I was happy to be on the surviving side, they had made a lot of tactical mistakes. If their leader had properly commanded his unit, he could have easily steamrolled all of us. Given Sergeant Cole and Roland's condition, I was surprised we were not all dead.

Once my bleeding stopped, I slowly made my way to the carts. I pulled out my bag and grabbed all the herbs and herb paste I had created for emergencies. I first applied it to my own leg. Then, dragging my feet, I started making my way to Garran. He was the first member of my squad to be injured. I approached him. His stomach was torn open. The wound was not too deep, only a single large cut. Thankfully, he was still conscious. I smiled at him.

"Scar looks good on you," I said.

"Fuck off," he said with his deadpan face, but after working with him for so long, I knew he was amused. I checked my mana. 251 / 1951 Activating [Triage Ward (UC)] and [Vital Restoration (UC)], I started stitching him up, fusing my mana with the herb paste. Seeing the number of injured around me, I reduced the amount of mana I was using. As soon as the soldiers realized I was providing first aid, those who were uninjured began bringing the wounded toward me. Within a few minutes, I had finished treating Garran.

"You watchman! Look where you are walking!" shouted Barry to Kael, who was dragging Barry like a sack without any compassion. I even saw Kael deliberately targeting a few rocks on the ground to hurt him. Ignoring them, I looked at everyone, trying to figure out who was most injured, but then my eyes stopped at two soldiers lying where the battle had taken place, with the supply squad and the vanguard squad surrounding them. Seeing their expressions, I knew what had happened.

We had lost two people; one from the vanguard and one from the supply squad, both Tier-2. Seeing this, I frantically looked around to check every member of my squad. After checking everyone, I sighed in relief. Everyone in my squad was injured except Silas and Peter, but none fatally.

Focusing my attention back on the injured soldiers who had been brought to me, I provided first aid to everyone one by one, wobbling slowly around the clearing and treating only major injuries that were causing large amounts of blood loss. By the time I was done, I was feeling light-headed from the overuse of mana. But I still made my way to Roland and Sergeant Cole sitting by one of the supply carts.

"Sergeant, good work. You saved almost all of us," said Sergeant Cole as I approached. I just nodded. I was too tired to reply. Roland's severed wrist was already covered with a bandage.

"How is the wrist?" I asked, my voice almost a whisper and hoarse as I crouched down to his level, looking at the injury.

"I have the severed part with me. Hopefully, the healing order will be able to reattach it," Roland said casually.

"You don't need to worry about the bleeding; it has already stopped."

"Still, take this," I said, passing him some of the highest-potency herbs. My emergency paste was already over. I was left with only herbs.

"Sergeant Edward, I would like to ask in detail how you were able to move such a large amount of earth without earth affinity," Sergeant Cole asked. I nodded and stood up, ready to explain my technique. Darkness crept into my vision. I staggered backward, struggling to stay upright.