Chương 184: Chapter 181 - Retaking the Tower

After receiving the Captain's orders, it took less than a minute to find the rest of my squad. All five of them were helping clear debris from one of the large buildings destroyed in the attack. I let out a sigh of relief. Finally, some good news. At least my whole squad had survived the first wave of attacks. Instead of approaching them directly, I first went to the sergeant leading the cleanup.

"Sergeant, I have been ordered by Captain Petrae to take my squad and provide support to the towers."

"Yes, Sergeant. Can you point out the members of your squad? I will assign replacements for them immediately," the sergeant replied.

"Those five. Silas, Oren, Rokan, Daren, and Brakk," I said, pointing each of them out. The sergeant took the lead, calling them over and replacing them with other privates. Once my squad was in front of me, I asked, "Where is your equipment? Did the longhall you were staying in survive?"

"Yes, Sergeant. All our equipment is safe. When the attack happened, we collected all our equip—" I raised my hand, stopping Rokan from explaining further.

"We do not have time. Collect your equipment, and if needed, take five to ten minutes to recover your mana." While I wanted to reach the commoner district as quickly as possible, taking a tired squad into active combat would only get them killed. Besides, those few minutes would give me time to gather my thoughts after everything that had happened in the past hour. Rokan and the others nodded, then ran to the back, where a small cart had been parked with their shields, armor, and weapons.

Once they were equipped and had rested for a few minutes, we took off running. As we ran toward the commoner district, one thing started bothering me. Leif's eyes. He kept staring at me, giving me side-eyes as if he was judging me.

"What?" I finally asked.

"You know, I think there is something wrong with you. Whenever I meet you, I end up fighting a fucking battle," Leif said.

"What the fuck? Is this the kind of logic they teach you in the capital? If anyone is the problem, it is you. I was enjoying my time here and at Fort Darrow, but after meeting you, I ended up fighting battles," I accused him, using almost the same level of absurd logic.

"Well, all I am saying is, if I almost die this time, I am blaming you." I just shook my head, almost at a loss for words. After running in silence for a few more seconds, we all stopped at the sight in front of us. A sea of people filled the roads as far as we could see. Most looked scared and confused, unable to understand what was happening. Others, who seemed more aware of the situation, were trying to make their way toward the eastern gates.

Beyond that sea of people was the reason everyone had been forced outside. The canal closest to the district had been destroyed. When the massive volume of water poured out, it swept away almost one-fourth of the district before merging with the river that ran from north to south through the town. I could not even begin to imagine how many people had died, or how many had lost their families. Only then did I understand why the mercenaries were not heavily targeting this area. They did not need to.

All the guards here would already be busy making sure their own families were safe. Worse, the areas near the southern gate and the two towers beside it had been swept flat. This novel's true home is a different platform. Support the author by finding it there. The archers in mercenary uniforms already manning those towers would have an easy time picking off any infantry unit that tried to approach. I could even see a few civilians lying dead in the streets, mercenary arrows protruding from their bodies.

"Edward, what is our first target?" Leif asked, his eyes locked on the mercenaries at the top of the tower.

"Lela, can you shoot an arrow from the ground to the top of the tower?" I asked, turning toward her.

"Yes, but as soon as they see me attacking, they will all focus on me. I can sense thirteen or fourteen archers at the top. I would only be able to take down one or two before we get overwhelmed, and I would have to take cover under your shields," Lela said. Her words stopped my thoughts for a second. For the first time, someone in my tier was able to sense better than me. But given her sniper-like archer build, it was not all that surprising. Gathering my thoughts, I answered, "That will be fine.

I have a way to let you attack while also blocking their arrows." Lela frowned at my words, but I continued.

"We are taking back the southern gate and the tower first." These were important targets, and if my plan worked, the mercenaries themselves would come to retake them from us.

"Lela and I will focus on the attacks from above," I said. Then I turned to Leif.

"If we are attacked from the ground at the same time, you, Garran, and Varric will lead the charge. Everyone else, support Leif and follow his orders." Everyone nodded, and we started running again. Just before we reached the crowd, I turned to my squad.

"Do not push them too hard." Then, using [Battlefield Command], I started shouting at the crowd.

"MOVE! ROYAL ARMY! ROYAL ARMY!" The crowd began moving instinctively. Passing through the chaotic mass of people was harder than I had imagined. People were pushing against one another, running in every direction, and shouting over each other. The task was not just physically exhausting, but mentally exhausting as well. I knew I would have a hard time forgetting those faces, the cries of people shouting for their loved ones, and the sobs of children lost in the crowd.

A small part of me wanted to stop right there and bring order to it all, but I knew my current task was more important. The more time I wasted here, the more time the mercenaries would have to organize their defense. As soon as we exited the crowded area and reached the flood-swept open ground, an arrow shot toward us.

"Rokan!" I shouted. He immediately raised his shield and blocked the incoming arrow. At that, Lela shot me a questioning look while readying her bow. I had asked my squad members to block the arrows with physical shields for as long as they could. Once the number of incoming arrows increased beyond what they could handle, I swept my hand upward, creating three mana shields and stopping more than fifteen arrows in one move. Not missing the chance, I gave Lela a smirk.

"Are you ready?"

"No. I need to be a little closer," Lela replied. I nodded.

"Leif, you are in charge of protecting us from the front now." Leif moved to the front, drawing his greatsword. Behind him, Garran, Varric, Rokan, and Daren formed a shield wall, while Silas, Oren, and Brakk supported them from behind.

"I am in range now. Do you want me to tell you when I shoot?" Lela asked, her eyes constantly moving from one tower to another as she analyzed the archers above.

"No. I will sense it when you fire," I said. And for the first time, I realized just how effective my mana shields and [Perceptive Instinct (UC)] could be when combined with a skilled long-range archer. My mana shields blocked the incoming arrows, while [Perceptive Instinct (UC)] allowed me to perfectly time when to remove a shield and let Lela's arrows pass through. And I was not the only one performing well in this battle. Lela was lethal with her bow.

Her arrows flew with such speed that I was afraid they would pierce my mana shields if they hit them directly. With her first five shots, she killed five archers, one archer with each arrow. After that, the remaining archers started hiding behind the walls at the top of the tower. To counter that, Lela shot her arrows into the sky. When they came down, they fell on the archers from above. Her accuracy was definitely reduced, but she was still effective.

More importantly, she waited for them to move or change positions, then shot them with another arrow the moment they exposed themselves. She was so effective that the mercenaries abandoned the tower and attacked us from the front with their infantry unit, finally giving Leif a chance to shine. It looked like he had made his sword heavier with earth mana. With one swing, his blade cut through the armor of two mercenaries, while the sheer force of the attack pushed back another who had blocked with his sword.

Unfortunately for the mercenaries, while Leif was butchering the Tier-2s in their unit, the Tier-3 mercenaries were stopped by Varric and Garran. Both of them looked eager to fight their first Tier-3 opponents. With the support provided by the rest of the squad, they became very effective killing machines. Even without Lela or me, they were handling everything. Unsurprisingly, once my squad gained the upper hand, the mercenaries chose to run. We did not chase them. Instead, we captured the tower.

Once Lela, Leif, and I reached the top, the three of us let out sighs of relief. The fight had been easier than any of us expected. From here, I was close to the Tier-5's domain. I could even sense how it had been formed. It was like a highly concentrated tornado surrounding the town, which meant anyone trying to escape would not simply be stopped by the domain. They would be shredded to pieces. Ignoring the faint buzz of the domain, I turned to look at the town, only to encounter a far more gruesome sight.

From here, the devastation was far more visible. One-fourth of the town was flooded. Another fourth was burning, smoke rising into the sky. The remaining half was filled with chaos and terrified people.

"Edward, we should get ready," Leif called from behind me. He pointed to the side. On the wall near the tower adjacent to ours, almost twenty mercenaries were getting into formation.