140 140 Betrayed By Bandits
Wolfe raced up the tower so he could get a view over the walls and was shocked by the chaos around them.
The main line was under full-scale attack by undead beasts, while a second unit had been deployed to guard their backs against a group of undead that was charging out of the woods behind the lines while the remainder of their forces were defending the three camps.
“This won’t hold long. The unit on the main line was set to rotate out fifteen minutes ago, and we woke up everyone in the camp to defend the walls.” Priya informed him when Wolfe reached the roof of the keep.
“I have [[Lightning Arrays] drawn on paper. Not the most durable, but it’s what I had to work with. I only made a few of them in the time that I had, but hopefully, they will be enough to drive off the group attacking the barrier while we deal with the ones attacking from behind.”
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[Stephanie, I need you to deliver these Array sheets to the team leaders. Do you think you can do it?] Wolfe asked.
[Not a problem. The undead horde seems to totally ignore my existence, and there are no normal monsters near the commanders right now. I’ll be back in a couple of minutes.] She replied.
The small black cat grabbed the bag full of papers and dragged it inelegantly through the snow, but she wasted no time getting the first one to Ella and then heading to the west side of their zone to start passing them out at the camp and along the line.
The crack of thunder from the [Lightning Array] marked the deliveries as the Witches began implementing the spell in addition to the entangling vines that were tearing apart and slowing the attackers.
While Elemental Magic was incredibly destructive, the nature spells were the true power of the Witches and were much easier and less mana intensive for them to use, saving energy in a long battle.
Stephanie was making good time along the line, and the Arrays were working to clear the area closest to the barrier, but it still wasn’t looking too promising to Wolfe.
More enemies were coming both over the horizon from the Wastes and out of the woods behind them.
The Witches along the wall began to focus on a new spell, causing the moat to turn black and begin to bubble as the water was transformed into acid, rapidly melting the undead who had made it that far.
The other camps weren’t holding out nearly as well. With most of their defenders gone and only a minimal defensive ring, they were quickly becoming overwhelmed.
Worse, even with their spells active, the defenders were starting to come into close combat, and the casualties were beginning to add up.
[Pack everything up and fall back to the main camp. Shrink the line as much as necessary to get the camps moved. We will defend from inside the walls.] Priya ordered over the radio.
Wolfe had just turned to look at the defence lines and add some extra energy to the barrier that the Witches were struggling to keep up without running out of mana to defend themselves when something hit the back of his head hard.
He was knocked from his feet, and a split second later, a puff of stone dust rose from the wall in front of him, and Priya landed beside him on the roof with the radio in her hand.
[All units, we have snipers in the area. Possible anti Witch ammunition, double up all barriers and get inside the walls immediately,] she shouted, while the sound of more shots hitting stone filled the air.
“Dammed bandits, always finding a way to make a bad day worse.” She muttered, then put a hand on Wolfe’s shoulder to keep him down.
“They use high-powered ammunition to deplete our armour spells, and they’ve seen us up here. Stay low for a while, and they’ll think we’re dead.”
Instead of getting up, Wolfe used [Detect Hidden] to search for humans in the woods. They had hidden very well from normal eyes but not nearly well enough to hide from a sensory spell of that level.
Two snipers had perched in a tree five hundred meters away from the camp, and a group of about twenty were hidden a few kilometres further away, gathered around a vehicle with rifles in their hands.
If he hadn’t gotten so skilled with the spell after keeping it active at all times, Wolfe would have likely missed the well-disguised bandits.
[Unholy Smite] silenced the snipers for the time being, and the Witches from the other camps began rushing to pack up their essential supplies and get inside the walls.
The defensive line was no longer trying to stop the attackers from throwing themselves against the barrier. They had all returned to their camps to grab everything they could. That was draining the mana from its storage in a hurry, but they should have a few minutes before that barrier was breached.
“You take the East. I will get the West. Just clear the road from the camp to the gate as much as you can.” Priya instructed before rising to her knees but remaining hidden behind the wall.
The gunshots had stopped, but there were no guarantees that there weren’t more bandits out there looking to ruin their day and pick off commanding officers.
“There are more bandits out there, but I didn’t see any more of them who are close enough to retaliate against us.” Wolfe agreed and flooded the area around the road with fire and lightning attacks, giving the Witches room to run for safety.
With the Witches gone from the line, the barrier wasn’t going to last much longer. Even though the front line burst into flames when they hit the barrier, the horde was still furiously attacking it, and the line was too long for Wolfe to keep it supplied to the extent that would keep it online.
“One minute on the barrier.” He reminded Priya as the last few Witches who had been helping keep it supplied were forced to focus on base defence.
[Thirty Seconds, ladies. Leave with what you’ve got, or you’re not going to make it before the barrier collapses.] Priya reminded all the Witches who were still packing up the other camps.
As soon as she broadcasted the message, Wolfe saw the bandits hidden in the distance begin to move.
They were running through the woods, dragging what looked like raw meat behind them. As if drawn to a magnet, the back ranks of the undead began turning to follow, heading west toward the main lines.
The ones on the far side of the barrier became even more frenzied, all looking in the same direction, and Priya began to swear.
“It is enchanted bait. They’re herding the monsters and undead to us.” She began, only to be cut off by an explosion over the camp.
One of the defenders had blocked an incoming explosive shell over their heads. It was followed every few seconds by more explosions, mostly blocked, but some of them were landing in the camp.
“What are they waiting for? I can’t raise the barrier over the camp until everyone is inside.” Wolfe yelled at the walls while he tried to keep the attacks out of the camp.
“Almost there. The East camp had a hill to get over with all the gear they could grab. Give them a few more seconds.”