Chapter 377 377 Just Until They’re Clear
Chapter 377 377 Just Until They’re Clear
As soon as Wolfe was visible in the air above the walls, the shooting started. The only problem was that at a hundred meters in the air and two hundred from the walls, the vast majority of it was not incredibly accurate shooting.
Small movements made the first tank shells streak by him into the woods, and most of the light gunfire was never going to hit him anyhow.
‘Spray and pray as a targeting technique wasn’t going to get them far today, but as long as the bullets flew near Wolfe, it was good enough to keep their Commanders happy most of the time. The problem was that they had relied on those odds their entire career, and they never got better at shooting.
Wolfe set up a soft [Gravity Barrier] around himself, allowing the artillery shells that would have hit him to be redirected wide of his position to crash into the forest, well away from the road where the others were travelling.
It was laughable, but for now, it was buying them time to get away, and Wolfe wasn’t burning any mana other than what was needed to fly and keep his barriers active. He could do this for days if he could remain awake, and if he charged an inscription on his hand, he could probably sleep right there in relative safety.
But that wasn’t enough to keep Wolfe happy with the situation, and he began to pick out the largest threats. First up was an anti-aircraft gun that was set up. Flak rounds, especially if they had a null stone in them, would drain his mana in a hurry. But a single [Lightning] bolt turned the mobile artillery piece into molten slag, and Wolfe began to search the city for more of them.
It was an uncommon weapon for this offensive since the Witches didn’t have a lot of flying firepower, just the scouting Gryphon riders and the occasional Witch on a broom. The fact that they had even bothered to have anti-aircraft weapons at all was surprising to Wolfe.
Next up, Wolfe targeted the tanks and took out the heavy firepower a dozen units at a time.
The thunderous booming of the munitions burning off shook not only the city, but even Wolfe in the air nearby, sending him away on a shockwave until he stabilized a few dozen metres from where he started.
Around each of the tanks that he targeted, buildings had collapsed, streets were in ruin, and any soldiers who had survived the devastation were running for their lives. Then, the locals began to rise up against them, using the weapons of fallen soldiers to capture those who fled from the battle.
If they didn’t surrender, they were shot on sight, and Wolfe smiled as the city’s power balance began to right itself.
The Grand Dutchies soldiers might have started out by cleaning the streets of vagrants, drunks and criminals, but Wolfe had seen at the Auction House that most of the prisoners in this batch were just captured Witch Blood civilians, foreign soldiers, and others who either owed debts or spoke out against the military occupation.
That didn’t sit well with the locals, and now that Wolfe had destroyed their ability to force the population to stay down, things were changing in a hurry.
Within minutes after the locals realized that the tanks were gone, the shooting up at Wolfe had stopped, and he could see that the Auction House was surrounded by armed locals in civilian clothing but holding military weapons.
His work here was done. They weren’t going to come chasing after him anytime soon, and even if the military called for reinforcements, they would take hours to arrive and wouldn’t be coming from the same direction that Wolfe was travelling.
Flying was too suspicious, though, so Wolfe turned east toward the coast, flying toward another city which was most likely Grand Dutchy controlled, and then dipped down into the trees before landing and making sure that he was out of sight of the city.
Once he couldn’t see it with [Detect Hidden], he turned back to the northwest and started running toward the road that John had taken.
[Ella, I’m on my way back to you. I gathered as many of the prisoners as I could and destroyed enough of the heavy equipment in the city so that they wouldn’t be coming after us anytime soon. How is the escape plan going?] Wolfe asked through their bond.
[How fast can you move with a bunch of prisoners? Are they going to catch up to you in the evening?] Ella asked, concerned that her day’s head start might not be enough.
[I had a former Gormana soldier take everyone that we could get in a bus, so they should be making better time than expected, and once I catch up to them, I will tell them to head your way. We can sort out who is who once we get to the first village, and the Gormana Soldiers can rejoin their units while I will continue on to the Academy and pick you all up on the way.]
[That sounds good. Everyone is tired of walking, and we’re not making much distance, but we’re still on the move, and we’re staying off the main road so that we’re not found by military patrols or any travelling merchants who might turn us in for a reward.] Ella replied.
Wolfe could tell what direction she was in through the bond, but once he got closer, it would be easier to pinpoint, and he would be able to guide them back to the second group along the road. He just had to catch up to them first.
John hadn’t been wasting any time, and the bus was still moving at over forty kilometres an hour over the rough double track when Wolfe caught up. Every major bump threw people out of their seats, but nobody complained. They just held on for dear life and hoped that the bus held together long enough for them to get to safety.