Chapter 387 387 They'll Get By
Left with no good options and no way to actually win the fight, the witches from the city took the only option left to them. They ran back to their vehicles and fled the scene headed north, away from their hometown.
If they never returned, it could be assumed that they had fallen in battle or had been captured during their mission. They wouldn’t have to return as failures without a mark on them, and they wouldn’t risk the backlash of the Army for not returning with Wolfe.
The army would be mad that they didn’t bring him back, but after he had caused that much chaos and destruction, they would understand that a small group of Witches might not be enough to deal with him, even if they still had some of the tanks that Wolfe had destroyed.
How he had learned to do that was a mystery to them, but now that they had confirmed that he really was a Rank Four Demon as the report from the surviving Auction House staff had insisted, they weren’t about to press their luck trying to find out his limits.
Wolfe wrapped an arm over Ella’s shoulder as they watched the Witches flee north into the wilderness that separated the Academy from the Sylvan Coven border. They wouldn’t find many allies there. The Villagers further north had either declined to take part in the Rebellion at all or had sided with either the Coven Leader or the Gormana troops.
If they found out that these Witches were part of the Rebellion that had been selling their countrymen to the Grand Dutchies, it would not end well for them.
“The other Witches should start waking up soon. The smell of the lunchtime stew is probably going to be enough to do the trick, and then they will be ready to move on to the Academy so the Headmistress can take their reports and figure out what to do with them all.” Ella reminded Wolfe with a note of pity for the witches’ condition.
“You’re probably right. A full night plus half the day, and they’ll be hungry enough that they won’t be able to sleep anymore. I’ll make a defensive Array for the guard post before we leave though, just in case someone else comes looking for trouble.”
The checkpoint’s team leader gave him a confused look as she overheard their conversation, so Ella offered a bit more explanation.
“Wolfe has an incredible level of skill with arrays and enchantments. Not only are they exponentially stronger than the ones that we usually use, but they cost less mana. It’s a blessing to have them when you’re under attack. Even the basic armour spells that he uses for clothing will stop anti-magic bullets with ease while costing less than the basic spells engraved into your uniforms.”
“Alright, now I’m jealous. But if he’s that good with enchantments, do you think he could help us out a bit more? Your report of Rank Two and Three Dire Wolves is very concerning.” The team leader asked.
Wolfe nodded. “I don’t see why not. If I did up your team’s bows and then armour amulets for the team, you should be doing pretty well. I can do sword enchantments as well, but they’re so fast that it’s hard for a blade to get a strike in. The arrows will be doing most of the damage.”
The team leader frowned at that. That meant their front lines were basically just a diversion, there to take abuse and try not to die, while the ones in the back landed the real damage. But if Wolfe said that it was hard to land a hit on the creature, he was probably right. He was in excellent shape, well-muscled and well-trained. If he couldn’t kill the beast outright in close combat the first time, even with his power advantage, then the chances of them doing it weren’t great.
“Alright, we will take any help that we can get. We’ve got blank amulet discs here and some reagents. Just let us know what you need to make the new equipment.” She agreed.
“Oh, I don’t need reagents. Unlike Witches, the elemental magic is innate to me. I just can’t use all the elements. Bring me the blank amulet discs and all the bows that your team has. The Dire Wolf pack is larger than your patrol team, so you’ll want to get as many of them down before they reach you as possible.
They also resist magic to some extent, so trapping them in vines won’t be easy either. What else should I mention? The rest is fairly basic; they’re durable and tough to cut, but that’s a given with their power level.”
The witch sighed and shook her head. “That’s enough detail, I hope. If they were casting spells at you, I don’t think that it would matter if you gave us some new bows. Two dozen of them would wipe us out.”
The amulets and bows were brought over in a few minutes while the smell of stew began to fill the clearing, giving Wolfe a timeline to work with before everyone would be awake and looking to eat and get on the road.
The guards gathered around as Wolfe created a three-layered armour spell that would cut the casting cost in half but still double the defensive capabilities of their armour. Wolfe created them in a batch and handed them around the clearing.
“If anyone looks closely, it will be obvious that no Witch made those amulets. It’s simply not possible for them to layer the inscriptions like that. There is a binding layer of pure mana that Witches can’t create on their own. But I can guarantee that these will be the best armour spells that you have ever worn.
They’re using Air Magic as the appearance layer, so they won’t alter the pattern of your uniforms. That way, you don’t need to worry about the appearance giving you away. Feel free to put them on and see how it feels.”