42 To Arms!
A change had happened on the battlefield. The air was thick, and the atmosphere was tense. I could tell the enemy was confused at the sudden change in our current formation. Never in their life would they ever think that a trapped enemy would launch a large scale attack. But this was also what I was counting on. As soon as my barriers dropped, we would be launching our attack and hope that it will be successful. If it is, then we will have victory in our hands. If it isn’t, I will need to act quickly. This was why I was currently standing in the air to get a better view of the battlefield. My detection magic was spread out all over. I was making sure to catch each movement while I protected my men who would be at the forefront.
I gazed over my men, who were all in position, all staring intently at the barriers and Norian soldiers in front of them. I had to give them credit for their courage. And I had to thank them for trusting me with their lives. I will do my utmost to protect them all, no matter what. It may seem like a promise that one would be unable to fulfill, but I will do my best to keep this promise.
War was not a game. I know this well. Coming from Earth, I never once experienced the hardships of war. But seeing it with my own eyes and even fighting in the midst of it, I fully understand the feeling of wanting to protect something. Whether it is family, friends, land, your king, or money, it all held meaning to the people putting their lives on the line. Looking down at these brave men who had gathered together, even if they were troublemakers, they all had a reason to be here, and not a single one has tried to run away.
And the one who is responsible for keeping these men alive by coming up with the correct plans was me, and me alone. I took a deep breath and glanced at the men waiting for my order. I slowly let it out as I raised my hand and lowered it. “To Arms!”
At my words, the barriers collapsed. I watched as the mages began casting their wind spells. Massive hurricane force winds kicked up the dirt, rocks, and debris, sending it flying at the enemy. But this was not the critical point. I clenched my little fist as I watched the mages behind the wind casting mages begin firing fireballs and earth spears into the wind.
*Boom!*
Never in my life would I have expected the results I was seeing. The fireballs turned the wind spells into a raging inferno that was like an explosion firing out in a wide cone. And within this inferno, hidden in the raging flames, were spears of rock flying at an accelerated speed. I could hear the screams of the Norian soldiers that were being burnt alive. I could smell the melting of metal, burnt clothes, and flesh being cooked altogether. It sickened me. It made my stomach turn. But I pushed what threatened to come up, down. I had no regrets. Just like before, when I wiped out the Norian army that came to my doorstep, I felt no remorse for my actions.
“Faith, should we move forward?” My father’s words broke me out of my thoughts. I looked around and saw the enemy setting up barriers around their men. I waved my hand, dispelling them all, before turning to my father and nodding.
“We should. Our mages have plenty of mana, and this plan is working far past my expectations. If we push forward and keep this up, we will be able to send the enemy packing.” I did not waste time before sending Silminian my orders. He quickly relayed them to the others, and our men began pushing forward in all four directions.
The Norian mages were doing their best trying to protect their men with barriers that they could no longer cast any actual spells due to me continuously dispelling them. The entire enemy line was falling apart, and their commanders seemed to be at a loss of what to do. Their Norian soldiers were running for their lives, not caring for any orders. Tens of thousands of soldiers were incinerated just like that.
With my men now pushing forward and the enemy in disarray, they could safely push back without worrying about any counterattacks. “This…. I feel like I cheated somehow.”
“It is the results of your planning. If you did not come up with such a plan, we would have been stuck in the encirclement for who knows how long. This plan has won us this battle.” My father picked me up and placed me on his shoulder. Like this, we gazed down at the battlefield and watched as the enemy tried to retreat.
As I looked around at our victory, my eyes landed on the two commanders who were also trying to flee the wave of flames. “Father, let’s take a few prisoners.” ρꪖꪕᦔꪖꪕꪫꪣꫀꪶ
“Oh? What do you plan to do with them?” My father seemed confused by my suggestion.
“We need to know how many more armies they plan to send over the border and how many have already crossed. If we can gather the intel needed, we can use it to make further plans.” I do not really understand the politics of this world. But I do know that any and all intelligence that can be gathered is very important. If they had many more armies the size of the ones we just fought, then we would be able to send this information to those in charge and let them deal with it accordingly.
“Even if you capture them, they will probably never speak. Those who are in command and in the know are too prideful. They would rather die than betray their kingdom. It is the knight’s way.” I could understand what my father was saying. This was a world where one’s word was law. If let’s say I said I would marry so and so when I grew up, even if that person turned into some horrible person, I would need to keep my word and marry them anyway, or else I would be the one looked down upon by society. And a knight’s loyalty was no different than their life. They give their word to protect the kingdom. And a knight’s word is like a heavenly law to them. They never break it.
But this was not to say there was no way to make someone talk. As of now, I was no knight. Which means I can use unknightly methods to make one talk. I am starting to think I am walking down a dark path…. I need to think of something else… I held my head in my hands, wondering what I can use as a means to make someone’s lips squeak. I started thinking of the methods people used back on Earth to make people talk. That did not lead to torture. “Truth serums…. Hypnosis…. Wait…. That will work!”
“Figured something out?” My father was grinning with curiosity. I am starting to think I have become a source of entertainment for him.
“We will use a hypnotic illusion spell.” It was an intermediate spell, but the runic equation was a bit tricky. Confusion. A spell that messed with the target’s mind. If used right, it can get people to see what you want them to see and will control them to a certain extent. All I needed to do was make them believe that their king was standing in front of them and make them give a report.
“You are talking about confusion!? Faith, are you sure? That spell is not easy to use. I heard it can also backfire and put you into a state of confusion as well, and unless you can break out of it yourself, you would be stuck like that.” What my father said was true. Because the runic equation was so difficult to write in such a short time, many have messed it up, and in some cases, instead of just failing to cast, it would cause the spell to backfire on them, putting the caster into a confused state for all eternity. The caster alone would have to break themselves out of a confused state. No one else would be able to cast cancel the magic on them unless they had someone use dispel on them. And to find someone who could use dispel…. You had better chances of actually canceling it yourself.
“Yes, I know it is dangerous, but it is the best way to get the information we need without needing to resort to torture. I, for one, would prefer not to do such things.” I will kill, but I will not torture someone. I had to have a line that I will never cross.
“I understand that, but the risk is too great. I won’t allow it.” My father seemed dead set on not allowing me to use this spell, but it was the only way.
“Father, did I not cast confusion mist? It’s just as difficult, and I casted it on a large scale. The confusion spell itself is no different. I am one hundred percent sure I can cast it. I will even draw out the magic circle a few times beforehand to make sure I have it down. You can watch me to make sure I do not make any mistakes.” I hoped I could convince him, or else I am sure my father will make Silminian and the rest torture the commanders.
“Ten times. You, Have to do it successfully ten times.”