Chapter 88: Battle on the Ramparts

Looking at the devastation caused by the war before him, a strange, inexplicable excitement stirred within Shaoke. He found the blood on the ground as captivating as deep red wine. With a slight turn of his staff, Shaoke followed the other two mages to stand amidst the ruins of the stone tower. "Are we supposed to keep picking off warriors from here?" Shaoke was somewhat puzzled by the actions of the two mages before him.

One of the mages nodded and said, "Yes, we must hold our positions. Unless you want other mages to discuss you running away today at the banquet." After speaking, the mage signaled Shaoke to hide behind a large boulder with him, keeping a careful watch on the battlefield.

Under the orders of the officers, some soldiers and First-tier Warriors, willingly or unwillingly, gathered around the mages. They had to keep an eye on the surroundings for the mages, to stop enemies from getting in close or stray arrows from picking off the mages.

Under the barrage of massive boulders and despite the mages' frantic area-attack spells, the enemy's assault continued relentlessly. One after another, they charged onto the city walls using various siege engines. The number of Third-rank Warriors on the battlements gradually increased. Shaoke even saw a warrior wielding a long blade infused with aura, cutting down four or five of their own warriors with a single blow. Its devastating power inflicted heavy casualties among the defenders due to insufficient support from their own mages and a lack of Third-rank Warriors.

However, no matter how many soldiers fell, wave after wave of soldiers rushed forward. Even in the face of increasingly frenzied warriors, they did not retreat, doing their best to create openings for the mages and warriors to land killing blows.

After exhausting the last bit of his mana, Shaoke leaned against the blood-stained boulder, rubbing his aching head. "We can't go on like this. I can't even cast a single Zero-level Spell now. Do we have to meditate here? Aren't there more reinforcements?" He was truly dissatisfied with the military's approach and couldn't stand watching ordinary soldiers being sent to engage in melee with warriors. He refused to believe the army didn't have enough Third-rank warriors to counter the enemy's assault.

One mage pointed to the troop shelter inside the inner wall and said, "You go inside to meditate first. Hurry up if possible. We won't be able to hold out much longer either. Hmm! A half magic-hour of deep meditation ought to be enough. Don't worry, the enemy definitely won't capture the city walls." Seeing Shaoke's puzzled expression, the other mage swallowed a pill and added, "Since the establishment of this bloody fortress, it has never been captured. Usually, both sides just fight on the battlements for a while before withdrawing."

Shaoke had no time to inquire further about the other confusion this mage had brought him. He needed to meditate immediately to recover, otherwise, his mana space might shrink due to prolonged depletion. That kind of thing wasn't exactly rare.

After a moment of hesitation, Shaoke decided to use deep meditation, believing the other two mages wouldn't harm him. Otherwise, when the boulder came earlier, they wouldn't have woken him from meditation to escape.

A half magic-hour passed quickly. Checking his meditation space, Shaoke felt that most of his mana had recovered, which puzzled him. Based on past experience, to recover from a completely depleted mana space, it would take at least two magic hours to restore about half. Yet this time, he'd recovered a good portion in such a short time.

Shaoke had no time to investigate the reason for this occurrence. After touching the staff on his back, he returned to the area near the boulders. He saw the other mage leaning against a large rock, pale-faced and gasping for breath, while the other mage was nowhere to be seen.

"I'm back. You go rest. Where's the other mage?" Shaoke quickly hid in his previous spot, informing the other that he was ready.

That mage used his staff to support himself, calling over a soldier to help him. "Mage Xueye, be careful. He's injured, hit by a stray arrow. You must be cautious. The enemy's assault is even more intense now. As long as we hold out, today's battle will be over." With that, under the soldier's protection, he carefully retreated toward the troop shelter.

Shaoke looked at his blood-stained cloak, gritted his teeth, and observed the battlefield. He realized their situation was dire. Many of their own warriors had diminished, whether killed by the enemy or withdrawn. Now, they relied solely on soldiers using their bodies to block the attacks of the enemy warriors.

Locking onto targets, chanting incantations, blasting heads—one spell after another was cast. After three or four First-level Spells, he successfully eliminated several enemy warriors. Seeing spells continuously appearing again, the soldiers on the field immediately knew the mages had regained their energy. Their morale surged, and they threw themselves desperately at the enemy warriors and soldiers.

A half magic-hour passed slowly as Shaoke cast spells repeatedly. By now, he was basically taking a pill after each spell. Although the effects of these pills couldn't stack, Shaoke felt that doing so could speed up the recovery of mana and mental energy in his meditation space. His meditation space trembled repeatedly but was quickly calmed by the silver light from the mutated diamond array. Despite the increasing consumption, Shaoke persisted in seeking suitable targets to deliver fatal strikes.

Soldiers on the battlefield were replaced wave after wave. Those engaged in long-range attacks could be quickly carried down for treatment if injured. However, the warriors holding the front lines against enemy attacks weren't so fortunate. Once injured, they were rarely rescued, either trampled into pulp or hunted down by enemy soldiers.

Just as Shaoke was searching for his next target, the mage who had been resting returned to the battlefield. Shaoke noticed the mage was still extremely pale, and his hand holding the staff trembled slightly. "Rest a bit more, then come relieve me. I think I can hold out a little longer." Shaoke tugged at his dry, cracked lips, offering a kind suggestion. He didn't want this mage to suffer a decline in strength due to excessive mental consumption.

The other shook his head. "No need, Mage Xueye. Hold on for now. Let's hunt a few warriors together. That might weaken the enemy's assault, making things easier later." He looked at Shaoke, hoping he would agree.

Shaoke nodded, licked his dry lips, and began chanting spells again. The continuous ambushes by the two mages significantly reduced the pressure on the soldiers at the front. The warriors seized the opportunity to eliminate nearly ten enemy warriors.

At that moment, a group of warriors charged up from the city. They appeared to be Second Rank to Third Rank, followed by many First-tier Warriors. They quickly replaced their comrades who had been fighting on the battlefield for a long time, reducing the likelihood of casualties due to fatigue-induced mistakes.

Seeing this, Shaoke breathed a slight sigh of relief. Then, under the protection of the soldiers, he retreated to the troop shelter to meditate and recover from the consumption caused by spellcasting. Afterward, he rushed back to the city wall to relieve the other mage for meditation.

This cycle repeated. Shaoke completely lost track of time, only feeling his head ache increasingly. He knew this was due to overconsumption of mental energy that couldn't recover in time. But now, he had no time to meditate and restore his mental energy, as that would not only delay the recovery of his mana and mental energy but also reduce the number of ambushes on the battlefield.

The alternating rest periods for the mages grew shorter and shorter. Finally, Shaoke and the other mage simultaneously retreated to the troop shelter for an extended period of meditation and recovery. Fortunately, the warriors were regularly replaced at intervals, so they could still resist the enemy's prolonged and fierce assault.

As the sky gradually darkened, the figures of warriors on the intense battlefield slowly diminished. The spears and arrows shot toward the battlements became increasingly sparse. The mage leaning against the blood-stained boulder let out a long sigh of relief. "Mage Xueye, I think today's battle is over. Damn it, why did they throw such a huge boulder? Otherwise, we wouldn't have been so disheveled."

Shaoke nodded, rubbing his trembling hands. He understood what the other meant. If that mage hadn't been injured by a stray arrow and left the battlefield, they would have had more sufficient meditation time to recover from the various consumptions caused by spellcasting.

When the sky truly darkened, the frenzied attacking enemies slowly withdrew to their camp. The tense spirits of everyone on the battlements, including Shaoke, finally relaxed. The surviving soldiers cheered wildly for various reasons. Even Shaoke couldn't help but vigorously wave his fist. Were it not for the propriety expected of a mage, he would have cheered like those soldiers.

The mage leaning against the boulder merely sighed softly, straightened up, and adjusted his disheveled robe. "Mage Xueye, I think you should tidy up your appearance now. This battle is over. Go back and enjoy yourself! Hmm! The combat effectiveness of the soldiers nowadays is getting lower and lower. Can't they hold off the enemy's attacks outside? Damn it, they always let them charge here." After speaking, he signaled Shaoke to follow him and leave this place, heading down to take a carriage or other means to depart from the city wall slick with blood and chunks of flesh.

Torches and lanterns were quickly lit on the battlements. Soldiers busied themselves treating the lucky ones lying on the ground. As for the corpses, they were carried onto flatbed carts and pushed down. Shaoke didn't know where they were dumped.

Mages scattered out from the stone towers or other places that could conceal their bodies. Shaoke could immediately distinguish the differences among these mages. Those who stood straight with tidied robes were basically mages who had been here for a while, while those with disheveled hair and unsteady walks were the newcomers.

After returning below the city, Shaoke noticed that five or six of their group of new mages were missing. A Third Tier Mage came over, looked at them, praised them, then patted his clean robe and left.