BXBX NOVEL Chapter 323 322: Mage Tower
Jahi PoV
Our march towards one of our first objectives was filled with cutting down the chaff soldiers that attempted to block our way.
Dozens of soldiers tried to stop us at various street corners, suddenly appearing and creating a shield wall as they attempted to bolster their courage through numbers.
Sadly for them those wooden shields of theirs did little to dissuade us, as Anput and I would surge forwards, uncaring of the various spears or swords pointed our way.
While I charged forwards and let their weapons break against my skin, Anput utilized the walls to jump over the shield wall and land behind the soldiers, putting them in a pincer as she set to work with her longsword.
My blade and Anput\'s were drenched in blood at the end of every engagement, corpses usually left in two or more pieces as tore into the weak humans.
With our first objective being the one of the Mage Towers, I was anticipating a decent fight there; surely such vital positions of arcane prowess would be guarded by some of Goron\'s finest?
Or at the very least, large swathes of these weaklings; something to get the blood pumping inside my veins.
Reaching a small square, I sighed as I saw the various barricades hastily erected at each juncture, carts and shields resting together to create temporary walls and cover for waiting soldiers.
With the space around us being open, I stepped forwards and looked around, locating the Mage Towers and gauging the distance, finding myself on my mental map.
Ignoring the shouts of the soldiers as they flooded into the square, while some continued to hide behind barricades with bows or crossbows, I selected the Tower closest and shouted "Clear a path to the right!"
Anput nodded, her tanned skin metallic as she shot forwards, crashing into the cluster of human soldiers that had spilled out from the right juncture.
"You three, clear out the left side; do it quick."
Leone nodded at my whisper, raising her crimson hands as she began to sling spells towards the soldiers on the left.
Grabbing my great sword, I unsheathed the long blade, enjoying the shrill sound of its keen edge sliding out of its scabbard.
Letting the tip carve a shallow cut into the stone ground, I walked towards the remaining humans, all of whom were staring at me with fear in their eyes.
"S-Shields! Raise your shields!"
Like before, one of them managed to muster the courage needed to shout out orders of their own, all while I calmly walked forwards.
Observing the solid wall of wooden shields before me, I tilted my head to the side, a crossbow bolt whistling past my cheek and shattering against the ground behind me.
Raising a brow, I looked up towards the roof, catching a brief shadow as they hunkered down just out of sight.
Scoffing, I returned my attention to the soldiers in front of me, my great sword sparking against the stone as I lifted it up.
Resting the blade on my shoulder, I stared at the shaking soldiers for a moment before shrugging.
Hefting the blade, I swung out horizontally, shattering the shields and slicing cleanly into the flesh behind the wall.
Blood sprayed into the air as most of the soldiers dropped to the ground, either dead or close to it.
As for the remaining soldiers, they all trembled, their hands shaking as they tried to steady their weapons.
Flicking the blood from my blade, I lanced it forwards and stabbed a woman in the skull, splitting it in two, before lifting her body and blocking the bolt that arced towards my throat.
Throwing her corpse away, I swiftly cut the remaining two down and grabbed one of their swords, nodding to myself as I held it loosely.
Keeping my eyes low, I waited for the archer to peak above the roofline to take another shot, smirking as the sword flew through the air and impaled the archer in the chest, dropping them into the alley below.
Cleaning my blade once more, I walked over towards Anput, who was staring at the corpses around her with a frown.
"This..."
Gesturing around with her thin sword, the Jackalkin sighed as she asked "Is this really it? Is the difference between us that great?"
Following her blade, I shrugged before glancing back at Iaso, who said "In terms of physical prowess, the Human\'s rank amongst the lower end of the intelligent races. Their \'advantage\' lies in an adaptability to any situation, alongside a rather flexible ability to learn. And a swift reproduction rate and high fertility. That is the reason they still exist in this world; they\'re like cockroaches."
She said all of that as she cleaned her claws off in a sphere of water, her eyes uncaring as she stared at the various corpses around us.
Leone frowned, shaking her head slightly as she too took in the various corpses, only to sigh as she gestured for us to continue.
Returning to the maze of alleys and streets, we eventually reached the tall stone tower that was our objective, and each of us sighed as we stared at the various windows housing archers inside said tower.
A rain of arrows fell down towards us, only to be blocked by a thin shield of Light Magic.
I could hear the archers shouting to each other, attempting to coordinate their attacks so they could pierce my barrier.
Glancing over at Anput, I saw her purse her lips as she asked "We need to keep the tower standing, correct?"
"Yup. So... In we go. Anput, lead us in; I\'ll bring up the rear. Should be a few mages inside, so remember to account for that."
The Jackalkin nodded, morphing her blades into something more compact as she rushed towards the door, the other three women between her and I as we breached the tower.
Arrows continued to land around us, shattering instantly as they impacted the barrier.
Inside, the shouts of the archers could be heard from the entrance, and I saw Anput ready a metal disc as she began to climb upwards.