Chapter 175: Luring the Tiger Out of the Mountains
Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation
In the blink of an eye, the two conflicting troops crashed into each other.
The soldiers in the frontline drew their swords and knives and fought. The soldiers behind them could only wait patiently for an opportunity to squeeze to the front. The ones even further behind got the short end of the stick. They had no idea what was going on in front, but still they kept on pouring into the pathway. The pathway itself was not wide, so now it was impossible for movement. From the outside, one could only see the top of the soldiers’ head. There was no way to discern what was happening in there.
The commanders for both sides looked worried.
Within half a minute, the Queen waved and gave out her order as she stood on the plateau, "Mages, prepare your magic. Release them on my mark." It was evident that she was prepared to tackle this mess with blunt force; the numerous mages surrounding her all nodded their head in agreement and started their incantations.
On the other side of the Gateway, the priests were not standing around doing nothing while they await further instructions. The bishop’s idea was in line with the Queen’s – since they could not see the situation in the pathway clearly, they decided to order a retreat, and then clear out the enemies with Divine Arts. With that, they could regain control of the Gateway.
Thus, under the orders of the bishop, the priests started chanting their charms with their hands put together devoutly. Countless holy lights started to gather around them.
However, just as both parties were ready to withdraw their forces, two observer guards from the watcher’s post ran down from behind their respective bases. They looked shaken as they ran towards their own commanders and shouted, "Report! There’s.... There’s someone on top of the Gateway!"
The Queen frowned, "Are those the mages? Are they planning to escape amidst the chaos using the Flight Spell?"
"No.... I don’t think so....." The guard panted. He stopped and bowed before before he continued, "Although I couldn’t see clearly, Your Highness, but... But they looked like a bunch of soldiers clad in the military uniform of the Kingdom."
The Queen’s expression changed immediately. It was not good news to Icor if the Kingdom Armies had appeared on top of the Gateway.
"How could it be? Did the Kingdom soldiers manage to get into the Gateway already?" The Queen dipped her head in thought. Suddenly, she turned over and declared, "We’ve been tricked! Mages, it’s time for you to shine. Go to the top of the Gateway now, and clear out the people of the Kingdom by entering the Gateway via the entrance!"
In her mind, the Crusader Gateway will be back in the power of the Kingdom of Helius any second now. There was no time for her to ponder on her actions anymore. The mages were also the only ones with the ability to fly and thus could reach the top of the Gateway in a short period of them. Only they would be able to fulfill her orders.
The mages were stunned after her words. How could they leave the Queen defenseless? However, almost half of the hundred something mages obeyed her command anyway. They used the Flight Spell and started to fly towards the top of the Gateway, leaving only less than a hundred mages to protect the Queen in the base.
Meanwhile, at the other side of the Gateway where the base of the Kingdom’s Army was located.
"There’s someone at the top?" The bishop chuckled darkly after he heard the report from the guard. He looked as though he remembered something as he mumbled, "Grant Lithur.... None of you are going anywhere."
The bishop immediately chanted and summoned the Wings of Holy Light before flying upwards. Because of his haste, he did not catch the part of the Guard’s message that the people on top of the Gateway were actually wearing the uniform of the Kingdom Army.
Just like that, the top of the Crusader Gateway quickly succumbed into chaos.
The bishop arrived first, as he was in a hurry to capture Benjamin. However, when he reached the top and saw the hundreds of people barely standing, he froze.
"Wait, aren’t these the people who were previously guarding the Gateway?"
He walked towards them, confused and trying to find the familiar face among these people clad in Kingdom Army uniforms. Alas, he could not find a trace of the mages. He grabbed the arm of one of the soldiers, "I have a question for you. Where are the mages?"
The soldier looked weary, as if he was starved for days. He was barely conscious, but when he identified the person before him as the bishop, he jolted upright and looked terrified.
"S-Sir Bishop, we’re sorry, we couldn’t defend the Gateway and were held hostage by the mages. Sir Bishop, please forgive us and don’t punish us. Please, we.... We had no other choice...." The soldier had a nervous breakdown and looked as if he was going to burst into tears.
The bishop annoyingly patted the soldier’s shoulder, frowning as he tried to understand what was going on. Suddenly, the colour drained from his face as he released the soldier in a hurry, "...Shit, we’ve been tricked."
He immediately turned and prepared to rush back to the army base. However, as he summoned the Wings of Holy Light once again, countless fire balls appeared out of thin air and rained down on him - successfully trapping him within. Immediately, the many crosses he was carrying broke into pieces, and layer upon layer of Holy Barriers expanded around him. This gave him precious reaction time to chant a number of defensive Divine Charms. He had to use all of his might to block the massive attack.
The sky of fire gradually subsided after about half a minute. The hostage soldiers around him were nothing but ashes now, and above him were the few hundred mages that followed the Icor army. They stood on top of the Gateway, their eyes carving into his very being, their intent to kill evident.
The bishop’s head went numb with fear.
"Her Majesty the Queen was indeed correct," said a middle-aged mage who seemed to be the leader amongst the mages. His spoke icily, "We nearly fell into your petty traps. Bishop White, we are not as gullible as you think. We will never easily give up on the Crusader Gateway."
The bishop was dumbfounded. "What? Fell into our trap? What do you mean-" The bishop cut himself off and paused. In that second, he suddenly realized what had just transpired and now he became even more desperate to leave the top of the Gateway.
Sadly, this was no longer an option.
"Still feigning ignorance? Ha, you church people do have a knack when it comes to lying." The middle-aged mage snorted, "You’re all alone now. Even if you’re a bishop, you do not stand a chance fighting against so many mages at once."
The mages simultaneously started their incantations. A shockingly strong magical oscillation spread from the top of the Gateway.
"No! You don’t understand! It’s their plan to lead us all up here! They’re escaping now!" The bishop screamed anxiously at them, but even though his voice and expressions were very convincing, nothing could gain him the trust of the mages.
Of course they would never trust him, they were enemies! The bishop was flooded with emotions of anguish and hopelessness. He wished badly to leave and exterminate Benjamin with Holy Light; he wished he could do that a thousand times – that brat tricked him again! However, the only thing he could do now was to try not to perish under the bombardment of these mages.
Meanwhile, Benjamin and his people, who were the subject of the bishop’s obsession, just emerged from the Gateways. Now, they stood right outside Icor’s army base and were confronting the mages that were left guarding the base. They couldn’t help but smile triumphantly at the horrified Queen.