Halted Assault

The Malayas saw the burning boulders from the sky thanks to Kalasag. However, luck itself did not smile upon everyone.

Whistle~~ bang!

Crash!

Whistle~~ bang!!

Most of the Malayas got out of the burning boulders' trajectories, but the rest failed as the boulders crashed right at them, killing them. The others who were close to where the boulders impacted got blown away and received injuries in the process.

To make matters worse, some Malayas that fell to the ground could not react in time and ended up being rolled over by the boulders, ultimately killing them too. Meanwhile, Kalasag managed to avoid being near or getting hit by any of the projectiles thrown at him.

"Everyone...!" His eyes panned around the vicinity and caught the sight of blood that splattered all across the road.

"The second payload is ready!"

The moment Kalasag and the injured Karen tending to her unconscious young sister heard those words, they knew it wasn't over.

"Ready!"

Kalasag called for his able men. "Everyone! This is the moment where we need to put everything we've got in use!"

Despite witnessing their comrades fall before them, the Malayas gathered their resolve and answered their Payapa's call.

"Right! Payapa Kalasag!" They replied in unison as they hardened their grip on their shields. They began forming a widespread formation.

After that, Kalasag and Karen had exchanged glances with each other. Right then, Karen ran with her unconscious sister on her back.

"Fire!"

With the man in charge's calls, the second wave of burning boulders had been launched all at once.

"We only need to endure it for now, but we'll rush on them once we find an opportunity, the rest stay and tend on the wounded!" Kalasag stated as he watched Karen running in his direction.

"Masusunod, Payapa Kalasag!"

Kalasag and his company raised their shields in the air, the boulders began descending at them.

"Now! Reilaea Vanguard!"

Karen arrived next to Kalasag just in time as he and his company united their magic and created an even bigger Reilaea Vanguard, shielding everyone inside, including the injured and unconscious ones. In that instant, Karen's right eye's color turned to that of Reilaea Vanguard's.

"Mirror Image!"

With Mirror Image, Karen created a layer of Reilaea Vanguard that merged with the former one, making it stronger and more durable. Finally, the boulders began hitting them hard one after another.

Bang! Bugohm! Baang!

"I'm sorry, Karen."

Kalasag felt the need to apologize to Karen for providing support. Reilaea Vanguard is Kalasag's ability he proudly uses in times of need. It's a magic that allows him to shield himself and the people behind him. Its range and durability depend on the number of people linking their mana to his. And this linking is only possible if a Malaya wields a shield like Kalasag.

Baguhm! Bang! Boom!

"Don't sweat it... Just concentrate for now, Kalasag!"

A lot of Malayas died and received injuries that disables them to even stand. Even though some other foot soldiers have taken the shields that are left lying on the ground, they shouldn't have enough manpower to maintain Reilaea Vanguard's wide shape and durability. That is unless they sacrifice its durability in exchange for prolonging its wide shape.

"Kuh...!"

That's what Kalasag and the Malayas are doing since the beginning. If not for Karen's ability, Reilaea Vanguard would have been destroyed long ago.

"These guys... They aren't aiming to destroy our defense," Karen said as she glanced at the row of armed Kruule knights standing in front of the catapults, waiting. "Though killing a few more of us would be good for them, their real goal is to exhaust every ounce of my mana until I can no longer use my ability."

Karen's magic, Mirror Image, is a unique ability that manifested a lot later than his sister's magic which came about when Nina was nine years old. Mirror Image allows Karen to copy someone else's magic ability by locking her gaze into it for a second. During that time, her right eye would reflect the color of the magic she replicated.

Not only can Karen completely replicate the shape and the hows of the abilities she copied, but she can also identically replicate the strength of the magic she copied.

The only weakness Mirror Image has is that it also drains an amount of mana similar to how much mana the ability she replicated was consuming. That, and she must keep her eye open or Mirror Image will automatically deactivate.

That said, the amount of mana Karen is being drained off of copying Reilaea Vanguard is similar to the amount of mana Kalasag and the Malayas are using.

Bugohm! Boom! Bam!

"Kuh!"

Karen was right. The enemy's goal is to render her unable to fight. No, not just her, but everyone in Reilaea who proved to be a threat to Kruule.

"They wanted to tire us out from the beginning, that is why they had the weak ones on standby outside the walls and on the inside. Talk about a cheeky yet smart play. In that case..."

That moment, Karen's featureless left eye began reflecting the shade of fire.

"...I'll show them why they had to resort to such an underhanded plan!" A smug full of self-confidence formed on Karen's face as she began pouring out a mix of red and white translucent energy all over her body. "I'm gonna rain down on them!"

Right on top of Reilaea Vanguard, dozens of fire arrows materialized.

"Y-You idiot! Don't use your left eye and Mana Burst at the same time!" Kalasag scolded Karen, though it was already too late as she had already done the deed. The only thing he could do is watch as a flow of blood began leaking off the corners of Karen's eyes.

"Impossible! Does that woman intend to kill herself in the process?!"

The fire arrows' presence most certainly agitated the forces of Kruule. But more than that, they are petrified to see what Karen was doing to herself.

Karen's left eye works like a magic ability container. To put it simply, Karen allows her to store any ability she copied in her left eye which she can use whenever and wherever. On top of that, she can empower the ability she copied and stored in her left eye simply by pouring more mana into it than the usual amount.

"Have a taste of the pain you inflicted on my sister!" Karen declared as she started recklessly firing the fire arrows at the enemy forces, forcing Kruule soldiers to take cover and protect themselves with their shields.

"Keh...! That b*tch! Keep at it! Throw everything we've got at them."

The enemy continued reloading their payload while also firing magic beams and arrows simultaneously back at Karen and the others. The foot soldiers of Kruule slowly gain on them as they try their hardest to avoid every fire arrow heading their way, though most of them are getting blown away by the arrows coming their way.

"This is far from over, bast*rds...!"

As she fired every single fire arrow she has, at the same time she quickly recreate them, more and more blood are gushing out of her eyes. She gritted her teeth to endure the pain.

"That's enough, Karen! You're slowly killing yourself!"

That's right. Normally, she shouldn't be able to continuously shoot fire arrows while maintaining her own Reilaea Vanguard at the same time. It was only possible because she triggered Mana Burst.

Mana Burst accelerates mana essence absorption and mana conversion from one's life force exponentially.

'That flow of energy visible around Karen is not apparent because it's leaking out of her body, it's visible because she's consuming mana to maintain Reilaea Vanguard and the fire arrows faster than how Mana Burst is regenerating mana for her!'

"Kuhaah...!" Karen fell on her knees as she coughed out blood. "Keh... Not yet! I need to destroy their defense and that row of catapults...!"

Karen is draining herself of mana faster than how her mana threads are producing them. Perhaps it's her iron will as a knight or rather the motivation to get back on the enemy who hurt Nina, her young sister that is driving her to keep going. Either way, no normal human should be able to last this long.

Even so, the fire arrows are still not enough to pierce through Kruule's defenses.

"Take my sister." Karen requested.

Kalasag paused as he glanced at Karen. "Huh?"