The Battle against the Monster

"It has been 4 years since a monster came to this wall," Mylan said solemnly.

"Indeed, Captain."

"Has it been that long?"

Although his subordinates responded to Mylan, Huvel felt that Mylan was taking the initiative to talk to him or Karl. He nodded to Karl and walked forward a little with crossed arms as if he was not interested in the conversation. He knew Mylan was quite fond of Karl so he gave them space to talk.

"I am very thankful to you, Sir Mylan," Karl said as he walked nearer to Mylan and his subordinates, "for giving me a chance to witness the battle against a monster."

Mylan responded with a nod.

"It will be a good experience for young knights like you to see this battle in person. This battle will be a difficult one. The attribute of the monster is earth so it is quite bothersome. Its body is tough and its magic attacks are dangerous for the wall unlike magics of other attributes."

"Is this monster that powerful?"

"Haha! Captain is just explaining the trait of this monster," a knight spoke up to show off his supremacy over Karl. "You don't have to worry about anything. Captain and we are experienced in fighting all sort of monsters. Although the arrows are doing nothing to it now, we can easily win it if the knights confront it directly. After all, the knights here are all 3rd-rank weapon masters. Ah, and Captain is even a 4th-rank grandmaster!"

Karl could not help but think of his powerlessness as he was only at the 2nd-rank. If he were to confront the monster or even one of those experienced knights, he would lose immediately.

"Have you forgotten that we will not engage any monster in a close-quarter battle until we have fully accessed its power?" Mylan questioned the proud knight.

"Uh! Yes, Sir. I did not forget it. I was just telling it to the newcomer since he looked afraid."

"What is the point of it if you don't explain anything well?"

"But Sir, he is not even a part of our forces!"

Mylan was disappointed with the knight's mindset was about to scold him but the arrival of a man interrupted him.

"It seems the battle has started. I hope your soldiers are holding on well, Sir Mylan." The man said nonchalantly as he came to where Mylan and others were.

Huvel turned his head to see the newcomer. He was dressed in long robes so it was certain that he was not a knight. The man also looked at Huvel and met his eyes but he did not say anything and just looked away.

"I am counting on you with the defense, Master Sumnor," Mylan said to the man.

"Haha. Of course, that's why I came. Without a magician, how can you guys fight a monster." The man replied.

Mylan's subordinates were angered by the man's words but no one said anything and just stood silently like statues. The man smirked at them before heading to an open space. He chanted a spell and covered the front of the wall with his magic. The impact of the attack of the monster lessened as soon as the magic covered the wall.

"He is a magician, huh?" Huvel thought as he watched the man. "He should not be the 5th-circle mage since he looks so weak. But he sure is arrogant for someone that weak!"

Huvel used to hear that magicians were very arrogant. But he was genuinely surprised to see a 3rd-circle apprentice-mage being that arrogant. Mylan was the commander of the forces on the wall and if he wanted to, he could easily crush an apprentice-mage.

Huvel was also surprised that Mylan and his subordinates were being passive to that man called Sumnor. It seemed as if there was an unspoken rule to not offend any magicians and that rule was deeply rooted in people's mind.

"It's time!"

Mylan's speech brought Huvel's mind back to reality. He saw that a soldier gave a big spear to Mylan. Mylan hold the spear, took a few steps and throw it with all of his might. The spear glowed red as it flew to the monster. It was the aura Mylan infused on the spear.

The spear pierced the monster's right shoulder! Crimson blooded rushed out from where the spear hit. The monster shrieked with pain. It could have evaded the spear if it focused. But it did not because it knew the arrows that came to it could not harm him. So, it focused only on attacking and neglected the defence.

It was a mistake but the monster could not accept it. It went on a rampage and launched more attack spells fiercely. But it could not tear down the wall in front of it as it had expected and only a red rain of rocks fell on it.

The red rocks hurled by the ballistae from the top of the wall exploded once they hit the monster. They were magic stones made by fire magic. Their effectiveness was immediate. The monster was badly wounded. It had become very weak.

"Stop! Knights, go!"

With Captain Mylan's command, all ballistae stopped firing and four knights came out from the wall. The knights fought with the wounded monster in a close-quarter combat. The monster used most of its mana in its earlier attacks so it could not cast spells strong enough to injure the knights.

Huvel speculated that the monster's mana circle was only about the 3rd circle. If it had attained a 4th circle. It could break the defence spell Sumnor casted on the wall without much effort and it still would have a large amount of spare mana.

Nevertheless, Huvel was quite pleased with the outcome of the battle. The tactic to wear out the monster was very effective. The only thing they lost were arrows and magic stones. Although the cost of magic stones would be very high, it was worthy since not a single soldier died in the battle.

As Huvel watched, a knight gave a finishing blow to monster. The fox monster fell down to the ground and stopped moving. The Wall of Boswel had an overwhelming victory!