Layn's provocation finally bore the result. Under the onslaught of his ranged attacks, the Slavian army finally marched out.
Its aim was simple. Since they achieved nothing by standing in the distance and letting their troops get slaughtered by the magic, they could very well just push forward and squash the little army of their opponent!
"So it begins," Layn muttered, turning his face towards his friends. "I will take the left-wing. You guys take the center and right-wing respectively," he shouted before heading off to the far end of their group.
"What's the plan?" Yelna asked, marching right by Markus' side.
"Kill them all and survive," Markus smiled, taking his position. "For now, though, just trust in Layn's plan. As unorthodox as they might be, they have yet to fail," he claimed before focusing his eyes on the Slavian army.
They only needed to take care of this side of the front. Because on the other side of the ridge, the army of celestials didn't bother to engage in any sort of skirmish plays, opting to charge the hill right away!
'I should focus on the right-wing,' Layn thought, conjuring a set of ten more fireballs before slingshotting them towards the outer edge of the Slavian formation.
Right now, they were split into three groups. Lightweight troops at the wings and the heavy infantry in the middle. What was worrying the archmage, though, was the complete lack of the greatest Slavian strength - their cavalry.
Bit by bit, both armies started to climb uphill, aiming to clash with those pesky opponents that dared to defy them. Both Slavians and Celestials came from starkly different worlds; neither knew about the other's existence.
Yet, their aim was the same. To crush Layn's resistance and kill his people.
'If I wasn't used to it, the sight alone would be horrifying,' Layn thought, alternating his eyes between two sides of the ridge. No matter where he looked, there were masses of armed people, all hoping to end his life on the first given opportunity.
By the time celestials arrived near the half of the ridge, Layn's men had started to fight. Some threw stones, others executed their ranged techniques, some even managed to throw some fireballs, proof that Layn's few lessons brought forth some meaningful effect.
On the other side, Layn's men focused more on purely physical attacks, shooting arrows into the gaps of formation, throwing stones at the enemy's massive shields, and even dropping at them with spears, only to retreat the moment the weapon would shatter.
By the time both armies finally reached near the top of the ridge, their numbers had already dwindled by a huge lot... That is, a huge lot if one thought about the skirmish as a separate event. When compared to the main force of their armies, their casualties were barely noticeable.
"Boss, they are winding up for a wide swoop," one of the men nudged Layn's side, pointing his hand at the movement of the Slavian's troops.
Instead of just rushing uphill, their left wing stretched out to the side, far beyond Layn's position. The only reason to do something like this was to obviously encircle his group, putting them in the least favorable position.
"The difference is plain for everyone to see," Layn muttered, throwing a look to the other side of the ridge. In there, the celestials simply rushed ahead, spreading out across the ridge not because of orders but because their marching formation was too tight for them to comfortably run up.
"Boss?" the young man called out again, still awaiting orders.
"Let them come," Layn smiled, turning his face back to the Slavians. "They are both in for quite a surprise," he added, finally pulling his spear out.
A few breaths later, all three armies finally clashed. Occupying the narrow, flat area at the top of the ridge, Layn's men could fight with the height advantage over both of the advancing forces. On the other hand, neither the Slavians nor Celestials managed to as much as to dent Layn's formations, unable to occupy even an inch of the even ground.
But that was only the first of the many surprises that Layn prepared for his enemies. A few moments after the close-quarter fighting began, the Slavians and Celestials finally made contact right on top of the ridge.
"THEY HAVE REINFORCEMENTS!" some Slavian officer called out in desperation, only to die under the slash of a burning sword of some random celestial.
"They hid their numbers!" the same guy shouted to his back, just before a Slavian axed him down with a powerful slash of his saber.
In this one moment, what used to be a relatively orderly battle, turned into complete chaos.
All over, the people were fighting for their dear life. The top of the ridge occupied by Layn's forces was the only place where some remnants of order remained.
"Die!" Layn shouted, pushing his spear through the throat of a Slavian soldier, only to turn around and knock away a sword aiming for his back.
As the battle went on, all of the strongest members of his groups moved in front of the formation, impeeding the force of impact the enemy armies would have on their weaker companions.
In the midst of the Celestials, Markus swung his flail. Not even the strongest of their elders could stand against his furious technique. Yet, given how wide Markus attacks had to be to keep the momentum of the swing, there were many openings that those formidable warriors were bound to see.
Sadly for them, whenever one would attempt to sneak in an attack on Markus' weak spot, Yelna would be there to greet him with a knife to the eye or a sword to the groin.
'It's nice to see that those two are just as efficient as ever,' Layn thought, kicking away a massive soldier who went at him with a two-handed ax. As his body and weapon fell down the incline, the mass and momentum of the ax cut down several Slavians before finally digging itself into the ground.
In the far-off right-wing of Layn's formation, Al led the charge, cutting down people all around. Given how he appeared to be personally weakest of the leading group, he was placed in charge of the stronger soldiers in their entire army.
Instead of taking on the entire armies on his own, he would lead his men for quick trips out of the formations, introducing even more chaos and confusion amongst the two of their enemies.
All in all, the battle was going exactly as Layn envisioned it. So far, the main focus of the fight naturally shifted from the archmage's group to the sides, where the bulk of both forces started to gather.
It wasn't the commander's fault on either side. The simple soldiers, faced with the option of certain death against the far stronger opponent in the middle, would rather aim for the sides that appeared to be more evenly matched with them.
This was true for both Slavians and Celestials, both of which much prefered to fight against each other rather than facing Layn's formidable troops.
Sadly, that didn't mean that Layn's people were without fault. With a single sweep of his eyes, Layn could already see several lifeless bodies dragged inside the formation, while a whole bunch of others were hastily covering their wounds in ointments and bandages.
Even though they managed to hold so far, it didn't come at a cost.
'Huh?' Layn shrugged when his eyes suddenly noticed something strange.
Far off in the depth of the Celestial armies, massive openings appeared. There were exactly three of them, with a single person in the middle of each.
And that could mean only one thing.
'It seems that the real trouble is about to hit us,' Layn thought, his lips quivering only to form a smile a second later.
Without even a shred of hesitation, Layn pulled out the same device that he used back during his scouting mission. The magical device that would be damn effective at calling forth the monsters, the fourth party to the battle that could easily tip the balance for either of the sides.
'Now, let's cut down their numbers a little,' Layn thought, pressing the activator on the device before throwing it deep into the ranks of the Celestials.
"Markus!" Layn shouted, pulling back into the safety in the middle of his group.
"What?!" Markus shouted back, stopping the swings of his weapon as he turned his head towards his friend. For a moment, he could rely on Yelna to keep him safe.
"It's time!"
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