Chương 475: Chapter 473 – Counter Attack

"Is that a beast wave?" Mage Parivar was the first to ask the question everyone was thinking as they watched the line of signals move closer to Ardnet.

"It is too uniform," Mage Veers observed.

"Not to mention the destruction that is being left in the wake of the signals," Mage Strand added, waving his hand towards their desolate surroundings.

"Demonic Beasts don't generally destroy the landscape. This destruction was caused intentionally."

"It appears that we are cut off from Ardnet then," one of the A Rank mages commented.

"Unless Mage Wells can Portal us into the city directly."

"I didn't do that before because I was worried about the defenses of the city. Doing so now would cause us to run into some kind of defense for sure. Otherwise, the Alfar would Portal directly into the city themselves."

"Perhaps they just don't have anyone that's been there?" another mage offered.

"Spies are a part of war, but it does not matter if there are additional defenses in place or not, we can't take the risk," Mage Levine declared.

"Agreed," the S Ranks all said together.

"Should we head instead for the location of the seal?" Mage Veers asked Damion.

"I know roughly where it is, but that probably isn't the best choice."

"Explain."

"If the Iblis lose the war, or even just this battle, then the Alfar can chase after us without worrying about the Iblis hitting them from behind. Right now, we have a huge advantage. I say we hit the Alfar from the rear and that, hopefully, will be enough to cause their lines to break and the Iblis will counterattack when they realize the Alfar are vulnerable."

"That is a lot of hopefullys," Mage Veers said as he mulled over Damion's plan.

"True, but I don't think there is a better option," Mage Levine said.

"The problem is, how will we be able to launch an effective strike against a force that is so much larger than ours?"

"Larger, but probably not stronger," Damion said.

"S Ranks and SS Ranks are rarities on the Mother World just like they are on ours. Even with the higher ambient mana density, it still takes a certain amount of talent to reach such heights. If Mage Moretti had come with us I would be certain of our success, since I could guarantee they would not have more than one SS Rank. As it stands, we might be evenly matched and once the Iblis come out to aid us, we should have the advantage."

"Then you believe the Alfar have an SS Rank with them?" Mage Levine questioned.

"It would be the only way I can imagine they would risk an assault on such a fortified position."

"And you are sure the Iblis have one that can come to our aid?"

"I don't know," Damion admitted.

"But if the Alfar have not already breached the city and they have an SS Rank, the only thing that makes sense is that the Iblis do as well or have some other means of restraining the Alfar SS Rank, that or neither side does and we are the most powerful force here." Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

"Logical. If we are to proceed with an attack we should do so as quickly as possible, every moment we waste doing nothing risks our exposure and loss of the element of surprise."

"Agreed," the S Ranks and many of the A Rank mages said"In that case, I can open a Portal right at the rear of their formation, and we can experiment with sending powerful attacks through. A one-way Portal will let us test out their defenses without risking anyone," Damion suggested. Mage Levine and the S Rank mages thought over the suggestion, it was viable in theory, but then why weren't the Iblis using the same tactic. There had to be reason for that. Unfortunately, the only way to know would be to test it out.

"We have to assume that whatever protects Ardnet from Portals can also protect the advancing Alfar. Experiment with trying to open a Portal near their army, but don't over commit," Mage Fletcher said before anyone could agree to Damion's initial plan.

"I hadn't thought of that, let me try," Damion said. After confirming where the army was on his tablet, Damion focused his mind on opening a Portal in the air behind the advancing Alfar. When he had the location of the Portal fixed in his mind, he began channeling the mana required, however, no Portal opened.

"There appears to be something blocking me," Damion said.

"Probably a Spatial sealing artifact," Mage Fletcher said.

"I've been experimenting with building one for Atlantis. If I can come up with such a thing, I am sure the Iblis and Alfar have as well."

"In that case, we have to figure out the range of artifact and launch our attack from there," Mage Strand suggested.

"All this is doing is getting us further from the enemy and possibly alerting them to our presence," Mage Veers said, he was eyeing Damion's map that was still projecting the advancing line of Alfar.

"It does not appear they have noticed us yet. We can cross the distance between our forces quickly and if we move now we still have a chance to catch them by surprise."

"If we all cast spells or use artifacts to fly, won't that alert them?" Mage Levine questioned.

"I can use Summon Ice and create platforms to carry us all. If everyone does their best to minimize their aura, we should be able to get fairly close without them noticing. If they do detect us, it should be just my magic power, which is below S Rank, so they may not consider it much of a threat."

"Are you able to use your concealment artifact to hide our magical aura like you do your own?" Mage Veers asked. Since Damion had already given up on hiding his abilities, he felt it was fair to share a bit more, not that he was going to be sharing the actual spell.

"I conceal my aura through a spell, not an artifact. Unfortunately, we don't have the time for anyone to try and learn the spell, and it takes a level of mastery to hide from higher Ranks even if someone could learn it now."

"Understandable," Mage Veers said.

"Well, once they do react, all of us can spring into action, just get everyone as close as possible. Us S Ranks will spread out along the line while Mage Levine hits their center hard. A Ranks group together and focus your spells on groups as they attempt to stay organize or flee." No one questioned Mage Veers' plan and Damion cast Summon Ice. He split the ice into thin sheets large enough for all the mages present to stand on. Strength of the ice was not an issue, as Damion had reinforced it with his mana.

The sheets would not hold up to an attack, but they also did not need to. Once everyone had climbed on, Damion began flying the entire ice sheets across the ruined forest in the wake of the Alfar army. He kept the expedition low to the ground, rising up only to Passover broken trees or other obstacles before lowering again to skim the ground.

Summoned Ice was similar to his Ice Sword and that he could have the sheets of ice fly as fast as he willed, but since he did not want to cause any of his passengers to fall off, Damion did not fly them as fast as he normally traveled. Still, even with the slower speed, they were able to overtake the slowly marching army in a short time. When the army came into sight, Damion slowly started pushing his ice sheets faster. If he could see the enemy, it was possible they could see him.

Thankfully, as they approached there did not appear to be anyone watching the rear. Soon enough the expedition's magical presence would be detected, and Damion was aiming to get them as close as possible before that happened.