Tonight the moon hung full, as if it might fall upon their very heads. Coupled with the Erdtree's inherent radiance, it was easy to see over a dozen small skiffs cutting through the water, each laden with soldiers. In the "puddle" that was Liurnia of the Lakes, there was no such thing as a navy; these boats had clearly launched from some minor islet to strike while the main assault raged.
It wasn't exactly a sneak attack. These few dozen Cuckoos didn't expect to take the manor through stealth alone.
They just need to break in from the rear to shatter our morale, Don thought. He knew the drill. In a clash of armies, victory wasn't always about the body count; it was about the "spirit." The side that breathed last, lost first.
The counter-strategy required ample reserves, but if Caria had enough men, they wouldn't have sent a mere five soldiers to guard the beach.
As they took their positions, Duke, the shield-bearer, let out a sharp cry:
"Look! What is that?!"
Don looked up, his pupils constricting. A silhouette was screaming across the face of the full moon at high speed. It was nearly ten meters long, with grey-brown scales reflecting the moonlight and a slender tail lined with jagged barbs.
That was... a dragon!
A violent aura rushed toward them. This wasn't some stationary, crippled Divine Dragon; this was a Western wyvern, wings wide, stooping from the clouds.
Air and sea coordination? How were they supposed to fight this?
Don gripped his sword hilt as the dragon descended from hundreds of meters in the blink of an eye. Its wings unfurled, blotting out the moon, and its gnarled, hideous maw gathered a swirl of brilliant azure flame.
Glintstone Dragon Smarag!
Immense pressure bore down from above. Don gritted his teeth. Seeing the glintstone fire coming—a blast that would easily cover a hundred square meters—he grabbed Arno by the collar and dove backward. Suddenly, a cloud of blue particles shimmered in the air. A second dragon, its head encrusted with massive glintstone crystals, intercepted the blast.
BOOM!!
Two streams of dragon breath collided, the overflowing fire turning the lakeshore bright as day. As the flames dissipated, the second dragon bit down on a colossal Moonblade of light and swung upward in a savage arc.
"It's Lord Adula!" Laila growled beside them. Seeing Smarag backpedal a hundred meters to dodge the light-blade, she slammed her halberd into the ground in frustration.
What a pity. She had wanted to see that dragon's head taken off.
"Ignore them! We have our own mission!" Karin loosed an arrow into the lake, roaring at the squad. "Fire Pots ready! Don't let these dead Cuckoos land easily! Until reinforcements arrive, we hold this line even if we're wiped out!"
Don pulled his gaze away. A dragon fight was a spectacle of claws, tails, and breath, eventually crashing into the lake with a massive explosion of water—bad luck for the fish, but not his concern.
He turned back to the lake. The skiffs were only a hundred meters out. Karin loosed arrows while Arno and the others fired crossbows, sparks blossoming against raised shields.
If Don were a powerful sorcerer, a single Comet Azur would have turned the Cuckoos into fish food. But he was just an apprentice. He raised his staff, focusing his mind.
Great Glintstone Shard!
The casting delay was longer, but the projectile was far larger. Two fist-sized spheres of light slammed into a shield, knocking the wielder flat onto his back.
"Now!"
A volley of bolts followed. Without the shield's cover, a mist of blood erupted on the boat. The screams of the wounded rang through the night.
Yet the flotilla pressed on. Retaliating from a bobbing boat was less effective than just landing. Don heard the enemy commanders shouting orders.
"Hurry! Magic Shields!"
"Two men on oars, the rest block!"
Several large shields began to glow with azure light. The Great Glintstone Shards dissipated against them, and ordinary bolts shattered on impact. As the boats closed to within fifty meters, Karin dropped her bow and roared:
"Fallback!"
Duke and Laila ran without hesitation. Don grabbed his dazed companion and sprinted. Glancing back, he saw a shower of glittering stones flying through the air.
Cuckoo Glintstones. Magical grenades.
The stones hit the ground, splintering into dozens of tiny magic shards. Don dove behind a breastplate wall just as the meter-thick earthen barrier was peppered with a staccato of crack-crack-cracks. When he looked up, the grass on the beach had been vaporized, replaced by fading glintstone crystals.
Karin didn't stop to breathe. She leapt up and grabbed the controls of a ballista mounted behind the wall, pulling the trigger. The sight-line was perfectly aligned with the landing zone.
Whoosh—
A heavy bolt whistled over Don's head, impaling the lead skiff. The magic shield shattered instantly, and several men were blown into the lake.
"What are you standing around for? Arno, reload! Don, suppress them with magic! You two, get the Fire Pots ready!"
Karin's frantic orders echoed in Don's ears. He rolled his eyes. Did she think he was some 'Infinite Mana' cheater? Even without a blue bar, he knew that spamming spells would leave him dizzy.
Wait for it... wait for it...
He chewed on a piece of stray grass. A second ballista bolt sent more men flying, but the third was batted away by a greatsword.
"We have a knight."
Don had been here long enough to know that while the rabble weren't hard to handle, a single powerhouse could turn the tide. These elites were his true enemies.
A fourth bolt skewered several men like a kebab, their dying wails sending shivers down the spine. But the first boat had hit the shore. Cuckoo soldiers in full plate were pouring out.
"Ignite!"
Another order. Fire Pots traced arcs through the sky, but they were shattered mid-air by a javelin thrown with uncanny precision. A Cuckoo Knight stood at the bow of a boat, staring coldly at their position.
To hit a moving pot from a hundred meters away—this skill far exceeded that of a normal human.
"A second knight. Cover me!" Don snatched a Fire Pot with his right hand, pressed his left against the wall, and vaulted over. No words were needed between warriors; Karin and the others instantly loosed a volley to provide cover.
Arrows whistled overhead. Don didn't charge out of blind courage; his mind was cold and calculating.
Stall for time. Stall until the main battlefield passes its crisis. Stall until a Carian Knight can reinforce us.
He sprinted, low to the ground to minimize his profile. An arrow grazed his cheek, drawing a spray of blood. He licked the copper-tasting liquid, a savage grin spreading across his face.
Life and death in a heartbeat. This was the feeling.
Perhaps the full moon favored him, as clouds momentarily masked his silhouette. Or perhaps the dozen "kills" he'd racked up had boosted his physical stats beyond those of a normal man. The arrows missed their mark.
In seconds, he covered the distance. Under the torchlight, he saw the Cuckoo Knight draw a javelin from his bandolier, his sharp eyes locking onto Don.
Now!
The moment the knight raised his arm, Don's left hand gripped the Bloodhound's Fang on his back, triggering the Ash of War's "program."
Flash—
The curved blade swatted the flying javelin aside. The impact made his palm tingle, but his tightened muscles arrested the momentum instantly.
Bloodhound's Finesse!
He somersaulted backward as a second javelin hissed into the dirt where he'd stood a millisecond before. Mud sprayed into the air. The sound of more projectiles breaking the sound barrier followed without pause.
Bloodhound's Step!
The brief pause gave way to an even faster burst of speed. Don vanished, lunging forward several paces and using the momentum to hurl the Fire Pot.
"How!?" Daliger's eyes widened. In the dim light, he hadn't seen how Don had dodged his rapid-fire javelins. Seeing the pot fly toward him, he knew he was in trouble.
CRASH—BOOM!
The ceramic shattered. The concoction of mushrooms and fireflies ignited the oil-soaked earth. The air turned searingly hot as a wall of flame erupted.
"AGH!"
Shrill screams followed. A dozen soldiers who had just landed became human torches. They ran blindly, trying to jump back into the lake, but their panic ignited the boats behind them.
"Kill them!" The other Cuckoo Knight cleaved a burning man in two and raised his magical shield. A clang followed as a ballista bolt slammed into the shield, knocking him back several meters. Seeing the dent in the steel, his face darkened.
Stall with fire, kill with the ballista. These Carians had learned to be "dishonorable."
Daliger hesitated, then reached back and hauled a figure forward. The man wore sorcerer's robes and a Karolos Glintstone Crown. Judging by the stone face, he was a sorcerer of the Academy.
"Do something! Or do you plan on swimming back to the Academy!?"
The lecturer trembled, finally grasping the reality of the situation. The bolts piercing the fire-wall didn't care if you were a scholar or a warrior. Death was the only outcome. He raised his staff, and the Academy sigil manifested.
Glintstone Cometshard!
He swung the staff, unleashing one magic comet after another, their long tails tearing the wall of flame to shreds.
What?!
Don had already retreated behind the breastplate wall and was grabbing two more Fire Pots to add fuel to the "Cuckoo BBQ" when he saw the blue comets screaming toward him.
His limbs moved faster than his brain. He lunged, tackling Karin and Arno to the ground. The three of them tumbled into the trench behind them, and before they even hit the dirt—
BOOM!
A flower of magical energy blossomed. The ballista was reduced to splinters instantly, and the breastplate wall collapsed entirely. Don shook his buzzing head, breathing in the scorched, superheated air.
Now that... that is what you call magic!