The Golem Mage

With the Orcs launching such an aggressive move, the two hundred warriors under Bulwark immediately created space for the other two hundred soldiers behind them to pass through, by leaving one by one lines between them.

The moment this happened, Glacius issued an order, as the Boar Rider Orcs looked as though they would reach them at any moment due to their loud battle chants, even when they were still a distance away.

“Lances raised!”

At his command, every warrior raised their lance to shoulder level, gripping it firmly around the middle of the shaft.

They formed four lines of fifty soldiers each taking up all the space in the one line street they were approaching from, with those in the front line positioned to withstand the initial impact.

“Shields raised!”

At the second command, they raised their left arms, which were secured to the straps behind their shields, their lances now rested against the upper edges of the large knight-like shields before them.

However, Glacius was not finished yet with his commands, he gazed ahead and still found the Boar Riders a few distance away before the collision with his soldiers would occur, and he called for another formation.

“Double Shield Formation!”

At once, the warriors positioned in the second and fourth lines raised their shields and overlapped them with those belonging to the soldiers in the first and third lines.

They placed the upper ends of their shields within the gaps created by the shields ahead of them while those that were there were already locking their shield together with those beside them.

Once the formation had been completed, Glacius levitated slightly behind them to gain a clearer view of the battlefield and properly supervise the battle mages under his command.

He then thrust one hand forward, signalling them to advance across the street over to the clearing where the orcs were coming at them from.

With thunderous shouts, the battle mages charged.

Their marching speed was considerably slower than that of the Boar Rider Orcs, but that was because they were doing everything possible to preserve the formation.

They advanced one measured step at a time, refusing to break the Double Shield Formation, when the Orcs finally entered attacking range and saw how slowly the warriors were moving, they all smirked, believing this would be one of the easiest battles they had ever fought.

Many of them raised their axes before cleaving down toward the shields of the advancing warriors.

Valeria remained atop the city wall, protected on both sides by the surviving forces around her.

She, Saint, Titan and the Orc commander watched the approaching confrontation with bated breath, waiting to see how it would end.

Clang!

Puchi!

However, what happened next was completely different from what the Orc commander had envisioned, he had imagined his Orc riders smashing straight through the shields and demonstrating their overwhelming strength.

The problem was that they had underestimated the group of human battle mages that were dressed in beast-fur armor. At first glance, they resembled nothing more than fishermen or villagers who had been hastily transformed into makeshift soldiers and handed shining shields.

The Boar Riders slammed directly into the shield formation.

And at the exact moment their axes descended, the human warriors thrust their lances through the narrow openings just a little between their interlocked shields, while at the same time, they coated their shields with Qi.

Since the warriors possessed water affinity as their primary element and ice manipulation as their secondary affinity, the Qi surrounding their bodies naturally carried the properties of those two elements.

This time, they chose to channel their water affinity.

With hundreds of warriors standing within the formation and covering their interconnected shields with the same elemental Qi, the combined effect transformed into something resembling a large-scale spell capable of influencing the entire battlefield.

[> War Tactics – Water Barrier – Mushy Style.