Abe the Wizard

Translator: Exodus Tales Editor: Exodus Tales

Head Commander Job rode his war horse to the very front of the army. The knights behind him were all very thrilled. Taking Neking City was easy for them, and they became confident.

“Report!” a scout stopped in front of Head Commander Job.

“Speak,” Head Commander Job said. He didn’t slow down his horse, so the scout had no choice but to follow on his own mount.

The scout said humbly, “Sir, a knight’s squad has been detected at the front.”

Head Commander Job was very surprised, “I thought the duchy of Carmel would take longer than this. It’s only been a day.”

From his estimates, the duchy of Carmel would take at least a week to rally up all of its soldiers. The original plan was to bring his entire army to the edge of Harvest City. He was planning on besieging all the cities before Harvest City, so when the final battle came, Abel and the duchy of Carmel would be too devastated to resist.

Still, he would’ve never guessed that Abel’s army came from the sky ships. Of course, it wasn’t going to take a week. Abel went in on time, and he was planning to make the most out of this combat. His first objective was to let the Carmel army flourish on its own, and his second objective was to make sure that the sky ships could continue to be used as vehicles to deploy soldiers to the frontline. He planned on winning this war, and he planned on using this victory to gain even more triumphs in future combat.

Head Commander Job asked, “So how many are in this squad?”

The scout replied, “About three hundred, Sir.”

Head Commander Job turned around and laughed, “Ha, haha! Soldiers, the duchy of Carmel plans to fight us with three hundred soldiers!”

The knights behind them all started to laugh. The laughter got louder and louder. Even Head Commander Ewall started to feel more relaxed. Judging from their experience, they started to think that Abel was the only one they should be afraid of. It wasn’t just Ewall, actually. The other head knight commanders also thought of their victory.

“Victory!” Head Commander Job screamed.

The other knights screamed as well, “Victory! Victory! Victory!”

It was noon when the five duchy army went outside Morry City. The sun was shining on top of the armor that the three hundred soldiers were wearing. There was a strange light that was reflecting from the armor that they were wearing. It’s not just that, though. Their swords and shields were also flashing in the same awkward light.

Head Commander Job said in disbelief, “What is with the duchy of Carmel? Are all these men equipped with magical armor?”

That’s when he remembered something. Abel was a grandmaster blacksmith. If he wanted to, he could let his soldiers wear equipment better than what he, a head knight commander, wore most of the time. As of now, only his knight’s big sword and shield were made with magic materials, and the ones who made them were certainly not as good as Abel in terms of their craftsmanship.

Head Commander Armand screamed, “I want their gears! Take them!”

Head Commander Ewal screamed as well, “Abel is mad! That’s three hundred magic knight gears he’s making his soldiers wear!”

Once the news spread amongst the fourteen thousand soldiers, everyone became jealous. War horse. Knight’s big sword. Shield. Armor. Those were the most important items of a knight’s career. They were supposed to take care of them their entire career. They grew up learning to rely on them, to maintain, to love them. They learned to develop a special interest in them. Now that there were fourteen thousand against three hundred, the problem of distributing the three hundred equipment became very clear. The fastest ones should be the ones to claim ownership.

They waited for Head Commander Job’s order. As soon as he gave the words, they would charge towards the enemy troop and rob them of anything valuable. Head Commander Job didn’t give the signal, though. By raising his hand in the air, he signaled the men to stop advancing.

Head Commander Job said to the other head knight commanders, “Fellows! Should we form a special small unit? We can reduce our casualties if we have someone chip off the duchy of Carmel’s front unit.”

It was very easy for the head knight commanders to agree. Rather than having fourteen thousand knights racing for three hundred gears, they would much prefer having fifteen head knight commanders to do this job. If these magic equipment were really all made with Abel’s hands, it’d make sense that these head knight commanders would want to keep a couple for themselves.

The regular soldiers cursed and realized what the head commanders were scheming. The head knight commanders understood very quickly, and it wasn’t like the regular soldiers were willing to cause too much trouble right now. Head Commander Job was in a very difficult position here. If he didn’t let the head knight commanders take advantage of the situation, they might just try to steal from the regular soldiers directly. Things would get ugly if that happened.

The knights had to know that they would get to keep their loot. It was the reason they took part in this kind of war in the first place. They needed to keep their traditions. The trophies would go to those that earned them. Of course, there was a part of Head Commander Job’s mind that just didn’t want to admit that he was greedy. In a way, he was just trying to fool himself into believing that he was doing the right thing.

Quickly, the fifteen head knight commanders formed an arrow-shaped formation that charged towards the three hundred knights that were defending the duchy of Carmel.

Abel spoke with his sign card, “Bodley, tell the squad to move back. I’ll strike them down with the sky ships.”

Head Commander Bodley replied, “Your Majesty, I’m confident that my men can hold against these fifteen head knight commanders.”

Head Commander Bodley thought that Abel was trying to look out for the knights. He thought that his men would become invisible after receiving the best training for the past two years, but the truth was actually far from that. His men didn’t have any experience in participating in a real war. It didn’t matter what kind of food or education they received. Without a life-threatening challenge, they would never become real soldiers that can withstand the hardships on the battlefield.

Abel said with a bit of concern, “I trust you, Bodley. You can do as you want here.”

Head Commander Bodley turned to the army he was commanding. “The king is watching us from the sky! As soldiers who have an obligation to defend our homeland, we have been blessed with the best that the Holy Continent has to offer. The king blesses us with equipment he made with his own hands. The horses we ride are among the best in the human world.”

“And what have we done to deserve those? We haven’t, and we are about to prove our worth now! We are knights that serve the king. We fight for the king, and we are willing to throw our lives away for him!”

The three hundred men screamed, “We are the knights that serve the king! We fight for the king! We are willing to throw our lives away for him!”

Up until now, these men had no way of proving themselves. The sphinx knights would always take care of things right after the enemies cross the borders. They were desperate for a chance to prove their worth, and this was the perfect opportunity for that.

Head Commander Bodley screamed, “My honor is my life!”

By activating his combat qi, the other three hundred also did the same. They all rode on their war horses, their diamond formation rushing towards the enemy troop. It was an unorthodox approach, but Abel trusted in Head Commander Bodley. The man proved himself several times on the orc battlefield. It was the reason why so many knights and wizards would trust him with their lives.

Head Commander Job and Head Commander Bodley were two very different men. Head Commander Job had only been fighting wars that he was certain to win, whereas Head Commander Bodley had been fighting relentlessly in the direst of situations. There was also something else different. While Head Commander Bodley could say the phrase “my honor is my life” very proudly, Head Commander Job didn’t have the conscience to chant out the phrase loudly. He knew that his cause was unjust. He knew that he was here because of personal interest. He could lie all he wanted, but his morals couldn’t allow him to say the phrase out proudly.

With the diamond formation in place, the three hundred knights channeled their combat qi to Head Commander Bodley, who was leading the very front of the army. There was a spike in his combat qi storage, which he used to create extra layers of ice armor for every man behind him. He created a giant sword of fire that he raised high in the air.

“Double elemental?” Head Commander Job’s eyes were wide open. Double element head knight commanders were one of the most terrifying things on the Holy Continent. Usually, one would have to choose between enhancing their offensive or defensive abilities, but double elemental head knight commanders could choose both. It was the reason that Head Commander Bodley would be trusted to lead the entire group.

The two formations clashed against each other. Head Commander Bodley slashed with the giant fire sword he was holding, and Head Commander Job raised his shield to block the hit. Head Commander Job was at the very front, and when he took the hit, the impact was shared with the other fifteen head knight commanders. The combat qi of three hundred men was powerful, but it was not enough to damage to the fifteen head knight commanders.

There was fire on Head Commander Job’s sword. He didn’t use too much combat qi for it because he knew that their numbers were too small for a direct matchup. Instead, he chose to concentrate the power of the fifteen men to just Head Commander Bodley.

Head Commander Bodley raised the shield in his left hand. If he wasn’t using a magical shield, the sword would’ve gone across him within an instance. This was the concentrated attack of fifteen head knight commanders. Luckily, the shield he was using was sturdy enough to withstand both the physical impact and the elemental damage that was dealt towards him.

There wasn’t even a mark left on Head Commander Bodley’s shield. All Head Commander Job did was make the three hundred knights flinch a bit. After that, the attack lost its impact completely. Head Commander Job readied himself for a second attack, but he realized that layers of frost already spread across his body.

“Change formation!”

As he screamed, Head Commander Armand went forth and took the lead instead. The effect came from the ice armor that Head Commander Bodley had on. The slowness came from a hit from his armor, and all ice elementals were proud of it. They weren’t as ferocious as the fire element head knight commanders in terms of their offensive capability, but they could slow down their opponents for a slow but certain finish.

Head Commander Job had fast reflexes. If it weren’t for that, he would’ve not been able to let Head Commander Armand take a second hit with his shield. Something strange was happening on the battlefield. Both sides were capable of launching attacks that could annihilate the other, but they both managed to survive in a stalemate.

Abel continued to watch from his sky ship. He gained so much more respect for Head Commander Bodley. He was certain that more men of the same competence would appear in his family. With a king this generous, it was only natural that his citizens would become more prosperous and in turn, more capable.

Twenty minutes had passed. Head Commander Bodley continued to lead in a way that was not only effective but also epic in its own way. None of his three hundred men were dead, and they continued to match against the fifteen head knight commanders. Still, regular knights were just regular knights. They didn’t have enough combat qi storage to keep going forever.

Head Commander Bodley called Abel, “Your Majesty! The knight army requests a retreat.”

Abel immediately responded, “Yes, you may retreat. You did excellent, Bodley.”

Abel was very satisfied with the result of the knight army’s first battle. He wanted everyone to be alive because these men were what he needed to help the duchy of Carmel prosper.

Head Commander Bodley swung his fire sword once more. At the same time, the diamond formation changed course, and every single knight swung towards their enemies simultaneously. Again, this was the joined effort of three hundred knights at the same time.

As the hits went towards the fifteen head knight commanders, and it gave the three hundred men enough time to retreat. The fifteen head knight commanders wanted to chase them, but the hit they took forced them to lag behind for a few seconds. Head Commander Armand, however, didn’t want to lose this opportunity. By wrapping his combat qi around his war horse, he forced it to accelerate towards the fleeing enemies.

Just when Head Commander Armand reached full speed, three giant flying objects suddenly appeared in the sky. Upon a more careful look, he could see that there was a young man standing at the top of one of them. It was a young man wearing a wizard’s cloak. Most of them hadn’t seen Abel in person before, but they had all seen drawings of him. Even after two years, his face still looked the same.

After the three flying objects appeared, fourteen sphinx knights flew out from the deck. Four of them were clearly head knight commanders. Abel decided to show up in a very surprising way. Head Commander Armand didn’t even feel like chasing them now. Compared to the three hundred knights that were escaping, those flying things looked much more dangerous.

Abel spoke through the sound circle, “I am very angry right now.”

The voice was calm but threatening, “Eight hundred and fifty-three people were killed in Neking City, Commander Harold of the Bakong City Harry Family included. He’s something I’ve appointed personally, and you are the ones that murdered him.”

Abel raised his voice for a bit, “I need someone to bear my anger!”

None of them had seen a dragon before, but they certainly felt the dragon’s essence coming out of Abel. Abel didn’t do it on purpose, but after merging his soul with the dragon’s crystal, he started to gain features unique to the dragonkind.

While speaking, five intermediate wizards hurried towards the sky ships. The sky ships were only about 150 meters from the ground. It was a distance that they had no problem covering with their “instantaneous movement” spell. This was the opportunity that they’ve been waiting for.

Abel’s battle command spirit didn’t detect these five intermediate wizards. It didn’t concern these wizards as a threat, so it didn’t bother reporting their appearance to him. With that, they continued to close in on Abel with their teleportation techniques. After lagging for half a second every time, they managed to get below sky ship 01 within just a few seconds. Soon, they were about ten metres away from Abel, and that’s when they tried to draw spell runes with their hands. The plan was to assassinate him before he had the time to finish drawing his own spell rune.

Strangely, Abel didn’t bother casting spells towards them. He didn’t even move after seeing them. He was just standing still, and there was a strange smile on his face. It was almost like he was laughing at them. It was the same kind of smile that continued to haunt Wizard Mallory at night. It was the kind of smile that a child had when squashing bugs they were playing with.

That was when Wizard Mallory heard the sound of his own heartbeat. Countless lightning bolts struck towards them. They couldn’t react. Lightning was the fastest thing in the natural world. Abel wasn’t the one who shot them out. From what he saw, they came from the shiny balls on top of the pillars.

“So this is how advanced technologies are in the duchy of Carmel. They’ve managed to install lightning spells within machines.”

These were Wizard Mallory’s last thoughts before he and the other four wizards were surrounded. They were too close to the lightning spirals. Without even the time to scream, they became charcoal on the sky ship’s deck.

The entire battleground was silent. Those were intermediate wizards. Intermediate wizards were supposed to be the strongest beings in each of the duchies. They weren’t meant to be killed. They couldn’t even be touched. Yet, just then, while everyone was watching, they were killed within a blink of an eye. Abel was rumored to have killed advanced wizards before, but to actually see it happening was something completely different.

Head Commander Job was devastated. Without intermediate wizards, the duchy of Tex would be at a much weaker state than before. Actually, that was already beyond the point. He was more concerned with bringing as many men as he could back to the duchy of Tex by the end of today.

There were three flying objects that they couldn’t hit. There were also fourteen sphinx knights. There wasn’t even a chance to hold up a fight. The important thing here was to run as fast as possible.

“Enjoy my fury while you can,” Abel spoke solemnly. As he launched his command, the sky ships fired ballista shots that flew towards the fourteen thousand knights. To target the fifteen head knight commanders, he had the lighting spirals to do the job.

“Defend yourselves!” Head Commander Job screamed. Instead of running away, he and his men managed to set up a defensive formation in time. Well, not that it mattered. The lightning zapped all of them. Within just one hit, five of the weaker ones fell. Five streaks of combat qi smoke raised from their charcoal corpses.

The other ten lost the ability to resist. According to the tenets of the knights, they were supposed to be held hostage until their families paid their ransoms. However, due to their crimes, they lost the right to be protected. Because of this, Abel didn’t hesitate to kill all of them with the second shot of the lightning spiral.

When the consecutive ballistas shot towards the fourteen thousand knights, there was no one to lead them anymore. The fourteen sphinxes became hunters, and the fourteen thousand men were their prey. Harry Bows matured into terrifying weapons of mass murder that killed as the seconds passed.