Blade Over Magic

It Begins

The next day arrived faster than most would have preferred, and as though the world was spectating as well, the weather had turned considerably dreary, with dark cloud looming over everything. It didn’t seem like it would rain, not yet anyway, but it was definitely fitting.

Across the frontline that spanned miles, soldiers had taken their positions. Ranged units took positions on elevated areas like walls and towers, traps were activated, and weapons were drawn.

Oddly enough, the ants had all retreated back into the mountain range, but no one took that as a good sign.

Currently, everything was eerily silent, and everyone was tense.

Once again, Xander stood on the wall with his arms folded, his eyes closed, listening. Not to sound, not normally.

Rather, he was listening to the vibrations.

The way the soldiers near him shuffled, the hum of mana in various traps and constructs, the direction of the wind. All of it was made clear to him.

Then, slowly, he began to notice it.

A series of vibrations resonating through the air, getting louder and louder.

Aubrey’s warning came shortly after.

’It’s starting.’

Xander opened his eyes and looked to the top of the mountains. It didn’t take long for the sound to become loud enough for all to hear. It was faint at first, but it quickly grew louder and louder, and then it turned into a maddening buzz.

Then he saw it.

It was a few at first. Then ten.

Then a hundred.

Then double that.

Then ten times that.

Until soon, Xander stopped bothering to count. But if he had to give a preliminary judgment, he spotted over a thousand soldier ants flying from the top of the mountain on their side alone.

The faces of multiple soldiers blanched as the shadows of the ants almost blanketed the sky. The scene was despairing to look at. So much so that more than a few soldiers dropped their weapons.

Gradually, the ants grew closer, and closer, and closer still. And just when they grew so close that one could see their appearance,

BOOM

Several explosions sounded simultaneously, and everyone watched as spheres of immolating heat rapidly expanded amongst the swarms of soldier ants, disintegrating them almost immediately.

These explosions filled the sky wherever the swarm of ants passed, completely blanketing the sky. The explosions lasted ten seconds, and by the time they ended, the suffocating swarm of ants had been reduced to just a few dozen.

Near Landor, several magic anti-air cannons slowly recharged themselves as they pulled in ambient mana from the surroundings, with rune engravings activating to change their attributes to something more destructive.

Aka, the fire element.

And once they were charged, another salvo was unleashed, the beams easily surpassing the speed of sound, and once more, the swarm of flying ants, which had been gathering again, was quickly eliminated, getting reduced to ashes that blew in the wind.

Seeing this scene, the soldiers who had been demoralized soon found their fighting spirit back, but no one cheered as they all knew that this was just the beginning.

Indeed, while these explosions were happening above ground, the earth started to tremble, and Xander watched as tides of soldier ants began to pour from the holes in the mountain, charging towards the frontline on foot.

’Xander, you’re up.’ Aubrey said simply, and Xander just hummed before unfolding his arms, then he very calmly hopped down from the wall and landed gently on the floor.

The number of approaching ants soon swelled, and it wouldn’t take long before they reached where the numerous traps had been placed.

Drawing his Zweihander, which was going to be his weapon for this assault, Xander stepped forward.

His role in this battle was relatively simple.

Kill as many ants as possible, preserve the defensive measures, and maintain the stamina of everyone on their side of the frontline for as long as he could.

Because the truth of the matter was abundantly clear.

This was not a fight Landor was going to win. There was no 10,000 IQ play Xander or anyone could do that would allow them to clinch victory. And even Mary herself stated that she’d run out of energy long before she managed to eradicate the ants.

No, their only goal now was to stall long enough for Xavier Lowell, or any other Archmage, to arrive at the scene and provide their support.

This wasn’t a battle where victory was the aim. It was a war of attrition, and Landor was determined to drag it out for as long as possible.

’Alright, let’s get started.’ Xander exhaled, leaned forward, and his figure suddenly shot forward like a bullet.

In an instant, he dived into the mass of approaching soldier ants.

Shortly after, dozens of them dropped dead or were immobilized, deep gashes in their vital spots.

All the spectating soldiers could see was a blur, and immediately after, soldiers would drop dead. When the ants on one side were about to get close to the traps, the blur would arrive and kill them before it moved to the next ants that were getting close.

Those who could see were stunned as, in less than a minute, Xander had already dropped over a hundred ants, and the number was quickly climbing.

At the moment, Xander wasn’t thinking about refining himself or using the ants to temper himself.

Instead, he simply focused on grasping the frequencies of the ants, and when he did, he simply focused on killing them as quickly as possible. Every swing of his sword reaped the life of an ant.

He wasn’t just running around either, he made use of the same spinning technique he showed Bodhi, and he could only be described as a whirlwind of metal as blood flowed wherever he moved.

In that moment, it looked like he was dancing. A very deadly dance, but a dance nonetheless.

Moreover, besides grasping frequencies and using the more barebones level of mana rotation, Xander wasn’t amping himself in any way, shape, or form. His body which had been tempered after months of mana breathing, and then tempered further after the recent battles he’d participated in, it wasn’t an exaggeration to say that currently, his body was as strong as that as a monster, perhaps even more.

Then there was just how methodical he was. Because Xander wasn’t just killing the closest ant and moving to the next.

No, he has the assistance of Aubrey, and at current, she was giving him a mental path to take. One that ensured that the efficiency of his kills didn’t only allow his goal of stalling to improve significantly, but also rose his kill count massively.

It was strange, really.

Many people found the act of fighting something to be scared of. Others hated it. More than a few saw it as a means to an end.

But as he swung his sword, Xander closely inspected his condition. He felt the way he breathed with every swing of his blade, the feeling of it effortlessly parting chittin and flesh, and the sight of large creatures being felled en-masse by him. And he had to be completely honest with himself.

He quite enjoyed this.

It was something he knew he should feel guilty for. After all, he was the one who first became aware of the reality that this was not a battle they could win. He knew this.

But there was always something so satisfying about seeing his sword, which he had spent so long mastering, do something as significant as this. No longer tied to the limitations and restrictions that existed on earth.

Instead, he allowed himself to fall into the senselessness of slaughter.

And he enjoyed it.

Time passed, and soon enough, an hour elapsed.

Then two.

Then three.

And before they knew it, the sun began to set.

As it did, the frequency of the ants emerging gradually slowed, and soon, it stopped completely.

When the last soldier ant fell, there was silence, the the soldiers collectively let out sighs of relief.

In the main military base, the higher-ups, strategists, and the Captain immediately ordered a status report using communication devices.

”Leftmost side had no casualties...”

”Outpost #3 ended up activating one layer of traps...”

”Outpost #9 needs its traps reinforced...”

One by one, they received status reports and quickly turned the information into action as they quickly made preparations and adjustments, having no intention of taking this brief moment of reprieve for granted.

However, the Captain frowned when all he heard was silence from one of the communication devices.

”Outpost #12, come in.” He repeated, suddenly feeling anxious when he heard no response from the other side.

Just as he was about to ask Aubrey the situation, a hesitant voice came from the other side.

”... Sir?” Immediately, he focused.

”Yes, Outpost #12? What’s the situation?” A brief silence, then.

”... He killed them all, sir. By himself.” The room fell silent.

”... what?” The Captain frowned.

In Outpost #12, the soldier reporting brought the device to his mouth as he looked forward.

There, the corpses of more soldier ants that could be counted in a short while all lay there silently, and in the center of them all, a lone figure stood with a large sword planted in the ground, his hands resting on the pommel, calmly catching his breath and completely ignoring his body that was covered in blood. None of it his.

”The boy... Xander.” The soldier said, voice trembling now.

”He killed them all.”