Chapter 416 - Illusion

A few days passed, but time did not ease Anfey and Suzanna’s worry. Despite their worrying, however, nothing had happened. Scarlet was young, but she had already made a name for herself and was known for being proud. She wasn’t the kind to lose two whole carts of magic crystals and do nothing in retaliation. She should be planning something or doing something.

The mercenaries arrived at a small village by sunset. The village was silent, without even the sound of farm animals. The villagers had either carefully fled or all had been killed already. However, the mercenaries became very excited by what they saw in the village. A broken plaque near the entrance of the village told them that they were close to Stormenburg, where Band of Brothers mercenary group had settled.

"We’re at Shiza Village," Ozzic reported to Anfey with a wide smile. "We’re very close to Stormenburg now. A day and a half march at most."

"Elizabeth, did the mages find anything?" Blavi turned and asked.

Elizabeth shook her head. The mages had been using Eye of the Sky to observe their surroundings nonstop. Anfey did not need Eye of the Sky to know what was happening around them, but he couldn’t be alert all the time and he wanted to train the mages.

"Let’s take a break," Anfey said. "We’ll march through the night."

Ozzic nodded. Marching through the night would be difficult, but no one wanted to live in constant danger and fear. Marching during the night was a sacrifice they were willing to make in order to reach Stormenburg faster.

Ozzic stopped the mercenaries and told the commanders about Anfey’s order. There was no need to set up tents or start fires, since they will not be staying for the night.

Anfey jumped off of his horse. He had been keeping an eye on his surroundings as well, but it was difficult work. Like the mercenaries, he needed some rest.

Blavi looked around and found Ye. He waved and asked, "How’s the guy from Shansa?"

"The general?" Ye smiled and said, "He’s living. I’m proud of him, to be honest. I didn’t expect him to make it."

"Tell Warner to keep an eye on him," Anfey reminded him.

"You don’t need to tell me twice," Ye said with a laugh. "Warner won’t leave his side."

Ye walked off to talk with other mercenaries. Anfey smiled and patted Blavi on the shoulder. "You did well today. Keep talking. It’s not something to be ashamed off."

Blavi smiled. Before he could say anything, he was distracted by some commotion amongst the mages. Elizabeth hurried over, worried.

Anfey didn’t need anyone to report to him to know who they had discovered. What he had been worrying about was coming. He glanced at Suzanna and they began walking towards the mages.

Elizabeth joined them and said, "The mages found…"

"I know," Anfey said, nodding. He glanced around and saw the mercenaries had drawn their weapons, ready for battle. The mercenaries knew what they took and knew that retaliation would be coming. The mercenaries didn’t need any order to know a fight was coming.

Anfey was satisfied with how the mercenaries reacted to this sudden situation. He hurried to the mages and saw that Black Eleven was already there, staring at an Eye of the Sky. He turned and saw Anfey and shook his head. "It’s Scarlet’s knights," Black Eleven said.

"You sure?" Blavi asked, his eyes wide.

"So what?" Anfey asked with a frown.

Black Eleven sighed and shook his head. He did not know how to answer Anfey’s question concisely. Each of the three empires had its own specialty. Ellisen Empire had powerful mages, Maho Empire had strong swordsmen, and Shansa Empire had the griffins. Another thing Shansa Empire was especially good at was training knights and cavalry. Because of this, Shansa Empire did not have a lot of strong foot soldiers. This was a side effect of how powerful and important the griffin knights were within Shansa Empire.

"They have a lot of mages," Riska said quietly.

This news did not come as a surprise. If Scarlet did not have mages, she would not waste so much time and manpower transporting magic crystals. The news was no surprise, but it still made everyone, including Blavi, nervous. The mages all concentrated on trying to find the enemy mages.

The alliance’s mages group had participated in several battles since its establishment, but in reality they were never a direct part of the battle because they had rarely fought against other mages. Mages from places like Ellisen Empire were very familiar with battle tactics. They knew when to use a spell, and they could change their battle strategy depending on the course of the battle. The alliance’s mages did not have these experiences. Blavi did not know how well the mages would hold up against mages who had experience fighting against groups.

Anfey did not look at the Eye of the Sky. He utilized the Heart of Nature and searched for the enemy’s movement.

The enemy was getting closer. Shansa knights suddenly increased their speed at the same time, hundreds of figures appeared behind the knights and rose into the air.

"God," one of the mages whispered. "They have so many people."

Everyone turned to Anfey, waiting for his order. The mercenary commanders had all arrived as well and were waiting.

"I’ll go with Suzanna and hold them off for a bit," Anfey said. "Ozzic, you will follow us. Shinbella and Orsie, you two will follow Ozzic." Anfey was the leader of the alliance and he did not have to go first, but he wanted to show the mercenaries that he was trustworthy and they could risk their lives with him.

"What is it?" one of the mages suddenly exclaimed, pointing at the Eye of the Sky.

A dozen Shansa mages raised their wands and heavy fog appeared, concealing them. Soon, the Eye of the Sky could only see white fog.

Blavi cursed under his breath. "Quickly, cover us!"

The mages scrambled to release fog spells, but before the fog could conceal the mercenaries, a gust of wind blew it all away.

Riska frowned and began chanting. He did not having experience in battle either, but he wanted to copy the Shansa mages and blow their fog away. Riska used the wind spell twice, but the spells seemed to have no effect on the fog.

Anfey frowned. It seemed like the time to divide the crystals had come.

"They have griffins!" a mage called. About twenty griffin knights appeared in the Eye of the Sky. Anfey wasn’t scared of the griffins, but he was confused. The knights had slowed down and stopped, then they turned and rode away. The mages landed among the knights and hurried away as well.

Finally, Riska’s wind spell worked and the wind blew away all the fog. By the time the fog dispersed, however, nothing was left. Even though griffins were flying away, as if they could not see the mercenaries in the village.

Everyone stood in silence, shocked. If it hadn’t been the griffins, they would have thought that what they had just witness was only an illusion.