Chapter 169 Futile Attempts

So, resolved to impede Xzavier's progress, he began to formulate a plan. Within a few seconds, the Silver Knight began to bark orders at the remainder who had actually managed to somehow survive Xzavier's reign of terror.

"Horses! Get me horses right away!! You there, grab some hooks and a ton of ropes!! Move!! move!! Quickly!!"

They heard the voice of their commander and responded promptly. The logistics department ran back and forth. They didn't know what the grand plan was, but the energy of their commander was infectious. Besides, they were duty bound to obey the last command. This was the way of the army.

The response time was incredible. Within a short period, about two dozen strong horses had been requisitioned from the governor's stables. Out of nowhere, several feet long ropes and grappling hooks appeared on the scene. Dale saw that Xzavier was making considerable progress, and it inspired him to move quickly. Running back and forth across the compound, he dished out orders, and gave specific instructions on how to proceed from here.

The strategy was simple; they were to place the hooks on the exterior of Xzavier's tank and tie ropes on the horses, and then ride furiously in the opposite direction. This was a method that Dale had often used to tear down buildings in the past. It had been widely effective. So Dale didn't think that Xzavier would be able to resist this gambit. In a short amount of time, the mages mounted their horses, and the daring ones approached Xzavier's death machine and placed the hooks therein.

Dale watched with glee as the plan unfolded. This was his chance to stop Xzavier and render him static. Everything was looking good so far. Teeming with confidence, Dale lifted up his arm, signaling his men to be on their marks, and then he brought it down hard. The horsemen bolted forward immediately. They had surrounded Xzavier on all sides, once again replaying that same gambit. The horses neighed and neighed as they tried to pull the impossible weight of Xzavier's tank on all sides.

Of course such a daunting task was no small feat. But they all anticipated that Xzavier's tank wouldn't stand a chance with over two dozen horses pulling it from all sides. However, yet again they received the shock of their lives! Despite everything that had been thrown at him, the tank did not stop moving forward. At some point it did appear to be as if it had been stalled for a second, but when their horses started to regress, they knew that the gig was up.

Dale watched the debacle unfold. This whole endeavor was proving to be a cataclysmic failure of the highest proportion! Nothing seemed to be working! The mages had the will and angst, but none of the skills that were required to pull this off. The horses that were stagnant started find themselves getting sucked in by the pull of Xzavier's tank. They had lost their momentum completely. And were instead dragged like dead weight. Dale watched aghast as some of the soldiers cut their ropes in other to prevent any further loss.

It was at this point that Dale lost his cool. The frustration of this whole thing was starting to get to him. He could feel the doubt in the air, seeping into his men like a poison gas. Destroying the years of confidence and trust he had managed to build up over the years. The Silver Knight knew that if he didn't do something in that moment, it was very likely that he would lose it all. So, with renewed vigor that was brought on by desperation, Dale gave another order.

"Listen up men! Comrades have fallen in battle, I know you will not let their deaths go unpunished! Will you?"

"NO!!!" they roared.

"Good! The fifth battalion, your orders are to perform a saturation magic immediately! Go on!" he cried. "Attack the vessel!!"

The fifth battalion contained about two hundred soldier in total. They were all some of the most powerful soldiers in the barracks, and their specialty was purely of the attack genre. The bound themselves in formation once again, lifted up their right palms in the air, and pointed at Xzavier's tank. As they kept out their palms stretched out, they chanted as one, droning out words of power until the air was charged with their energy.

Dale watched expectedly with glee as the attack gained momentum. Saturation magic was no joke, especially when performed by a league of astute mages. There was no way in hell Xzavier was going to escape this. Not even his tank could protect him. The attack hadn't even been completed and Dale was already feeling confident with himself.

In Dale's mind, even if the saturation attack spell wasn't enough, he was sure that it would weaken Xzavier considerably. And then, he would swoop down at the last moment and finish off Xzavier completely. He was so close he could practically taste victory- or so he thought.

One and a half minute later, Dale found himself wallowing in another humiliation. The insufferable Silver Knight was practically appalled. The attack had done nothing but cause a few sparks, and that had been it. Dale was at an impasse! He had never been in a situation like this before. Of course he had dealt with strong enemies in battle before, but no one had been able to get under his skin in the way and manner Xzavier was actively doing.

And the funny thing was that Dale knew that Xzavier was yet to unleash the full potential of his own arsenal. He swallowed hard when he thought of what it would be like to be on the receiving end of Xzavier's true wrath. He saw that things weren't exactly going to be pretty. In fact, the imagination in Dale's head became so vivid that for a moment, he contemplated backing down. He didn't want to be the one to agitate someone like Xzavier. But alas, it was too late already.

With every attack they launched against Xzavier, the more he was riled up. He had had it up to his neck with his relentless enemies. It was as if they had all made up their minds to die. The stunt he had pulled with the machine gun was meant to serve as a deterrent to all the other mages. But it seemed like they were hell bent on not making it out of here alive. Xzavier gritted his teeth. If that was what they wanted, he was prepared to help them along that line.

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So, while the mages recovered their strength and stamina from their most recent attack, Xzavier turned the tide of the battle again. His counter attack always had a disastrous ring to it. Dale perhaps was the only one who sensed what was to come next. But that didn't mean he could do anything to stop it.

From inside his tank, Xzavier reacted with his twin pair of deadly semi-automatic rifles. The bullets flew out this time with no warning whatsoever. The mages who had stopped to rest briefly after the last attack, found themselves needing to recover much faster than was expected. But of course, it really didn't matter how fast their recovery time was. In the end, no one could ever hope to outrun or dodge a bullet.

So, the bullets that were the children of the semi-automatic rifles rippled through the bodies of the mages. Once again, it was a festival of blood and flesh. As Xzavier force fed the soldiers bullets, very slowly, his leopard 2 A7 tank moved away slowly from the governor's mansion, and headed towards the city's main entrance. Yet again, Dale was forced to witness the horrendous sight of watching his men get slaughtered by Xzavier's strange weapons. The pistols he had handed to Quaid were fine weapons.

Dale had been at the demonstration a few weeks back, when Xzavier had shown him and Quaid just how powerful his weapons were. Even at the time, Dale was undoubtedly impressed. But the weapons Xzavier was using against his men right now was something else!

"The bastard!" Dale cursed. "So all this while, he had something extra up his sleeves?! DAMN YOU XZAVIER!"

Dale was visibly pissed off. But he was a very stubborn individual. Regardless of the fact that that he was clearly losing, and might even continue to lose some more, he pressed on resiliently. He was determined to get the best of Xzavier, no matter the cost. Even if it meant him losing the entirety of his force, then so be it!

Turning to the rest of his men that were crouched low, Dale shouted;

"COME ON!! MARCH FORWARD!! No retreat! No surrender!! Stay on him men! Don't lose him!"

The poor soldiers had no choice but to comply. It was the way of battle. There was no circumventing it. So, they followed Xzavier closely on the orders of their vindictive commander, but they made sure to keep a reasonable distance. All the while maintaining a tight perimeter, not daring to even free up even the tiniest of spaces. They didn't want to risk getting torn apart by the mean bullets of the semi-automatic rifles.

Words couldn't describe Babara's surprise. Even she herself could hardly believe it. Tucked securely inside the tank, Babara reflected on just how quickly things had turned around. She sat with her eyes straight ahead, not even daring to move an inch in case she might anger the strange magical contraption Xzavier had conjured up. Lost in her own mind, she remembered how only just a few moments ago, she had been prepared for the worst thing to happen to her and Xzavier. But somehow, things had turned around in the opposite direction.