Trench Bolts and Magic

Chapter 260 The Superman of Gaul
Upon noticing the notification on the system map, Morin's heart skipped a beat.

"Are we finally going to encounter a Gaulish mage?!"

Without a second thought, he yelled at his allies who were still fighting the Gallic soldiers:
"Attention everyone! The Gaulish mage is coming up!"

His shouts were quickly drowned out by the deafening gunfire and shouts of battle, but the training assault battalion soldiers closest to him heard them.

Almost reflexively, they continued firing while adjusting their positions, subconsciously widening the distance between each other.

"Kahn!" Morin turned and shouted to the 1st Platoon Leader of the 1st Company, who was emptying a magazine of his submachine gun not far away.

Kahn turned around at the sound and saw Morin making a hand gesture to him, a signal agreed upon before the attack.

His expression instantly turned tense, but he still immediately pulled out a folding signal pistol from the backpack on his back.

With trembling hands, Kahn reached into his pocket and pulled out a red signal flare, then chambered the gun.

Before the attack, the 'Sharp Blade' assault group also confirmed with the rear the colors that the signal flares would represent in this operation.

The standard white signal flare is used to indicate location, making it easier for surrounding troops to approach.

A green signal flare indicates that the unit has broken through the Gauls' defenses and accomplished its objective.

As for the red signal flare, it signifies extreme danger, meaning they have encountered an enemy they cannot handle, such as a large force of Gauls or mage units.

Upon seeing the red signal flare, the artillery behind will immediately unleash indiscriminate fire on the area where the flare was launched.

This means that these people could also be blown up by their own side's shells.

Kahn glanced at Morin, who was staring intently at him without the slightest hesitation in his eyes.

"Excuting an order!"

Without further hesitation, Kahn pointed the flare gun at the sky and pulled the trigger.

"Chirp—bang!"

A dazzling red orb of light, trailing a long tail of flame, shot into the sky, which was tinged with grayish-yellow smoke, before exploding violently and emitting an ominous red glow.

Almost every Saxon soldier who saw the signal flare felt a chill run down their spine.

"Prepare for anti-magic operations!"

Morin roared again, this time at the soldiers of the training assault battalion around him.

"Prepare for anti-magic operations!"

"Prepare for anti-magic operations!"

The officers and sergeants of the 1st Platoon, 1st Company of the Instructor Battalion were instructed to immediately relay Morin's orders.

As the soldiers moved, they reminded the bewildered friendly commandos around them, and then quickly dispersed completely, forming three-person teams to occupy advantageous positions.

Immediately afterwards, they pulled out one grenade after another from the ammunition pouches on their waists, ready to throw them at any moment.

Just then, five extremely fast figures rushed out from the billowing smoke ahead.

Their arrival seemed to bring a moment of silence to this chaotic battlefield.

These five men were completely different from the Gallic soldiers around them who were wearing loose blue uniforms.

Although their uniforms were also blue, they were more fitted and covered with complex belts and leather gear, making them look capable and professional.

Most striking of all were the fully enclosed helmets they wore, which completely covered their heads.

The front of the helmet was a dark gold metal mask with no expression, leaving only two narrow slits where the eyes were, making it impossible to see the eyes inside, but giving people a feeling of inhuman coldness.

They are one of the Gallic Republic's trump cards, the battle mage unit, the 'Sentinels'.

The 'sentinels' moved with remarkable speed—not the speed of the Britannian highland mages who used various speed-enhancing spells on themselves.

Instead, every step was full of power and coordination; the agility and nimbleness that came from within were something that ordinary soldiers could never possess.

As Morin looked at these 'sentinels,' a word inexplicably popped into his mind—'enhanced soldier'.

These guys didn't feel like spellcasters in traditional mage robes at all; they seemed more like super soldiers from a pre-time travel sci-fi movie.

"Could this be a super soldier from the magic side?" This thought flashed through Morin's mind.

On the other side, the general's guards and two knights' attendants who had just approached because of the sound of the ground cracking and closing also immediately noticed these enemies with completely different appearances.

"It's a Gaulish mage! Open fire!" a soldier from the general's guard shouted.

Without hesitation, the two 'plate armor supermen' carrying heavy machine guns immediately turned their guns around and pulled the triggers on the five 'sentinels'.

“Da da da da da—!”

Two chains of fire, composed of large-caliber bullets, instantly tore through the air and swept towards the 'sentinels'.

However, faced with a hail of bullets powerful enough to turn ordinary people into mincemeat, the five 'sentinels' advanced instead of retreating.

Just moments before the bullets were about to hit them, their bodies suddenly seemed to lose weight, their speed increased dramatically, and they instantly scattered, easily dodging the gunfire with a bizarre movement that no human could possibly achieve.

Immediately afterwards, the figures of two of the 'sentinels' suddenly disappeared from everyone's sight.

[Five Rings Spell School - Steel Wind Slash]

The next second, one of the 'sentinels' appeared out of thin air behind a general's guard.

A flash of sword light, shimmering with magical energy, swept past, and the special plate armor that the general's guard soldier was so proud of, capable of withstanding rifle bullets, was sliced ​​open from back to chest, armor and all, as if made of paper.

Blood and fragments of internal organs gushed from the huge wound.

The burly man, who was over 1.9 meters tall, collapsed to the ground before he could even let out a scream.

The 'sentinel' disappeared again after delivering the attack.

Almost simultaneously, another 'sentinel' appeared behind the two knights' attendants.

Both involve teleporting and swinging a sword.

"Tsk-!"

A piercing metallic scraping sound rang out as the knight's squire's power armor, crafted from a magical alloy, was forcibly ripped open, releasing a barrage of magical sparks from the gaps in the damaged armor.

"what!"

The knight squire inside the armor cried out in pain, his heavy body staggered, and he half-knelt on the ground. The inside of the power armor's visor also flashed a red warning light.

In the blink of an eye, the figures of these two 'sentinels' flashed across the battlefield five times. Each appearance was accompanied by the fall of an elite Saxon soldier.

Neither sturdy plate armor nor magically powered armor could withstand their gleaming longswords. (Noble Field Damage)
As the final teleport ended, the two 'sentinels' appeared almost simultaneously behind the two Saxon infantrymen, then casually swung their swords, sending two helmeted heads flying into the air.

The whole process was so fast that most of the soldiers around didn't even see what happened.

They only saw their most elite general's guard and knights' attendants fall inexplicably in just a few seconds.

A fear stemming from the unknown instantly spread through the hearts of the Saxon soldiers.

But one of the 'sentinels' who had completed this round of slaughter did not stop.

He stood still, his hands moving rapidly in a peculiar rhythm, while he chanted short and obscure incantations.

[Five Rings Spell School - Death Cloud Spell]

In an instant, in the area where the Saxon soldiers were most concentrated, a yellowish-green spherical fog several meters in diameter appeared out of thin air.

The thick fog seemed to have a life of its own, rapidly churning and spreading, engulfing all the Saxon soldiers who had no time to dodge.

"Cough cough. Ah! My eyes!"

"Help! I can't breathe!"

The soldiers, shrouded in thick fog, let out piercing screams.

They frantically scratched their throats and faces, then collapsed to the ground in agony, black blood gushing from their mouths and noses, before falling silent.

This hellish scene sent chills down the spines of the surrounding Saxon soldiers, making their hands and feet go cold.

Meanwhile, another 'sentinel' slowly walked behind the knight's squire, whose power system was damaged and who was kneeling on the ground, took the Bertier rifle from his back, and raised it.

A faint light flashed across his gun.

[Demonic Weapon]

He pointed the gun at the nape of the squire's helmet, intending to end the life of this elite Saxon soldier in a swift and decisive manner.

But just as the 'sentinel' was about to pull the trigger, a rapid hail of bullets came from the side and struck him hard.

“Ding-ding-ding-ding-ding-ding!”

The bullets struck his [Mage Armor], sending up a shower of blue sparks, but they couldn't harm him in the slightest.

The 'sentinel' reacted extremely quickly, casting a 'Shield' spell almost at the same time that the 'Mage Armor' was about to be broken.

He then abandoned the execution, turned to the side, and raised his hand to cast the [Fireball] spell he had prepared in advance in the direction from which the rain of bullets was coming.

A fireball the size of a basketball, burning with raging flames, instantly took shape at his fingertips, then flew past with a long trail.

"Lie down!"

The unit that just opened fire was a light machine gun squad from the training assault battalion.

The moment they saw the 'sentinel' raise his hand, the machine gunner and assistant gunner, following Morin's repeated instructions on 'anti-magic warfare' procedures, abandoned their firing without a second thought.

The two men, disregarding the scorching hot barrels, grabbed the relatively lightweight MG14 light machine gun and scrambled into a partially collapsed trench nearby.

Almost at the same moment their bodies hit the ground, the fireball exploded above where they had just been standing!

"boom--!"

The massive explosion sent up a wave of heat mixed with mud and debris, which slammed hard onto their backs.

The two were stunned and their ears were ringing. Although they still felt burned on their backs, at least they did not die on the spot.

Just as the 'sentinel' was about to launch a follow-up attack after his first strike failed, a sudden change occurred.

The knight attendant, whose magical power system was damaged and who had been kneeling in front of him, suddenly started moving again.

He forcibly activated the power armor, attempting to swing the heavy warhammer in his hand, only to find that due to a malfunction in the magic circuit, the power armor could no longer support him in lifting this heavy weapon.

But the knight's squire did not give up. Instead, he used his own strength to swing his powered iron fist, made entirely of steel, and smashed it hard at the 'sentinel' who was right next to him!
The punch came too suddenly, and it caught the 'sentinel' during the 'casting animation' of the 'Fireball' spell.

Moreover, the other side had no idea that this 'dying' enemy could still fight back.

Before the 'sentinel' could even make any dodging or defensive maneuvers, he was struck squarely in the chest by this powerful punch.

"boom--!"

A dull bang.

The 'sentinel' was like a rag doll hit by a speeding truck; he was sent flying more than ten meters away before crashing heavily into a destroyed trench, kicking up a cloud of dust.

"here you go!"

Upon seeing this, the surrounding Saxon soldiers erupted in cheers.

"Finish him off! Go finish him off!"

The two training assault battalion soldiers who were closest to the trench reacted immediately. Without hesitation, they grabbed their guns and rushed toward the trench.

According to the 'anti-magic warfare' regulations established by Morin, there is absolutely no room for complacency when dealing with units like mages.

As soon as the opponent falls, you must immediately move in to finish them off and confirm that they are completely dead.

However, to their surprise and that of the knight's squire in the distance, before they could even reach him, the 'sentinel' who had been knocked away actually stood up again from the trench.

Although that punch had seriously injured him, he did not seem to have lost his fighting ability.

The first thing he did after standing up was to raise his rifle and fire precisely at a training assault battalion soldier who was charging towards him.

"boom!"

A cloud of blood burst from the soldier's helmet, and he fell backward.

Immediately afterwards, without even glancing at the result, the 'sentinel' took a step forward like a ghost, instantly closing in on another soldier who was trying to raise his gun to fire.

He drew his military knife from his waist, flicked his wrist, and a flash of cold light appeared.

The soldier's neck was instantly severed, and blood gushed out like a fountain. He clutched his throat, staring incredulously at the demonic figure before him, before collapsing helplessly to his knees.

The whole process was so smooth and fast it was breathtaking.

After killing the two men, the 'sentinel' once again unleashed a terrifying speed, turning around and charging towards the kneeling knight squire.

Just as he was about to rush to the knight's squire, a heavily wounded soldier from the general's guard suddenly sprang up from the pile of corpses!
(End of this chapter)