A mage? A spell engineer!

Chapter 414 Awareness

Richard identified a frontline commander who was leading a column toward his own high ground. He was brandishing a sword, clearly different from ordinary soldiers.

How to attack and escape unscathed? Just as Richard was pondering his spell and confirming whether there were any spellcasters around the commander, a gunshot suddenly rang out in his ears, and the target in the binoculars fell to the ground!

"The hunter next to me fired?" Richard turned around in surprise and found that the hunter was just like when he was hunting in the forest. He didn't use binoculars, but squinted one eye to aim and fire.

Richard also noticed that there was not much smoke rising from the gun barrel.

"What are you still standing there for? Let's go. We need to move on after every shot, don't you understand?" The hunter brushed off the wet leaves around him and prepared to leave the high ground.

Before leaving, he glanced at the enemy troops one last time. The column had dispersed after losing its commander, but it was still moving toward the Imperial Army.

"Just as I thought, killing a small leader won't do any good," the hunter muttered.

Richard, whose kill had been stolen, became interested: "Why?"

"The current kingdom's army is a bit like our Jaeger Corps. They spread out their forces and don't need to maintain formation; they just charge forward. The death of a soldier is no different from the death of a squad leader. The squad can make its own decisions."

The National Guard infantry, having shifted from column formation to skirmish formation, continued their charge, while the Imperial cavalry, weaving through them, received only bullets in response. The original plan was for the Imperial infantry and cavalry to be "anvils" and "hammers," but the "hammers" striking loose "cotton" were not without damage, but their effectiveness was greatly diminished.

Soon, the kingdom's cavalry also began to provide support, and these were elite grenadier cavalrymen, each clad in plate armor. They cut off the imperial cavalry's retreat route, like a hammer that had fallen but could no longer be raised.

"Damn this rainy weather!" The front ranks of the Imperial Army began to curse the weather as the enemy approached.

Despite the flintlock muskets, the water still significantly increased the Imperial Army's chances of misfiring, giving the skirmishers more room to charge. These green recruits of the National Guard hadn't received much training, but one simple and brutal principle was deeply ingrained in their minds—they had to advance at least fifty-five paces within the 20 seconds it took for the enemy to reload.

The agile skirmishers charged forward, taking cover or crawling into the mud when the gunfire was dense. If the firepower in front weakened, they got up and ran forward for their lives. Even if they fell silent, it didn't matter, as long as they could get to the Imperialists, they still had cheap bayonets to serve them.

In the rain and mud, a brutal close-quarters battle began, devoid of any elegance. Blue and gray uniforms rolled in the mud, bloodstains fell onto the trampled ground, the Valois army advanced, and the Imperial army retreated.

As the battle lines retreated, the Imperial artillery positions were exposed to the range of the Valois field guns. Under repeated precise strikes, the Imperial artillery ceased to function, and the remaining cannons were dragged away in an attempt to withdraw from the battlefield.

The empire's general and his staff witnessed the continuous collapse of the battle lines. They had done nothing wrong, commanding the battle according to the manual as before, but the enemy had changed, become strange, and become very strong.

The general remained relatively calm: "Where are our spellcasters? The enemy's ability to quickly cut off our cavalry and accurately target our artillery positions clearly indicates the presence of mages. Can we deploy our secret weapons?"

The accompanying mage shook his head: "Since the last battle, we have begun to reassess how to deploy anti-magic devices on the battlefield. To prevent the technology from falling into enemy hands, you won't be able to see it today or in the next few days."

"And what about our spellcaster? Will they be able to make a difference?"

"In fact, there is no sign of either side's mages joining the battle right now. Judging from the last battle, whoever exposes themselves first will be the target of concentrated fire, so they cannot easily reveal themselves."

Removing the special uniforms and integrating the spellcasters accompanying the army was just the first attempt at reform. Now, the mages themselves realized that in magical combat, information asymmetry is a decisive factor. When both sides are scattered and hidden among the crowd, the mage who exposes themselves first will be at a disadvantage, making them vulnerable to countermeasures and concentrated attacks from the enemy. Therefore, the mages accompanying the army, like Richard, began to operate cautiously and covertly.

The general was displeased, but couldn't openly lash out at the mage: "Hmph, you can keep waiting until the enemy reaches the command post!"

"But you are right about one thing: the enemy's actions today were very swift. Although the infantry adopted a loose formation, the transmission of orders seemed to be fast and the command precise, making the enemy exceptionally flexible. For example, just now, our first and second infantry lines were breached, and the other enemy infantry units immediately moved towards the breach."

Among the accompanying mages, those who could serve as strategists not only paid attention to other mages but also possessed military expertise themselves. He astutely observed that the reason for the Imperial Army's defeat in today's battle seemed to be that their command efficiency was outpaced, with both armies lagging behind in terms of speed and accuracy of deployment.

This is truly illogical. The opposing force is clearly composed of militias with very short training periods. Judging from the battlefield, who is the professional army?

"Is it magic? It must be magic!"

"Perhaps I will find out."

"Finding out what's going on isn't enough; the important thing is to deal with them! Solve this problem, or it will cost us our lives!" The general slammed his hand on the map. The last time he slammed his hand on the map was when he kicked "Richard the Turtle" out.

Richard attempted to break through enemy lines and locked onto a new target. The spellcaster noticed an enemy frontline officer standing with a soldier carrying a strange, large package.

The soldier took the package down; judging from his movements, it was quite heavy. A thin metal rod extended from the top, and there was a lever on the side. The officer's mouth opened and closed as the soldier pulled the lever with one hand and manipulated something with the other, seemingly connecting it to the contents of the package with a soft thread.

The hunter continued to accompany Richard, reasoning that choosing the same high ground as Richard showed Richard had good judgment. Now, the hunter squinted, also watching the enemy officer and soldier.

"Take that thing back," the hunter suddenly said, his tone like that of Colonel Richard's superior.

Seeing that Richard remained unmoved, he became somewhat anxious: "Aren't you a sorcerer? That thing must be very important, go quickly."

"You know I'm a mage?"

"Oh, isn't it obvious? Look at that box again, it must have been made by one of your own kind. First, there are no superfluous things on the battlefield. Second, the stranger the thing, the more powerful it is. This is experience I've learned in the legion, it can't be wrong."

Do you Byrne Legion have a lot of strange things? Richard didn't know where the Jaeger's ideas came from, but he now acknowledged the Jaeger's experience.

His figure began to blur instantly; he couldn't become completely invisible, but it seemed sufficient in the chaotic battlefield. After casting [Spirit Armor], Richard took off running.

The final step was to use Arcane Vision to confirm that there were no magical items or even strange boxes near the officer and soldier. However, this did not interrupt Richard's actions. Instantly, a thick, toxic smoke enveloped the target, which Richard slapped onto his backpack and absorbed into it using his storage ring.

Meanwhile, behind the Imperial Army's lines, three mages were preparing to cast a spell together. In the rain, they chose the same approach as the Kingdom's mages in the capital of the Condi region—to try to summon lightning from the rain clouds and inflict massive damage on the enemy.

The sorcerer presiding over the collective spell is proficient in meteorology and lightning magic. He is sensing the "field" in the earth and sky, spreading out as much as possible through the magic of the three of them, and transforming it into subtle electric currents.

If there is a dense concentration of electrical charge in a certain area of ​​the sky, he will sense it and start drawing lightning from there. At that time, the "magic grid" will converge into cylinders, emitting current in each ring, forming tiny pilot channels, creating a weak point in the air, inducing the charge to break down, thus forming lightning.

There were no legendary magical artifacts, nor was he a great mage. This mage relied on knowledge to use his meager human strength to incite the wrath of nature.

However, this "electric grid" actually captured regular signals.

(End of this chapter)