A mage? A spell engineer!

Chapter 419 Containing Spellcaster Prisoners

Spellcasters are dangerous, and the danger often stems from the unknown; it's hard to predict what unexpected magic they might unleash.

So Richard's first thought was to subdue the intruder and get him away from the ammunition depot. At the same time, Lieutenant Colonel Hinch, who had sprung out from under the felt, jumped out and pointed his rifle butt at the intruder's head, striking him squarely on the back of the head.

Bang! Hench's original target vanished into thin air, and the butt of his gun slammed into Richard, the two of them colliding head-on.

"Are you alright?"

"Get up first, you're in the way of the spirit armor!" The traces of the spell left behind in their escape were a hazy glow, creating a subtle atmosphere between the two Richards who were forced to embrace. Richard shoved Hench away forcefully and hurriedly searched for the vanished intruder.

In the split second before the lieutenant colonel could strike, the moonstone powder in Jules' hand was activated. A soft glow emanated from his hand, which was gripping the powder, and traveled throughout the apprentice's body before quickly dissipating. The entire process lasted only a moment. Richard made a mistake at that moment; he should have tried to quickly bend the apprentice's wrist, interrupting the spellcasting with pain.

Ha.Ha.Juel was still in the ammunition depot. The combined effects of the energy drain from "Leap" and the stun from being hit by the [Freezing Ray] made the chill seep into his body even more intense. The apprentice longed for a bowl of steaming beef broth.

But this wasn't a restaurant; it only smelled of damp mold, rusty iron, and the indescribable odor of gunpowder. Oh right, and two more enemies! One was definitely a mage, and if the other was too... Jules felt a sense of despair.

Like the regular spell [Stealth Step], "Leap" can only teleport the caster to a location within their sight. To compensate for the limited teleportation range, [Stealth Step] leaves behind smoke that obscures the enemy's vision after teleportation. However, "Leap" only leaves behind "Moonlight" from the spell's materials.

Fortunately, the two enemies didn't seem to coordinate well, and their collision gave Jules a chance to hide himself.

Unable to find the box where the gunpowder was stored, Jules didn't care about anything else. He took out a matchbox from his pocket, pulled out a whole handful of matches, and started striking them.

After marking a few sticks, he threw them in all directions, attempting to spread the fire and attract the enemy's attention. He thought that once the ammunition depot had a fire source, it would surely restrain the enemy. The apprentice's actual target was still the gunpowder barrel he had found earlier, and he once again tried to gather a flame and launch it to ignite it.

If successful, it could not only cause the enemy's ammunition depot to explode, but with a bit of luck, it could also take away at least one spellcaster.

Thinking of this, Jules' breathing became heavier, and the flames surged, illuminating his face with excitement, even though he would die in the explosion after succeeding.

Bang. This time, Richard's chop landed squarely on the apprentice's head and neck, causing Jules to lose consciousness due to temporary cerebral ischemia caused by pressure on the carotid artery.

"These aren't windproof matches, they won't light anything if you throw them like that." Richard was pleased to have captured the spellcaster, and at the same time, he picked up a stray match. Because the apprentice had thrown the match too fast, it had mostly gone out after landing. The invasion was thus a close call.

"A wicked idea, and useless." Hench increasingly felt that the legendary Valuwa mages didn't seem to have much combat experience. He looked around to make sure there were no other sparks left, then turned his attention back to the infiltrators.

The spellcaster looked remarkably young. When Hench brought it up, Richard couldn't help but ask, "What happens to prisoners of war?"

Hench recalled the policy: "Ordinary soldiers would be disarmed and imprisoned, while generals and spellcasters received separate treatment."

Captives with spellcasting abilities must be treated with utmost care. So far, neither side has dared to take the easy way out by simply "getting rid of" the opposing mages. They are kept in solitary confinement and require "special care" to ensure that the captives lose their spellcasting abilities.

Richard, as the sorcerer and Jules' "capturer," accompanied him throughout and learned firsthand how the Empire had taken him in.

First, all of the prisoner's personal belongings were confiscated, and then he was thrown into a small, separately set-up tent. The medic entered, carrying a medicine box in one hand and a basin in the other. Seeing that Jules was still unconscious, he forcibly woke him with water, then roughly fed him emetic water.

After the apprentice vomited all the contents of the food bag, he was forced to drink more spirits infused with belladonna. Unable to resist, the apprentice drank it down, and Jules' pupils began to dilate, his body becoming limp. He was bound to the wooden bed, his face flushed red as the alcohol and toxins took effect, his fingers trembling uncontrollably.

The medic put away the belladonna liqueur and fed the apprentice, who was nearly unconscious and twitching slightly, a small bowl of thin wheat porridge.

"Stop throwing up, this is your only meal of the day." The army doctor was a kind-faced old man, but the veins bulging when he forced the alcohol down his throat were still somewhat frightening.

After treating the spellcaster prisoner, the medic turned his concern to Richard and Hench, who had brought the prisoners: "Are either of you injured?"

"No, he's just an inexperienced kid."

Richard was more curious about the belladonna liqueur, and the army doctor explained: "The sorcerers who are brought in are all treated according to this procedure. Moderate poisoning will make them behave and unable to enter a spellcasting state."

"The first three days require a larger dose of the belladonna syrup. As long as the amount of food rations is controlled, the amount of belladonna syrup can be reduced later." A bowl of thin grain porridge can only keep a person barely alive. If they are kept like this for a few days, they will probably not even have the strength to speak, let alone cast spells. In addition, the toxins in belladonna will damage neurotransmitters, ensuring that the captives will not have the ability to cast spells.

The military doctor reminisced, "This was a procedure summarized by the special defense agency. I don't know why, but the agency was suddenly disbanded before the war."

Richard, who knew some of the inside story, revealed, "It wasn't a layoff, it was merged."

Suddenly, the camp became unusually noisy as another large group of wounded soldiers were brought to the medical area. The medic muttered something and walked away. Hengqi looked at the scene outside the tent: "Is the battle over?"

The rain stopped, the clouds parted, and the spring sunshine shone into the trench.

Both sides, locked in battle in the mud, could see each other's faces clearly and heard the drumbeats from Valois' side. The drumbeats were no longer rousing, but rather a heavy signal of retreat.

The National Guard soldiers' steps, wading through the mud, began to slow, then gradually turned into retreat. The soldiers who had finally made it to the second and third trenches naturally wanted to continue breaking through, otherwise wouldn't the sacrifices of their comrades have been in vain? But the drumbeats told them that if they continued to advance, there would be no more support from behind, and the pain in their bodies was also reminding them that they had reached their limit.

When retreating and regrouping, the National Guard infantry, who were scattered during the attack, generally regrouped according to the manual during the retreat to maintain their deterrent effect.

The Imperial soldiers in their grey-blue uniforms dared not catch their breath immediately. They cautiously kept their distance from the Valois, slowly returning to the breached first line of defense, watching the enemy retreat.

Gunfire on the battlefield had long since subsided, and Valois could only equip each of their soldiers with thirty rounds of ammunition. The Imperial Army fared slightly better, but they too had nearly exhausted their ammunition after several hours of fighting.

A soldier loaded his gun, suddenly raised it, aimed, and finally pulled the trigger. Nothing happened. He lowered the gun and saw only the enemy's tired and resentful eyes.

The battle is over.

(End of this chapter)