The Sorcerer Reappears
The defenders, of course, wouldn't stand idly by and watch the Sauron advance unimpeded along the newly opened passage. Almost the instant the Shield-carts and steps were completed, an experienced officer on the city wall roared, "Fire oil! Quickly! Pour Fire oil! Burn that passage!"
Several soldiers immediately worked together to lift a large cauldron filled with thick, black Fire oil, rushed to the edge of the battlements, and forcefully poured the scalding liquid onto the wooden steps on the boulder below and onto the Sauron soldier gathered at the foot of the steps! A pungent odor instantly filled the air.
"Fire arrows! Quickly!" Another archer had already prepared an arrow with an arrowhead wrapped in oilcloth, lit it with the torch next to him, drew the bowstring taut, and aimed at the area covered by Fire oil!
The rocket was launched, and blazing flames shot into the air.
At this critical moment...
A sudden change has occurred!
A deep, dark black orb of light shot silently from behind the Sauron Army formation, moving at an unimaginable speed!
The ball of light was not scorching hot; instead, it exuded a chilling aura that seemed to devour everything. It swept precisely across the sky above the Fire oil that was about to explode.
A bizarre scene unfolded: the leaping flames and even the flammable fumes in the air seemed to be swallowed up by an invisible giant mouth, vanishing without a trace in an instant!
Along with the rocket that had just left the bowstring, still trailing flames, its light was completely extinguished the moment it touched the black light, turning it into an ordinary charred arrow shaft, which fell helplessly to the ground.
Above the passage, only the damp, now lifeless Fire oil remained, along with a deathly chill.
The archer from the defending army who had lit the rocket stared in disbelief at the illogical scene unfolding before him.
He instinctively looked up, following the direction from which the dark light was coming.
In the midst of the Sauron Army, a thin figure dressed in a dark gray hooded robe slowly lowered his raised, withered hand.
Beneath the shadow of the hood, one could almost feel a cold, mocking gaze piercing through the battlefield and landing on him.
That person... was actually a mage! The Sauron had deployed a mage! The mage seemed to have noticed his gaze and even nodded slightly to him, the movement elegant yet full of extreme mockery, as if to say: a futile struggle.
This sudden turn of events caused a brief moment of surprise and pause for the soldiers guarding the city wall.
"Watch out for a stray arrow!" someone cried out in alarm, but it was too late!
In that brief moment, as the defending archers were stunned into silence, a dense twang of bowstrings erupted from the ranks of the Sauron archers below! A swarm of black arrows rained down like a swarm of poisonous bees!
"Pfft! Pfft!"
Several arrows pierced through the archer's thin leather armor in an instant, embedding themselves deep in his chest and abdomen!
He shuddered violently, the longbow slipped from his hand and fell to the ground. The shock in his eyes had not yet faded before it was replaced by immense pain and the rapid loss of his life force.
He opened his mouth, as if to issue a warning, but only blood gushed out.
His body went limp and he fell backward, crashing heavily to the ground and into the tunnel. The last thing he saw was the flame that had never been lit, and the endless mockery and resentment hidden beneath the hood.
"Suppressive fire! Don't stand still! Musketeers, move up!" The officer's hoarse shout snapped the other defenders out of their shock.
But the best time to extinguish the fire had already passed. Taking advantage of the chaos caused by the magical intervention and the instantaneous deaths of their comrades, the Sauron elite below the megalithic steps roared and charged upwards like a flood, stepping on the Fire oil extinguished by magic and scrambling along the solid steps!
On the city walls, the atmosphere instantly became tense due to the sudden intervention of the sorcerer Sauron.
Lina rushed to Karl's side immediately, her young face flushed with excitement and anger. "My Lord! Did you see that? The Sauron have sent out sorcerers! They ruined our fire attack! Let us fight! We can't just stand by and watch them use magic with impunity!"
Standing beside her, Morian, though taciturn, nodded vigorously, unconsciously tightening his grip on his staff, his eyes gleaming with eager fighting spirit.
Karl's expression was grave, his gaze still fixed on the Sauron infantry surging wildly along the new passage below, and he did not answer immediately.
Seeing Karl remain silent, Lina grew even more anxious and turned to Konrad, whose brow was furrowed, saying, "Teacher! We've been prepared for a long time! Please allow us to join the battle! We can't let them think that Carnford has no mages!"
Konrad looked at the mixture of responsibility and nervous anticipation in the eyes of his two students as they faced a real battlefield for the first time, then glanced at the enigmatic mage Sauron below, and pondered for a moment.
Finally, she spoke to Karl, saying, "Karl, Lina and Morian may be young, but their talent and foundation are very solid. Perhaps, provided their safety is ensured, we could have them try some defensive spell support, such as casting fire or creating some ice? It's better than letting Sauron's mages do whatever they want."
Karl finally turned his head, his gaze sweeping over Lina and Morian's young and vibrant faces before finally settling on Konrad, and he shook his head.
"Konrad, Lina, Morian, thank you." Karl's voice was calm, yet carried an undeniable power. "I sincerely thank you for your willingness to fight for Carnford, but this is not the magic academy in the Royal Capital, nor is it a safe training ground; this is a battlefield."
He raised his hand and pointed to the deadly zone below, where arrows flew and flesh was mangled, his voice suddenly turning cold and hard. "Here, what determines life and death is often not the strength of magic, but a stray arrow, a stray bullet, or a dagger that suddenly appears from a corner."
"You have gleaming magical shields that can block fireballs and ice spikes, but can they defend against deadly sneak attacks from all angles and in all forms at all times?"
He looked at Lina's face, which had turned pale in an instant, and continued, "You have just graduated from the academy and have bright futures ahead of you, but you have not yet truly experienced this kind of battlefield environment with no rules and only killing. I cannot, and will never, risk your lives to fight to the death with those Sauron sorcerers who are clearly seasoned veterans and experts in the art of battlefield slaughter."
Lina opened her mouth, wanting to argue, but Konrad reached out, gently pressed her shoulder, shook his head slightly, and his eyes were complicated. He understood that Karl was right.
As his mentor, he knew better than anyone the potential of his two star pupils, but he also knew what they lacked: the battlefield survival instinct and ruthless mentality that could only be forged in blood and fire.