Chapter 159: Chapter 159
Sylphid Academy
An academy that was second only to Zephyros Royal Academy in the Silvan Empire, the once prestigious place that was marvelled with beautiful and exquisite architecture made by man. The once beautiful aquamarine plus prismarine building was now wrecked, with a barrier erected around it. It had been a few hours since the attack from the monstrous creatures that were now surrounding Sylphid Academy.
“How is the barrier holding up?” an armoured woman with a long, ponytailed, blonde hair asked. A hunched back old lady wearing a black robe and a pointed, black hat looked at the blonde-haired armoured woman, “It is fine for now”, she spoke slowly, “However, if what you reported to me is true, then we would need more than the barrier to stand a chance against the horde of monstrous creatures.” The armoured woman nodded, “Don’t worry, principal Helga. I already asked for a reinforcement”, she assured.
“I hope your reinforcement came sooner before the remaining horde of monstrous creatures decided to join their friends”, the old lady said sarcastically. “You don’t place great hopes in the government, huh?” the armoured woman squinted her eyes. “Hah”, the old lady scoffed, “Of course not. Ever since that imbecile mayor of yours took office, I lost all hopes in the government instantly after that.” The armoured woman sighed, “Fair enough”, then, the armoured woman turned her back, “I’ll go check on the students and staff. I need them to be ready in case the monstrous creatures decide to attack suddenly.”
However, just as soon as the armoured woman said that to the old lady, the monstrous creatures outside the barrier became even more aggressive. They hit the barrier with all they’ve got as they let out a bestial roar towards the sky. The monstrous creatures roar devastated the area surrounding them even affected the area beyond the barrier. This caused damage to Sylphid Academy’s building and created a small quake that shook the area. The old lady frowned before clicking her tongue, “You and your tongue, commander. Look at what you’ve done. If this goes on, the barrier will break soon.”
“Me!? What do you mean watch my tongue? You’re as unreasonable as always, you old witch”, the armoured woman retorted. She sighed, “You know what? I’m not going to argue with you this time. I’ve got some job to do”, the armoured woman said before hurriedly running away from the old lady. The armoured woman gathered her soldiers that were led by the blue-haired girl, “Listened up, men!” she barked, “The monstrous creatures outside are beginning to get aggressive. If this goes on, the barrier will break and soon, the academy will get surrounded. Because of that, I decided that we should go out and meet the monstrous creatures from a single point of the barrier.”
The blue-haired girl raised her hand, “But, what about the reinforcement, commander?” The armoured woman smiled, “We don’t have time to wait for reinforcement. Either we go out there and fight, or the monstrous creatures broke through the barrier and surrounded the academy. Now, we all know what the outcome will be once we get surrounded by them, right?” The blue-haired girl gulped, then she nodded with determination. Seeing this, the armoured woman smiled. She approached the blue-haired girl before patting her head, “I’m sorry, Amy”, the armoured woman smiled wryly. The blue-haired girl shook her head, “Don’t worry, commander. I was already prepared for these kinds of situations the moment I enlisted.”
After that, the armoured woman led her squad outside the academy. “Listened up, old hag!” the armoured woman shouted out, “Opened up a single channel of the barrier. We’ll try to hold them out until the reinforcement arrives.” The old lady on the roof frowned, “Are you sure?” The armoured woman just nodded, making the old lady sigh, “Just don’t die on me.” After that, the round barrier around Sylphid Academy opened up, creating a single channel so that the monstrous creatures could come in. “Men!” the armoured woman shouted, “Today is a good day to die. Charge!”
The monstrous creatures used the opening channel made by the old lady to slowly enter the barrier. However, how could the armoured woman let that be? The armoured woman led her squad to meet the monstrous creatures head-on, containing the monstrous creatures on the border of the barrier. “Don’t let any of these monsters pass you!” the armoured woman ordered, “Not even through your dead body”, she said. After that, the armoured woman and her squad fought the monstrous creatures valiantly.
She raised her hand, the monstrous creature’s blood dripped from her sword, “Formed your formation! Stay in a unit of four and never leave your squadmates. Stay tight, pay attention to your surroundings, and you will be fine”, the armoured woman barked her orders. The armoured woman’s soldiers did exactly what she ordered, and it worked wonders. For a while, the armoured woman and her soldiers managed to hold the monstrous creatures from proceeding further towards the academy. The armoured woman roamed between her soldiers, helping any units that were struggling and raising their morale.
However, as time passed by, fatigue finally showed its face on the armoured woman and her soldiers. The soldiers’ movement had begun to slow down considerably compared to when they first fought. The monstrous creatures came in waves, slowly exhausting the soldiers down, winning the battle of attritions. “Damn it!” the armoured woman gritted her teeth in frustration as she fell another monstrous creature, “At this rate, we will not make it. How long must we hold on until reinforcements?”
Watching all of the struggles of the armoured woman and her squad, the old lady furrowed her eyebrows. “Syndra!” the old lady yelled, “Drive the monstrous creatures out; I’ll close the barrier!” The armoured woman shook her head, “No!” she yelled back, “We can still hold on.” The old woman scoffed, “Don’t be stubborn, you brat! Listen to me for once! The barrier will be able to hold on. Save yourself and your squad. Don’t let your pride get in the way of their safety, and bring them to rest. We’ll strike back another time!” the old lady shouted.
After hearing what the old lady had said, the armoured woman found her words to be reasonable. “Men!” she shouted, “You heard what the old lady said. Drive the monstrous creatures beyond the barrier, and she will close it. Mind your timings, you understood?” All the soldiers nodded their heads, “Yes, commander!” they replied in unison. Then, the armoured woman led her squad to slowly push back the monstrous creatures until eventually, all the monstrous creatures were outside the barrier. But, the monstrous creatures did not give up just like that.
They madly pushed forward, having no regard for what happening to their bodies. Whatever happened to them, be it their legs got chopped or their arms got cut off, the monstrous creatures persistently pushed forward. This caused a headache to the armoured woman as she and her squad could not completely be driven out. The armoured woman clicked her tongue as a terrifying thought suddenly appeared in her mind. “All soldiers, heed me!” she shouted, “Everyone, fall back behind me!” After that, the armoured woman rushed forward in front of her men, “I’m sorry, everyone. Take care!” she mumbled as she prepared to sacrifice herself to push the enemy back. “No, commander, don’t!” the blue-haired girl screamed, but it was all too late.
As the armoured woman propelled herself towards the monstrous creatures, the old lady that stood on the roof of Sylphid Academy pursed her lips. She raised her hands up, then she clasped her hands together. The barrier instantly closed, cutting the monstrous creatures’ path to the academy off. The monstrous creatures that were between the barrier had their bodies split in half while the armoured woman crashed into the barrier. “Hah, you’re still a greenhorn, Syndra”, the old lady smirked, “You think you could die under my watch? Not in a million years.”
The armoured woman rubbed her head in pain. She looked up towards Sylphid Academy’s roof before letting out a chuckle, “Thanks, old hag”, she mumbled.
===
Meanwhile, after the barrier was closed again by the old lady, the monstrous creatures continued their attacks on the barrier. However, different from the previous barrier, this time, the old lady added a little bit more juice to the barrier, making the barrier even stronger than before. The monstrous creature that resembled a hobgoblin frowned. It nervously looked at the barrier as sweat poured out from its glans. “Rawr, rawr, rawr!” it lets out a sound, ordering the monstrous creatures around it to attack with more ferocity.
Unfortunately for the monstrous creature that resembled a hobgoblin, the other monstrous creatures attack little to nothing to the barrier. As it continued to be so, the monstrous creature that resembled a hobgoblin began to feel fear. Not because of the barrier, but because of what the red-haired woman might do to it later if it failed. However, what the monstrous creature that resembled a hobgoblin did not know was the red-haired woman was observing them all this time.
She stood tall on top of a tree, her lips curled up, “As expected for someone close to being an Archmage. Looks like I underestimated you, Helga Stormwind.”
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