223 – Southern battlefield

Brunhild rushed at full speed, jumping over houses and buildings without hesitation.

She noticed that the streets were jammed mostly with mortals who seemed to be rushing toward the center of the city, likely toward the City Lord's mansion.

She felt a pang of pity. With such a large, panicked crowd, stampedes were bound to happen, and many people were going to lose their lives horribly. Unfortunately, there was nothing she could do about it, so she focused on charging straight toward the south.

After an hour or so, she arrived near the southern gate.

During her sprint, she heard countless sounds of fighting, explosions, and various screams from far away—not just from the south, but from the east, west, and all other directions.

Brunhild bit her lip in anxiety. She understood that if she could hear sounds from so far, it meant powerful mages were burning and destroying buildings while fighting.

In other words, necromancers weren't just attacking the south and west gates; they had already infiltrated the city from all sides. Not only that, but the enemies were powerful enough to create a commotion that could travel this far.

She was deeply worried about her mother and the rest of the Pierce family, but they had a few Rank 3s, so they should be able to defend themselves or flee if necessary.

Brunhild climbed to the top of a tall building and surveyed the situation while hiding behind cover. She needed to find Caius and the others first.

The gate was already breached, and the battle had spilled into the city.

Noticing the scale of the destruction, she couldn't help but suck in a deep breath.

The entire area, which featured a broad road lined with various buildings, was completely ravaged and left in ruins.

The houses a little further away were still burning or so heavily destroyed that they couldn’t be repaired, only rebuilt from scratch.

She shook her head. Whether they could survive the current disaster was still a question, let alone whether Batley City could even remain a city. Just the number of casualties in this southern region was massive; now was not the time to worry about the future.

She could see countless dead bodies of mortals strewn about, alongside many Mana Wielders belonging to both Batley City and the necromancers.

The current battlefield between the two groups was at a stalemate. Neither side had the upper hand, and no one was quietly watching the battle with folded hands—except her. Everyone as far as her eyes could see was engaged in combat.

This was still a far better situation than one side completely crushing the other. However, Batley City's forces would eventually lose because they were completely outnumbered by the necromancers' summons.

After surveying the ongoing battlefield thoroughly, Brunhild finally found Caius and the others. Seeing them intact, she released a deep breath of relief. They were all together and alive. Elianor was the only one missing, as she was still at home, which was perhaps for the best; the current battle wasn't something a Rank 1 should participate in.

Garrick, Eilif, Thorne, and Caius were currently fighting five necromancers and their human skeleton summons.

They had seen and fought such skeletons on the way to Batley City; it was one of the most basic summon spells a Necromancer Mage possessed. These human skeletons came equipped with a sword and a shield, which looked rusted but possessed a constitution as high as their bodies. They could also take instructions from their summoners through telepathy.

Though considered a basic spell, these skeletons still boasted massive constitution stats depending on the rank of the necromancer who summoned them.

They were much more than just a nuisance. Though they lacked attacking power and agility, their constitution scaled with their summoners; if a late-stage Rank 2 Mage summoned them, their constitution would be as high as a late-stage Rank 2 Warrior's!

That meant they possessed an even higher constitution than the mage who had summoned them!

Not only that, a single mage could summon more than one skeleton at a time.

It didn't cost the necromancers much to summon basic skeletons. However, casting the spell required time, so they usually prepared it before entering battle. In other words, if the skeletons were destroyed, the necromancer mages would become vulnerable for a short while.

There were currently numerous skeleton summons across the battlefield, which didn't surprise Brunhild. However, the sheer number of necromancers present was insane, and this was just the southern gate.

Just what was happening to Batley City?

Brunhild shook her head, stopped overthinking, and pulled out her new high-grade Tier 1 bow.

Just as she was about to target a necromancer, she paused, thought for a moment, and pulled out another quiver to tie behind her waist. She now carried two quivers: one held normal, mortal-grade arrows, while the other contained peak-grade Tier 1 arrows engraved with Runes!

She always felt like convulsing whenever she remembered that even arrows were engraved with runes. Perhaps only those with a ridiculous amount of wealth who didn't know what to do with it would try something so wasteful. Even then, they probably couldn’t engrave them themselves, as doing so required talent, an insane amount of focus, and masterful Mana Control.

Although she had paid a steep price for them, she felt that due to their scarcity, their actual market value should be at least three times higher.

Caius and the others were currently dodging the human skeleton summons while trying to attack the casters. That was the best way to deal with them, as the summons would disappear upon their caster’s death. However, it was easier said than done.

Although they were struggling, Brunhild could tell that none of them were using their full strength. Instead, they were using the skeletons as shields to protect themselves from the necromancers' spells while recovering their Mana and Stamina. After all, with their new Tier weapons, those skeletons didn't stand a chance.

But this stalemate couldn’t go on forever. Aside from Caius and his group, Batley City’s Mana Wielders were losing their energy at a rapid pace, and soon they would start losing their lives too. Brunhild had to interfere before it was too late, but she needed to help her team first.

After scanning the area, she found a great location from which she could target the necromancers attacking Caius and the others.

Brunhild jumped down and hid within the ruins of two destroyed houses.

After waiting for a short while, she found the perfect opportunity to shoot an arrow that could penetrate at least two or three necromancers. She drew the bowstring back fully, channeled her mana into both the bow and the arrow's rune, and fired.

SHA!

An air-slicing sound echoed.

The arrow shot at such a tremendous speed that even Brunhild was horrified. Only then did she recall that not only was her bow a high-grade Tier 1 weapon, but her arrow was a peak-grade projectile engraved with an acceleration rune!

This was Brunhild's first time firing after a full draw, let alone using a Tier arrow with such a Rune. She nearly had a heart attack watching the sheer speed and power of the projectile.

The arrow penetrated all three necromancers she had been aiming for. However, unlike what she originally expected, it didn't slow down or lose its momentum. It continued forward, destroying three other skeletons in a straight line that belonged to other necromancers fighting a different team, shot straight through another Rank 3 Necromancer Warrior, and finally disappeared inside a house, vanishing from everyone's sight.

Brunhild let out a sigh of relief upon noticing that her arrow hadn't ended up killing any Mana Wielders from Batley City.

However, this single incident triggered an avalanche of changes across the entire battlefield.

Suddenly, all combat stopped. Both sides halted their attacks and stood dazed, trying to comprehend what had just occurred.

The necromancers who had been pierced by Brunhild's arrow hadn't even realized they were hit.

All four necromancers now had a fist-sized hole in their torsos, but they still hadn't registered the pain. While they stood there confused, all four of them suddenly erupted into intense flames.

They shrieked and cried out, further shocking everyone present on the silent battlefield.

Everyone watched with wide eyes as the four necromancers fell to the ground and, within moments, turned silent. Although they didn’t reduce to ash, their bodies were burned like charcoal. They were dead.

Brunhild's mouth twitched at the sight.

She had taken advantage of the element of surprise a little too far!

This wasn't just getting a good sneak attack before a battle. No! This was poking a massive hornet's nest!

As expected, all the necromancers turned and glared toward Brunhild's direction. Though they couldn’t see her through her cover, they were no fools and could easily guess where the projectile had flown from. They also understood that this hidden sniper was the highest threat to them on the current battlefield. Without hesitation, all the Rank 3 necromancers charged toward Brunhild's location.

Looking at the overwhelming force charging her way, Brunhild's face turned pale with dread.

Caius's mind raced, and he quickly figured out who it was, mainly because the projectile had been fired near their location and had killed three of their immediate enemies first.

It had to be Brunhild!

Caius knew he wasn't a powerful enough warrior to block so many Rank 3s on his own, so he swiftly deployed distraction tactics, roaring loudly enough to echo across the entire battlefield, "EVERYONE, LET'S KILL THE REST OF THEM WHILE THEIR RANK 3s ARE DISTRACTED!"

All the Rank 3 necromancers halted in their tracks, their expressions turning ugly. They realized that their anger and fear had made them forget a crucial fact: without them, most of the lower ranks wouldn’t survive for long. And if those lower ranks fell, they would soon follow due to being completely outnumbered.

In fact, while the Rank 3 necromancers had been distracted, their teams had already suffered quite a few casualties, as Batley City’s Mana Wielders weren't fools either and knew exactly when to take advantage of an opening.

The other Batley City teams weren’t entirely happy with Caius's "suggestion," since they already knew what to do without him shouting it out, and now the element of surprise for their own counterattack was gone.

Yet, Caius had no regrets about his decision. His first priority was his team, then the other Mana Wielders of Batley City. Brunhild was a highly capable warrior, and with her new bow and arrows, she was an absolute monster. Her safety had to be prioritized—even over his own!