Chapter 97: The First Wave II

Chapter 97: Chapter 97: The First Wave II

Then one afternoon, Caelia came again.

But this time, Damon knew immediately that something had changed.

She wasn’t calm.

Her steps were faster and her expression was tense.

Damon stopped what he was doing.

"The beasts?"

Caelia nodded.

"They’ve arrived."

Damon stood.

"How bad?"

"The first wave has reached the mansion."

He looked at her carefully.

"You look worried."

"I’m not worried about this wave."

Caelia took a breath.

"The preparations are working. We have enough people on the walls, and the formations are functioning properly."

Damon nodded.

"Then what’s wrong?"

She hesitated.

"Nothing yet."

Damon understood.

Yet.

He smiled slightly.

"Then don’t worry about what hasn’t happened."

Caelia looked at him.

"You really don’t panic, do you?"

"I do."

Damon shrugged.

"I just don’t see the point in doing it when i don’t need to. "

Caelia smiled faintly.

That was probably one of the things she had started to understand about him.

He didn’t ignore danger.

He simply waited until it actually needed his attention.

Damon looked toward the door.

"Go."

Caelia nodded.

"I’m taking command of my side."

"Then be careful."

"I will."

"And if anything changes..."

"I’ll call you."

"Immediately."

Caelia nodded.

"Immediately."

She left.

Damon remained in his room.

For now, he wasn’t going to interfere.

The Winterbourne family had prepared for this.

He had seen Caelia’s work.

He trusted her.

Outside, the first sounds of battle began spreading across the mansion.

Roars.

Explosions.

The sounds of elemental arts colliding with Ice beasts.

Damon could hear them even from inside.

His spirits reacted as well.

Freya became restless.

Sylphie was excited.

Even the Frost Seed pulsed more strongly.

Damon smiled.

"I know."

He could feel their desire to fight.

They wanted to prove themselves.

But it wasn’t time yet.

"Wait."

The spirits settled down slightly.

Damon sat back.

"Let’s see how they handle the first wave."

On the other side of the battlefield, Caelia stood at the front of one of the Winterbourne defensive lines.

The first Ice beasts came rushing forward.

"Hold your positions!"

Her voice carried across the battlefield.

The Winterbourne elemental users moved together.

The formations activated.

Ice barriers rose.

Elemental attacks followed.

Boom!

The first group of beasts crashed into the defenses.

But they were met immediately.

Several Winterbourne geniuses moved forward.

"Now!"

A wave of Ice elemental attacks struck the beasts.

The first group fell.

Then another.

Caelia watched carefully.

She had arranged the forces so that no single group would be overwhelmed.

The stronger elemental users handled the more dangerous beasts while the weaker ones supported them from behind.

The formation rotated naturally.

Nobody was left alone.

The Winterbourne elemental users began gaining confidence.

The first wave wasn’t as frightening as they had expected.

And on Caelia’s side...

Their morale was rising quickly.

They were fighting better than they had during the previous attack.

Even Cornelius noticed it from the other wing.

He watched his daughter direct the defense and couldn’t help feeling proud.

Her preparation was working.

The first wave was being handled.

But neither he nor Caelia relaxed.

They both knew the Frostveil Expanse was different now.

This was only the beginning.

Far away, the group behind everything had already received the report.

The first wave had reached the Winterbourne Mansion.

And the defenses were holding.

One of the men looked uneasy.

"They’re handling it."

The leader remained calm.

"Of course they are."

"And Damon still hasn’t moved."

A small smile appeared on his face.

"He won’t."

The man looked confused.

"You’re certain?"

The leader leaned back.

"We don’t need him to move yet."

He looked at the report again.

"The first wave is only there to make them confident."

A few people exchanged looks.

Then the leader’s smile became wider.

"The real part hasn’t started."

****

Back at the mansion, Damon continued listening to the distant sounds of battle.

The first wave was being defeated.

His spirits were still waiting.

And Damon could feel the same thing he had felt before.

Something was coming.

He didn’t know what.

But the people behind this had already shown him one thing.

They had planned everything carefully.

So there was no reason to believe the first wave was their real move.

Damon smiled.

"Alright."

He rested his hand against his second core.

"Show me what you’ve got."

Inside, Freya, Sylphie and the Frost Seed responded at almost the same time.

They were ready.

So was he.

Outside, the battle continued.

At first, the Winterbourne elemental users had been confident.

Their preparations were working, the formations were holding, and the first group of beasts had been cut down without causing much trouble.

But as time passed, the situation changed.

There were simply too many of them.

Most of the beasts were D rank.

That alone wouldn’t have been a problem.

The issue was their numbers.

The beasts kept coming.

One group would fall, and another would appear behind them.

The C rank beasts were even worse.

They needed several elemental users working together to bring one down.

"How many are there?"

A young elemental user swung his weapon and cut through an Ice Wolf before quickly stepping back.

"I don’t know!"

Another elemental attack struck the wolf from the side.

Boom!

The beast crashed into the snow.

"Just keep fighting!"

"How long have we been doing this?"

"Too long!"

Someone laughed bitterly.

"That’s what I’m saying!"

The complaints didn’t stop them.

They couldn’t.

Another group of beasts was already approaching.

Elemental arts filled the battlefield.

Ice blades shot forward.

Frozen spears pierced through the beasts.

Ice techniques mixed together as the Winterbourne elemental users worked in groups.

The stronger users focused on the C rank beasts while the others handled the D ranks.

Whenever someone’s Aether became too low, they were pulled back.

Another group immediately replaced them.

It was a system Caelia had prepared before the battle.

It worked.

But it wasn’t enough to give them proper rest.

They had expected the first wave to be large. But they hadn’t expected it to last this long.