SIXTY: MIGHT OF THE LEGION

  “THRUST!” Invictam’s voice roared out into the night in a blast that drowned out the sounds of combat. As one every legionnaire on the line activated the skill, stabbing their spears forward as Invictam used [Cohesion] to guide the mana of the entire camp into the attack. Cassius watched as columns of mana formed in front of every spearpoint for a split second before they raced down the hill.

  Imps disappeared. Simply burned out of existence from the raw power of the legion’s attack. Earth turned to glass as furrows were dug through the hillside only to explode in bursts of power that splashed against the marching devil. Cassius felt his jaw slowly drop as the massive titan of death was thrown backward like a child in a hurricane. It slammed into a tree and broke it to kindling as a silence fell over the battlefield.

  “ROTATE!” Invictam ordered and Cassius saw that the lines holding the front ranks were shaking, pale, their equipment smoked and burned. Spearpoints glowed or drooped from the excess heat, molten metal falling free even as the wood smoldered. Most of the legionnaires dropped the useless spears as they rotated to the back of the formations as the next group stepped forward.

  “It works well as a single devastating attack, but it is counterable,” Invictam said as Cassius came to his side. The older man looked over the field with the same clinical look as always as if he hadn’t just killed hundreds of monsters in a single coordinated blow.

  “How many times can the legion support that?” Cassius asked.

  “Not many. It will take several hours to recover the spent mana and the equipment is useless. The strain on the men is considerable as well, those who have to channel the spell. You have to rotate them and most will not be combat capable for at least a few days. It did certainly slow them down though, didn’t it?” Invictam said.

  The devil was slowly pulling itself out of the tree it had turned into splinters while the devourers were crying in pain, their skin blackened and charred as those at the edge of the blast tried to stand. Cassius kept his eyes on the edge of the forest where the archers had been firing their arrows from. That was the true threat to them he knew.

  “Will this break their attack?” Cassius asked.

  “I do not know. But it gives us time to fully organize a defense. The response to the attack was abysmal. Training will be required as a full legion rather than small teams. That will be later, for now I need Lady Victoria and that wonderful bow of hers,” Invictam said.

  “The devil?” Cassius asked as the creature got to its feet, staggering forward to land on one knee before getting back up and starting forward with a roar of rage.

  “I would prefer not to have to deal with that thing with spears. Attia, would you go and retrieve the good lady and stop lurking in my shadow?” Invictam said, turning his head and looking at his shadow. Something shifted in it and Cassius’ eyes latched onto Attia’s shape inside of the General’s own shadow. It darted away in a blur of speed, racing from shadow to shadow as she disappeared into the heart of the camp.

  “The Consul’s Shadows. Ironically they outlived their master but they still serve their purpose,” Invictam said. If anything the General seemed more relaxed now in the heat of battle, standing above them all as he surveyed the field and made his decisions. It was like seeing a predator in its true habitat rather than a cage.

  “I want to draw out those archers and whatever other surprises they have waiting for us. There is no way they thought that was enough force to break a legion.” Arrogance dripped from his voice as the Imperator strode along the back of the lines, Cassius following behind with the superbia firmly grasped. Golden mana wafted off of it and settled on the men and women of the line, their backs straightening as he passed by them.

  “That devil is getting close,” Cassius said. The charging devil was already three-quarters of the way up the hill even with its severe burns that wept blood and liquefied flesh. Behind it more of the imps gathered slowly, their shapes blending into a dark dark chitinous horde. It would be many minutes before they accumulated the mass needed to press up the hill.

  “Lady Victoria will best it,” Invictam said unhurriedly as he walked calmly along the line. He pitched his voice so that the men could hear him as the massive beast got closer to them. Cassius couldn’t help but remember the fighting at the city, the despair in everyone’s hearts as they battled the beast. Even as strong as he was now he didn’t want to fight the creature one on one.

  “She will arrive soon?” Cassius muttered as he looked around the camp. The noblewoman wasn’t tall if she wasn’t mounted and he doubted he’d be able to see her.

  “She’s already here,” Invictam whispered back. As if in answer to his words a bolt leapt from the camp in a screaming streak of golden light. It smashed into the blue-gray chest of the devil, exploding in a burst of gore that tossed the devil backward to slide down the burnt slope in a broken pile of flesh.

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  “The might of a pinnacle second tier,” Invictam said as the General ran his fingers over the pommel of his own sword.

  “They come again,” Cassius said, looking over the lines of legionnaires' heads and toward the mass of imps as they ran forward.

  “Let them,” Invictam said with a snort of derision as the racing line of imps moved faster than the injured devil had, clearing the body in moments only to smash into the defenses. What was left of the stakes impaled imps while spears stabbed down over the top of the ramparts of dirt to finish them.

  “General! General!” A voice broke through the humdrum of battle and drew Cassius’ attention as a dirty and bloodied woman pushed her way through the packed mass of legionnaires.

  “Cassius, this is one of the scouts I told you about. Livia, what do you have for me?” Invictam asked, placing his hand on the young woman’s heaving shoulders. She was wearing just light clothing made of browns and greens, stained heavily with blood along her side. Her features were growing paler by the moment as she swayed on her feet, but her voice was firm as she talked.

  “We had to wait until there was a distraction. Only a few miles to the west is their camp, sir.”

  “Dispostion?”

  “Sir…I…I do not know. There are thousands of those creatures, but the problem is there is a temple, sir. A pyramid, maybe forty feet tall with a red…orb? I do not know, sir, but it is from that orb that more of the creatures emerge, including that big thing that Lady Victoria slew,” Livia reported.

  “They have a constant line of reinforcements then. We will have to move forward with destroying it,” Invictam said. Livia swayed on her feet, only staying upright thanks to Invictam’s steadying hand.

  “[MEDICUS]!” Invictam’s call had one of the healers there a moment later, grabbing the scout and pulling her away in moments.

  “Sir, orders?” Cassius asked.

  “If we stay here and fight then they will grind us slowly away. Keep throwing imps and devils at us until our mana is gone. We will hold the line until Marcus’ century finishes entering the second tier, then we shall push through these abominations,” Invictam said.

  “Movement on the line!” A voice called out and pulled Invictam’s attention away from the distant area and toward the line of the forest.

  “We will have to deal with this group first, though.” There was no uncertainty in Invictam’s voice as he looked down at the racing line of imps as they rushed up and behind them coming front he forest line were three more devils, their chains dragging behind them as devourers ran behind them.

  “There should be a summoner close by, if their magic works how we think it does. We will need to kill it to stop these coordinated attacks. Lady Flavinia would be well suited for that,” Invictam said.

  Shadows bunched and shot away again, Attia having taken her place without a sound. Already another deadly arrow was shooting forth, piercing the lead devil’s chest and throwing the creature backward as Lady Victoria continued to reap her due.

  “Sir, this seems foolish,” Cassius said.

  “My actions or the enemy?” Invictam asked calmly.

  “The enemy sir. Whatever they are, they were not dumb. A small team was able to raze an entire swathe of the borderlands and then escape with most of their number intact. Their warriors are skilled infiltrators…” Cassius trailed off as his eyes looked back toward the mass charge of dark chitin and then to how Attia moved around. The shadows were roiling around them, flashes of light or flame moving them in odd ways, but Cassius’ [Hunter’s Sight] had seen how Attia moved and it pulled his attention to a line of strangely moving shadows that had slipped through the lines and grew closer to them.

  “ASSASINS!” Cassius screamed as he stabbed the superbia down in alarm. A burst of cleansing golden light flashed outward turning the world white, banishing every shadow in a hundred feet circumference. From the shadows around them forms took shape. Human-esque creatures with orange, cat-slit eyes, long braided black hair tied together with bone fragments. Long saber-like swords made of blue-black metal glistened brightly from the golden hue of the mana emanating from the superbia.

  Cassius’ sword leapt to his hand as he jumped in front of the General as the assassins moved in a blur. A tribune turned as the cry of alarm went up only to lose her head as the enemy struck. Centurions didn’t have a chance as they turned about and died in violent blurs, the assassins clearing out the officer corps in moments. Up and down the line the experienced commanders died without hope of defending themselves. Deeper in the camp there was a clash of mana and steel as the more powerful nobles fought against the killers.

  Dungeon forged steel met the strange blade and Cassius grunted with effort as he swung the killer’s sword out of the way. Invictam’s sword was in his hand and two of the assassins were in front of him, their blades making a symphony of death as they battled back and forth.

  Cassius couldn’t pay any more attention around him as he was forced back by the killer, the creature stronger than him even with his recent blessings. Its swordplay was strange, nothing like how Vira or Invictam trained with him. Its long arms were jointed in a way that made the whirlwind of slashes hard to predict and the constant running [Reinforce] was the only thing that kept his armor from falling apart as the blade slammed into Cassius’ armor in sparks of mana over and over.

  Sweat burned Cassius’ eyes as he ducked and spun as a blue blade nearly took his head. His spin turned into a slash aimed at the assassin’s knee which forced it back a step. There was a reassessing look on its face as it looked at Cassius, moving slowly in a circling motion that brought Invictam back into view. The Imperator was battling back both of his opponents, his sword nothing but a steel mirage as it hammered the killers back. Blood was running down both of the assassin's bodies, flowing and drenching their clothes as they struggled to survive.

  It kept circling Cassius, pushing Cassius to spin as well until his back was to the lines of legionnaires who were desperately trying to hold off the imp horde with their reduced commanders. Men and women were screaming as they fought and died without [Cohesion] to help hold them steady.

  Cassius’ opponent smiled, pointed teeth wide as it lifted the sword above its head, stepping forward quickly. A spear burst from its chest in a burst of mana, the killer stopping in its step as it looked down at the bloody spearpoint as Valeria put her boot on the creature’s back and shoved it to the ground. Its knees slammed into the earth, blade coming free from its hands. It looked up with wide, disbelieving eyes as Cassius whipped the dungeon forged blade around in a scything blow that freed the creature’s head from its shoulders.