It's a Trap

"HAAAAAH!" Thousands of soldiers and warriors shouted a war cry at once and jumped over the stone wall surrounding the capital, stepping over the burnt corpses of monsters and turning the living ones into history.

They rushed over the defensive line like a wave, screaming and shouting, and punching, and kicking, and stabbing monsters.

A group of mages formed a line behind them, on each side of the wall, with their spells powering up and flying above the soldiers' heads like fireworks.

***

"Woah… That's a lot of mages," Kerius said absentmindedly and quietly whistled.

"Yeah," Gerald agreed as his Magic Eyes took it all in, every fluctuation and swirl of Mana that formed a spell. "I never realized how weak they were…"

"Excuse me?!"

"What are you talking about, just look at all that power! How can you call it weak?"

"Hmm…" Gerald didn't answer. Instead, he squinted his eyes and looked into the distance. "It seems like I'll have to help after all… They actually fell for such an obvious trick. Sigh, such a pain…"

Without another word he rose from the ground and flew above all the carnage across the battlefield towards the other side.

You could say what you want about the monsters; They were cruel, ugly, stupid… But one thing they all excelled at was battle. They knew how to fight, although it might not seem like it at times.

The two armies clashed with the monsters, from the front, and the back squashing them in the middle like bugs.

And after a harsh struggle that went on for quite some time, and after victory was in their grasp, the actions of those wild beasts changed. The transformation was so swift that almost nobody had time to react.

Instead of fighting weak Goblins and Hobgoblins, powerful Orcs took to the front lines and held them there, not budging an inch.

The two armies cut through the sea of monsters in an attempt to cross it, but now they were cut off from both sides. The monsters encircled them and pushed them back forming a wall of flesh around them.

And with Orc Warriors at the front, most human soldiers could do nothing but retreat or be slaughtered. They were pushed back and squeezed like sardines in a can and could barely breathe, let alone move.

That's when the skies turned red and fire started to rain upon them.

Orc Shamans lifted their staves to the sky and started lobbing Fireballs, one after the other, upon helpless men. The latter could only watch as the blaze took hold around them and the once cheerful and confident armies quickly started screaming in horror.

Even the usually cheerful expression of general Ulrich turned grim. He was surrounded by his best soldiers on horseback, but despite their great skill in battle, their hands were tied.

"Damn it! These beasts, we fell into a trap!" the general cursed. The trusted lance in his hand was completely useless in this situation and he couldn't help but feel frustrated.

"General, father, if this goes on any longer we will be wiped out!" a man riding beside him said. "Apart from a miracle happening, our best option is to break through the back and retreat. We will have to sacrifice many good men, but we can't just perish here!"

General Ulrich Aust ground his teeth in anger, not willing to abandon his loyal men. But he also didn't see any better options, so…

"Damn it! I knew it was going too smoothly! Truly, apart from a miracle…"

***

"Yes, yes, stop screaming already, I'm coming!" Gerald grumbled.

Boom! Boom! Boom!

Fireballs kept falling on the soldiers below, seemingly without end. At least a few hundred Orc Shamans were gathered all around the encirclement, bombarding the human soldiers into oblivion when suddenly, the sky started to shine.

Gerald stood in the air with an expressionless face. His Mana reserves were currently less than half full so he couldn't afford to be wasteful.

Countless scrolls appeared all around him and unfurled themselves at his command.

The parchment turned to Fireballs in no time at all and descended towards the ground in a cone formation. They each struck their target accurately and all at the same time.

His action was so sudden and unexpected that the horde of Orc Warriors and Shamans didn't have time to react. They were engulfed in hellish flames in an instant which disrupted their coordinated attack and made them spread out in panic.

Humans, desperate for survival, took that opportunity and jumped at the chance to fight back. Warriors and soldiers gripped their weapons and started fighting with the beasts as if their lives depended on it.

Then again, they kinda did.

"Are you good?" Gerald shouted a question at nobody in particular.

Clearly, the answer was a resounding, "No!"

The Orcs immediately turned around and continued beating down on human fighters as per ussual. The battle once again turned in their favor.

Gerald released a long sigh and expended quite a bit of his precious Mana and created hundred-meter long thorny barricades out of solid rock. It did wonders to slow down the fight and give some space for his people to lend a hand.

The few guys and girls capable of magic cast some spells from afar and killed one or two of the monsters with combined efforts. It didn't really make a difference, but it was something at least.

It increased the morale of the fighters if nothing else. And high morale was especially important in such tough situations.

The rest of the mages quickly exhausted their energy and their usefulness decreased significantly.

***

"Who is that?!" Ulrich shouted and pointed at the figure in the sky with his lance. "Is that another one of Robart's elites? Where is he hiding the rest?!"