The army was charging, keeping the formation intact with minimal blind spot. The soldiers were eager to finally get into combat. The last few hours had been tasking for them, and they wanted to vent their accumulated resentment.

When the soldiers got neared the ten meters wide hole in the wall, they were forced to stop. Between the hole, 100 golems blocked their path with weapons on hands. They were a bit different than what had been ambushing them before, looking larger than normal.

“Don’t be fret! There are only a hundred of them!” Knight Roderic stood in front of the army, and he shouted in a loud voice, “Razel Knights, follow me to lead the charge!”

““Sir, yes sir!!”” The 200 knights readied their weapons, swiftly followed their commander from behind.

Every knight in there was at least a 5th rank Knight Apprentice, fifty of them were even an official Knight. One could see how strong this group was. Even without Knight Roderic in equation, they alone were enough to fight a 10,000 troops army without much issue.

However, when they were about 5 meters away from the 100 golems, something unexpected happened. From the top of the wall, five black-robed figures appeared and cast fireballs to the ground between them. Naturally, they didn’t care too much for such measly spells, but what their commander said startled them.

“Hurry and get back! This is a trap!” Knight Roderic drove his Aura power to its full potential.

Boom! Boom! Boom!

Big explosions emerged from the ground, blasting the earth hard everywhere. Twenty or so of the weaker knights near the explosion were thrown flying, most of them died in that explosion. If it wasn’t for Knight Roderic’s quick action, most of the knights would have died right there and then. Yet the explosion left the 100 golems with no scratch whatsoever. The reason was none other than a transparent shield that appeared between them.

“My men! This… Hmm…? A powder?” Knight Roderic rubbed the grains between his fingers but didn’t pay it much mind. “In any case, you dare to kill the Knights of Razel? You’ll pay for this.”

Just then, Head Court Magician Arnold came towards him and called out, “What with that explosion just now? You couldn’t even take care of a hundred golems… Huh…?”

The head court magician was stunned when he glanced at the five black-robed figures. Five of them, especially the one with the skull staff was his apprentice — Jevior Houston.

“Houston! What’s the meaning of this?” Head Court Magician Arnold’s glare grew cold.

Despite the deathly stare directed to him, the black-robed figure didn’t say a word. He ignored him and started to cast another fireball spell to the head court magician. The fireball got extinguished before it could reach 3 meters from him, though. Still, it became a signal for the golems to start firing.

“Good, good, good! So, this is how you’re going to repay me? You ungrateful brat!” Head Court Magician Arnold started chanting a spell and aimed it at him, “{Darkness Spear Bomb}! Huh…? A mana interference area?”

Head Court Magician Arnold’s face remained calm in the face of the rain of bullets that were targeting his head. The bullets passed through his body and he disappeared just like before. Then, a darkness spear was launched from somewhere and shook the transparent shield.

“Hmph! Did you think that a normal mana interference area able to neutralize my magic? A Great Dark-Elementalist such as myself? It seems that I hadn’t taught you enough, Houston.” Smirking, Head Court Magician Arnold yelled out, “Break for me!”

Boom! Boom! Boom!

Within the 100 golems, explosion appeared one after another as the boxes they held exploded. Finding that the restriction of mana in the surrounding disappeared, he continued to cast dozens of {Darkness Spear Bomb} and many other destructive spells.

The rain of spells broke more of the wall, thus the shield — unable to hold any longer — got destroyed. Despite having cast dozens of spells, only a trace of exhaustion showed on the head court magician's face. It didn't seem that he was bothered expending that much mana.

Finding that this was a chance, Knight Roderic roared out, “Men! The shield has been breached. This is our chance! Charge with me!”

““Ooohhhh!!!””

This time the soldiers voiced out a murderous roar. The resentment from the constant attacks of the enemy had piled up and now it burst out. Just like a volcano that exploded, the soldiers charged and followed their commander, bursting out with killing intent and bloodlust.

The golems didn’t stay silent, however, they fired their weapons and killing dozens of soldiers in an instant. Even though Roderic’s Aura power and the leading official Knights blocked most of it, the rest still managed to penetrate and cause casualties among the army. Yet, it only took three seconds before they began clashing.

The more or less 180 remaining knights started exchanging blows with the 100 golems. Although the golems were numerically disadvantageous in this clash, they were able to keep up with the 180 knights without much issue. The golems — while firing — keep the knights at bay by using electric spear and retreating, little by little.

If it weren’t for the official Knights and Knight Roderic keeping the advantage, the knights might have lost out in this clash. Nevertheless, when the rest of the soldiers joined the fray, the golems were overwhelmed and forced to swiftly retreat. However, the equilibrium was brought back by the sudden support of smaller flying golems giving fire support.

In the end, one by one, the sturdy and durable golems were destroyed by the stronger knights. The other only able to give a slight push on the momentum, their weapons couldn't damage them in the least. Luckily it didn't take long for the golems to be pushed passed the wall.

The golems were pushed back, Roderic and the others are winning. Why the legacy holder isn't coming out? Did he run away or… this is a trap? Hmm… this mana interference… it's weak and it's coming from… Damn, so this is what they’re aiming for! I should have known it. The head court magician vanished when he thought that.

The Court Magicians’ Perspective

Near the dozen or so Magic Cannons, the 100 court magicians were still adamantly protecting the place. Although the army was clashing intensively with the golems, they didn't bother to help them. It was as if it would lower their standing if they did so.

“Vice head, should we support them?”

“Hmm…? There’s no need,” the vice head explained as he looked into the distant, “Head Court Magician Arnold told us to stay in this place and guard the Magic Cannons. As for why he acts himself, he must have some agenda in hand.”

"Is that so? Well, as long as we have the head court magician with us, no one in the surrounding country would dare to face him head-on."

Later, they continued to guard the place, feeling sure that victory was already on hand. However, the vice head's unexpected warning brought them back to alert, “Cast defensive spells! And get away from the surrounding ground!”

Suddenly, hundreds of golems sprung up from the ground and fired the strange weapons on their hand. Thanks to the swift defensive spells being cast before, only several weaker Magus Apprentices were killed and dozens of others being injured. One could see that the court magicians had good cooperation.

“Cast blunt offensive spells! Focus the spells on one target at a time!” The vice head commanded with expertise; he knew that those golems were very hard and elemental spells were ineffective.

But what met their expectations next, gave horror to their own being. They couldn't even cast a single spell; it was as if their power were being stripped away. Only the ten official Magus barely able to cast spells that were weaker than normal.

“What’s going on? This… this is... mana interference area! How could it be this strong?” Not wasting any more time, the vice head chanted out spells, “{Earth Wall}, {Earth Wall}, {Earth Wall}.”

Three 5-meters-tall, 30-meters-wide walls emerged from the ground and surrounded the golems in all directions, making a triangle shape. From the spells that the vice head used, it was obvious that he was an Earth-Elementalist. Although he couldn't escape the mana interference completely — as a pinnacle Earth-Elementalist — his mana reserve was big.

Still, all of this was for naught. The golems were able to jump very high and scaled the wall easily. Even though the court magicians were hastily getting away, they were shot and killed one after another. If it wasn't for the ten official Magus that were spamming spells one after another to hold the golems, all the Magus Apprentices would have died.

Luckily, they managed to get away in time and only received small casualties. Surprisingly, however, the golems didn't follow them and instead went for the Magic Cannons. When they reached the Magic Cannons, the golems took one of them to the hole which they came from and destroyed the rest.

“Insolent bastard! They are destroying the Magic Cannons!”

“This… so their targets were the Magic Cannons all along.” The vice head’s face turned grim and then crimson out of rage.

The Magic Cannons were the Dukedom’s national treasure, there were only so many of them in the Dukedom. When this news got into the Grand Duke’s ear, he would be angry without exception.