Waves of crossbow bolts fell from the sky, slowly coloring the ground around the group the color of brown wood with splashes of grey metal and white feathers. The attacks continued for a few minutes, until the three Strongfist Brothers locked eyes and finally called an end to it. Their five targets were still completely unharmed, the strong icy winds hadn’t let up in the least and caused the crossbow bolts to lose their effectiveness.

The three men and two women had smirks on their faces, mocking the Jade Horde. Then the Strongfist Brothers looked at each other and they yelled out another order. Stumblebows were lifted up once again and bolts began to fall upon the five once more. Only, this time it was different. Instead of firing in unison, the shots were staggered. Before, the three hundred archers in each Legion fired in three waves of a hundred. The bolts fell like a solid mass upon them and the five of them could bat them away with a few waves of their hand. Now, they were ordered to conserve ammunition and set to fire without any pattern.

No longer waves of crossbow bolts, it was now even more like a disordered rain. Firing in a volley was a way to attack at great distances without any care for accuracy as sheer volume could make up for it. By abandoning that tactic, each archer wasn’t firing into a pattern but aiming to hit a target. The archers were trained to fire with discipline, not with high marksmanship. They couldn’t hit a target five hundred meters away with any assurance. Even so, there were 900 Stumblebows firing. The five in the center were now being targeted by 900 different archers. The killing efficiency of the bolts dropped drastically, less of them falling on the five and only one or two coming close at a time.

The change in tactics seemed like a stupid move, but the five being fired upon realized the difference. While the threat to them had greatly reduced it also took more mental focus to defend against random and disjointed attacks. Before, they merely had to knock aside a wall of bolts every second or so, but now they had hundreds of bolts falling randomly on them and they had to stay aware for the one or two that got lucky and might hit them. They were far less threatened than before, since a single bolt wouldn’t even really harm them all that much, but they were also forced into a state of higher readiness.

The Strongfist Brothers had chosen to slowly wear down their resistance. After being constantly on guard for a few hours, they would order the advance and crush them into the ground without even having to lift their hands. Unfortunately for them, they were playing right into the hands of their enemy. The five youths were all smiling at the change, even though it put them into a more difficult position.

Time passed and the five of them continued to weather the hail of crossbow bolts with stoic looks. Sometimes they would stand there unmoving for half a minute before having to slap away a single bolt, other times they’d have to carefully deflect dozens of them falling on them one after the other in rapid succession. They even took turns taking breaks sometimes, one facing toward each legion while the two others sat and rested. In this manner nearly three hours slipped away before there was an interruption.

“Fools!”

A thunderous yell echoed across the battlefield, a wave of concussive force that rattled the shields of the Jade Horde swept across the area. The five in the center quickly turned and took defensive postures as a violent wind swept across them. They were forced back a dozen yards, their feet skidding on the ground and dispersing the piles of crossbow bolts like piles of sticks. Everyone’s attention was drawn to the source of the yell, a stormy figure standing atop Lionheart Town’s high wall. He was wearing armor in the style of the Jade Horde, just like everyone else, but with far more elaborate gold embellishments. Hoplite helmets had cut-outs where their black hair would sprout from, usually mohawks and high ponytails. The human soldiers had crests of brown, while the Seven Star’s crests were a stark white. With only the three white crests on the field at this time, they were eye-catching. At least until the new arrival showed up with a crest of shiny gold bristles.

The middle-aged man stood atop the wall, showing off his highly elaborate armor decorations, and glaring down at the three Strongfist Brothers. He pulled a bar shaped object a yard long off of his back and then he shook it and it unfurled into the shape of a half-circle. He tossed up the giant folding fan and then landed on it, riding it into the air and around the edge of the battlefield to the oldest of the Strongfist Brothers. As he moved, the other two brothers realized they’d done something wrong and they flew over on their Vulture Geckos to join the meeting. In the meanwhile, the bolts continued to fall upon the five in the center. The Jade Horde’s discipline was extreme, even with their leader admonishing them, they wouldn’t stop without receiving the order.

“You oafs! Even the three of you together can’t match up to a goat. Ugh!”

The three brothers were used to getting insulted by this man, so they thought nothing of it. They’d once feared him, but quickly realized it was just the man’s style and also how valuable they were for their strength. They said nothing in return, another lesson they’d learned. Even if he constantly belittled them, as long as they didn’t talk back then they’d never be in trouble.

“Idiots! You’ve decided to wear them down slowly, but can’t you see that they’re just buying time? It’s not a bad tactic on its own, but if it is what the enemy wishes for, it is always best not to give it to them!”

The man glared at all three brothers and they nodded, only now realizing what had been happening. Why weren’t the five enemies attacking them back? Now it all fits.

“Go, take the cavalry to harass them while the troops advance.”

There were orders yelled and the man was left standing alone atop his fan while the three brothers returned to their Legions and led hundreds of winged silver lizards into the sky. The Stumblebows stopped firing and the front line of the Jade Horde retreated backwards. They joined up the formations behind them, stepping into the Million Scale Shell Formation and empowering it further. It left gaps in their line between the spiraling arms, but they were also completely shielded behind a defensive formation. The Jade Horde started to march, tightening the walls around the five in the center. As they moved the six hundred flying beasts flew overhead, launching bolts from above as they circled the five from a hundred yards out. Each of the cavalry was armed with a Stumblebow and a true Storage Magazine. They didn’t have to stop to reload every dozen bolts like the normal archers and their mounts were trained to handle the shift in weight from the reloading process, each time only causing them to dip down a few feet between shots.

Only, the Jade Horde weren’t the only ones to change tactics. Seeing the sudden shift, the five youths showed their teeth. They weren’t just going to let the flying cavalry pin them down while the soldiers tightened their noose. Juzui, the most weary of them, swung his sword and dispelled the blizzard in the air. He had been maintaining a single technique for hours and now he had the chance to step back. Baozhai, the leggy redhead, stepped close to Juzui, using her body to deflect the bolts coming towards him. The other female, in the black catsuit, stood to Juzui’s other side to make sure nothing else slipped past.

The other two, Jiyao and Tujiu, leapt to counterattack. That black bladed saber appeared in Jiyao’s hand again and he swung it towards the advancing troops, releasing long waves of cutting force. The black arcs were invisible to those they were moving towards and the soldiers of the Jade Horde were struck by attacks they couldn’t perceive. Many of the glowing energy scales were shattered by each wave, and the rapid follow up attacks passed through the gap before the scales could reform. Having learned from his previous encounter, Jiyao would make two quick swipes, cutting the scales and then another to smash against the Jade Horde’s shields. The injuries he caused weren’t deadly, but they were many. The scales cracked, then the front row would take an impact against their shields. The hits damaged their shields and knocked them back, but they were disciplined and very few extremities were exposed.

Tujiu on the other hand, took to the skies. The large hairless fellow wielded a large silver hafted spear and he stabbed the flat base into the ground. Then he leaned in forward and hopped up onto it. One hand held it near the tip, one foot rested atop it near the middle and the other hooked underneath it near the base. The spear was pointed at a 45 degree angle with the ground and he was balancing atop it. Just then, with a violet explosive sound, a burst of flame erupted from the base of the spear and launched Tujiu into the air. Like a rocket, the flames erupted from the spear, creating a tight spiral behind him as he rode the spear into the air. He approached the nearest group of Vulture Geckos too fast for them to react and the rocketing flame suddenly died. The spear slid into his hands and he stabbed it forward. Energy swirled through his meridians and blasted outwards, a vortex of flame formed in front of him and blasted towards the flying cavalrymen like a lance made of fire.