Over a thousand warriors of the Foreign Tribes were surging across the Border River.
Most appeared to be Ogrekin or Lizardmen, but to Rest’s eyes, a significant number looked perfectly human.
"They’re using magic? That isn't what I heard."
Rest’s brow furrowed in suspicion as the warriors shimmered into existence like mirages in previously empty space. According to everything he had been told, while the Foreign Tribes possessed powerful physiques, wings, scales, and shells, they were fundamentally inept at magic.
"And yet... that’s some high-level spellcraft."
They had been invisible until now. It had to be a form of optical camouflage—bending and shifting light to mask their presence from the naked eye.
"How could a race supposedly poor at magic pull off something so advanced?"
Doubt gnawed at him, but Rest pushed the question aside and took aim at the monsters pouring across the border.
"Fireball! Amplification! Compression! Accelerator!"
A chorus of agonized screams tore through the air as the compressed fireball struck. He had hurled the orb like a high-yield bomb, and the resulting explosion sent a massive pillar of fire roaring into the sky. A single spell had sent scores of the invaders flying.
"They’re tough, though. And their morale is oddly high."
Despite the devastating blast, the warriors didn't flinch. They continued their relentless charge toward the fortress. The soldiers atop the walls were attempting to fight back with arrows and their own magic, but their defense was weakened; they were far too distracted by the Winged Race circling overhead to focus effectively on the ground forces.
As the seconds ticked by, the invaders drew closer and closer to the base of the walls.
"I see. This is trouble. This surprise attack was much better planned than I expected."
The Winged Race attacked from the clouds to serve as a distraction. Then, while the defenders were looking up, the main force used magic to vanish and strike from the ground. It was a nested trap—a double-layered surprise. If Rest hadn't been there to notice the invisible army, the fortress would have fallen into their snare perfectly.
"I'd better deal with the ones above first!"
Rest worked quickly to construct a new sequence.
"Wind Ball! Amplification! Compression...!"
Just as he had done with his fire magic, he amplified and compressed a sphere of wind, then used Barrier Arts to seal the volatile energy inside. He repeated the process several times until he had created a singular, massive 'Wind Bomb.'
"I won't use Kagutsuchi. I promised I wouldn't, and I’d risk catching my own allies in the blast."
But wind was a different story. Carefully adjusting the output, he launched the Wind Bomb toward the heavens.
"Take this! Shinatsuhiko!"
As the orb reached the altitude of the clouds, Rest released the barrier. The massive volume of atmosphere trapped within detonated outward. A violent shockwave rippled through the sky, swatting the Winged Race out of the air like flies.
"Whoa...!"
"What was that!? Where did that wind come from!?"
A powerful downdraft slammed into the fortress below, but on the ground, it was merely a fierce gust. It carried none of the lethal force that had just pulverized the Winged Race at point-blank range. One by one, the aerial attackers plummeted to the earth, smashed against the hard ground.
"Good. That deals with the ones above."
Now he could focus his full attention on the enemies outside the walls. They were much closer now, but that only placed them in the ideal range for his magic.
"I'll wipe you all out at once! Thunderstorm!"
He unleashed the high-tier spell. Bolts of lightning cascaded from the sky, striking the heads of the Foreign Tribes as they reached the base of the wall. Dozens of warriors were consumed by the lightning in an instant.
"Fire the arrows! Keep the spells coming!"
"Don't let them latch onto the walls! They're trying to climb!"
"Knock them down! Don't let a single one inside!"
The other soldiers were finally rallying to meet the ground assault. The enemy’s momentum was terrifying, but it looked as though they might actually hold. Rest allowed himself a brief moment of hope.
"Wait..."
But as the saying goes, misfortune often strikes just as things look brightest.
The anomaly wasn't over. Indeed, it was only after the hope of victory had blossomed that the true shadow of the attack emerged.
"The gate... it's opening!?"
Suddenly, the massive, bolted doors of the fortress swung wide. They hadn't been smashed open by an external ram or a powerful spell. Someone had opened them from the inside.
"Get in here! Move it!"
A handful of soldiers clad in the armor and helms of the Aiwood Kingdom Army stood just outside the open gate, shouting and waving to the Foreign Tribes. As if they had been waiting for this exact signal, the surging warriors changed direction and converged on the entrance.
"Damn it!" Rest snarled, his stomach dropping.
He had completely overlooked the possibility. It was a tactic as old as war itself, a stratagem used and discarded a thousand times over throughout history. The Foreign Tribes had planted spies inside the fortress beforehand to wait for the raid, then ordered them to open the gates at the height of the chaos.
It wasn't a complex strategy. It was a basic, common-sense move used in countless sieges.
(But I didn't see it coming. I was so busy looking at the Winged Race in the sky and the army crossing the river... I didn't have the mental capacity to worry about enemies already inside the walls!)
He had been completely outplayed. He didn't know how much of this the enemy had calculated, but he had fallen head-first into their trap.
A thunderous war cry erupted from a thousand throats.
"What—!? Who opened the doors!?"
"They're inside! The Foreign Tribes are inside!"
Before the defenders could even attempt to regroup, the warriors of the Foreign Tribes poured through the open gate. In an instant, the interior of the fortress became a chaotic crucible, a bloody melee where friend and foe were indistinguishable in the fray.