The Sword and The Shadow

Magus Killer Londo

A few low-order magi rushed to the walls. They were part of the Stokian troops defending Seatide and they had studied up on some knowledge about magic cannon maintenance. They had two missions: to identify the malfunction with the cannons and determining whether they could be fixed within a short time, as well as helping the other Stokian troops weather the enemy’s charge.

“It won’t do. The internal power source has completely been ruined. There’s no way we can get them running again quickly,” concluded one magus.

“Darn! How in the world did they do it? There’s not even a single mark on these cannons! How did the fire crystals fail?” another magus asked.

“It could be that low temperatures caused them to fail. I can’t think of any other reason.”

“You’re saying these fire crystals were ruined by the ‘low temperatures’ of summer?! Stop joking around! It was so hot I couldn’t even sleep yesterday! How could the fire crystals have failed?!” The first magus refused to believe that explanation.

The second magus furrowed his brow. “How would I know?! I wasn’t the one who designed these cannons! Go ask the principal of the school if you want!”

“You!” The first magus barked angrily.

“That’s enough!” roared an officer, “There’s a time and place for arguments! The northerners are going to reach us anytime soon. Since the cannons can’t be fixed, then do something that can help us stop their attack! Darn it, why do fellows like you from the school of magic always chatter nonstop instead of doing actual work?”

The magi looked each other in the eye and wanted to punish the officer that offended them. But the sight of the masses of Hockian soldiers and the gloomy looks of the Stokian troops caused them to abandon that thought.

Arguments like these sprung up multiple times along the walls of Seatide. But no matter how dissatisfied the magi were, they didn’t let their arrogance overwhelm them when the enemy was right at their door. In the end, the magi all gathered at the walls and began to use their spells to suppress the incoming horde.

Magi were the rarest as well as the most exalted group of people in that world. Normal people feared them and impetus fighters respected them. Even the people in power saw them as valuable resources. It was so that even if a magus was taken captive in war, they wouldn’t easily be killed unless they had committed irredeemable sins. That was the unwritten rule that both empires subscribed to.

That was why, even though the magi unwillingly followed the officer’s orders, they only participated superficially, which further enraged the soldiers defending the city.

“Be more attentive! You weren’t able to kill a single person with that fireball of yours! Don’t tell me you magi aren’t even worth as much as an archer?” an officer barked.

“What’s that? Fireballs are much better at crowd control that arrows. Why don’t you step up and try?” The magus rolled his eyes and shrugged.

“You’re only participating in this passively! You’ll be court-martialed for that!”

“Then you better make sure to keep me alive before that time,” the magus smiled snidely. He whispered to the officer, “I’m a magus and even these northerners wouldn’t go too far to give me trouble. If I cooperate, they will give me good food and treat me well. But what about you? You’re just a 8th-strata warrior that just made it into the mid-order. The northerners have tons of people like you. What do you think your fate will be if you end up captive?”

“You!” The officer struggled with all his might to suppress his urge to cut the magus down. “We haven’t lost the wall yet.”

“Don’t fool yourself. The fact we’re even able to last this long is thanks to the magic cannons. But now, they’re ruined. How can a few thousand men possibly defend against an army of 60 thousand? Even fools wouldn’t dream of that happening. Also, you were the ones put in charge of guarding the cannons. Yet, almost all 50 malfunctioned. Even if we manage to keep the city, I don’t doubt that you’ll be scapegoated and beheaded. Oh, I’m sorry. I just realized that you’re doomed either way. Forgive my frankness.”

The officer quieted down. The magus was right. There was no way he could argue against that. He had served the empire so hard, but despite all that, he would still be doomed either way.

“If you reincarnate, make sure you become a magus.” He was elated to see the expression on the officer’s face.

But not long after, the look on the officer’s face vanished. He turned to the magus and plainly said, “If you reincarnate, make sure you don’t have your back against the battlefield.”

He then ducked to the side. The magus was crushed by a sudden falling rock and turned into meat paste before he could utter a sound. His lower body that remained twitched and pulsed unconsciously.

“Tch! Idiot… A low-order magus like him really thinks he’s the top of the world? Nobody cares if you’re a magus or not on the battlefield!” the officer cursed when he got up.

The rock caused quite a commotion, but that didn’t faze the warriors at all. They followed the orders of their officers like emotionless automatons, firing one arrow after another mechanically at the incoming soldiers. Two magi on the other hand saw the officer watch the magus die without helping him. Who knew what they were thinking?

The ladders were finally upon the walls. The officer drew his sword and cried, “The enemy’s about to arrive! Prepare to show these northerners our mettle!”

“Gaaaaaaaaaaagh!”

……

Londo pushed himself upward with such force that his gigantic body shot up the ladders. He used his speed to charge all the way up the walls.

“Get him!” cried the officer as he charged forward with his sword.

“I just killed an officer down there. Why did another one pop up here?” Londo furrowed his thick eyebrows and engaged five to six Stokians in a melee.

Even though Londo was outnumbered, his strength couldn’t be rivaled by the likes of them. He could even be a commander of his own regiment with his might, but his short temper and bad discipline as well as lack of wit made him unfit for that role. It was only after he met Kurdak that he managed to work his way to becoming a commander of his company.

“Gaah!” Londo let out his war cry and swung his greatsword in a circular arc, killing the approaching Stokians and that officer with one slash.

His violent sweeping helped many a Hockian soldier climb up the walls. Soon, Seatide’s defenders were at their wit’s end.

“I surrender!” one magus cried when he saw Londo charge at him.

“Surrender?! You’re going to surrender before the battle is even over?”

“I’m a magus and I request to be treated like one!” He hurriedly showed off his status.

Yet, he didn’t think that Londo’s eyes reddened at those words. He happily cut the gleeful sod’s head off and yelled, “F*ck your arrogant magus ass! Our boss was hurt thanks to you Stokian magi! I can finally get this out of my system today!”

Londo was fuming due to having not been deployed for quite some time. Not to mention, the mid-order Stokian magus who wounded Kurdak that badly was captured and enjoying the time of his life in the Hockian camp. He lived a more lavish life than Londo, apart from not having freedom of movement.

Londo had long been furious about how that matter was handled. Had it not been for Blackie, Eibron and Vera who all restrained him, he would’ve gone to General Manhattan to demand justice!

Since mid-order magi can’t be killed after being captured, I can kill the low-order ones who are attacking us, right?

Upon happening on that thought, Londo swept his eyes across the battlefield for magi. Every time he saw a robed Stokian, he charged in as if he saw a nude maiden. He had already killed three such magi on the way up the walls.

“Haha, yet another robe-wearing wuss! Show me some of your parlor tricks, would ya?” said Londo with a sinister smile to the fourth magus coming his way.

“I’m a magus. I surrender and request to be treated as a magus deserves to be!” said the man with a shaking voice.

“Don’t bring up treatment to me. The only treatment magi get from me is death!” Londo raised his greatsword high. The edge of the sword was already chipping from all the fight and the gleaming body of the blade was covered in flesh blood. It looked like a crimson tool that dealt nothing but death.

“Die!” Londo was sick of decapitating magi, so he opted to cut this guy in two from top to bottom instead.

The sword crashed downwards with unbelievable force, but a black longsword appeared out of nowhere. When the magus was waiting for his final moment, he saw the back sword flick lightly and deflect all of the momentum on Londo’s sword. The brutish man seemed to have struck a wall with his sword and almost fell backwards on his bum.