Rise of the Supreme Necromancer-Chapter 82: Battle Mages

Some bolts flew in arcs, almost like ordinary arrows. Others travelled in straight lines. They were made of the magic of all four elemental energies: there were icicles from Water energy, flaming arrows of Fire energy, arrow-shaped rocks from Earth energy, and balls of lightning from Air energy.

It was a kaleidoscope of magic that could be seen only when battle mages of the Elemental Academy were sent onto the battlefield!

"We are attacked!" someone shouted as the volley of elemental bolts rained at the marching undead fifty feet from Aleric.

He felt his undead being destroyed even before he turned to look toward the shout and the following blasts.

The magic bolts were individually weak spells, but there were dozens of them. The Fire and Air ones ignited the clothing of the zombies they struck, while the Water and Earth bolts simply hit skeletons and zombies with enough force to make fist-sized holes in both flesh and Dark magic within.

"What?!" Aleric gasped, looking from the site of the barrage to the riders in the distance. "The battle mages!"

They were still approaching the army, and looking exactly as Aleric heard them to look. Unlike templars or ordinary soldiers, the battle mages only wore the lightest armor, but had distinct clothing of each of red, yellow, blue, or purple colors.

Although it was possible to learn more than one element of magic, people from the Elemental Academy usually picked a primary one and clothing to match.

At this moment, the battle mages saw Aleric, too, and felt his Dark energy. They raised their hands, preparing their spells again and hoping to hit him.

"Laborers, take cover! Soldiers, charge these mages! Where are the archers? I need them here!" Aleric shouted to his army.

As the undead hurried to follow his orders, he raised the Spine Staff and released his own small volley of Pain bolts at the distant enemies.

Only a couple actually hit the targets moving so far away, and even they were met by shields of elemental magic created by the mages.

Aleric could feel that they were weak from the elemental energies coming from them. Most were just the first rank, with only a few, perhaps, having a second rank.

He heard that more powerful mages were usually too old to take part in battles. They preferred to sit in the Academy and teach younger generations.

At this moment, the mages finished preparing another volley of spells. Some of them tried to specifically aim for Aleric, but others saw an easier target—the supply wagons!

"They are flying! Take cover, master!" Spine Staff shouted just as Aleric directed his horse into a gallop right toward the mages. "Or... yes! A glorious charge!"

"Just shut up!"

If Aleric’s horse crushed a skeleton or two that were too slow to get out of his way, it didn’t matter.

Bolts of magic flew over his head and showered his surroundings, making Aleric duck. A bolt of fire ignited something right behind Aleric’s back.

At the same time, another part of the volley hit the wooden wagons. Two were set on fire immediately, to the alarmed screams of camp followers inside and around them.

"Extinguish the fire!" Ditrich shouted. "C’mon! Where’s all the water?! Where’s leather to cover the fire, at least?!"

Aleric’s apprentices rushed from another wagon, only to be swept away in general panic immediately, and went to hide behind it from the projectiles hitting the ground and the undead around.

The undead were swiftly crossing a distance toward the battle mages, despite their horses moving to keep a steady distance. But the mages released the next volley almost immediately after the second.

The volley flew at the charging undead. Less weakened by the distance, it hit them with the force of a dozen ballistas!

Skeletons were crushed in dozens by the force of ice and rock arrows, while zombies were almost exploded by the heat of fire and lightning bolts! The front rows of the attacking force were obliterated and thrown under the feet of those behind them.

The entire charge slowed down.

Now, Aleric reached this wave to lead it. On his horse, he was a great target, and he knew it. But he also knew that the mages needed some time to read their spells again.

He put a hand on the hilt of the Ghost Blade.

"Attack, ghost!"

"Kill... Arstain... Kill!"

The green apparition flew out of the sword toward the mages with blinding speed. The front rows didn’t have the time to react at all.

By Aleric’s order, the ghost lunged for the mages’ horses. He killed four of them in the blink of an eye just by passing through them.

The animals stumbled to the ground, rolling from their inertia and sending their riders rolling to the ground. The mages that were right behind the groups pulled on the reins of their horses, trying to turn them away before they stumbled on the corpses on the ground.

It was a growing pile of falling horses.

"Watch out! It’s a ghost—catch it!" a mage shouted.

Someone created a thin whip from pure fire and reached with it toward the ghost. It was too focused on lunging for the next ghost to react to it, and Aleric couldn’t see much in the pile of bodies ahead.

The fire whip lashed the ghost. Fire wasn’t a danger to it, but Fire energy cut through the Dark magic of the creature.

Aleric felt it immediately. Cursing, he ordered the ghost to return to the Ghost Glade.

Still, the damage was done already. To both sides.

While behind him, zombies hurriedly pulled supplies from flaming wagons, the formation of battle mages dispersed in all directions, losing their previous cohesion. They still shot spells, but not as volleys.

They released several dozen magic bolts, some aimed at the chasing undead, while others at the rest of the army. Then the mages retreated just as the archers from the front of the army finally got close enough to send their first arrows after them.

Aleric watched their retreating backs and cursed under his breath.

Then he turned around and looked back toward his army. Samuel was riding toward him, and behind him... 𝕗𝐫𝐞𝕖𝕨𝐞𝗯𝚗𝕠𝘃𝐞𝚕.𝐜𝗼𝚖

’Shit. My wagon is on fire!’