Chapter 386: Fierce Battle
"These major villains are so used to being the final boss that they always prefer to show up last. They truly don't value the lives of their minions."
Lynn drew Aerondight and raised it high above his head. "Everyone, let us fight together and drive this remnant that does not belong to our world out of our lands!"
The Elder God Dagon, though not physically present, seemed to hear Lynn's defiant words. Another earth-shaking roar erupted, but this time, since Tissaia was prepared, no one suffered from the psychic shock.
This roar served as a charging horn, and the Fallen Mermen surged forward across the lake's surface in a dark, overwhelming mass. The scene was vast. They say when a thousand men gather, they can blot out the sun, and when ten thousand gather, they are endless. The Fallen Mermen surrounding the group likely numbered in the tens of thousands.
If that number were merely on paper, it might seem commonplace, but only when standing on the battlefield could one truly appreciate the suffocation and oppression of that scale. The horde seemed to have no end, appearing utterly infinite. If an ordinary human army were facing these mermen, signs of flagging morale would already be appearing.
Lynn carried Aerondight and strode to the outer shallows. "Geralt, Regis, Dettlaff, let's take the shallows outside and protect the sorceresses."
Those he called stepped out, but Mousesack also followed, leaning on his oak staff. "Lynn, don't leave me out. I'm not so frail yet."
Lynn nodded in acknowledgment to the druid, then addressed the sorceresses.
"Ladies Marguerite and Yennefer, prepare the large defensive wards."
"Ladies Tissaia and Triss, I leave the long-range supportive fire to you."
Lynn had gathered everyone, and in the prior war council, he had been confirmed as the overall commander for this operation. The sorceresses immediately obeyed his orders and began to act.
Marguerite and Yennefer chanted spells, activating the ward they had previously set. A translucent, milky-white shield rose, enveloping the entire altar. However, the sorceresses deliberately left a gap in the shield at the shallows where Lynn and the others stood. This was done to relieve pressure on the barrier. Seeing a clear opening, the Fallen Mermen would naturally rush toward the shallows defended by Lynn's group. Only the mermen unable to reach the shallows would attack the shield, which would allow the defensive ward to hold for much longer.
As for Tissaia and Triss, they began casting their respective spells. Powerful magic slammed into the densest areas of the Mermen horde. Massive numbers of Fallen Mermen were either scorched by fire or frozen into ice sculptures, only to shatter into pieces upon collision with their advancing comrades. On the mermen's path, vast numbers of them died every moment, staining even the pitch-black lake water crimson.
However, the sheer quantity of these mermen was overwhelming, and they possessed a terrifying disregard for death. A human army would have suffered a total collapse of morale under such a frightening magical bombardment, but the Elder God's thralls continued to advance, trampling over the corpses of their own kind.
Just as they were about to charge onto the shallows and make contact with Lynn's group...
Lynn pulled out a Higher Northern Wind bomb and shouted to the others, "Prepare the bombs!"
During the ride on Tissaia's ice ship, Lynn had distributed the alchemy bombs he had worked overtime to create over the past few days. It was only reasonable to launch one or more rounds of alchemy bombs before engaging in melee.
The others also took out their Higher Northern Wind bombs, gripping them tightly. As soon as Lynn gave the command to throw, they hurled the bombs in unison.
While the Fallen Mermen could move on the lake's surface, alchemical bombs like the Devil's Puffball or Dragon's Dream would be less effective. Thus, the Northern Wind bomb was the best choice.
The Northern Wind bomb's explosion brought no fire or smoke, but a sudden drop in temperature and a surge of ice, freezing both the lake water and the mermen. The spreading cold rivaled the large-scale ice magic of a high-level sorcerer. Every Fallen Merman that stepped onto the shallows was instantly transformed into a lifelike ice sculpture, and even the lake water just beyond the shallows was frozen solid.
But the ice sculptures didn't last long. The mermen that followed relentlessly charged, either smashing the obstacles with their bodies or clearing them away with their spears, paying no mind to the shattered pieces of their comrades.
"Kill!"
Lynn and the others clashed with the Fallen Mermen that had rushed onto the shallows. Geralt swung his two-handed sword into a whirlwind, and every merman who dared to challenge him fell under his blade. These mermen were enemies of all sentient races, and Geralt held nothing back.
Regis and Dettlaff transformed into twin plumes of black mist. The mists showed no human shape, nor did they reveal fangs or claws, yet simply flying past the mermen resulted in death or grievous injury for the thralls.
In comparison, the old man, Mousesack, appeared easy to deal with. Several mermen rushed him. They quickly realized their mistake. Mousesack's staff work was comparable to Gandalf's, and the druid occasionally released instantaneous druidic spells whose destructive power was no less than that of Geralt, the White Wolf.
But the most ferocious of the group had to be Lynn. He was like Sauron in the first Lord of the Rings film, wielding the massive, dragon-slaying greatsword Aerondight in a seamless defense. Every time he swung the huge sword, a swath of Fallen Mermen was swept away, leaving behind a gory trail of flesh and bone. The sight was utterly terrifying.
Despite the gap in the shield at the shallows, the Fallen Mermen could not breach the defenses there. Instead, the pile of corpses grew higher and higher. Mermen trying to attack the shield from other directions found that no matter how hard they struck, the surface of the ward only rippled, holding firm.
The sorceresses Marguerite and Yennefer took turns channeling their magical power to maintain the stability of the defensive ward. To further ease their pressure, Tissaia and Triss continuously cast magic at the mermen surrounding the shield, using fire and frost to reduce their numbers.
The fierce battle raged from midday until evening. The numbers of the Fallen Mermen drastically diminished. The lake surface grew deep crimson, littered with floating corpses.
.............
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