"Vanguard has engaged the enemy!"
The roar coming from the communication stone carried a trace of panic, making the hearts of the other "Spell Jaegers" tighten.
And those three Heavy Armor Sergeants who had charged up confidently were now suffering the greatest setback of their lives.
In front of those three Saxon tin cans who had been buffed with "Bull's Strength," they were simply like toys casually manipulated by the opponent.
"Target seems to have upcast [Enhance Ability], buffed 3 targets, confirmed to be at least a Tier-4 mage!"
"Attention! He just added a [Magic Weapon]!"
Listening to the nervous reports coming from the communication stone, "Pops," who was bounding quickly between craters, didn't pause his steps at all, but his brain was running at high speed.
"Tier-4..."
"Pops" pressed his hand on the edge of the trench, vaulted neatly into the muddy communication trench, and fired a shot at a Saxon private who had just thrust his bayonet through a Britannian soldier's chest.
"Bang!"
The enchanted bullet precisely drilled into the young soldier's forehead, bringing up a mist of blood.
Having completed the shot, "Pops" ejected the casing and reloaded, trying to keep himself pressed tightly against the trench wall while rapidly calculating Morin's spell slots in his mind.
According to the growth model of a conventional mage, a standard Tier-4 mage, depending on their spellcaster level, usually has a spell slot configuration in one of three structures: "4-3-3-1," "4-3-3-2," or "4-3-3-3."
But that is for ordinary mages.
For an enemy who could become a Tier-4 mage at such a young age, held a not-so-low status in the Saxon army, and had previously killed multiple mages on their side, one absolutely could not use common sense to deduce.
Who knew if this guy had magical equipment that increased spell slots on him?
Considering that the Saxon Empire's development in this area was basically backward, "Pops" overestimated the enemy and added one to each tier of Morin's spell slots.
"Adding 4 spell slots, this isn't some ordinary magical equipment even in the Empire... Based on '5-4-4-4', or even more."
This estimated result also made Pops feel somewhat pessimistic, because this meant the opponent currently had very abundant firepower in hand, absolutely not the kind of traditional mage who would be spent after throwing three [Fireball]s.
"All Team A members, attention. The target is somewhat tricky, bring out everything at the bottom of your boxes!"
"Roger!"
Meanwhile, the battle situation in the trench was already showing a one-sided trend.
Those three General's Guard soldiers buffed with [Enhance Ability] by Morin were pressing the Britannian Heavy Armor Sergeants into the mud like bulldozers, looking like they could beat these three to death alive in the trench.
"Control them! Restrict their movement!"
Two "Spell Jaegers" who had just rushed to the edge of the trench and saw this scene reacted extremely fast. They knew very well that once those three red-eyed Saxon barbarians broke through the Heavy Armor Sergeants' defense line, they would be very troublesome to deal with themselves.
The two almost simultaneously reached into the casting material pouches inside their robes, grabbed a small pinch of sticky spider web, and then violently threw it forward.
The incantation was brief and rapid.
[Web]
The magic in the air instantly condensed. Two grayish-white, sticky, glue-like giant spider webs appeared out of thin air, accurately covering the heads of those three rampaging General's Guard soldiers.
This kind of magical spider web was not only exceptionally tough but also extremely sticky.
The originally unstoppable charge of the three guard soldiers was instantly halted. Their hands and feet were entangled layer upon layer by spider silk, like brown bears falling into a trap; the more they struggled, the tighter the spider silk wrapped.
"Damn it! What the hell is this thing!"
One of the General's Guard soldiers roared, trying to tear the bindings on his arms with brute force.
And under the buff of [Bull's Strength], those tough magical spider silks actually made "snap-snap" breaking sounds.
"Their strength is too great! The web can't trap them for long!"
The expressions of the two casting "Spell Jaegers" changed.
Under normal circumstances, an infantry unit hit by the Web spell actually had a very troublesome time breaking free and could only be slaughtered.
But the strength of these three monsters was simply unreasonable. At this rate, they could break free in at most ten more seconds.
"Ignite! Burn them to death!"
A flash of sharp light crossed the eyes of another Jaeger nearby.
This was the most classic combo in the "Spell Jaeger" dictionary—Web combined with fire spells.
Magical spider webs are highly flammable. Once ignited, they will cause continuous and intense fire damage to the targets trapped inside.
The two mages quickly raised their hands, their fingertips lighting up with dazzling red light.
Cantrip—[Fire Bolt]!
Two orange-red lines of fire whistled out, accurately hitting those two balls of spider web that were still being continuously torn.
"Boom!"
Flames instantly rose.
The dry magical spider silk was simply the best accelerant. The firelight swallowed the figures of those three guard soldiers in the blink of an eye.
Before screams could even sound, a thunderous gunshot exploded a step ahead.
"Bang!"
The double-barreled shotgun in Morin's hand spewed deadly tongues of fire again.
He had completed reloading the instant he saw the opponent pull out the spider web, but was still half a second late.
Since he couldn't put out the fire, he would take out the people setting the fire.
An enchanted slug, at a distance of less than twenty meters, smashed into the chest of that mage who had just released [Fire Bolt].
The [Mage Armor] previously buffed on that Jaeger instantly lit up, attempting to block this fatal blow.
That layer of transparent force field shield rippled with a violent circle in the air. If it were an ordinary rifle bullet, it might really have been blocked.
But this was a heavy slug used by nobles to hunt bears and wild boars, and the gift Cecilia chose for Morin was obviously not just for show either.
Not to mention it carried the spell damage of [Magic Weapon] cast with an upcast spell slot...
"Crack."
That layer of force field shield was like glass hit by a hammer, instantly shattering.
The huge lead bullet, carrying its remaining kinetic energy, drilled into that Jaeger's chest without any hindrance. Amidst his terrified gaze, it churned his chest cavity into a mass of pulp.
"Thud."
The corpse fell backward stiffly, the large hole in its chest still emitting scorched black smoke.
Having succeeded with one strike, Morin did not pause at all.
The instant he fired, he had already adjusted the muzzle using the recoil, and the second bullet followed closely out of the chamber.
The target was the other mage who released Fire Bolt.
But this mage was a veteran, or some intuition for danger saved him.
The instant blood splashed from his companion's chest, he almost subconsciously abandoned his original tactical movement, rolled to the side with wretched motion, and dove headfirst into the communication trench beside him.
"Whoosh—"
The slug grazed his scalp and flew past, hitting the dirt wall behind and splashing up a large plume of dirt.
Morin frowned. Although somewhat regretful, he didn't linger in combat.
He knew very well that although he took out another one in that instant clash, the three "Plate Armor Supermen" on his side were currently on fire.
If he didn't figure out a way, even if they didn't burn to death, they would lose combat capability due to high temperatures and burns.
He had to find a way to put out the fire for them first.
With a thought from Morin, the [Misty Step] loaded in the Tier-2 spell slot was instantly activated.
Normally, this spell is used for short-distance teleportation to let the spellcaster escape danger.
But in Morin's understanding, this spell that leaves a cloud of silvery-white mist at the original position and along the movement path had long become his signature "offensive spell."
Morin's figure instantly blurred in place. The next second, his whole body turned into a silver-gray stream of light. He didn't choose to flee backward but did the opposite, charging directly toward those three balls of blazing spider webs.
"Sizzle!!"
It was like throwing a red-hot branding iron into ice water.
As Morin's figure passed through, the originally raging flames were completely extinguished the instant they came into contact with that silver mist.
Only a few wisps of black smoke were still rising unwillingly.
Using [Misty Step] to extinguish fire was also one of the "spell tricks" developed by Morin.
In the world before his transmigration, in a certain case-opening simulator game (CS:GO), there was a mechanic of using smoke grenades to extinguish fire (molotovs/incendiary grenades).
So one day during training when he was bored, Morin wondered if he could use smoke to extinguish fire just like in CS:GO.
And this magical mist generated by [Misty Step] had an extremely high density and complex composition—mostly containing inert gases like carbon dioxide and nitrogen.
So it really could instantly crowd out the oxygen in the space, achieving the effect of extinguishing flames...
At the same time, Morin's figure did not stop after passing through the flames but teleported directly behind the other corner of the trench.
Along the path he passed, those clouds of silvery-white smoke also rapidly expanded.
In the blink of an eye, this section of the trench, more than thirty meters long, was completely filled with dense, pitch-black silvery-white smoke.
Everyone's line of sight was obscured.
The Saxon soldiers and Britannian soldiers who were just shooting and bayoneting each other instantly lost all targets before their eyes, leaving only an expanse of white, dead silence.
The gunfire stopped.
The shouts of killing also stopped.
This section of the trench seemed to have the pause button pressed at this moment.
Only some violent coughing sounds from soldiers and the crisp sounds of weapons and equipment colliding appeared exceptionally clear in the smoke.
"Don't move recklessly! Everyone back-to-back! On alert!"
"Pops's" voice also sounded in the squad communication stone, carrying a trace of unconcealable unease.
He held his gun, trying to find a target through the smoke, but there was only an expanse of white nothingness inside.
"Interesting..."
"Pops" narrowed his eyes, his finger resting lightly on the trigger.
"Is this your tactic... turning everyone blind, wanting to completely muddy the waters?"
Everyone in the smoke seemed to hold their breath, and this smoke enveloping the trench also seemed to isolate the sounds of gunfire and artillery from the outside world.
A "Spell Jaeger" held his rifle and carefully pressed against the trench wall, moving toward the direction Morin just disappeared, trying to catch some movement to judge the target's specific location...
Only to hear a crisp, scalp-numbing "Crack!", sounding behind him.
That was the sound of a double-barreled shotgun breaking open its barrels, ejecting casings, and reloading.
In this dead silent white world, this sound was like the Grim Reaper sharpening his scythe.