Return of the Mythic Bloodline-Chapter 387: Reinforcements

In an instant, shadows appeared on the faces of Banes’ army as the sky filled with thousands of arrows.

"Barbatos!" Titan ordered without slowing his pace.

"Leave it to me," Barbatos replied. He was riding on a horse beside Aethon just behind Titan.

From his storage ring, Barbatos took out a shining metallic bow and began pulling its empty string.

An arrow of green energy materialized on the bow as he pulled the string. The air around the bow shifted, turning restless and violent.

Just as the rain of arrows was about to fall upon them, Barbatos released the string.

A thick beam of green energy shot into the sky toward the incoming arrows, forming a terrifying tornado along its path.

The tornado engulfed the arrows, bending their trajectory and slowing their descent.

The tornado unleashed by Barbatos did not stop there. It began moving toward the empire’s frontline army.

At the same time, Aethon released a humongous fireball forward.

"Raise your shields!" Brandon commanded hurriedly. He knew what would happen once the fire met the wind.

The empire’s soldiers, heeding his command, quickly formed defensive shield formations.

Yet they could not defend against the calamity released before them.

The moment the fireball met the tornado, the wind turned amber and unleashed violent blazing flames.

Soldiers were thrown like ragdolls by the raging wind before being burned alive by the intense fire within it.

Screams of fear and agony echoed across the battlefield. A repulsive smell of burning flesh filled the air.

However, due to the sheer number of the empire’s soldiers, the attack was nothing more than a scratch.

The remaining soldiers rushed forward toward the invaders from the Hundred Sky Mountains.

Weapons clashed, screams echoed and dust surged into the air. The soil slowly began turning crimson as soldiers’ bodies fell one after another onto the battlefield.

Unlike the Thornwall, who could look past the deaths of a few thousand soldiers, the Banes’ army did not have the same luxury. Thornwall Fortress was not the end for them; it was only the beginning. Every loss would make their future war more difficult.

To reduce losses in their numbers, Taranis had meticulously formed the army in a way that allowed them to take advantage of each other’s attributes. Waterbanes and Snowbanes were placed in the same battalion. While Waterbanes cut down and drowned enemies with their relentless water attacks, Snowbanes ensured that no attack reached them, protecting them with thick barriers of ice. They also never missed the chance to instantly freeze and shatter any part of an enemy’s body that had been touched by water. Using the water of the Waterbanes to employ the Ice element had significantly reduced the consumption of their Soulforce.

Similarly, Windbanes and Flamebanes, as well as Flowerbanes and Rockbanes, were placed in the same battalions, increasing each other’s strengths and reducing their weaknesses.

To ensure that the army could smoothly pierce through the battlefield, Aethon, Barbatos, and Titan, the absolute monsters at the Late Stage Eternal Sage Realm, fought at the very front lines, leaving behind fallen bodies and crimson soil in their wake.

Once the sun set, the Banes’ army retreated to their camps while the Thornwall army returned to their fortress.

At the end of the day, Thornwall had lost fifty thousand soldiers. Meanwhile, the Hundred Sky Mountains had lost four hundred and ninety three.

On the next day, Barbatos stayed behind and Tartaglia took his place. The battle was even more intense than the previous day. Titan and Aethon had completely loosened themselves, as if the previous day’s war had merely been a warm up for the two. Meanwhile, the absolute defence Tartaglia provided to the army by covering their bodies in a thin sheet of water allowed them to fight more freely and confidently. Of course, he could not provide the same defence to the Flamebanes, but being already paired with the Windbanes, they had no need for any protection.

The eighty thousand soldiers of the Hundred Sky Mountains were terrifyingly overwhelming the forces of Thornwall, whose only Eternal Sage remained within the fortress instead of joining the battlefield.

At the end of the second day, another hundred thousand Thornwall soldiers had fallen, bringing their total losses to one hundred fifty thousand, while the Banes had lost two hundred more brave soldiers.

---

Bam! 𝒇𝙧𝙚𝓮𝙬𝙚𝓫𝒏𝓸𝓿𝓮𝒍.𝓬𝙤𝓶

The central meeting table was slammed as Brandon struck it with his fist in frustration and fury.

"Damn it, they are really going all out against us," Brandon muttered. "They are fighting as if Thornwall is the only duchy protecting the empire."

"Calm your anger, Duke Brandon," Erik said, who was leisurely sitting on the opposite side of the table. "The emperor ordered me to come here in advance to ensure that the entire Banes army was truly targeting this place. Now that I have confirmed it with my own eyes, I have sent a letter to my brother. Within three days, the army of House Ironvale will arrive here as reinforcement along with Astrid."

The corner of his lips rose as he continued, "Their Eternal Sages are pushing themselves to their limits. With the way they are fighting, they will soon exhaust their strength, and that is when we will strike. Exhausted eighty thousand Banes against eight hundred fifty thousand soldiers of House Thornwall and seven hundred thousand soldiers of House Ironvale, along with two Eternal Sages at peak strength. Who do you think will win this war, Duke Brandon?"

Brandon frowned as he noticed something particular in Erik’s statement.

"Seven hundred thousand Ironvale soldiers? Didn’t your House possess an army of one million?" Brandon asked, his eyes narrowed.

The smile on Erik’s face vanished as he replied in a serious tone, "Surely you are not suggesting that we bring our entire army here and leave our House unguarded."

Brandon clenched his fist around the armrest of his seat, suppressing his anger.

’Even when the entire Banes army is here, House Ironvale is still bringing only seventy percent of their forces against a common enemy. They are not even trying to hide their true intention of deliberately weakening our House under the disguise of this war.’

---

Ironvale Fortress, Azure Sun Empire

"Hahaha, these Banes are more idiotic than I thought," a man with short black hair and stubble laughed as he read the letter he had just received. He was Astrid Ironvale, the Duke of House Ironvale.

With a tap on the small bell placed on the table in his room, he summoned an elderly man dressed in formal attire.

"Call the banners. We are heading to House Thornwall," Astrid ordered.

The elderly man, the butler, bowed to the Duke at a ninety degree angle and said, "At your command, Duke."

As the butler left the room, the corner of his lips rose as he murmured inwardly, "All according to plan."