"But Princess, if you decide to surrender yourself, we will have no chances for a future victory. A kingdom cannot be without its king." The young knight in green is trying to control his temper.
"But neither can it be without its people." she firmly rejects the possibility of abdication, still fixing her glare on the minions of her enemy slowly closing in.
She knows the situation is painful. The last remnants of the royal guards cannot possible defend the civilians from a sudden charge of the enemy vanguard, even though they have held an advantageous ground. The stone bridge is right behind them and already set with hidden explosives. If she can buy enough time for the citizens to cross, the enemy will lose completely. The problem is that the bridge is too long and too narrow to move too many people across, but moreover, He is standing right in front of her.
"So you have decided to buy time, eh? Not such a bad tactic," the armored man, well rather, a slender suit of completely enclosing pitch black armor, decorated with thorns and skulls, remarked with a crooked smirk, "However, my dear, I would rather not let my master wait. So let me show you the invitation once again."
The black armor raises its left hand and points to the most left member of the five defenders of the bridge. An ominous murmur freezes the air.
The young knight watches in astonishment and fear, praying that the gauntlet is not pointed to his death.
Rah, a screech that can almost match the roar of an ancient dragon, then an overwhelming presence strikes down like the judgment hammer from heaven.
The youngster opens his eyes, surprised that his body is still intact. He touches his breast plate, feeling the crest on the cold and smooth surface.
He is unharmed. Nothing happened to him at all.
But as he about to tell the others in joy, he finds his senior's terrified eyes meeting behind him. Following them, he turned around and looked in awe at the scene about one hundred meter behind him.
An infinitely vertical beam of blue light is disappearing from the space, so does a deep whirlpool right next to the bridge, chaotic with rapids. The bridge is now flooded with water; people are struggling to regaining their stands. Pieces of clothing floats away as dispersing smoke. The commander on the bridge yells in loud urgency,
"Keep MOVING."
The stone bridge is missing its rail right next to the whirlpool, as if being chipped accidentally by a clumsy sculptor.
Coming with a quiet laughter, "Oh, I am sorry. You have not seen this one, haven't you? How rude of me."
"First Level Anti-Castle Magic, Thunder Lancer. Only B- rank damage... that is not even a third of its full power." The man in deep green-gray cape commented bitterly without losing his composure. He finds the situation is becoming rather hard to handle. The enemy has the ability to cut off their retreat route and potentially to bar them from escorting all civilians into safety, before they can counteract. The flood on the bridge may have wet the fuse to disable the explosives planted ahead. Did that armored man predict their strategy? There is not yet a way to tell. However, a quickened enchantment of a First Level Magic will be hard to beat without a mage knowing canceling spells.
"Ah, you can tell. That is fortunate for you." An even more mocking tone permeates through the black armor.
