Chapter 681 Considerate
"Reload as fast as you can. We've almost got the barrier down." He instructed.
Instead of switching users, the maids dropped the magazines, and another replaced it then handed it back. They had the practice, and while they began to fire again, their coworkers were already sweeping up the spent casings and preparing for the next reload.
Wolfe worked to make more ammunition, while the maids fired the weapons as fast as they could get them reloaded. They weren't particularly concerned about the accuracy, as there was a whole army to aim at, and they were mostly managing to hit the primary target of the shielded command group.
Their mana flow was waning, and Wolfe could see that they were getting exhausted under the effects of the combined efforts of the Demonic defenders.
As for the King, he was holding up the barriers around the Palace against the enemy assault, along with a number of his advisors. The Palace defences were holding up well enough, Wolfe didn't sense any chance of them cracking in the next few minutes, but unless the Command Group of the Fallen Crusade got some strong reinforcements, that was about all that they had left.
Follow on NovᴇlEnglish.nᴇtThe next volley caused visible cracks in the glowing barrier over the command group, and the shields over the soldiers began to fail, causing mass casualties among the Crusaders as the Demons' attacks began to shatter their defences.
"Keep it up, one more round, and we've got it." Wolfe encouraged the maids, who were quickly working out a system to keep the firing going by staggering the reloading times by a second per gun.
Within ten seconds, they could be reloaded and firing again, and when they were just spraying fully automatic gunfire in the enemy's general direction, that was about how long the Magazines lasted.
More of the attacking army was left to fend for themselves as the barrier continued to weaken as a result of the mages supporting it becoming exhausted. That was precisely the moment that the Demons had been waiting for, and the Palace's army surged out of the castle walls, slicing into the enemy troops with a flurry of spells cast on claws, beaks and wings.
Unlike the Wrath Demons who always had a weapon with them, the Magical Demons preferred personal enhancement spells and unarmed combat. It seemed a bit counterintuitive to Wolfe, but they were exceedingly good at it, and the blades of the Fallen Army were largely ineffective against the fresh troops from the Palace Guard.
The battlefield was quickly turning into a slaughter as the army advanced, but something still felt like it was off to Wolfe. Perhaps there were more troops waiting for the Demons to get too far from the walls? Or maybe it was something else, but there was definitely something not right with the situation, and his intuition was screaming at him.
The enemy was reforming a Phalanx around the Command Group the next time Wolfe created ammunition, and the barriers were almost completely gone, with the enemy in full retreat.
"Hold your fire, our troops are getting close to the barrier now, and we don't want any accidental casualties caused by our own team." Wolfe instructed the maids.
"Did we do it right?" One of the younger Demons asked.
"You did brilliantly. They managed to keep the barrier from completely collapsing over their leaders, but they had to abandon everyone else, and it looks like the Palace Guards tore through them with very few casualties." Wolfe replied.
The guards were beginning to retreat now, but as soon as they reached the barrier around the Palace, they were falling, clutching their heads in pain. That was causing the rest to hold back, but Wolfe knew that wasn't the answer.
"Your Majesty. Make them come into the protective spells. That's the effect of Mana Purification forcibly tearing a curse out of their bodies. You need to get them inside the barrier before the curse fully manifests." Wolfe yelled out the window, using Air Magic to enhance his voice.
Follow on Novᴇl-Onlinᴇ.cᴏmThe King cast some sort of Unholy Magic, and the soldiers in the field began to limp, crawl and struggle their way back to the Palace, so they could sit along the edge of the moat, which was within the effects of the Mana Purification spell.
With the King's assistance, that was enough to forcibly expel the curse from their systems, and after a few minutes of agony and some healing spells cast from inside the Palace, the Demons were beginning to recover.
"I should head to the wall and make sure that everything is alright. Is there any ammunition left in the weapons?" Wolfe asked.
"Yes, we didn't use the last batch that you created, so they're all loaded and ready" The self-appointed leader of this group of maids informed him.
"In that case, you all should come with me in case they attack again. One load won't last long, but since you're still an armed combat unit, it's best to remain ready until the King gives the all clear, and then you can return the weapons to the armoury for next time." Wolfe decided.
That sounded incredibly reasonable to the maids. Not only would they have the chance to fight for the whole battle today, but if the weapons that they were trained on were in the armoury, then they could likely do it again the next time that the Palace was attacked, right until they ran out of ammunition.
"Then we will have to trouble you to be our arms supplier for the moment, Patriarch. Thank you in advance for your assistance."
The Maids laughed at the notion that they were now a real military unit, despite being at the bottom of the Demonic hierarchy, but they followed Wolfe without hesitation as he headed for the wall, and even made sure to finish cleaning the room behind them. They were quite possibly the most considerate riflemen that Wolfe had ever seen.