Chapter 1: The Clash of Technology and Magic

Chapter 1: The Clash of Technology and Magic

The red-hot cannonball landed right on Baalman’s magical barrier.

The cannonball didn’t immediately break through; instead, it was stuck in a standoff with the magical shield.

At the same time, more cannonballs crashed onto the barrier.

With so many powerful attacks hitting at once, the magical barrier became unstable.

Baalman, who had been a bit cheerful, now felt his heart racing at the sudden shift.

If a cannonball were to fall and hit him, he couldn’t imagine what would happen.

Would it be like those soldiers from earlier? Or would he fare better?

Either way, he didn’t want to see it.

So, he urgently hoped that the magical barrier would hold.

The mages were also giving their all to maintain the barrier, holding off the cannonballs.

After what felt like forever, they finally drained the cannonballs of their momentum, allowing them to slide helplessly to the ground.

While they managed to block the cannonballs, the mages were all exhausted.

The third wave of attack didn’t achieve the anticipated results, which made the Dwarf King very unhappy.

“Keep attacking! Hurry, don’t stop!”

The Dwarf gunners began reloading their cannonballs.

“General, if the Dwarves keep up that level of attack, we won’t last much longer.”

At that moment, Ofart, the leading mage of the Georgia Kingdom’s army, bluntly told Baalman.

Although they had to follow his orders, it didn’t mean they would do anything he commanded, especially if it was clearly impossible.

Blocking that last round had already worn them out, and if they continued, they would soon collapse.

At the current rate of Dwarf attacks, they could only hold out for a few more minutes.

During that time, it was certain that some mages would falter first.

Baalman stared at the mage speaking and for a moment didn’t reply.

He looked quite angry.

However, the mage wasn’t afraid of his anger anymore.

“Are you going to defy military orders?”

After a tense silence, Baalman finally spoke.

“General, we have no intention of defying orders. I just want to make a suggestion. You need to change your current strategy, or the consequences could be unimaginable.”

“If we don’t do that, what do you plan to do? Charge in for close combat with those Dwarves?”

As he said this, a mocking smile spread across Baalman’s face.

To him, these mages were being overly dramatic.

Just holding out for a bit longer wouldn’t change the fact that their infantry would soon crash into the enemy.

“We certainly won’t charge into close combat with the Dwarves; that’s not our specialty. But if we remain here, we’ll be nothing more than live targets for them, and their attacks will keep raining down on us.”

Ofart countered.

“So, what do you propose we do?”

“We should move or find a position that’s less conspicuous.”

“If the soldiers can’t see me, do you know what kind of consequences that will have?”

Baalman questioned Ofart’s suggestion.

Ofart fell silent.

Baalman answered himself: “If the soldiers can’t see me, they will lose their leader, and morale will plummet. You know what happens next!”

Ofart still didn’t respond.

He understood all this.

But staying here wasn’t a solution either.

After some thought, Ofart let out a deep sigh.

In truth, they had lost this battle from the start.

They initially overlooked the Dwarves, who had come armed with newly developed weapons, and that decision had led them into a very passive position.

The army was already dispatched; while retreating wasn’t impossible, it would be embarrassing for soldiers to turn around and run without facing the enemy.

Having reached a stalemate, Ofart could only lead the mages in gritting their teeth and enduring.

Meanwhile, the Dwarves’ artillery continued to focus on them.

The Dwarf King quickly grew tired of the situation.

While he wanted to see Baalman turned to mush by a cannonball, he also recognized that the mysterious mages posed a formidable obstacle.

Nearby, a Dwarf Engineer took notes on everything.

He had a new idea: while the cannons were powerful, they were inadequate against mages, especially prepared ones.

The magical barriers they used could still block cannonballs, so it was clear the weaker firearms wouldn’t stand a chance either.

Clearly, these firearms and cannons were still not very effective against enemies.

The Engineer wasn’t disappointed; rather, he felt excited.

Since things weren’t perfect, it meant they could keep moving forward. The path of technology had no limits, and he had now found a new direction.

Solving this issue was merely a matter of time.

In addition, there were improvements needed in cannon accuracy, loading speed… and the overall stability of the cannons.

He discovered through combat observation that there was still room for advancements in all these areas.

As for accuracy and loading speeds, let’s put those aside for now; the quality and stability of the cannons had been a major issue since their inception.

The heavy weight had its benefits, but it also made movement difficult.

As for stability, many factors contributed, including the cannonballs, barrels, and gunpowder.

Efforts had to be made to avoid misfires and barrel explosions.

But these were just directions; he needed to guide his team to tackle them slowly.

The Dwarf King then shifted his gaze toward the Human Infantry.

These infantry were heavily relied upon; with cavalry and mages unable to assist, they hadn’t brought heavy siege weapons to block the advancing Dwarves.

However, Baalman neglected one thing.

That was, the powerful cavalry had already met a nasty end; while the infantry were numerous, they could not match the cavalry’s quality.

Moreover, the infantry often relied on the cavalry to support them.

In the era of cold weapons, cavalry were the kings of the battlefield, especially those cavalry units led by knights.

As the infantry witnessed the cavalry being decimated, they were filled with fear.

Yet they maintained good order, bound by military discipline and the fact that Dwarven attacks had yet to reach them.

Just before the infantry entered the firing range of the Dwarven gunners, Human crossbowmen surged ahead to launch an attack.

But the Dwarves paid no mind to this rain of arrows.

They were clad in thick armor, fully covering their bodies.

The arrows failed to breach their outer defenses, let alone injure the rough-skinned, beefy Dwarves inside.

Only powerful bows and bolts had any chance of being effective, and even then, they required specially made arrows.

Such formidable weaponry was scarce.

The Georgia Kingdom certainly wouldn’t arm these ordinary archers with them.

Seeing the Dwarf soldiers brushing off the hail of arrows, the Humans were stunned for a moment.

They were defeated—!

Seeing this scene, Ofart already understood the battle’s outcome.

The Dwarves, who had lain in wait for centuries, suddenly declared war on humanity. How could they not be prepared?

And they indeed were prepared.

First, there were the new weapons, and then the extremely tough armor.

While humanity had strong armor too, it was impossible to provide it to every single soldier like the Dwarves could.

With this realization, Ofart no longer wanted to watch the coming battle.

It was bound to be a one-sided massacre.

And those knights fighting the Dwarves already had a profound understanding of this.

They found it incredibly difficult to break through the Dwarves’ armor.

Although some knights could match the Dwarven armor, the Dwarves possessed an innate talent for being powerful warriors, excelling in armor-piercing abilities naturally.

Thus, in comparison, the Humans remained at a disadvantage.

“General, give the order to retreat! We’ve lost; retreating now could mitigate our losses.”

Ofart closed his eyes and said to Baalman.

However, Baalman ignored him, his eyes wide as he continued to watch the seemingly unharmed Dwarf soldiers amid the rain of arrows, even neglecting the cannonballs that hit the magical barrier.

He couldn’t believe this was the outcome.

With Baalman stunned, it was easy to guess the thoughts of the ordinary soldiers.

Though they hadn’t yet engaged the enemy, a deep-seated fear had already started to envelop them.

You can’t win against these Dwarves! You can’t possibly defeat the Dwarves in front of you!…

A voice whispered incessantly in their ears.

So, run! Run away! If you continue fighting, you’ll surely die!

This voice was irresistibly tempting.

For those who heeded it, they could keep their little lives.

“General!”

Seeing Baalman in shock, Ofart called out again.

But Baalman remained unfocused.

Witnessing Baalman in such a daze, Ofart felt his anger rise.

He glanced at his staff, then at the still-distracted Baalman, making his decision.

“Lord Baalman, I’m sorry for what I’m about to do, but I have no choice.”

He hurriedly finished speaking before raising his staff and swiftly tapping Baalman on the head.

Baalman’s guards didn’t have time to intervene.

With a loud bang, the blow was neither too hard nor too soft, just enough to wake Baalman.

Rubbing his head in irritation, Baalman glared at Ofart.

His guards held the same expression, angry glares all around.

“Ofart, what do you think you’re doing?”

“General, you must understand the situation right now—I’m just waking you up!”

Ofart replied calmly.

“Furthermore, we must retreat. If we continue fighting, our losses will just keep increasing.”