The large-scale tactical deployment of magical forces.
Originally, it was considered an impossible pipe dream.
Unlike the dragonkin, who are naturally attuned to mana, or the fairies, who wield spirit magic blessed by the World Tree, humans with magical talent were exceedingly rare.
Even if someone was born with the talent to manipulate mana, not all of them could grow up to become magicians.
While it might be possible to intuitively move mana with talent alone, manifesting magic through control required knowledge, not just instinct. And the knowledge of mana control wasn’t something easily accessible.
Unless you were the child of a wealthy merchant or noble family, a peasant born with magical talent would likely never understand their gift.
Most of these individuals would die from mana overload before even reaching the age of twenty, unable to comprehend their own abilities. Like a sword swung carelessly, wounding its wielder.
Moreover, even if someone with magical talent managed to learn mana control through sheer luck, it would still take years for them to become a proper magician.
At least six years.
To fully master mana control, memorize countless magical formulas, and accumulate enough internal mana to freely cast spells, a minimum of six years was required.
Thus, the Empire abandoned the idea of training a magical corps.
To make it a reality, they would have to scour the entire Empire for talented children, gather them, and pour vast resources into their training for years.
The efficiency was abysmal. The time, manpower, and resources spent on training a magical corps could instead quadruple the number of Imperial Knights.
However, with the discovery of Rune Engraving, the large-scale training of magical forces was no longer a pipe dream.
With Rune Engraving, creating warriors who could wield magical power became astonishingly simple.
Talent?
While Rune Engraving still required some compatibility, it wasn’t as rare as one in tens of thousands like traditional magic.
No, it wasn’t even comparable. Out of ten warriors selected, one or two could manifest the power of runes.
Education?
All they needed was to understand the name and meaning of the rune.
Rune magic, like the fairies’ spirit magic, didn’t require complex formulas. It could be controlled purely through instinct and will.
Cost? Time?
Creating a single low-output rune only required the death of one person. Once a rune was engraved, there was no need to accumulate internal mana.
The engraving itself would gather ambient mana to manifest the magic.
Rune magic was a force and knowledge that fundamentally shook the existing magical systems of humanity. It allowed Dane, once a minor nation oppressed by the Empire and Ka`har, to dream of unbridled hegemony.
The people of Dane turned the once-impossible tactic of mass-producing magicians into reality through Rune Engraving.
Most rune magicians could only handle one engraving, and their magical output wasn’t particularly high. But now, with their numbers reaching into the hundreds and even thousands, such flaws were meaningless.
—
“Ūruz!”
The archers of Dane, awakened by the Rune of Strength, drew the strings of their metal-reinforced bows.
The tension, far beyond that of wood or animal horns, caused the steel bows to tremble and roar like thunder with each release.
“Kuh!”
Arrows too fast to see pierced through the cavalry of the grasslands without hesitation.
Shields were effortlessly penetrated, armor and flesh shredded as the arrowheads flew out the other side. With each thunderous release, charging cavalrymen were flung backward as if struck by a dragon’s tail.
But it wasn’t just arrows. As the enemy army entered the range of offensive magic, Dane’s rune magicians unleashed their spells in unison.
ᚲ ᛁ
“Kenaz! Īsaz!”
Spears of flame tore through the air with scorching heat, while sharp hailstones rained down on the cavalry.
“Gyaaaaah!”
A warrior engulfed in flames screamed and danced like a puppet, while cavalrymen caught in the icy barrage were crushed, brains scattering.
“Damn those sorcerers!”
The warriors of Ka`har leaned to the side on their horses to dodge the flames and raised their shields to block the hailstorm as they advanced.
However, dodging the rain of arrows and hundreds of spells was no easy task, even for them.
And Dane’s assault didn’t end with fire and ice.
ᛚ
“Laguz!”
The Rune of Water. A massive droplet of water formed in the air, wrapping around the horses’ heads like a snake, filling their noses, mouths, eyes, and ears.
“Pugrrrluk…!”
Even well-trained warhorses were still animals. Terrified by the rushing water, the horses panicked, flailing their legs as if swimming, and lost their balance, tumbling to the ground.
ᚦ
“Þurisaz!”
Bolts of lightning spread out, striking the cavalry’s spears and swords, sending shocks through their bodies. The electrified cavalry foamed at the mouth as they convulsed.
“We can’t dodge that! Shoot arrows to divert it!”
A paladin drew his bow and shouted, intercepting the rune’s lightning.
Even if the lightning couldn’t be dodged or blocked, shooting an arrow nearby could change its direction.
ᛟ
“Ōþila-!”
But a Dane knight, watching him, activated the Rune of Plunder and stole the paladin’s bow.
The paladin’s bow flew out of his grasp like a slave escaping a cotton field, landing among the Dane forces.
“What the…?”
The paladin, now weaponless, stared in dismay at his bow flying away. A bolt of lightning from a Dane holy warrior struck him in that moment.
—
“Impressive. Very impressive!”
Targien spurred his horse, increasing his speed, and shouted in an excited tone.
The rain of sorcery. The strength of Dane’s forces exceeded his expectations, and that pleased him.
If the enemy was too strong to defeat, that would be one thing. But if they were strong enough to make victory meaningful, then the stronger they were, the better.
‘If I achieve victory against such foes, even Father will have to acknowledge me. The one worthy to succeed him isn’t the treacherous Sahallyeon or the vile betrayer Ha-shal-leur, but me, Targien!’
Slaughtering the weak wouldn’t earn him any merit. The fact that Dane’s forces were strong enough to threaten Ai-shan was something Targien could only welcome.
“Enemy cavalry! Spread out to the sides! Clear the path!”
Targien dispersed the lightly armed enemy cavalry to the sides and sent forward the Black Armies led by Ibamai.
“Ibamai! Can you break through?”
“Of course!”
Ibamai raised a spear adorned with the Black Armies’ banner high and shouted.
“Black Armies, prepare to charge! Crush the Dane formations beneath your hooves!”
With Ibamai at the lead, the heavily armored cavalry in black armor shook the earth as they charged like a massive wedge into the enemy lines, weathering the storm of arrows and magic.
—
“Woooooh!”
The Black Armies, the heavy cavalry meticulously trained by Or-han.
Clad in black armor, their warhorses also armored, these steel cavalrymen had the capability to break through any enemy.
The people of Dane fired their steel bows and unleashed spells at the Black Armies, but their attacks were far less effective than before.
The Black Armies’ strength and equipment were incomparable to the enemy cavalry, and the man at their forefront personally blocked and deflected most of the magic.
【Frozen Hell】
Ibamai’s conceptual manifestation created a mountain of ice in the air, shielding the Black Armies’ formation.
The spells fired by Dane’s forces collided with the ice mountain, exploding and neutralizing each other, while shattered ice fragments rained down on the Black Armies’ armor.
Even the Spear of War thrown by Burgund, Dane’s commander, was blocked by the ice wall, scattering harmlessly.
Burgund grimaced in frustration and shouted at his infantry to raise their spears and brace for impact.
The distance closed rapidly.
Within ten paces, the Black Armies lowered their lances, aiming them forward, and solidified their formation.
At the tip of the wedge, Ibamai coated his lance with ice, creating a massive drill as he charged.
Dane’s forces didn’t just stand by and watch.
ᛉ ᚢ ᛁ ᛃ
“Algiz! Ūruz! Īsaz!! Jēra-!”
Dane’s infantry raised their long spears diagonally and activated their rune engravings.
Not to attack, but to protect themselves from the earthquake-like charge of the enemy.
A translucent mana barrier spread before them, limbs filled with the strength of enraged bulls, and ice and tree roots rose from the ground to form walls.
“Hold the line-!”
“Break through-!!”
The voices of the two commanders crossed. Those trying to hold the line and those trying to trample through glared at each other.
The next moment, four thousand Black Armies crashed into Dane’s formation like a landslide.
—
– Kwarururung!
A thunderous roar echoed through the sky.
The mass and speed of the heavy cavalry, combined with the strength and skill of the warriors at the forefront, created a collision that was a disaster impossible to stop or withstand.
– Kwachaaang!
The mana barrier shattered with a scream like hundreds of glass windows breaking, and the walls of ice and tree roots were torn apart like paper.
Even the rune magic that had shone against the enemy cavalry was utterly powerless before Ka`har’s strongest army.
– Kaddeudeuk!
– Peoeok!
The spears of Dane’s infantry scraped against the Black Armies’ armor, sparking as they slid off, while the Black Armies’ lances pierced through heads and chests.
“Kyaaaah!”
“Keoheok!”
Soldiers struck by the charging horses were flung back, trampled before they could rise.
“Aaaaah!”
The screams and cries of the people of Dane echoed. The unstoppable charge. The Black Armies’ cavalry assault was literally smashing through Dane’s spear formations.
“Remember my name! I am Harun Ibamai, the glorious War Chief of Ai-shan. The Flame of the Grasslands and the embodiment of hatred!”
Ibamai’s massive ice spear pierced through over ten infantry in a single strike, scattering and sweeping away three times that number.
The spear formation was shattered, raining down flesh and entrails.
