The Foolhardies 86 Now You See Me

The battle of the two center armies had been going on for a while now, and from my vantage point right behind our army's vanguard, I'd lost sight of the other units I was in charge of. I couldn't help it. I was distracted by all the carnage around me. 

Aura rode to my side and immediately raised her Hearthwood staff in front of her. She took aim, and after saying the command, "Firebolt!" launched a bolt of flames from the staff's glowing red orb into the melee of soldiers at our front. The flames streaked past the Darah soldiers and exploded onto the face of an ugly hobgoblin who'd been eyeing me like I was a piece of steak it wanted to gut.

I gave Aura the thumbs up. "Thanks… that guy was ugly. You have eyes on the other teams?"

Aura raised a hand forward. "Ten O'clock, Dean… I think that's Luca and Ashley's group."

My gaze searched the area Aura pointed out. They were about thirty yards away when I found them, but they were definitely the Foolhardies. It wasn't just our Flag of Fools raised high above them, but I could clearly see several of our veterans engaged in a fight with a clump of Magesong soldiers.

Luca, in particular, was showing some real recklessness as he waded into the sea of gray, cutting wide sweeps through the enemies with Shaqs' battle-ax. Ashley ran behind him, covering his back with her shield while hacking at any stray soldier Luca had missed.

"Looks like they're in the thick of things," I said annoyed.

I know it was my plan to create as much carnage as possible while they raised our flag, but I was resistant to putting my little brother in this much danger. If only Qwipps wasn't milking his injuries, I wouldn't have asked Luca to step up like he did now.

"They're certainly getting attention from the Magesong soldiers clustered around them," Aura agreed. "They really must not like you, Dean." 

I grimaced at her words because she was right. The soldiers we were fighting now were the remnants of Jimmy Jonas' forces. They probably thought Luca was me and were dead set on getting payback.

As I watched my brother send another pretty elf boy's head flying, I couldn't help but feel annoyed with how insistent he was to put himself in danger.

"How much longer do you think can they keep this up?" I asked.

Aura's eyes squinted. "Not much longer, I think." Ashley pointed to the sky above Luca's troops. "It was a good idea to send Varda's magicians to support them."

My gaze followed the direction Aura had pointed at, and what I saw made my eyes widen. "Holy shit!"

A heavy round object was flying toward them. It looked suspiciously like a cannon ball, but was more like a comet with a tail of water trailing behind it.

"Varda do something!" I yelled, although I hadn't expected a response from where I was. I certainly didn't expect to see Varda's earthen wall appear out of nowhere and rise to about fifteen feet to block the projectile's path toward Luca's squad. This pleasant surprise made me pump a fist in the air. "Way to go, you talented little dwarf!"

The enemy's projectile exploded onto the earthen wall in a shower of rain and mist. The impact was so strong it crumbled the top half of Varda's Earth Wall.

Debris and scalding droplets of water fell onto Luca's troops. Thankfully, Ashley's shield squad had been prepared and blocked most of the falling projectiles with their raised shields.

I let out a relieved sigh. "Spell cannons are such a cheat. Remind me to steal one if we ever we get through the enemy's lines."

Aura didn't have time to answer. Her hand shot up and pointed past Luca's squad.

A good thirty yards away, a wave of enemy soldiers marched underneath a gray banner with a Japanese Kanji at its center.

I recognized the symbol that stood for Bushido and immediately felt chills rise up my spine.

"That's not the Dagger Spell's flag, but…" Aura's voice sounded strained. Almost like she was having difficulty finding her next words. "...that flag belongs to Azuma's Immortals… Looks like your plan worked, Dean. We got their attention."

Despite the chills I felt, I turned my gaze away from Azuma's unit and shifted my sight westward. I couldn't see her from where I was, but I was sure Darah was causing quite the ruckus about a hundred or so meters away. There were enough screams coming from that side of the battlefield to prove it. Find authorized novels in Webnovel，faster updates, better experience，Please click for visiting.

I turned my sights back on Azuma's unit. "There's a lot more of them than when we faced them on that hilltop a while back. Way more than Luca's eighty soldiers can take on."

"Azuma was originally a thousand-man commander," Aura explained. "It seems he's brought his entire force with him this time."

I scowled. As if his martial skill wasn't a cheat enough already. Now he had to have seven hundred more soldiers than I did. This was going to be troublesome.

"It's fine. Azuma and his master focused on us just means Darah will find it easier to reach the enemy's great general." I tightened my grasp on Myth Chaser's reins. It was a good way to keep my hands from shaking. "Immortals, huh… let's put their name to the test."

I glanced behind me.

"Jensen, raise the signal. Let Theren and Edo's group know its time to make some noise," I ordered.

Jensen, in his new role as guidon bearer, raised a red banner as high as he could. At the same time, the two dwarves I'd assigned to help send out our signal began to beat their drums to the tune of Queen's We Will Rock You.

Yes, I taught two fairies how to jam. And it was very easy as dwarves seemed to have an affinity for rock music.

It took a few minutes for our signal to be seen or heard across such a busy battlefield, but eventually, the Flag of Fools on Luca's side was lowered. This was quickly followed by the same flag being raised high about forty yards away from us and eighty yards to the right of Luca's troops, in the two o'clock direction. Theren's eighty-member elf squad with Edo in tow had heard our call.

The effect of a second Foolhardies banner raised to the right of the first one after it was lowered had the desired effect we were hoping for—confusion. I watched with a smile as Azuma's Immortals abruptly stop their march.

While this happened, Luca's soldiers slowly backed away from the front, allowing themselves to be absorbed into our center army's line, and making it seem as if they'd suddenly disappeared. Honestly, they'd only managed it because of a combination from the distraction caused by Edo's group and the tenacity of Ashley's Shield squad to hold the enemy back until all their soldiers could pull out.

"Hopefully, your faithful bodyguard will cause enough ruckus to make it believable that we'd teleported from one end of the field to another," I said cheerily.

"Edo won't disappoint us," Aura insisted. "And your Inglorious Bastards aren't likely to either. They're so eager to win your approval, Dean."

"All they need to do is get the job done," I said. "The glory comes after."

Like Aura said, it didn't take long for things to heat up where Edo was. The Foolhardies First Sergeant certainly looked like he was enjoying himself despite having to face off against four fully armored Magesong trolls.

From the relative safety of my position, I watched Edo compete with the four trolls' combined brute strength with a martial skill that could probably rival Azuma. So it wasn't any big surprise as I saw the first troll lose a limb. Edo's swinging glaive was just that deadly. Edo danced around their clumsy attacks and cut them down one at a time while his glaive sang a murderous tune with each swing against exposed troll flesh.

While Edo was all about attacking, Theren's elves were there to provide the defense, and they didn't disappoint. Not only did they keep more enemies from swarming Edo, but they were also able to maintain a defensive perimeter that helped stabilize the front line on their side.

 I remembered the last time I'd seen that group in action, back during my first command on the hilltop. It was Theren's group who held the southern side of the hill while I fought against Azuma. It seemed they hadn't lost their touch.

Eventually, Edo and Theren's efforts paid off. I watched Azuma's soldiers resume their march in Edo's direction. But a small portion of their unit—maybe a hundred-man squad—broke off from the main unit and continued moving to where Luca's group was last seen. Azuma wasn't stupid. He would cover all bases. It was exactly what we wanted to happen.

When Azuma's immortals had marched close enough to Edo's and Theren's group, I gave Jensen another order.

"Signal Thom's unit, Jensen. Let them know its time to cause trouble," I said.

While Jensen raised a yellow banner high in the air, a devilish smile appeared on my lips.

"Now you see me…" I raised my left fist to my eyes and then unfurled my fingers in a quick motion. "Now you don't."

Chapter end