Supreme Magus novel Chapter 2022

Chapter 2022 A Place Called Home (Part 2)

"Is discipline really lacking so much these days?" Lith furrowed his brows in disbelief.

"No, but ever since we have started losing the war, people have a low tolerance for beasts and there are already a few here." The general shook his head. "The soldiers are wound up like a drum and the arrival of a beast who is also a wanted criminal might be the last straw."

"I'm not a criminal anymore. The Crown pardoned me." Lith replied with a shrug.

"A piece of paper can't erase the memory of what the people of the entire Kingdom saw you do while fighting Meln in Lutia." Berion sighed. "Now enough with the pleasantries and let's get down to business."

A snap of his fingers conjured a holographic 3-D map of Belius' surroundings above a nearby table.

The Kingdom's forces were shown in the form of blue dots while Thrud's were red.

Much to Lith's surprise, the plan for the incoming battle required most of the troops to be outside the city walls and to fight in the plains right in front of the city.

'It actually makes sense.' Solus pondered. 'If this was a regular battle against fake mages, we would have employed siege tactics as you expected. The city arrays would block flight and dimensional magic while the city walls would provide us with cover.

'Against an Awakened army, however, such tactics are useless due to Spirit Magic. If we let them get close, the Divine Beasts will simply Blink through the city until they reach the Warp Gate.

'Once they arrive there, their overwhelming power and mass will allow them to hold back the Kingdom's army long enough to seize the Gate. At that point, Belius would fall.

'The limited space inside the city makes quality much more important than quantity since the human mages can't swarm the Divine Beasts, losing their only advantage.

'Our only hope is to stop Thrud's army from getting close to the city walls. If that fails, all human mages can do is delay the inevitable.'

'Great thinking.' Lith nodded.

He and Solus had used a similar strategy in the past, but they always played the invader role and acted alone. This time, they would play on defense and Thrud would send more than one Divine Beast.

"What do you think?" Berion asked.

Lith repeated to him Solus' words, finding only one weak point in the General's strategy.

"Why are you covering only the front side of the city? What if Thrud's army splits its forces and executes a two-pronged attack from the back as well?"

"Excellent question. Do you see those towers?" Berion pointed at the buildings lined along the mountain range that acted as a natural border between the Kingdom and the Empire.

Lith remembered well their effect.

The towers worked as both amplifiers and relay points of the city arrays, allowing them to cover a wide area all around Belius. He had seen more than one mage trying to cross the borders by flight just to get chased and shot down by a mana storm.

"Yes." He nodded for Berion to continue.

"Since when are the magical formations of Belius this powerful?" Lith asked in surprise. _{freēwēbnovel.com}