Infinite Paths: The Raging Phoenix

The group had just started to move when Rain found them… in the end, they all sighed when they noticed that Rain only returned with a single prisoner… Before he could escape, Rain threw the other three toward the beast people, killing them and also killing hundreds of them.

"I take it that the negotiations didn't end well," Roan said.

"They are completely out of their damn minds," Rain said. "Putting that aside, what did you learn after watching our first large-scale battle?"

"Let's see… the squads fight well as a group, but their lack of experience in knowing their limits is an issue," Roan said while rubbing his chin thoughtfully. "A lot of them keep using Limit Breaker until they don't have any stamina left, and then they find themselves surrounded while their bodies feel as heavy as metal."

"We trained them to deal with that, but doing that in training and on the battlefield are two different things together," Jori said.

"It seems that the best option is not to go all out from the very beginning, and we also need to use our forces with a bit more of tactical thinking," Roan added.

"We will do that. We just need to make everyone gain as much experience as possible," Rain said. "Anyway, I will move all of us again."

Once again, Rain made an ice platform, and then everyone began to float on it as their pace increased tenfold… the soldiers sighed in relief since they were exhausted, but they needed to fight even more. They fell on their butts, and soon they learned that they would fight again before sunset…n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

"Rain, we should do that to help you," Seara said. "Your focus is wavering."

"I can handle this much, and we actually can't… it seems that you don't understand the limitations of that technique yet," Rain said. "That is our trump card, and we can't use it in a situation like this."

Seara felt troubled after hearing that… she wanted to help, but just offering some support when dealing with the injured wasn't enough for her… even though she knew that she was actually helping Rain just by not using her mana.

Regardless, while they were on the way, they met Rain's sisters, who were also heading to the battlefield… It seemed that the evacuation had been a success, and they worked quite fast as well.

"Her Majesty said that they are gathering as many supplies as possible to send to us at night," Dana said when they jumped into the ice platform. "We also received the report that the evacuation in the villages has been a success, but the enemies are chasing the villagers and our warriors, and they aren't stopping to rest."

"I guess they don't need to eat, drink, or sleep while they are like that," Jori said.

"Like what?" Kei asked and then saw the prisoners that Rain had captured. "... Are you planning to use them for negotiations?"

Rain explained to everyone what had happened once again. Thanks to it, he wasn't expecting much from the magic people either… Why can people be so stupid and not realize when they are being used? Everyone has the right to be stupid, but some people abuse that privilege.

"Well, we don't have to worry about the magic people for now," Kei shrugged. "We can always zap everyone once they get too close."

"Let's not use our best cards so soon… anyway, we are getting closer," Rain said while looking in the distance and then seeing some smoke rising in the sky.

Before long, the group reached their next destination, a village that had fallen victim to the enemy's ruthless attack. The remnants of this once-thriving community lay in ruins, its buildings reduced to charred husks. The fires that had ravaged the village had finally been extinguished, leaving behind only smoldering embers and scorched timber.

Despite the passage of time, the wooden structures still radiated a faint warmth from the lingering heat. The scene was a haunting sign of the devastation wrought by the unknown adversaries who had left nothing but destruction in their wake.

"They should be six or so hours ahead of us… the coast on this side is closer, after all," Roan said. "The nearest town is one hundred fifty kilometers away, and considering the enemies' pace…"

"It means that we don't have much time, so I am going to speed things up," Rain said. "Let everyone prepare because we will need to get rid of the magic people first since they will be on the back line."

After one hour, they finally could see the enemy's army already reaching the walls of the town that Roan mentioned… They could see fireballs flying in an arc and landing on the enemy's army, but it wasn't slowing them down at all. They were actually losing power as they fell…

"It is time… their aura is dangerous, so let them hurt you, they are the bloodmancers," Rain said and then he split the giant ice platform into three parts. "Dad, you can take the right side."

"Roger," Roan nodded.

After moving the right side of the platform to the side and separating the back from the middle, Rain made the frontal part land on the back of the enemies army… the warriors and the ice collided against the blood mages and then smashed them on the ground as the backline safely landed.

Things got pretty chaotic thanks to that back attack. The enemies didn't expect that at all, and they didn't have any leadership, so they turned around to face the new enemies in complete disarray.

While the warriors that didn't suffer much damage in the previous battle began to face the enemies, Rain looked beyond their lines and soon saw another army of monsters reaching the walls of the city and completely ignoring the fight behind them… this time, the monsters were centaurs. Creatures that no one had seen in that world until now...