“Ow! You’re meant to be dead, you know?!” I hissed.
Tim, quickly realizing what had happened, let go of my wrist. “Sorry! It was just a reflex... I must’ve fallen asleep,” he muttered, his shoulders drooping. “You kids must be a hell of a lot more exhausted than me, and yet, here I am napping while you give it your all...”
He looked so upset that it wouldn’t have surprised me if he started drafting his resignation letter on the spot, so I reassured him a little. “You ingested a sleeping potion via wind magic, actually. It’s a new method I came up with, so I don’t think you would have been able to avoid it. So don’t be too hard on yourself, okay? I’d explain it in a little more detail, but...” I paused, quickly sliding out of view of the entryway.
“Vice Captain Tim? I thought I heard something... Is everything all right in there?” The two soldiers had barely stepped inside the dilapidated room before crumpling to the ground on account of the sedative I’d wafted their way.
I stepped out of cover with my bow drawn, pointing it at each of them in turn. “You’re both dead too.” Their eyes widened in shock—as did Tim’s—each of them equally clueless as to what had just happened.
“Sorry, Allen—I’ve made things harder for you now,” Tim mumbled. “My shouting drew their attention when I was already ‘dead,’ and those two were in charge of our forces here. Their subordinates are sure to come looking for them before long, asking for orders.”
Well, that’s made things annoying.
The original plan had been to take down Tim and retreat to my lair until my classmates arrived, at which point we’d launch our assault on the stronghold. When the soldiers flocked to Tim for orders only to find him dead, they’d be thrown into utter chaos. That had been the plan, anyway—luck just hadn’t been on my side. Once the forces here realized their three main leaders were missing, they’d immediately be on high alert, thus ruining any chance we had to catch them off guard. The northern stronghold didn’t have much going for it in terms of structural stability, but it did have space, and a lot of it. If we had to face a well-organized and hypervigilant army here, we’d die within minutes.
“What’s done is done,” I replied with a shrug. “I was careless too, but oh well. I didn’t really want to do this, but I guess I’ve got no other choice. It’s time for my backup plan...”
I hadn’t wanted to rely on my backup plan for two reasons. The first was because, if it didn’t work, I’d end up ‘killing’ myself in the process. The second was simply because of the sheer horror it would inflict if it did work. It wasn’t a particularly complicated plan, really: All I needed to do was use Hurricane—a level-3 wind magic spell—to instantly scatter the vaporized compounds throughout the ruins. If I could annihilate their forces in one go, I’d win. However, if the compounds or my mana ran out, I’d lose. I couldn’t circulate my mana the same way I usually did either, with me as part of the loop, because I’d just end up drugging myself. It wasn’t like I could simply stop breathing, after all. Instead, I had to circulate it like a hurricane with me at the (relatively safe) center, which took a lot more mana. Creating the vacuum would also drain my mana by a significant amount. Ultimately, I would have a few minutes at most.
It was now or never.
Steeling myself, I climbed to the top of our hastily constructed watchtower, took a deep breath, and shouted at the top of my lungs. “Tim Buchan is dead! Surrender at once, or meet the same fate!”
It was a little dramatic, but hopefully by revealing my presence I’d lure as many of them in as possible. The smaller my target was, the more effective the diffusion would be. Besides, it wasn’t like I’d be able to stay hidden for long regardless.
“What?!”
“We’re under attack!”
“Surround him! Don’t let him get away!”
“The Sage will be back soon! He’ll deal with him!”
“Look out for flank attacks!”
“We should pull down the watchtower!”
“No! Where are the mages?! We’ll wear him down from a distance!”
It might have been an accident, but it’s starting to feel like taking out all three commanders first was definitely the way to go...
Each of the randomly shouted orders was reasonable enough, but overall, their forces were in complete and utter disarray. Taking advantage of the chaos, I unstoppered two more vials and created a vacuum before instantly sending the resulting vapor—a mix of both sedatives and sleeping medicine—far away from myself. I imagined that a diagram of the method would look something like a donut with me standing in the hole at the center, with the donut, of course, being made of a dangerous cocktail of chemicals instead of delicious dough.
I groaned involuntarily at the brutal drain on my mana, which was a sensation I hadn’t felt in a long time. Unfortunately, a minute or so after I’d started casting, there were still a lot of soldiers who looked far too lively for my liking. My attempt at chemical warfare wasn’t effective enough, and my mana was nearly gone. I only had one trick left up my sleeve—well, more specifically, in the pouch at my waist: the ultraconcentrated, anti-Godolphen special edition of the sedative.
There’s no way I can use that on these guys, though... Right?
“What the hell is this wind?!”
“Shit! He’s using it to spread poison or something!”
“Don’t worry, it’s not dangerous! Just Strengthen your mana cores, and it stops being effective!”
“He’s starting to slow down! Get him!”
Wait, wait, wait! You seriously don’t want me to use this vial, you know?! I mean, it’s got a bright red lid for a reason! It just screams “danger!” Last night, it knocked a massive monster out in a heartbeat!
“Go! Go! Go!”
Stop! Stop! Stop! Crap! I don’t know what to do!
Fear won, and with a pop, I opened the last vial.