The five figures moved slowly but steadily toward Quintus’s cohorts of Legionnaires. Their unhurried pace made them give off an oddly intimidating aura, as though their arrival was inevitable and didn’t need to be rushed. Fortunately, it also gave Quintus time to organize the men.

He called out a few quick orders, shaping them up for a quick march to the fallback point. They put some distance between themselves and the enemy, meeting up with the other two cohorts that had taken part in the ambush. Once they’d regrouped, he sent all four cohorts back toward their fallback point, where the reinforcements were waiting.

A smaller force branched off as they moved. This one contained their wounded, walking or otherwise. They headed for a slightly different rendezvous point located behind the lines, where Eleanora’s trainees waited to get them fixed up. Quintus considered sending a larger guard with the group, but it didn’t seem necessary. The parts of the baron’s army that hadn’t outright fled were still reeling and struggling to regroup. The small group that was pursuing them also didn’t seem to react to the wounded splitting off. Hopefully it would stay that way

Quintus pulled a couple of his more defensively oriented centurions together to form up with him at the center of the line. They comprised the rearguard as the majority of the attacking force marched away. Their pace was rapid, but not the same level of tremendous speed he’d grown used to. Evidently, retreating was one of those situations where [Warpath] didn’t apply, and understandably so. The skill was meant to help speed their arrival to a battle, not away from one. Still, the fact that it wasn’t of use for a tactical retreat was an important caveat to take into consideration.

A horn blast from the command post signalled the rearguard to begin their retreat shortly after. He felt the effects of [Warpath] fade, reducing their own speed to something resembling a run. They continued to face the enemy as they did, marching backwards. When he was in formation like this, Quintus felt as though his awareness was expanded further. It was as though he passively knew what the men standing with him felt and saw in the back of his mind. Perhaps it was a benefit of [Unity], or a passive effect of [Coordinated Bulwark].

As they retreated, Quintus examined the group approaching them. One was the [Rogue] he recognized from earlier, her face clouded with undisguised hatred. The second was the man with a miniature ballista-like weapon that had loosed a siege weapon’s worth of damage onto his men. That one, he already had good reason to be wary of. But the other three…

The one in front, who appeared to be their leader, wore a cumbersome set of armor that completely encased him in black metal. The joints moved with a loud clinking sound from every single step, but were heavily reinforced by overlapping plates that ground against each other. Quintus couldn’t imagine fighting in that, at least not with any level of agility or precision. Yet he also struggled to figure out how they would be able to pierce that metal.

The shorter woman—more of a girl, really—wore what looked to be some sort of strange toga and a completely impractical floppy-brimmed hat that partially obscured her vision. Between the staff she gripped in her hands and the book strapped to her waist, it wasn’t hard to guess her role. Even Quintus had learned enough of local culture to pick out a mage.

The last member was a striking woman dressed in ethereal white robes that left more skin exposed than covered. If the mage’s attire had seemed impractical, then this woman’s seemed to be a parody of anything one might call “armor”. Honestly, she would have looked more at home in a brothel than on a battlefield. Her presence reminded him a lot of Eleonora, and not just because of their similarly upturned noses and haughty bearings. Something about her presence made him all but certain she was their healer.

The descriptions matched what the reports had said. The woman they’d fought before seemed to be an outsider here, walking slightly separate from the other four’s comfortable formation. That meant the four were used to working in a group, and based on the bit of deference he was able to detect, likely more powerful than the [Rogue] as well. He could tell from her impatient gait that if it were up to her, she would already be charging at the retreating Legion. But the other adventurers were not, and so she held herself back.

Quintus frowned. That was not a particularly good sign. If the other three were anywhere near as strong as the ballista wielder, then it would be a dangerous group indeed. Even more so if they actually coordinated.

He signaled to one of the communication specialists, marking the mage as likely the most dangerous of the group. They were just too unpredictable to fully plan for, considering everything they had learned about spells so far. Even more so since they had never fought one. He also indicated that the healer should be targeted first.

The quick march began to put distance between the five and the Legion, something which they seemed to be relatively surprised by as they broke into a jog to keep up. When the Legion still pulled ahead, he saw an argument commence between the armored man and the black-clad [Rogue] woman. At the end of it, the adventurers began to run faster.

Not too much faster, of course. While the bow-wielding man and black-clad woman had no problem moving quickly, Quintus could already see perspiration forming on the healer and the mage, and he could only imagine what the heavily armored man was feeling.

Quintus allowed himself a smile. He knew that most battles were won not by force of arms, but rather by logistics and mobility. Being able to disengage safely and choose the field of battle were skills that could guarantee a win before a fight even started. And ones that they would take full advantage of.

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The four cohorts received the command to halt and prepare for battle. Quintus quickly rushed ahead of the rearguard, shouting orders and forming two lines along the hill. The Romans hat taken up position slightly up the hill on a high ground and behind a quickly laid bulwark prepared by the two reserve cohorts. A solid structure of sharpened stakes and earthen berms soon stood between the men and their pursuers.

The defenses had been planned with a massed charge in mind, but here? Quintus had his doubts about how well it would function against the siege weapon-wielding archer or the mage. But it was the best they could do.

The five adventurers came skidding to a halt as they rounded the bend and saw the thousands of men defending a fortified position. They hesitated for a moment, and their conversation wafted over to Quintus’s ears.

“… That’s it? They expect to take us down with sticks and piles of dirt?” The white-robed woman snorted. “I’d hoped for better.”

“Don’t underestimate them.” The [Rogue]

woman warned. “That’s how Merethe…”

“She’s right, you know.” The bow-wielder with the ephemeral cloak said, looking around. “This isn’t all they’ve set up. They’ve got the makings of a decent ambush here.”

“Of what? More sticks? Ooh, scary.”

The mage dipped her head. “…I don’t like splinters…”

“Look, I’m just not impressed.” The healer ignored the shorter girl’s comment. “I don’t see what the big deal is. Why don’t we just send Ben up there to cut through them like the mooks that they are?”

The “archer” crossed his arms. “Hey, now. And leave all the fun for him? No way.”

“What fun? They’re level two, Lenny. They won’t give us hardly any experience anyway.”

“I said fun, not experience. Besides, I want to see what these guys can do. Give them a chance to show off.”

“‘Show off’? Is that why you didn’t tell us about the ambush earlier?” The healer ground out.

Lenny spread his hands and shrugged. “Guilty as charged.”

“…That was mean.” The mage muttered.

Lenny put his hand on the mage’s head, flattening the point of her oversized hat slightly. “Awww, I’m sorry, Meg. But I just knew you guys could handle whatever came your way.’

“It was still mean…”

Lenny sighed and patted her affectionately. “Next time, I’ll make sure to tell you. Promise. Luckily, next time is right now and I’m telling you plain and simple: they have an ambush ready here.”

“And I’m telling you that it doesn’t matter.” The healer woman pouted. “Especially not when we know it’s coming. What can they do to us anyway? I doubt they can even make a dent in Ben’s armor.”

“One way to find out.”

The armored man spoke for the first time, his rumbling voice carrying easily. He stepped forward and began advancing on the Legion. The archer and healer looked at each other, shrugged, and began walking after him. The mage and black-clad woman followed suit.

Quintus tensed and signaled the men to hold. The group approached, albeit with a little more caution than they’d exhibited before. Their steps carried them forward until they passed an invisible line. Then, Quintus signalled.

A hail of throwing spears filled the air once again, their density shading the ground below. They arced high into the sky before streaking back down to earth.

The [Rogue] woman rolled away as the spears began to land, coming to her feet and sprinting toward the edge of the area they covered as she continued to duck and weave. The archer blurred as he seemed to dance in place around the shafts just before they hit. The man in armor simply stood there, catching one spear in a gauntleted hand as others glanced off his pauldrons and helmet, and the mage conjured a hemisphere of purple energy above her that deflected the incoming projectiles.

Quintus saw the healer duck beneath the hemisphere alongside the mage, but not before a spear tore through her stomach. A red stain quickly began to seep into her pristine white robes. Yet she seemed unperturbed. Even as he watched, the woman calmly pulled the spear out and placed a glowing hand on her stomach. The wound began to seal at a visible pace.

As the last spear fell, all five of the adventurers remained standing amidst the dense forest of shafts. They continued forward, picking their way through the spears or simply batting them aside in the warrior’s case.

It would have been a disheartening result. If that had been the extent of their plan.

Quintus signalled again. He heard quiet words muttered under men’s breath as three-quarters of the throwing spears vanished from the earth. The rest began to glow, progressing quickly from a dull orange to cherry red.

The one called Lenny had a split second to shout a warning. He darted toward the healer, who was still holding the spear she’d pulled from her belly. Then, the ground exploded.

Bursts of flame and concussive force tore chunks of dirt from the earth, hurling them skyward. The ground rumbled with the force of the blasts. Quintus saw a few men flinch at the deafening roar that ensued, but they remained in position.

At the same time, a group of Legionnaires hiding behind the hilltops appeared with the scaled-down ballistae their engineers had developed. The things could hardly be called small, just downsized enough that the System-enhanced Legionnaires could carry them, nowhere near the handheld one that Lenny carried. But with their bulk came significant power.

Several sharp snaps added to the cacophony of explosions. They echoed through the hills in a way that was awe-inspiring, as if Jupiter himself had called down a quiver’s worth of lightning. The smoke and debris from the blasts made it difficult to see what was happening below and whether their enemies had survived from this angle. But when the smoke cleared, Quintus was able to see the fruits of their efforts.

Most of the party remained relatively unharmed. The armored man exhibited a number of scuffs on his previously polished armor, and the mage had been forced to expand her shield to fully encase herself. The two more agile fighters had somehow managed to evade the worst of the barrage, although the black-clad woman was bleeding from one of her legs. The healer, though…

The blonde woman stood staring at the sky, one arm blown off by the spear she hadn’t released in time. Her torso was riddled with ballista bolts from the concentrated fire of Quintus’s men. Rivulets of sizzling blood ran down her burnt and blackened skin and dripped to the ground.

For a moment, Quintus expected her to start moving. To calmly start removing the bolts and healing herself as she had done before. That was until she crumpled to the ground.

Someone screamed.

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep