Infinite Paths: The Raging Phoenix

"All right, let's set my goals for this battle… considering the order of things that will make me regret the most later, I guess my goals are obvious here," Rain thought.

Rain wanted to make sure that those kids would return alive; returning in one piece would be better, but most wounds can be healed, and even lost limbs can be recovered, so returning alive was fine for now. After that, Rain had to become as strong as possible… he had to kill a lot of enemies, but that wasn't a problem after experiencing what he had done so far.

Lastly, Rain wanted to recover Tristan; he grew up there, after all. Even if it was only for five years… Besides, if things worked well, his family could move there again, but now that he thought about it, such a thing wasn't a good idea… living in the countryside was the best and most peaceful option.

"Well, time to put my head in the game," Rain thought when everyone stopped moving behind some hills.

Branden really had planned that well despite the little time he had. Or perhaps it was because he had been raised from an early age that one day he would have to defend that city, but arriving at such an area of the terrain at such a good time was truly amazing… he knew the terrain perhaps even more than his father, and he was smart enough to use it as well like that.

"Listen, the sun is rising from our backs, and we will use that to our advantage as well," Branden said while everyone was crunching down on their knees. "In half an hour, the sun will start to blind the enemies camping there and the walls, and we will be able to cross half of the distance without being seen.

The enemies will have little time to ready themselves, and I will make sure that they will have even less time."

Jori, Reca, Liss, Asche, and Terra looked at Rain with some complicated looks in their eyes. It looked like they did something unfair in comparing Rain to Branden.

Their leader knew a lot more about tactics and warfare than he… while Rain had complicated feelings in being surprised by such a strategy as well since he felt like he lost to a thirteen years old kid, it couldn't be helped since he didn't study at school for even three months. At the same time, Branden stayed there for five years.

"The next time, I will show them my best tactic weapon on the battlefield… the legendary roundhouse kick on the neck," Rain thought.

Rain felt that he was quite childish as well for trying to compete with kids. Regardless, soon he took those thoughts out of his mind and then began to wait for the time of the attack. During those few minutes, Rain wondered what he should do… stay on the back and cover for the others or dash ahead and punch the enemies left and right to draw the aggro toward him?

"I don't know what kind of power the enemies ahead have… so I guess I should watch for a while and cover for everyone while I learn what they can do," Rain thought.

Before long, Branden made everyone look at him, and then he raised his right arm and then slowly descended. Everyone began to move, and soon they realized that the light of the sun was truly dazzling at such a time. Still, they began to move slowly in order to make sure that they wouldn't make much noise.

They only increased their pace when they saw a gust of cold wind moving from the sides toward the city… Branden was using some sort of spell.

The army of seven hundred men crossed five hundred meters without being noticed, but when they were four hundred meters away, some people realized their approach. Rain looked to the sides and then saw the army forming a half ring… it seemed that Branden wanted to completely surround the enemies, and it also seemed that such a thing would work.

When the first few enemies began to shout, all of a sudden, they began to be enveloped by a cold wind, and then they stopped moving instantly. The cold wind quickly took over the ground and froze everything around the enemy's camp. The enemies had their legs stuck in it as well, half covered in ice, and they began to panic.

"HAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!"

The soldiers around Rain began to shout with all their might; their mouths were wide open while ignoring the fact that their shouts were spatting a lot of spit. They looked at the enemies like they were a bunch of beasts that had to be slaughtered. Jori and Reca looked the same way, while Liss, Asche, and Terra were gritting their teeth while showing their anger on their faces.

They had lost a lot as well, thanks to the war, after all.

When the enemies were fifty meters away, they finally began to act. Rain found it weird since the guys there didn't look particularly strong… they were wearing a silver armor, but they had no weapons… it was clear that they were mages as well, through and through.

That thought was confirmed when the enemies suddenly touched the ground, and some golems began to emerge from it, cracking the frozen guard and emerging from it and freeing some of the enemies. The golems were slow but sturdy; they were four meters tall and had thick limbs… it was clear their attacks would hurt.

Still, some of the monsters began to fall as Rain fired Wind Bullets toward their masters.

An unknown skill gained experience.

The Healer's Path received 300 experience points.

An unknown skill gained experience.

The Healer's Path received 300 experience points.

…

Alongside Rain, Asche and Liss began to attack. The other mages of the army began to fire a bunch of magic projectiles toward the enemies, but only those that were shot upward and fell in an arc hit the enemies; the others were blocked by the golems with their sturdy bodies.