Sobbing, the women remained hunched with fright on the wagon floor.
“Now!” snapped the soldier. “We can’t cast a shield on all the wagons. When we have all of you in one place, we’ll cast a barrier to protect you. Hurry!”
Finally coming to their senses, the women grabbed their bags and leaped out. The soldiers deftly led the clerics to the center of the ranks.
Maxi barely managed to stumble after them, but her legs gave out in terror the moment she laid eyes on the dozens of trolls surrounding them. If Selina had not been swift to steady her, she would have collapsed to the ground. They reached the inner ranks, where people huddled like sheep. It took everything Maxi had to squeeze herself among them.
When all those who could not fight were assembled, a hierarch immediately used divine magic to cast an incorporeal barrier around them.
Holding on to Idsilla, Maxi dizzily took in their surroundings. The scene raging outside the bluish barrier was hell itself. Dark green giants, at least two or three times bigger than the men, stormed through the battlefield, the booming of their footsteps melding with the clank of their cast-iron armor. They swung massive iron maces, sending soldiers flying like splinters of wood. Maxi screamed as showers of blood splattered in all directions.
Though the knights charged and hacked at the monsters with astonishing speed, the trolls seemed oblivious to the damage. Aghast, Maxi’s heart sank as she watched the trolls’wounds heal in an instant. Reading about the phenomenon had done nothing to prepare her for seeing it in action. She could not believe that humans were any match against such terrifying monsters.
When a troll began crushing the soldiers’ mounts with an iron-spiked hammer, Maxi could not bear to watch any longer. She squeezed her eyes shut, suppressing the urge to hurl. Idsilla clung to her in terror as the gruesome sounds of battle spiraled around them.
At that moment, Duke Aren’s distinctive voice rang out.
“Reinforcements have arrived! Everyone, keep your wits about you!”
Mustering her courage, Maxi managed to open her eyes. Clouds of dust made it difficult to see what was happening on the other side of the barrier. Clashing steel, whinnying horses, and shrieks that sounded like boars being slaughtered swelled in a petrifying chorus.
Suddenly, a group of knights on warhorses galloped through the billowing dust like a raging storm. The knights’ armor glinted in the sun as they charged directly at the trolls.
Still huddled with the others behind the barrier, Maxi’s eyes darted in every direction as she strained to comprehend the chaos of the battle. Despite the exhilarating appearance of the knights, it was difficult to tell which side was winning in this living nightmare.
All around, knights threw hooked chains that wrapped around the trolls’ enormous bodies like nets. The monsters bellowed as they resisted against the steel chains, their earsplitting roars reverberating through the air. They thrashed their massive limbs as if to smash the earth beneath them, and the ground shook violently. The knights ruthlesslyplunged long spears and hooks into the bound trolls until they were only weakly resisting, then they cut off their heads.
Maxi forgot to breathe as the fierce battle unfolded before her eyes. Despite her horror, she was unable to tear away her gaze from the truly overwhelming sight of death and destruction at every turn.
She did not know how long the battle continued, but eventually, the dust around them began to clear. Less than half of the troll horde remained standing. Like herdsmen driving cattle, the knights skillfully drove the monsters into a corner.
Duke Aren’s powerful form emerged from the settling dust. “I think we have the situation in hand now.”
Before long, the heavy haze of dust abated, and Duke Aren motioned to the hierarch. Immediately, the barrier surrounding the clerics began melting into the air.
Maxi let out a shuddering breath. Even when the soldiers came to tell the women that the battle had ended, their limbs refused to budge.
“It is over. Go tend to the wounded.”
It was only after the knights impatiently pressed them that the women slowly made their way to the battlefield.
Maxi’s insides twisted with horror as her eyes flickered to the troll carcasses strewn on the ground. The soldiers went about removing the monsters’ armor, revealing the full extent of their ghastly appearance. Dark green swamp-toad skin covered their burly bodies, and their faces matched descriptions of the devil in the Holy Scripture. They had big, hooked noses; yellow teeth protruding from thick lips; sparse, long black hair; and sagging cheeks.
As she stared at a fallen troll, Maxi belatedly realized thatits head was not attached to its body. She quickly looked away, her vision blurring as a wave of nausea crashed over her.
“Hurry up and help transport the wounded!” ordered a knight. “Bring those in critical condition to the high priest. Gather those who can walk in a separate area for emergency treatment.”
Numbly, the women began to move in unison. Maxi tried to collect herself and rushed to the injured soldiers. Some had died on the spot. Maxi averted her gaze from their trampled bodies and focused on finding survivors.
Two out of three men were still alive, though it remained to be seen whether they were fortunate enough to have survived. After meticulously assessing their wounds, Maxi decided to heal some of them with magic. A female cleric using magic would be a strange sight; she furtively glanced around before she started, but no one paid her any mind. The soldiers were busy removing the armor from the dead trolls, while the female clerics had their hands full treating the injured alongside the hierarchs.
Once she had confirmed that no one was watching, Maxi used her healing magic more actively. Seven patients later, however, she found her mana quickly depleting. She gauged her mana levels and surmised that any more healing would lead to mana depletion. The other female clerics were transporting the wounded, and Maxi began to help with that instead.
Those in critical condition were brought to the hierarchs, who healed them with divine magic. Those with less serious injuries like fractures and flesh wounds were taken to a tent that had been hastily set up for them.
The knight overseeing the tent said in a stern voice, “We cannot heal all of you with magic, but we are only a day away from Serbin Castle. We will rest briefly after everyone has been tended to, then set out immediately. I pray that you will persevere until then.”
The wounded nodded in grim silence. The female clerics swiftly removed the soldiers’ armor and began cleaning their open wounds.
