General Scoll ordering his troops to cast the barrier had led to the Alliance of Kingdoms taking out a significant lead over the Tribe of Death. And if he wanted, he could press the attack and make the most out of the lead he had just gained. It is what he would have done had it been an ordinary war between two human forces.
But he was currently up against the Tribe of Death. Even if it was just their mortal forces, it was still a transcendent faction with innumerable methods to win wars. Thankfully, he had already figured out the most likely method his opponent had chosen to secure victory, which meant he also knew how to use his own cards to beat the enemy.
And since General Scoll knew what he had to do to increase the chances of victory, he also knew that pressing the attack and charging toward the Tribe of Death now that they had fired their magic was one of the worst things he could do.
If the Tribe of Death was planning what General Scoll thought they were planning, and if Braxton and Seich had failed their mission, the best thing General Scoll could do was make use of the mana storm that had shown up out of nowhere.
There were a few other methods to eke out a victory against the Tribe of Death, and using the mana storm carried plenty of risk on its own since it was unpredictable. But General Scoll was confident he could make use of the mana storm's destructive and chaotic properties to make up for the risk it carried. If he succeeded, it would be a much better option than anything else he could do, especially since the Fountain of Death was most likely still supporting the Tribe of Death with demonic energy.
If the mana storm landed and struck the Fortress of Death with all its might, the disturbance it caused would be more than enough to interfere with the Tribe of Death's use of the Fountain and stop it from supplying them with near-endless amounts of demonic energy. When that happened, the Tribe of Death wouldn't be able to freely cast their magic in a mana-saturated atmosphere without being able to worry about their demonic energy running out. Their artifacts would also start becoming unusable, which would decrease their fighting force by enough to make the humans capable of victory.
Losing the Fountain of Death would also make it possible for the Alliance of Kingdoms to beat the Tribe of Death's trump card, which otherwise wouldn't be possible. It would, of course, still be a difficult task that would undoubtedly result in the deaths of numerous soldiers and combatants. But it was a necessary sacrifice in order to win the war.
General Scoll's thoughts flashed, and he began seeing the path to victory as he commanded the troops to stay in place and continue reinforcing the barriers.
He risked losing the troops burning fighting spirit and morale by making them go on the defensive after the enemies' trap had already failed.
"Don't forget the black phantoms! We have the advantage. Let's make use of it!"
General Scoll usually didn't have to bother with motivation while in the middle of battle since he had already made sure that the troops would already be more than motivated enough during the planning. But now that things had changed and he had to step in himself, he also had to make sure that the troops wanted to follow his orders.
So, in addition to strengthening his voice and making the listeners more eager to obey, Scoll also added some magic that made the ones who heard him more passionate. It was usually so subtle that it barely had any effect.
But the troops were in the middle of a gruesome war, and their minds were weak from the black phantoms' terrorizing attack. General Scoll's words were effective and made the troops redouble their efforts as they hunkered down and put up even more barriers to defend against the Tribe of Death's attacks.
With everyone on the Alliance of Kingdoms' side focusing on defense, the Tribe of Death and their allies were naturally free to attack as much as they wanted. Just like that, the war turned into a completely one-directional assault and defense.
The humans, at least the ones with a high enough rank to know about the Fountain of Death, were concerned about General Scoll's plan. If it were a war of attrition, it would be difficult to win against the Tribe of Death, no matter the numbers. And when they had the Fountain of Death supporting them? Nothing but a pipe dream.
However, no one could rashly approach and question the supreme commander of the Alliance of Kingdom's army, General Scoll. And the general was famous for winning even the most dire battles. There were some who didn't believe in the general, but they were too busy or too low-ranked to do anything about it.
But the troops knew what they were up against, and the rumors of the Tribe of Death having endless stamina didn't feel like just a rumor when they continued flinging magic toward the barriers without pause.
The combatants had already fought for quite a while, and keeping up the barriers was rigorous work, no matter how simple the process was. Against the untiring combatants of the Tribe of Death, no one held any hope of winning the defensive, one-sided war of attrition.
However, General Scoll's eyes shone as he looked at the battlefield.
It was nearly impossible to tell without special sight, even more so when one was close to the battlefield. But General Scoll stood on a raised platform behind the backlines and had a great view over the battle. Combined with his experience commanding battles and winning wars, he noticed something.
There was a pattern to the way the enemy mages used magic. It was a pattern that revealed something that would change the current flow of the war.
General Scoll spared a glance toward the vortex that was only halfway between sky and ground.
That was only the visible part, so the mana, still invisible to the naked eye, had probably reached the ground. But it would take a while until the mana storm picked up speed and grew enough to obstruct the Fountain of Death.
However, if General Scoll's observation was true, he might not need to wait that long.
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