Michelangelo, who fended off the first wave with the mine-like mechanical devices he laid in the area remaining between him and the enemy, continued the bombardment without stopping for a moment; apparently, his supply was as solid as the Hell Army's.
"So you are not showing your face. Engineers, scan the area up to the hills!"
With Hubertus's order, rods a meter long began to be driven into the ground, and when the work was done, only a finger's length of them remained outside. The ground was trembling, there was no earthquake, but everyone felt the vibrations under the earth. Then colorful paints began to shoot out from the exposed parts of the rods, and red paths stretching towards the hills appeared for a minute.
"If you take these paths, you can reach the hills without getting caught by the explosives!"
When Hubertus Strughold solved the problem in a short time, the two generals directed the units of two thousand people this time. The soldiers had no choice but to obey the orders, but their speed had visibly dropped.
"Run, who told you that you could walk?"
Whun shouted, swinging his bronze spear, the cutting edge of which was wider than two hand-spans, offering the soldiers two choices. Either you do what I say, or I will bring the death you fear to your doorstep. The desperate soldiers sped up, beginning to run without straying from the path created by the scientists.
When nothing happened for a few seconds, their courage also increased; they were running by spreading out into the area two hundred steps wide. All of the two thousand people had entered the red paths, and those who took the initiative by gathering courage had almost reached their targets, but a few steps away, something the Golden Leaf Merchant Guild Army didn't expect happened.
The mines that hadn't exploded until that moment began to explode one after another when it came to the final moments, and these explosions were occurring in the places the soldiers had previously stepped and passed over. The effects of the detonating mines were devastating; those who died in the first moment were lucky, a painful process began for those pierced by iron marbles.
"How is it possible? Impossible, there shouldn't have been explosive mechanical devices on the paths?"
A researcher behind the most authoritative figure on Human Experiments lost his cool in the face of what happened. Coming right up to the edge of the energy barrier surrounding them, he was practically trying to confirm what he saw, but his words were actually saying he had already understood what happened.
"Calm down! There is no mistake in the data of the devices, if there were, the explosions would have started the moment they stepped on the red paths. Judging by the fact that it started suddenly after the entire unit entered, it means Leonardo has invented something again."
Hubertus Strughold might not feel guilt for the two thousand people who died in the first attack wave; it was hard to find this odd, but it was surprising that he maintained the same coolness after the four thousand people who were torn to pieces just a moment ago.
"Esteemed scientist, what is going on here?"
Suzi's tone was asking harshly, but her words had softened her attitude. Hubertus first examined the parts of the devices remaining outside the soil, looked at the notes kept by the researchers standing over them, and then came back to give the answer the general wanted.
"As I said, there is no error in the data the devices present and the paths they create. What emerged in the second scan is this: the weapons the enemy uses have the feature of changing their places under the ground!"
Hubertus Strughold spoke with his usual calmness, but Whun, who lost almost a third of his total strength in a short time, wasn't as relaxed as him. He took his spear into his hand, threw himself outside the energy barrier.
Yellow earth energy began to accumulate on the cutting edge of his weapon. His armor was ablaze; whatever remained in the five-step area around him was doomed to burn and disappear. Whun executed five slashes one after another, and all were made to the places where the red paths began. He was beating the earth with his foot; the earth energy breaking off his body advancing underground could be seen even from afar.
Bodies that hadn't even found the opportunity to cool down were burning, while some fell into the split earth and disappeared from sight, Whun continued his attacks containing earth energy without pausing. He was blinded by the loss he experienced, he had made it his duty to clear the area, and it was so violent that he was overcome with anger enough not to hear Hubertus Strughold shouting.
"Run away from there immediately!"
Before his words even ended, an explosion occurred between the two feet of the general; they had witnessed the explosions killing the soldiers before, but the violence of this one was several times greater. Whun took his spear in front of him and began to spin it as he was hurled backward; he couldn't escape the iron marbles flocking towards him like a swarm of locusts any other way.
He stopped when he crashed into the energy circle the scientists formed, Suzi reached out her hand and pulled him inside. His flaming body had returned to normal, the scientists gathered around him were taking notes unceasingly, his final state had caught their attention.
His armor was shattered, and there was bleeding linked to deep cuts in many places. The bronze handle part of his weapon was completely useless, even if its cutting edge was protected by the earth element, it couldn't escape taking damage.
"Whun, be careful! The one opposite us is not someone you can encounter every day, and as seen, he has set some traps."
After completing her words, Suzi walked in the opposite direction of the side Whun destroyed and drew her bow the moment she exited the shield. The bombardment had ceased for a while, it was obvious the enemy was planning something new, but the female general with hair cut like a man wasn't going to wait for this.
She drew her bow, which was as large as her own height, and released it towards the sky. There was no arrow on the weapon, but the green dots setting off towards the air were changing shape and turning into arrows within five seconds.
What scattered into the air were small pieces of wood, but they all took shape and turned into arrows along with the wind energy. Explosions began to occur one after another in the trapped area; attacks made from afar were the greatest enemies of Michelangelo's mines.
They might be changing places, but they were still located within a certain area, and in the face of the green arrows falling to the ground like raindrops, they had no choice but to explode.
"Follow the general, everyone commence the attack!"
Whun gave his order, the soldiers stepped outside the shield, and the bombardment that had been cut off for a while began again. Suzi was a singular target, even without the help of the wind element, as a Mercenary General, her equipment was enough for her to escape, but normal soldiers didn't have such a luxury.
Once they stepped outside, it was impossible for them to enter inside under bombardment; if they made the energy barrier permeable for them, the whole army would take damage. They paid the price for their hastiness with their lives, perhaps there was a loss of at most two hundred people, but their enemy was toying with them like a cat playing with a mouse.
"Enough of this disgrace. If the mechanical vehicles intended for battle are ready, let's begin the counterattack!"
Hubertus Strughold spoke by raising his voice this time, and the side hatches of some mechanical vehicles lined up on the outer front of the army opened. There were six energy weapons in each, and even though they were behind the shield, they began to fire.
"Since the energy shields are our manufacture too, there is no obstacle in front of us attacking. Let's see what you will do when the hill you hide on is flattened, Leonardo?"
When the blonde-haired man gave the attack order, shots began one after another; even if some collided with the attacks the enemy made and scattered, many of them were landing on the hills located a hundred steps away from the army. When a minute passed, there was no attack coming to the Golden Leaf Merchant Guild army; only the sound of the weapons belonging to the scientists was heard in the wide plain.