After five minutes of bombardment, neither a single mine in the terrain between them and the hill nor anything in the name of a hill remained. When the area the enemy attacked from and the space they trapped vanished, the soldiers let out cries of joy.
Even though they had scientists and engineers alongside them, their enemy could use methods no one had seen before. Having fallen into his trap twice, they were joyful because he wouldn't be able to catch such a chance anymore; perhaps they were acting a bit prematurely.
As the energy attacks appearing above them told them not to rush, their cries of joy turned into hollow gasps of bewilderment. The hills had been reduced to dust; how was it possible that attacks continued to come from there?
"Calm down! He is using the other energy weapons he has, we will destroy them too!"
Hubertus Strughold, figuring out the enemy's location when shots came only from the hill on the right side, directed all his firepower there. No matter how many backup weapons he brought out, it was impossible for him to cope with what they brought along.
Or it shouldn't have been, but seeing the ones landing on the energy shields behind the energy attacks clashing in the air, he was forced to change his mind. Against dozens of offensive war vehicles, the firepower created by a single person was prevailing.
"Turn the other energy weapons to the right side too!"
No one needed to say anything; the engineers had already turned all the weapons in that direction. What happened was no different from spitting in their faces or publicly humiliating them; the forces of the Empire of Machines were being defeated at their own game.
The entire army, including the generals, was watching what unfolded; the situation the forces coming for support fell into was obvious. Hubertus maintained his composure, he continued to observe silently, but the first vein on his forehead had started to scream 'I am here.'
"Sir, we cannot continue like this!"
One of the assistants behind him stepped forward and whispered in his ear; they had been defeated in this show of strength, and if they didn't deliver the response as soon as possible, he would see the army's morale plummet. Hubertus Strughold gave his approval by nodding, the assistant turned around and told the two people waiting for him to begin.
The mechanical vehicles remaining in the middle of the five-thousand-strong forces of the Empire of Machines advanced towards the edge of the energy barrier. These weren't what they sold to the Mercenaries before, but things they brought with them. They were blacker than pitch darkness; ten of them suddenly changed their direction to the right side and began to wait for the order coming from Hubertus Strughold.
The blondest and palest man among the forces of the Empire of Machines raised his hand into the air, then brought it down like a guillotine wanting to sever the head of the criminal lying beneath it. Unlike the offensive mechanical vehicles opening from the side, the roofs of the black ones opened, and spheres large enough to fill a person's lap began to be fired one after another.
Curious gazes accompanied these new munitions gliding through the air all along the way, but when they reached above the ruins of the hills, that was when shouts containing exclamations of amazement echoed across the flat plain.
The soldiers of the Golden Leaf Merchant Guild Army hadn't seen such a thing before, it was impossible for them to see it either; the spheres detonated right above the target, and pieces of fire wrapped in pale white color on the outside began to rain from the sky.
The energy weapons hiding among what remained of the hill weren't late in responding; their new targets were the pieces of fire, but this time they were the ones falling short. When the energy balls were exposed to the effects of this new type of weapon, they lost their structural integrity and dispersed.
Not just them, but soil, metal, even air couldn't stand before them. Following the first contact, Michelangelo threw himself out of the danger zone and started bombarding from the left side. He was using his master's new weapon with increased firing rate and power, but the enemy hadn't come empty-handed either.
Even thinking about this weapon being used during a battle was enough to give one goosebumps; if you didn't have a strong energy field protecting you, bypassing it and reaching you was child's play for it. Michelangelo had embarked on a daring endeavor, but he had acquired new information in return.
In the moments his rationality began to outweigh, he made his move to return; he had to relay the information regarding the weapon to the Balsici Family Army. Whether he believed he dealt the maximum damage possible alone is unknown, but his enemies weren't thinking highly of him.
"You can't escape anywhere!"
Whun darted like a bolt of lightning; the hasty general wasn't going to let this person who took his soldiers from his hands escape so easily. He had already donned his new armor; he swung his sturdy bronze spear forward, and sparks advanced like a net, spreading over a wide area.
This was a net of fire, and even if Michelangelo had moved out of the range of the new weapons, he wanted to catch him. When the young engineer realized he would be trapped, he threw the fist-sized spheres appearing in his hand into the air.
Within a few seconds, ten spheres met the net of fire, and the moment they made contact, yellow-colored sands scattered everywhere. When the fire hit this curtain of sand, it stopped; it didn't disperse or disappear, but it lost its speed and was forced to miss its target.
Whun wasn't giving up; the tip of his spear glowed with yellow color this time. He countered the earth element with an element of the same type and tore through the curtain blocking his path. He couldn't let go of the enemy, he had to speed up, but when he noticed the spheres right in front of his eyes, he used his weapon to defend.
When a block of earth appeared, a light green liquid splashed and began to melt the obstacle the general created to protect himself. Michelangelo chose to fight with these weapons he invented himself and manufactured thanks to his Power Animal.
Right after confronting Whun with elemental energy, he launched a surprise attack with a chemical mixture. When the general figured out his opponent wasn't solely focused on escaping, he slowed down; they were going to fight, and he had to prepare himself for this.
When he looked through the holes formed on the wall he created from earth, he saw the enemy was looking at him too. He was expecting someone short, with white hair, wearing a white coat, but opposite him was a young person with pitch-black arms.
"You are not Master Leonardo, are you?"
The answer came with more spheres; the time for talking was over for Whun too. He could get the answer he wanted when he took his dead body back. Unlike him, Suzi possessed a more cautious nature and had stayed beside Hubertus Strughold, watching the new weapons turn to the other direction and destroy the enemy weapons among the remnants of the hill.
"Esteemed scientist, have you sold this weapon to another civilization?"
What she saw was another kind of destruction; she couldn't help but be terrified. This weapon possessed vital importance, especially for a civilization like theirs providing all their combat power through the inventions of the Empire of Machines.
"The Ember Blaze is one of our civilization's weapons banned from being sold outside. We were able to bring it with us because the community I lead is its creator!"
When Suzi received multiple messages hidden within two sentences, the proportions of the features on her measured face changed for a second. First, she learned that the Empire of Machines possessed weapons like this that no one had seen, and it was impossible for anyone other than those who created these weapons to use them.
"Its destructive power is immense; I'm not sure even a regular army could stand against it!"
When Suzi praised it, Hubertus swelled with pride and turned towards the hills he had pulverized. He possessed a weapon that altered the terrain; even if he lost six thousand men, the victory of the Golden Leaf Merchant Guild was certain as long as he was with them.
"Someone is coming, two people appeared on the right side!"
While everyone's attention was on the newly leveled left side, a voice was heard from the rear of the army. Two shadows were visible where the first destroyed hill used to be; the energy weapons fired without waiting for an order.