Became the Unjust Contract Slave of the Archamage’s Book

The rear guard of the Order’s forces was stationed quite a distance from Elfenbine. With an army of 60,000 soldiers, the distance between the vanguard and the rear guard was significant, even when they were standing in formation. Paladins Leo and Inno, who were in charge of the rear, had stepped away, leaving the soldiers to wait for orders.

The initial shock and tension that the soldiers felt when they first saw Elfenbine had quickly dissipated, and just as their vigilance slackened like a loose rubber band, explosions began to erupt from the center of the formation.

Deafening blasts and screams echoed through the air. The bodies of soldiers caught in the explosions were flung into the sky.

“What’s happening? What’s going on?” shouted the knights serving as lieutenants, alarmed by the sudden chaos. But no one could grasp the situation or properly command the troops. The rear guard, composed mostly of conscripted troops from the Federation, was poorly organized and ill-prepared.

However, it was these lieutenants who first regained their composure.

“Pull yourselves together! We must hold out until the paladins return!”

Among the soldiers of the Holy Order of Vitory were many with extensive combat experience. They quickly realized that this was an ambush orchestrated by Elfenbine and began to bark orders at the panicked federated troops.

“Get a grip, you idiots!”

“You greenhorns from the Federation! The enemy is right here!”

When people are gripped by fear, the most effective way to snap them out of it is often through an even greater fear. The shrill commands from the seasoned soldiers of the Order shocked the others into action, and those who managed to regain their senses raised their shields, bracing for the next attack. The formation recovered more quickly than the mages of Elfenbine had anticipated.

Boom! Boom!

But even with their renewed discipline, the soldiers had no real means of countering the attacks. Comrades standing right beside them were caught in the explosions, blood and bodies scattering as screams filled the battlefield. The soldiers could do nothing but raise their shields and pray that they wouldn’t be the next victims. The mages relentlessly targeted those who were still disoriented, sowing chaos and confusion among the ranks.

At the same time, Paladin Pascal was furiously slashing at the gate of Elfenbine, but despite his efforts, the door didn’t even show a scratch.

“Damn this cursed door!” Pascal cursed, as other paladins pushed him aside and took turns attacking the gate. However, the result was the same. The gate of Elfenbine, which had crumbled like paper under their initial assault, now stood firm as an unyielding mountain.

“A barrier infused with magic,” came a voice from Starfall, observing the situation.

“Stand aside,” Yunnaeril commanded, waving the other paladins back as he stepped forward himself. Concentrating his power, a brilliant white light began to emanate from Starfall. This light, more radiant than any other paladin’s holy aura, dazzled the others.

As Yunnaeril swung his sword, a deep gash appeared on the gate that had previously shown no sign of damage. With another swing, the massive gate groaned and began to collapse.

As the wall crumbled, the outside world came into view. Flames blazed, and the screams of men rang out. The vanguard soldiers, unable to grasp the situation, stood frozen, uncertain of what to do next.

“Elfenbine is attacking us!”

“It seems they’ve targeted our rear guard!”

The rear guard not only consisted of soldiers but also carried the essential supplies that kept the army fed and equipped.

“Scylla!” Yunnaeril called out, taking a deep breath.

Amid the chaos, two figures who had been standing motionless like wooden dolls among the panicked soldiers suddenly leaped to his side at his command.

“Hold off the enemy!” Yunnaeril ordered his two doppelgängers.

Scylla and Callisto, both masked, split off in opposite directions, moving with lightning speed.

Binaeril, who had been observing the battlefield through a spell that allowed him to share the vision of the attackers, watched the situation unfold. He hadn’t joined the assault team himself, concerned that his brother might detect Veritas’s presence. The shared vision clearly showed flames rising and soldiers panicking, as well as the mages focusing their firepower on the assault, and the faint light of Starfall slicing through the sealed gate of Elfenbine.

As Binaeril calmly observed, he noticed two figures suddenly leaping into action. Their silhouettes were unsettlingly familiar. A sense of foreboding washed over him. If he were there in person, he might have been able to identify them…

[Stop right there! Everyone, fall back now!] Binaeril quickly issued the command, unable to ignore his instincts.

His order was relayed instantaneously to all the mages in the assault team. In any ordinary army, passing down orders would take some time, especially for an army of tens of thousands. But the mages could communicate and relay commands in real time through magic—a swiftness that large armies couldn’t match.

[Binaeril! We can still reduce their numbers!] Priya protested.

[No, we need to retreat now. Yunnaeril is on the move. Hurry!]

Once the decision was made, the mages moved in perfect unison, as if they were one body.

[Everyone, retreat!]

The assault team dispersed, scattering their magical energy as they fled at full speed. Priya took charge of the final phase. She manipulated the dense magic that had saturated the battlefield, spreading a thick fog that blanketed the area.

With the enemy’s vision obscured, even the two figures who had jumped out on Yunnaeril’s orders couldn’t immediately launch a counterattack.

Moments later, as the fog cleared, the only thing left were the corpses of the fallen Order soldiers. The Elfenbine guerrilla unit shared a quiet moment of victory.

“Binaeril’s strategy worked wonders.”

“Who would’ve thought of the idea to abandon Elfenbine like that?”

The mages had suffered no casualties, and they had effectively struck at the rear guard, which was responsible for the Order’s supplies. While the day’s achievements weren’t enough to turn the tide of the entire war, they were still significant.

“The success of this strategy is thanks to the Tower Lord and all of you. I didn’t do anything,” Binaeril humbly stated.

Emptying out Elfenbine had been possible due to the Tower Lord’s power, and the successful strike on the Order’s rear was the result of the other mages’ abilities. Binaeril had only provided the strategy; the execution was a collective effort.

But everyone knew the truth: without Binaeril’s strategy, they would have been stuck trying to defend Elfenbine instead of taking the offensive.

It was like trying to stop a boulder with an egg.

“Don’t be so modest. We all know how much credit you deserve. You’ve started this war on a high note,” Priya said with a grin.

“You did a great job too, Priya,” Binaeril replied.

The fact that the assault ended without any casualties was largely thanks to her fog. Priya had played a crucial role in this strategy, blinding the enemy and ensuring the safe retreat of the strike team. Without her, they would have likely suffered from Yunnaeril’s and the paladins’ counterattack.

“But to think that you managed to hide all of Elfenbine… it’s truly impressive. I wonder if there’s any limit to the Tower Lord’s power,” Professor Avia remarked.

Yunnaeril and the paladins believed that the tower had been abandoned and left as a hollow shell, but that wasn’t the case. The Tower Lord had concealed the true tower, preventing the Order from discovering it. The heart of this operation was a massive illusion that enveloped the entire tower. What Binaeril had asked for was merely to seal off the tower, but the Tower Lord went a step further, disguising the real tower and constructing a decoy to lure the Order. What they found was not the real tower but a fake, created by the Tower Lord.

“It really is incredible,” Binaeril said quietly, still concerned that Starfall might have seen through the illusion, but his fears had not materialized. The decoy tower, the mages disguised as ordinary villagers, and the strike team that vanished like mist—it must have felt to the Order like they were fighting ghosts.

“But because of that, we couldn’t fully utilize sister’s power,” Priya responded in a low voice.

“She seems reluctant to kill, even in war,” Binaeril noted.

“That’s so… like her,” Priya said with a sigh.

The Tower Lord had done her part by masking the tower, avoiding direct involvement in the war. Binaeril understood that if she were to engage in battle, she would inevitably have to face Starfall.

Still, even within her limited role, she was providing immense support.

“So, Binaeril, what’s your plan going forward?” Priya asked.

“We could organize another strike team to keep harassing them, couldn’t we?” another mage suggested.

“No, the same tactic won’t work twice. The only reason it succeeded this time was because we managed to temporarily tie down the paladins,” Binaeril replied, knowing his brother wouldn’t fall for the same trick twice.

“Then what? Are you planning to confront them head-on?” someone asked.

“This time…” Binaeril began, capturing everyone’s attention.

***

“What’s the extent of the damage?”

“It’s not as bad as we feared. It seems Elfenbine doesn’t have as many forces as we initially thought.”

Despite being caught off guard, the actual loss of troops wasn’t significant. However, the real issue lay with the supplies.

“Their target wasn’t our troops. Most of the supplies we were protecting in the rear guard were destroyed by fire,” the mage reported grimly.

It was bad news. The rear guard, responsible for protecting and transporting supplies, was larger than the main force. Feeding and maintaining an army of tens of thousands required a tremendous amount of provisions.

“How much food do we have left?” Yunnaeril asked.

“Given the current stock, we won’t last even a week. Waiting for resupplies from the Duchy… it’s going to be tight.”

“What about the nearby villages?”

Resupplying a large expeditionary force wasn’t something that could be managed solely with domestic resources. It was common for armies to pillage villages and seize supplies from the lands they passed through, helping to sustain them during a campaign.

“Didn’t you see? Every village we passed on the way here was nothing but ruins. The people left around Elfenbine were clearly enemies in disguise.”

‘Elfenbine has no territory.’ This wasn’t a weakness; it was a strategy. There were no supplies to loot, no population to exploit—nothing. They had been completely outmaneuvered.

“Didn’t I report it to you from the start? I clearly said those remaining in the villages seemed suspicious,” Paladin Pascal shouted, directing his frustration at Yunnaeril.

“You dismissed my concerns with soft words, saying the Order doesn’t spill unnecessary blood, that they weren’t our enemies. But if you had listened to me…”

“Pascal!” someone interjected, trying to stop him from further disrupting the already tense atmosphere.

“If it weren’t for the commander, we wouldn’t have even made it out of that tower alive!”

“But it was the commander’s decisions that led us into the ambush in the first place!” Pascal’s accusations began to spread among the others.

A loud bang on the table made Pascal flinch. Yunnaeril, without raising his voice, spoke to him in a calm, measured tone.

“It was my mistake. But what’s done is done. If you wish to blame me for my error, do so once we return to the Order.”

“Pascal, let it go. No one could have predicted that the Elfenbine forces would abandon their home and pride to carry out such a plan,” another tried to reason.

“They will attack again, I’m certain of it,” Pascal insisted, refusing to back down.

Yunnaeril didn’t respond with anger. Instead, he calmly replied, “We must prepare.”

“And what will you do? Will you plant the Order’s flag in an empty Elfenbine? That would be meaningless.”

“We have no choice but to wait. They will undoubtedly strike again.”

The real problem was capturing the enemy’s leader. Whether it was the Tower Lord of Elfenbine or even Binaeril Dalheim, who had been declared an enemy of the Order, someone needed to be caught. Time was of the essence, and Yunnaeril knew they couldn’t afford to let it slip away.

He bit his lower lip, his frustration evident.