Although they were called barbarians, they were a bit different from what Billy imagined them to look like. He had imagined some hairy Vikings… while the barbarians were tall and muscular, they didn't seem that wild. They even advanced while keeping a steady and disciplined formation. They were wearing light armor, but they had some big and round shields, and their axes were also pretty big, even though they carried them with a single hand. As for their levels, they were all above eighty…
"Did they reach that level just by training?" Billy thought while frowning. "They don't look the type who would use dungeons that much to get stronger."
Putting that aside, they sure could put a lot of pressure just with their advance while marching. Even though they were one kilometer away, the soldiers and adventurers were already sweating due to the nervousness. As if he was planning to calm them down, Gerald jumped from the wall and then landed outside. He sure had some power in his legs since he walked after landing like nothing that had happened. In any case, without saying anything, he walked to the front of the soldiers and adventurers and then equipped his big-ass sword. That was the most dangerous place to be, but he was planning to raise the morale of his troops by accepting those risks.
When Billy checked Gerald's status, he confirmed that he had learned Fierce Aura, and it was at level twenty already. He had no idea how he learned that, but it sure would be useful. In any case, Billy also saw Marie moving toward the frontline. Still, she was moving in a weird manner… walking between the blind spots of her own allies in order not to be identified by no one.
"Let's see if I can learn that later," Billy thought.
The enemies finally increased their pace when they were five hundred meters away, and they also raised their shields to protect their heads and moved their axes to protect their chests. Their coordination was something else, just like their lack of hesitation.
When they entered the range, Lily coordinated her archers, and they began to fire arrows at a fearsome speed toward the barbarians. It almost looked like they were mirrors copying each other and attacking the enemy at the same time. Their accuracy was also pretty good, but most of the arrows ended up hitting the round shields above the enemies. After the third volley of arrows, Billy could count with the fingers of his hands the number of enemies that had fallen. That wasn't good..
"Keep firing at will!" Lily shouted and then looked at the enemies who were fast approaching.
Just like Marie, Lily was planning to take out anyone who resembled a commander among the enemies, but there was no such a thing. No one was leading the barbarians, and yet, they were charging in total unison. Without any other option, Lily grabbed her bow and began to shoot at the enemies randomly… even though they were two hundred meters away, her arrows hit the faces of all enemies she targeted.
After realizing that the defenders had an elite marksman on their side, the barbarians tried to protect their faces. Still, it was hard to cover so many parts of their bodies with only a shield and ax. While they had helmets, it didn't protect their whole heads… Nevertheless, eventually, the barbarians reached the first line of soldiers and adventurers, and the poor guy who went straight ahead toward Gerald was split in two, even though he used his shield to block the strike.
The adventurers held their position even though they didn't have any coordination since they weren't a proper army and had different types of weapons. Still, they got fired up when they saw Gerald splitting the enemies in two, one after the other. The old man wasn't holding back, and thanks to that, the adventurers began to push back the enemies. On the other hand, the soldiers who had a better start clashing with the barbarians began to be pushed down. Billy saw the barbarians splitting swords and necks at the same time with a single swing of their axes.
"Lily, focus on helping the soldier's side," Natalie said.
"Roger that," Lily nodded.
When Billy was about to say that, Natalie said first. It seemed that she grew more aware of her surroundings in the last few months. She had good senses to begin with but not much patience to make use of them strategically. In any case, the advance of the enemies stopped a little when Lily began to put arrows on the faces of those enemies. However, things were pretty equal, and that wasn't good given that their side had fewer available soldiers. Still, despite that, the barbarians suddenly began to retreat for no reason…
"These guys…" Billy thought while frowning.
It was just the first day, so it was a bit too soon to send out an all-out attack, but they retreated way too fast… the group on that side of the wall didn't drop their guard and kept their focus on the enemy until they were completely back on their camp. At that moment, Billy looked toward the other two parts of the town and realized that the battles still were going there.
"Did they use this first strike to find the most troublesome part to attack?" Billy thought.
While they were pretty far away from each other, the three armies knew what they needed to do. They prepared pretty well beforehand. Billy almost could smell the tactics devised by the beast tamers to locate his group. Maybe that was why Jean and the guild masters decided to make him and the recruits a special force that would only be used in some situations. To confirm that, a messenger appeared before his group.
"Lord Jean requests that your unit leave through the south gate and join the forces there."
Request… Jean sure liked to play with words.. Nevertheless, Billy and the others left Lily behind since she couldn't take or leave her archers unit from that side of the wall and headed in the opposite direction.