The Church of the God of Justice possessed tremendous influence. Many stranded adventurers, believers, and residents answered its call and joined the battle.

But Rand's group was not what worried Anser.

His gaze passed over the packed, chaotic crowd on the bridge and settled on Wyrm's Rock Fortress. Its gate remained motionless, without the slightest sign of opening.

The worst possible situation had arrived!

The Flaming Fist soldiers on the walls stood ready for battle. Ballistae and catapults were prepared, but their orders were to ensure that the fortress did not fall.

If they opened the gate now, the subterranean creatures could charge into the fortress at the refugees' heels. The consequences would be unthinkable.

Anser turned to Priest Berg. "You go ahead. We'll stay and delay them."

He knew someone had to cover Rand's group. As long as the defenders reached the bridge first, they could use its narrow terrain to hold the enemy back while retreating. Once they withdrew beneath the walls, the Flaming Fist soldiers could provide ranged support.

If the duergar reached the bridge first, they might even catch the convoy.

Berg also understood the situation. He pointed to four young priests. "You four stay and help."

"Yes..." The four promptly took up bows and separated from the convoy.

Bratt's eyes lit up. He jogged after the wagon carrying weapons and removed a longbow, a quiver of arrows, and a shield. "I'm borrowing these. I'll return them later."

He could use a bow as well, though he was not especially proficient.

Berg patted Anser's arm and looked deeply into his eyes. In the end, he said nothing and urged the convoy onward.

Anser surveyed the surroundings and pointed to the watchtower at the bridgehead. "We'll go up there."

"All right..."

Everyone quickly climbed to the top and watched the approaching horde from afar.

In that brief span, Rand's group had lost many more people. Someone fell almost every second.

Anser placed the six magical berries into an inner pocket. His palms were warm and his heart was pounding—not from nervousness, but excitement. He felt better than ever.

"Here they come."

The intersection lay only several hundred meters from the bridge. In a few dozen seconds, the crowd had closed to less than two hundred meters away.

Finn nocked an arrow and angled it toward the sky. With a twang, it traced a parabola into the monsters behind the crowd, knocking down an orc and creating a small disturbance.

For a ranger, two hundred meters lay within effective range, though accuracy was poor. With the monsters packed together, however, missing everything was unlikely.

Finn fired continuously, relieving some of the pressure on Rand and the others.

But Rand's group was fighting while retreating, slowing their movement. Many of the duergar's slaves had run ahead of them. If the numerous civilians had not attracted the monsters' attention, some might already have reached the bridge.

"Pick off the ones in front. We can't let them reach the bridge first," Anser ordered.

"All right."

The nearest monsters were now less than one hundred meters from the bridgehead. Bratt and the priests also began firing, but their archery was ordinary and their accuracy low.

"Whew—"

Anser took a deep breath and focused. Mana surged around him, his long hair moved without wind, and faint metallic light shimmered across his skin.

(Magic Missile)

Three glowing darts split apart, tracing strange, shifting paths through the air with a mournful whine before striking three goblinoids at the front with perfect accuracy.

Three faint booms sounded. The goblinoids toppled one after another, bringing down more monsters around them.

The moment he cast again, Anser immediately sensed the difference.

Mana moved easily and naturally. His casting was faster, his guidance more precise, and his range much longer than expected.

With the <Spell Sniper> feat, Magic Missile's base range had reached 180 feet (at least 54 meters), but that last cast had traveled more than 70 meters. He had fired early because he felt the spell could reach, and reality proved him correct.

He guessed this was related to the increase in his primary attribute, Charisma. It had risen by only one point, but the actual improvement was conservatively greater than 35%.

Charisma affected more than mana, Spell Save DC, and ability checks. Its enhancement to a sorcerer was comprehensive.

"Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh..."

From their high ground, Finn and the others strained until veins stood out on their faces, sending arrow after arrow vanishing from their bowstrings.

Killing was not the objective now. They only needed to stop the monsters from approaching.

Only a little over ten people remained in Rand's group. When they saw support waiting, their eyes brightened and their pace quickened.

Anser's Draconic incantations rang with metallic force. Roughly every two seconds, another volley of darts crashed into the monster horde.

His thoughts were exceptionally clear. He attacked whoever approached the bridgehead, occasionally dropping several Magic Missiles into the horde to create confusion, striving to maximize the effect of every dart.

After six consecutive Magic Missiles, even he felt dizzy and swollen-headed.

Spreading the attacks made killing difficult, but the delaying effect was excellent. Intimidated by the barrage, the front ranks hesitated and slowed, obstructing the pursuit behind them.

Rand's group was beginning to break free of the enemy and stood only several dozen meters from the bridgehead.

For Anser and the others, however, that distance was becoming dangerous. Some goblins carried bows and had begun returning fire. Arrows occasionally landed on the watchtower.

"Fall back! Move across the rooftops in small groups. Quickly—"

Anser had no desire to die young. The moment he finished speaking, he turned, took a running leap from the watchtower to the roof behind it, then climbed onto another roof.

Buildings packed Wyrm's Crossing, their rooftops touching one another. That made retreating much easier.

The others froze, then copied him. The priests withdrew first, followed by Finn and Bratt.

Their support could not stop. Once Anser found his footing, he turned and fired two Sorcerous Bursts—Thunder, using the blasts to intimidate another wave of enemies.

Viewed from above, the area within several dozen meters of the bridgehead was a black mass. Monsters and humans converged on the same point, with Rand's group trapped in the middle.

Suddenly, Rand broke away from his group, raised his shield, lowered his head, and charged. He knocked dozens of monsters aside, seized the bridgehead, then turned to defend it.

The paladin Zahir served as the spearhead, helping his comrades carve a path forward.

Seeing this, the four priests immediately slid down from the roof to help Rand defend the bridgehead.

Bratt looked at Rand and Zahir struggling below. After a moment's hesitation, he chose not to jump down and help.

Holding the shield in his left hand, he stepped in front of Anser and blocked several arrows in succession. "You cast. I'll protect you!"

Anser understood. He stopped retreating and focused on spellcasting from where he stood.

(Sorcerous Burst—Thunder)

One blast after another.

"Boom-boom-boom—"

Wyrm's Crossing seemed caught in a thunderstorm. A thunderous detonation erupted almost every half second, drawing everyone's attention.

The occasional chain burst could hurl even a towering orc through the air. Fear entered the leading monsters' hearts, and their hesitant steps caused trampling and confusion behind them.

With nothing but 0-level spells, Anser blasted open an empty corridor for the humans!

He killed few enemies directly and received only scattered experience notices, but the intimidating effect was overwhelming.

The cost was mental overload. His head throbbed, and two streams of blood ran from his nostrils.

"Watch out—"

A shriek and several warnings reached Anser at once. He forcibly swallowed half an incantation, endured the turmoil in his mana, and crouched to evade.

"Crash—"

From the corner of his eye, he saw the shield in Bratt's hand shatter like glass. Bratt's body seemed to be struck by a battering ram. He flew several meters, smashed straight through a roof, and vanished from sight.

"Bratt!"

Anser clenched his teeth as a violent rush of emotion swept through him.

He lay behind the roof ridge and peeked out. Zahir and the others had begun reaching the bridge. The priests dragged debris and furniture from the buildings on both sides, throwing it down at the monsters while constructing obstacles.

'Good.'

Relieved, Anser bent low, jumped to another roof, and looked through the broken hole.

Bratt was struggling to rise. Only the head of the javelin remained, embedded in the half plate over his chest. Anser saw no external bleeding, but blood was flowing constantly from Bratt's eyes, ears, nose, and mouth.

Overjoyed that he was alive, Anser hurriedly climbed down.

Blood ran from Bratt's mouth and nose, and his face was flushed. He could no longer speak. When his gaze landed on Anser, relief brightened his eyes.

"Don't move."

Anser raised Bratt's head on his leg, pulled the Potion of Healing from his clothes, and poured all of it into Bratt's mouth.

There was no time to watch its effect. After examining the injury, Anser found that the half plate had barely stopped the javelin. The external wound was minor; all the damage was internal.

"This comes off first." He drew a dagger from his backpack, cut the straps, opened the buckles, and somewhat roughly removed the half plate.

Armor like this was heavy and could compress broken bones, causing secondary injury. If it weighed too much, Anser would also be unable to support Bratt.

"Come on. We can't delay."

He had only just helped Bratt upright when the door crashed open under a kick from outside.

Additional Note:

A spellcasting attribute such as Intelligence or Charisma affects casting speed, spell range, accuracy, and more.

Once the primary attribute exceeds 10, every additional point increases control, casting speed, and spell range by 5%. For example, the protagonist's 17 Charisma grants a 35% increase.

(End of Chapter)