Five days after arriving at the ice lake, it happened.
Shang was currently concentrating on training in his Affinity when he suddenly felt a disturbance in the surrounding Ice and Fire Mana.
Shang turned so that his back looked to the north.
CLINK!
Shang's sword moved, and an arrow struck it, which harmlessly bounced off.
"Got it!" Sword said as it repositioned itself to its original location.
'Mid General Stage!' Shang thought as he felt the force behind the arrow.
"Ambush from the north!" Shang shouted.
The other soldiers had already looked over when they heard the loud sound of metal clashing and saw the broken arrow landing on the ground.
"Shields out! Gather at the north!" the leader shouted as he charged towards the northern end of the lake.
At that moment, several more arrows rained down on everyone, but they were all blocked by the shields.
These warriors might have been the most useless ones when it came to fighting beasts, but when it came to fighting archers, they were amazing.
Shang also charged to the north with furrowed brows.
'The enemy can't tell our power from such a distance,' he thought. 'Because of that, it makes more sense to simply kill the northern guard since he's the closest to them.'
'Yet, they directly targeted me, even though I was the furthest from the north.'
'This means that they know I'm the strongest.'
Shang's eyes narrowed.
'I kept close attention to everyone around me without them noticing, and I'm pretty confident that it wasn't them.'
'This means that someone in the outpost gave them the information!'
After realizing that they couldn't get through the shields, most of the arrows targeted Shang, and in just a couple of seconds, Shang was besieged by approximately five archers.
Luckily, the archers were over a kilometer away, and Shang was outstanding when it came to dodging attacks.
None of the arrows managed to hit Shang as he easily danced past them.
The other four had already arrived at the north, and they had created a shield barricade.
"I said get to the north!" the leader shouted at Shang.
Right now, Shang wasn't running to them. Instead, he was waiting just at the edge of the ice lake, which had been north of his earlier position.
"I'm here for a reason!" Shang shouted. "Trust me!"
The other three soldiers wanted to shout, but they were busy concentrating on the enemy ambush.
The leader gnashed his teeth, but he decided to believe Shang this one time.
Then, he took out a long rod and pointed it towards the south, his back protected by the shield barricade.
And then, the rod exploded.
BANG!
A ball filled with green gas shot out of the rod and traveled to the south.
This ball of green gas was filled with Wind Mana.
The officer had kept his Affinity a secret from everyone, but at this moment, it was unveiled.
The officer would feel the burst of Wind Mana coming from the north, which was the signal that the enemy had arrived.
"No!" the leader shouted in horror.
Just when the ball of Wind Mana reached a couple of meters of height, a brown ball appeared above it.
BOOOM!
The brown ball exploded, scattering Earth Mana all over the ball of Wind Mana.
The soldiers with an Earth Affinity would feel the explosion of Earth Mana from the north, and they might send a scout to check up on the place. In the end, the officer would still arrive.
However, it would take 20 more minutes at least.
'They knew the officer's Affinity beforehand!' Shang thought with narrowed eyes.
Something like this had to be prepared beforehand, and it had to be the right Affinity to counter the Wind Affinity.
The soldiers' faces turned white when they saw that their signal had been intercepted.
This was bad!
SHING!
At that moment, Shang also took out a long rod and pointed it to the south.
BANG!
A streak of grey gas left the rod, and it traveled for several kilometers until it eventually landed.
The enemy hadn't been able to intercept this one.
The soldiers looked at Shang with shock.
This ball had been filled with Metal Mana, and everyone in the surrounding 20 kilometers with a Metal Affinity would be able to feel it.
Of course, that included One.
When One had explained everything to Shang, he had given him this rod without anyone noticing.
Why?
Because he didn't trust anyone but himself.
This was insurance!
He wouldn't leave the survival of his investment in other people's hands!
'One should be creating a ruckus in the outpost right now,' Shang thought. 'We only have to survive for seven minutes or so now.'
'Even if the officer is a traitor, he can't show it openly. With One creating a gigantic ruckus, he will be forced to do his best to save us!'
By now, Shang was suspecting the officer.
After all, who else knew of the officer's Affinity?
But, for now, the plan of the enemy had been ruined. They had probably arrived with a timeframe of nearly half an hour in mind. With nearly 30 minutes of time, they could have slowly and safely advanced.
But now, they only had less than seven minutes, and if they were actually planning on surviving, they only had five. After all, they needed a head start if they wanted to get away from the approaching officer.
At that moment, the barrage of arrows grew stronger.
CRK!
Some of the shields started to crack in some places.
"They changed their arrows to Armor Breakers!" the leader shouted. "Keep it steady but try to make the arrows hit the undamaged places to give your shields more time!"
Earlier, the archers had shot with normal arrows, but now, they were unleashing arrows loaded with Metal Mana, which had certain destructive properties for everything hard.
By now, all the arrows targeted the barricade of shields. They had noticed that they couldn't hit Shang, which was why they had changed their target.
Shang continued waiting south of the lake, watching the north.
"Do something!" the leader shouted at Shang.
"There is a reason why I'm here!" Shang shouted back. "Trust me!"
The leader gnashed his teeth.
He was currently being barraged by a volley of arrows while their strongest warrior calmly waited in front of the lake.
For all intents and purposes, this looked like Shang was watching them die.
However, Shang had already proven that he was on their side by releasing the second signal.
Because of that, the leader kept silent.
"Sir, we need help, or we'll die!" one of the soldiers said.
"Shut up!" the leader said. "I know that!"
"Get him to help us!" another soldier shouted.
"I said shut up!" the leader shot back.
The soldiers gnashed their teeth in fury and frustration, but they trusted their superior.
Over the next minute, the shields became more and more damaged, and the soldiers began to be filled with fear.
The leader looked at the distant Shang with a mix of terror, fury, and hope.
They couldn't survive for much longer without his help!
Was it wrong to trust him?
At that moment, Shang's eyes lit up.
'It's here!'
