Don’t Stop Me Now!

The next morning, Roze joined the others outside the inn, seeing that many of the travel preparations had already been made. She stared at a wagon that Gideon was inspecting, a covered section large enough for everyone to lie flat inside, with another part uncovered that was stacked with travel supplies. There was a conspicuous absence of neighing that was normal for this kind of horse-drawn vehicle. Rather, there was a strange device in the front with large, fan-like protrusions jutting out.

The fan blades were attached in a circle, leading to a belt of sorts that connected to the underside of the carriage. Ferdinand could be seen on his back, examining the bottom and using his skills to reinforce the joints.

“You found us a ride but no carriage pullers?” Roze called out to Gideon.

“Don’t need them. They’ll just run away at the first sign of trouble. That’s what this doohickey is for instead. Ain’t it grand? We’ll be able to propel ourselves with Milipita’s Wind magic. Being an otherworlder with strange knowledge comes in handy sometimes!”

“I’m more surprised we were able to find the parts so readily. It’s a matter of piecing them together and sealing the seams. Feels like you’ve done this before, Giddy boy,” Ferdinand called out from underneath.

“I may have constructed a few toy models as a kid.”

A week’s travel north meant hitting the outskirts of the kingdom, an area of untouched lands since Clockenspiel was left abandoned. It had fallen to an abrupt invasion, but not before its inhabitants had unleashed one final spell to protect the surrounding area and drive away their enemies.

Given their uncertain future, the remaining Time mages couldn’t see a suitable way to rebuild. They decided to leave their home under its protection, hiding elsewhere while keeping their powers masked in hopes that one day the discrimination would pass.

Unfortunately, Roze had read through the history texts. Persecution of such magic only got harsher afterward. It wasn’t until recently that such efforts had diminished, after reports of her descendants grew few and far in between.

The might of elemental magic had expanded far enough that the Northern Lands were no longer a concern. Few bothered to visit, despite supposedly housing great archives of magic. That was because a seemingly impenetrable army had been conjured to protect it.

Roze had seen the reports – enemies that never died or grew exhausted. They relentlessly fought back any ground that was taken. It was no wonder the invaders had to retreat.

“How do we-,” Roze shook her head.

Gideon looked on with confidence, like he had mapped the situation before. More than any texts or records, she had a feeling that she could believe what he had seen. What he prepared to face against. It was times like these she wondered if he hid such knowledge behind capricious behavior, hoping that no one would be able to tell.

“Just one question, Gideon.”

“Yeah?”

“Do we really need that much food?” Roze pointed at how much of the supplies were consumables, enough to feed a small army for a while.

“You never know. We might be spending quite a while hitting the books and getting you OP once we get there. Have to be ready for the long haul.”

“Great…” Roze lamented how much longer she might be leaving her shop vacant. It seemed like they weren’t far off, distance-wise, so she had hopes of returning before winter hit. The chill was rather extreme that far north.

“Alright, we’re even ready for an army if they give chase! It’s going to be a straight shot to the ruins!”

v

The wagon flew down the unbeaten path, a swarm of enemies giving chase.

“You weren’t kidding when you said an army!” Roze yelled nervously from the covered portion.

It had taken about a week’s ride before they started seeing remnants of this so-called impenetrable army that still existed. They looked like metal puppets lumbering about, carrying heavy weaponry.

Ferdinand and Raffy hopped down from the wagon and struck the first few, surprised by how easily beaten they were with simple attacks. Metal plates and gears scattered everywhere like clockwork puppets disassembled, but then, a magical aura enveloped them in a blinding light.

Tick, tick, tick…

A mysterious noise similar to a clock echoed in their ears as the puppets glowed. In moments, a new puppet appeared where the broken one had left. They charged forward like nothing had happened.

“Their time has been reversed!” Raffy yelled, striking it down again. Ferdinand and he hopped back on the carriage before it could revive. Milipitas focused on channeling Wind magic to outrun them.

All the while Gideon played dumb that he knew all about them, shrugging his shoulders like it was just an unfortunate happenstance.

A few they could outrun, but they were now staring at an entire army converging upon their speeding wagon. Their main fighters staked out the open air cart, peppering the surroundings with long range attacks. Ferdinand’s flying shields and Raffy’s Ice spears could only be so effective when a seemingly infinite amount of foot soldiers endlessly pursued them.

“Please, do something, Gideon. I cannot take my focus off the vehicle’s movement,” Milipitas finally said. When she bothered to speak out loud, then there was obviously something wrong.

Roze looked ahead and her jaw dropped.

An even greater army lay ahead.

“Guess I don’t have a choice.” His body flickered, and the air crackled from his movements.

The puppets that were close to the wagon were all thrown back in an instant, thinning the crowd. However, Gideon was now huffing and puffing, like he had run a marathon. Mere minutes later, the puppet army had regained its heft.

“On second thought, there’s got to be an easier way than to smack each one of them individually.”

“Looks to me like they only regenerate if they take enough damage. I’ve been slowing some down with Retardis, but there’s only so many I can get a good bounce off of in one throw.”

“So we deter but not destroy. I believe we have some options for that, imperfect as they may be,” Raffy added.

“I was thinking about it myself also. If only I had thought to imbue the whole carriage with Recel, they’d just bounced right off due to it being all physical attacks.”

“Good luck getting everything ready in time,” Gideon replied, smiling like he had tried that before.

“True that. Imbuing a whole vehicle would have set us back several days, maybe a week. Not to mention, we’d have to turn around and buy up enough magical gems and Oscillium to furnish the left wing of the royal castle. I can now see why the armies cut their losses.”

“Those trapped in the area were still able to get out, as the armies only grow denser the closer our approach becomes. It is designed mainly to keep intruders out. How fortunate that the reach of this spell is limited. I cannot fathom what could have happened if their armies traversed endlessly.”

The farther away from the spell’s epicenter, the weaker its hold was. The initial puppets that they encountered were at their weakest, but as they headed deeper, the speed of regeneration became faster.

At this rate, the puppets would return in an instant, and there would be nothing they could do to ward them off.

“I would stop them with my Ice magic, but the more powerful spells strike with force. I cannot bring gentleness to a gush of magical power.”

Hasta Glacialis had wide range, but it invoked large glaciers rising from the ground, spearing any enemies in range while freezing them. On the other hand, he could call forth restraints of ice, but only for a couple puppets at a time.

Raffy pondered a middle ground that could compromise in between.

“If only I had wind…”

His attention turned to Gideon. While Milipitas was busy casting Wind to push the wagon at top speed, someone else had exhibited wind-like attacks upon his squadron.

“You know what you have to do, right?”

“Of course, just make sure the ice is loosely packed, so I don’t need to shave it.”

“Very well.”

Raffy raised his arm high in the air.

“Frigus Tempestas.”

A large set of clouds formed before him, gushing out snow from the sudden cold front. But then, a massive gust blew the cold forward. Taking refuge by ducking down, Raffy and Ferdinand watched as the Ice spell disintegrated, spraying the contents in an arc around the wagon.

The sub-freezing gusts formed icicles around the joints of the puppets, restricting their movements. Soon enough, they grew encumbered enough to fall over in piles, merely crawling to get anywhere.

The wagon quickly made distance, breaking free from the deadlock that they were facing. They had caught a breather until the ice naturally melted enough for them to continue their pursuit.

“Let us rest. We have some ways to go, so we’ll have to repeat this strategy until we fall outside the spell’s range. The safest place to be against a spellcaster is at point-blank range.” Raffy gave everyone a pat, congratulating them on a good job.

Roze turned to Gideon, who gave her a reasurring nod. It was all she needed to know that their journey would continue as planned.

“Just until we reach Clockenspiel.”

“Okay, but let me heal you.” Roze eyed Gideon’s hands, which looked a bit raw from fanning the Ice spell into a blizzard. She pulled out her ointments, spreading them across the tenderness.

“It’s not so bad. Just friction burn from the branches.”

“You say that, but we’ll never make it without you. Best to be cautious until the very end.”

“Yes, until the end.”

Gideon gripped his sleeve, not wanting her to see the glowing numbers that told him how long it would be until then.