Chapter 567 - Surrounded

Their fight quickly dissolved into Eldrian running and dodging for his life while Vivian and Ceph tried to do enough damage. Elizabeth continually cast a speed boost on Eldrian while helping out against the undead where needed the most. Divine spells were far more effective than any other.

It didn't take long before the undead completely filled the area that they were fighting in.  As a result, Vivian and Ceph had to fight simply to stay alive. Eldrian had to just keep running. 

Luckily, these skeletons and zombies weren't a threat to him thanks to his agility-focused build he could wave between them with ease. And luckily the Vodi was also not all that agile. It could reach great speeds when running straight, but it could not make a turn to save its life. 

Eldrian made sure to use both of these factors to his advantage. Weaving through the undead, casting Thora (decomposition spell) when he couldn't fit. He led the Vodi through the thickest parts of the undead causing massive damage. 

It chased without care, crushing the undead like a bulldozer. 

Eldrian sighed when he got a small breather, looking at the destruction left behind him while the Vodi shook its head after crushing another building. Eldrian sighed again, imaging what damage it would have done if left to its own devices. 

'Still, this won't do. I need to kill it...' Eldrian got an insane idea. Rushing towards the gate he used Ischyros Anemos, altering its aim to form a single funnel of wind outwards. It pushed the undead back and stopped them from entering for a moment. 

Eldrian used that moment to rush out, the Vodi followed him like a good little demon. 

"Over here, you big dumb ox!" Eldrian shouted as he jumped onto one of the zombies and used that to reach the shoulder of an undead troll. Striking his spear into its neck, he steered it deeper into the undead horde. 

Feeling the ground beginning to shake, Eldrian stored his spear and jumped as far as he could. Leaving a little gift for the Vodi with the troll. 

'Shield, Turtle, Block and Absorb, Kyma; Space!, Speeden!' Eldrian activated all his armor's abilities as he rushed from his current location. Trying to make some distance. 

When he reached 200 meters after just a few seconds, it happened. 

***

"What the hell is he doing?!" Vivian cursed as she saw Eldrian rushing through the gate. As she wanted to follow, Ceph pulled her back. Out of the range of a falling sword from a vampire. 

Cursing, the vampire renewed its attacks. Fllowed by a bunch of stupid lower undead who mostly acted as decoys or body shields. 

Burst of Passion devoured most of these lower undead, her flame-covered sword ate into the vampire and more than half its health. The supportive spell from Elizabeth finished it off. 

Yet, before the two could try to follow Eldrian, more undead filled the space they had gained and pushed them back to the edge of the barricades. 

***

"What?!" Tjan frowned as he saw Eldrian rushing through the gate against the flow of the incoming undead. He too wanted to charge forward, however, he understood well that leaving the barricade would spell his death. 

"You think he has a plan?" Brazan asked as he set a zombie stag aflame and cut a skeleton in half. 

"He has to, look, that demon is following him," Aspen replied while blocking a vampire's spell with a massive shield he had picked up from a dead soldier. His method of fighting with his claws proved highly inefficient against the undead, he had learned long ago to use whatever he could get his hands on instead. 

***

"What the hell is he doing?" Evale frowned as she saw Eldrian rushing out of the gates. How he managed to weave through the undead so smoothly was impressive, however, how did he plan to return?

Evale's distraction was rewarded with a sword entering her side. Shouting in pain she slashed off the zombie's head, but its body kept diving the sword deeper. 

"Fuck off!" She shouted, delivering a massive kick sending the undead flying. Falling to her knees she looked on at the rest of the fight. They were surely being pressed back, the bodies laid thick on the walls. 

The sad truth of which soon arrived, their fallen comrades started to rise one by one as the vampires started climbing the walls too. A foothold secured. 

***

Sidestepping the attack from the demon and blocking its spell through a small magic dispersion barrier, Pelaros looked at the new enemy commander, breathing deeply as he fought through his fatigue and pain. 

"You've done well lasting this long. But let us see how much-" The demon's monologue was interrupted as a massive shockwave arrived and his wings were caught by the unexpected winds. Crashing through soldier and undead alike, the demon coughed out blood as he tried to stand. 

Pelaros was not one to waste an opportunity, he arrived before the demon in seconds. Delivering the killing blow without a word, moving on without a word.

There was still plenty of fighting needing to be done and he was quickly growing weaker. 

***

Eldrian was flung like a feather in the wind. The shockwave from the explosion was worse than sky diving with Cephapyr, luckily he had learned a few tricks over the last few months. 

Along with his item abilities, he had also summoned a type of wind barrier around himself. It was unstable and not all that strong, however, it managed to keep itself together among the chaotic winds of the explosion. 

Like a bubble in water, Eldrian floated in these winds. Until he reached the walls. 

"Aghhh!" Eldrian coughed out blood, certain that one too many bones had broken in that crash. "That- fucking- hurt!" 

However, upon looking up he did not worry about that. Instead, he smiled as he watched the chaos unfold in the undead's lines. A new crater had appeared before the gate, and currently it was a hell of fire. Spreading quickly through the undead horde. 

"That will do. Now I just-" Letting his body fall, Eldrian dodged the attack of a ghoul. Yet he did not feel optimistic in the slightest. 

"Shoe!" Eldrian joked as he dodged again, this time the ghoul's claws digging into Chelona (his breastplate). 'Freaking hell, it almost got through it!'

The next attack Eldrian knew he wouldn't be able to dodge, yet it never came. Instead, the ghoul was sent crashing into the ground. An arrow pinning it to the ground. 

Eldrian wasn't going to waste the opportunity. He rushed forward, striking Crystoi into the ghoul's heart. Thanks to the ability Scourge of Undeath he knew just where it was. 

The ghouls shrieked as it died, and soon Eldrian found himself surrounded by more and more enemies. Most of which were not simple skeletons and zombies. Yet, that last move had taken nearly all the energy he had left.

'Ah, fuck... I really thought I would be able to survive this one.' Eldrian mumbled as he healed himself a bit and prepared himself for a tough battle. One that never came. 

Instead, just as the undead started rushing forwards, flames sprang up in a circle around him. The next thing Eldrian knew was that of a massive claw gently taking hold of him. 

"Mneme!" Eldrian shouted in joy as he was lifted from the middle of the battle. "Hey! Wait! Go there!"

Confused, the roc looked at Eldrian and nodded. Turning around it flew to another place where the undead were clustering. As they passed over, Eldrian dropped the last cannonball. 

"Quick! Get out of here!" Eldrian shouted, the ball teleporting randomly and lighting filling the surrounding air as it fell. 

Mneme seemed to realize the danger that that cannonball represented. She flew at her quickest. Diving behind the walls as it exploded. Barely escaping the shockwave. 

AN: A big thank you to everyone who continues to read and support the story on WN.