Chapter 34: Brave Front

Aferous' Point of View

(Author's note: Aferous is the father of Afenos, which is also Mordred)

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During the battle against the monster horde, my children rushed towards the field. They were the ones fighting the beasts while I guided the villagers to safety. Afenos and Rain specifically told me these instructions, since they knew the people would listen to me more than a pair of children. Considering my status as the helpful farmer in town, everyone heeded my call.

I was against that thought at first. But seeing that it was the only way to save everyone, I gave in to my children's desire and did as they pleased.

And besides… I was already a grown man. I could barely help on the battlefield with my profound abilities. Even if I could conjure rocks, I could hardly direct them against something.

Dozens of injured people came rushing to the shacks. This house became the place where we could gather all the wounded villagers from the battle.

But an unexplained feeling kept pounding my chest, as if warning me about the future. As I went out from the shack, the body of a girl came into view. Upon squinting my eyes, my brain recognised that lass.

The little girl did not look well…

"Rain!"

It was not the daughter I remembered seeing from before. Rain had trouble breathing as she desperately gasped for air. Her hands uncontrollably shake every time the farmers carried her body. My daughter groaned as her hands caressing the swollen parts of her abdomen, telling me that something became severed.

This event was my first time seeing Rain in such unbearable pain… I was her father, and yet I couldn't do anything in the front lines.

"Is my daughter going to be alright?" I asked the head chief, who was also in charge of checking the patients.

He told me that Rain was going to be fine. She just needed some rest before she could regain her consciousness.

A relieved sigh escaped from my mouth as I heard every word coming from the chief. However, my fists did not stop clenching against each other, knowing how pathetic I was as a father.

"My children are on the front lines… and here I am, saving myself in the village!" Those words were enough to kick me back to motion as I hurried towards the crater.

It was the heart of the battle.

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(Arthur's Point of View)

Before I could say goodbye to my life, a bundle of rocks crashed against Uruk-hai's face. I believed that Afenos and I never learned such a thing about controlling the land. As the two of us glimpsed from behind, the figure of an old man stood proudly at the cliff's edge.

He had both of his arms raised as the man summoned more rocks hurling in our direction. Despite the countless pebbles raining down on us, none of them hit our figure. It was as if that bloke had the precision of a professional rock thrower.

I did not know if that was a thing back in my homeworld.

"Father!" Afenos shouted.

But we were not the only ones that found this event pleasant.

Uruk-hai understood the situation well as the monster refocused its gaze on the old man. The monster carved a sinister grin on its mouth as it repeated the words.

"Father…"

Uruk-hai changed its course of action and targeted the vulnerable Aferous. With intense speed, the creature threw me to the side. I went towards the cliff where the old man stood and rolled on the ground.

The old man tried helping me, but he had his hands full with the monster chasing after his life. Although he did not want me to roll on the dirt, Aferous prioritised evading Uruk-hai's attack more than me.

Aferous tried his best and summoned all the spells that he knew. Thousands of rocks emerged from the ground and hovered towards the leaping monster. However, those pebbles were worth nothing more than scratching the back of that bastard.

It was nothing compared to the rough texture of the skin that the Uruk-hai had.

As soon as the beast approached Aferous, Uruk-hai opened its mouth. "What would happen if I killed you in front of your son!"

The ogre slammed its gigantic arms against Aferous body, tumbling him towards the side. No one could withstand that attack, since humans could only do little with such assault. But Aferous' sheer dedication made it possible for him to fight some more.

That old man knelt on the ground and kept his stern gaze on the monster before him.

"Y-You need to run away! You're no match against that creature!" I cried, knowing that Aferous would get himself killed if he prolonged this match.

Despite hearing my warnings, Aferous pursued his heart and conjured yet again a set of spells towards the Uruk-hai. With those injuries reaching out in his hands, I would bet that the old man was running out of juice. Aferous needed to restore his mana before consuming everything inside of him… or else he would suffer the consequences later.

However, the old man's actions paved a window for me. It was enough time to lure the monster inside the forest and towards the cliff.

"Right! The chat!"

The system automatically adds people if it deems it as an ally. All the game developers also added this feature in Magique before transferring to this world. And now that we were fighting against the ogre, it meant that I could send messages to Aferous via a chat box to his system.

I just hope that those emails would enter his sight before the monster would kill him.

"Check the mail, check the mail, check the mail, goddammit!" I cursed, while gritting my teeth.

I hated idling around, so I charged straight towards the battle and created a diversion to the monster. My actions gave some time for Aferous to check all of his notifications… There was nothing I could do but to hope for him to see my message.

Aferous stood still and fiddled something in front of him. Although I was too busy defending myself against Uruk-hai, that gesture of Aferous was enough to tell me he had read the mail I sent.

The old man looked at me with worried eyes as he swiped the box to the side. Aferous then gave me a nod and followed my instructions.

I also sent the command to Afenos, which he had also read during the battle.

"Hmm… What are you scheming, Arthur?"

Despite its looks, Uruk-hai had a keen eye on observing its surroundings. It noticed our brief gestures and expressions that nobody else would.

Regardless of these accusations, the three of us went back to the trail of the cliff. It was also the terrain where I first killed my monster by accident. I was a coward that regretted helping everyone from the village.

But right now, I wanted to redeem myself and… play the hero even once in my life.

The plan went smoothly, as I had expected. Uruk-hai followed us around like a cat chasing after its mice. Moments later, we arrived in a different forest, which was close to the cliff.

However, It was not that easy for us to bait the monster into its doom. If we wanted to make this right, we had to work for our victory.

"I see what you're trying to do!" Uruk-hai claimed, as the monster stopped in its tracks.

That beast looked beyond the jungle and also witnessed the cliff living nearby. With a grin, Uruk-hai trundled backwards, calling forth at the three of us to return to the crater. But we did not want to return there!

We needed to kill the monster by letting it fall to the cliff.

As the three of us chased back Uruk-hai, Afenos let out a painful groan before slamming his body to the soil. I turned around and went to his side, but the boy confessed that this was his limit. Since he had drained all of his arcane and used stamina, the boy pushed his limits. And the strain coming from his muscles bit him back.

Afenos cannot continue this fight any longer… It was up to Aferous and me to stop this ogre.

But I could only think of the old man as a liability for me to take care of in this skirmish. Aferous knew nothing about magic, and he had no experience in killing any creatures from before. I doubt he would be of any use to me during this fight.

And that was what I told him.

"Stay back and carry Afenos to the village. I will handle the monster."

"Are you crazy?!" Aferous retorted. "The two of you can't handle that! And you plan to fight it alone? I'm here! I can do what you guys could do!"

"Then what about Afenos? He's out cold on the ground. And if Uruk-hai plans to attack his defenceless body, your boy would die…"

I did not want that to happen, which was why I warned him about that outcome. After a few seconds, Aferous listened to my words and carried Afenos on his back.

"Please be safe, Arthur. You're the only one who can fight him now."

After our exchange, Aferous and his son took off to the side, away from Uruk-hai's sight. I leapt from the bough and used every reserved energy I have to slash the monster with Clarent.

As soon as Uruk-hai noticed my figure, the monster slammed its hand again and pinned me to the ground. I struggled with everything I had, but… I couldn't break free from Uruk-hai's shackles.

"It's over, Arthur. You've run out of your resources."

Those words became intelligible in my ears as the monster pressed its hand against me. Dozens of bones broke within seconds, but I endured the throbbing pain coming from my body. Thanks to my Clarent's buff, I could still handle that damage…

But Uruk-hai planned to end it all here.

That monster raised its foot and plotted to stomp me with that humongous bottom. There was no saving me if that mammoth-sized base rams my statue-like body…

I was careless… Careless enough to fight for my life… No matter how hard I try, I can never defeat such a fiend.

But I never regretted everything until now. A smile painted my face as I accepted my grim faith…

"Gugh!"

An old man tackled the foot, forcing it to miss my figure. That force was enough to disrupt the balance of the monster, saving me during the process.

The old man landed beside me and flashed me a smile. I raised my brow to see that face, but I cannot bring myself to hate him...

"I told you to go back, Aferous! Your son needs you more than me!!!" I chided the old man.

Aferous could only chuckle with a faint laugh at my remark. "But you're like my son too, Arthur."