Chapter 210 - A True Leader (1)

The night of battles wasn't over yet. It felt like the sun itself didn't want to show it's face to the earth. What would've been a few hours, felt like aeons. But finally, the attackers were losing the fight. Their guerilla war tactics were only so much effective against their enemies. 

Once Arnold's summons took over the battleground, it was an all-out massacre. The 

Brazilian's plans were full of holes.

First, they had assumed there won't be any warriors above the S rank, which proved out to be wrong. Johnny was still there. More than willing to kick their crap out of their bodies.

Secondly, they failed to retrieve a proper map of the estate. There were a lot of places for people to hide and thus even though a few of the people died, most of the non-combatants were safe. Something the attackers were only realising now. 

And thirdly, the enemy forces split up too soon. They wanted to quickly find Arnold's location and deal with him so they split into smaller groups when they should have stayed together and deal with their enemies first. This was a grave mistake since Arnold's summons picked them off like fruits on a tree one after another. The few of the enemies who could teleport, we're now rushing towards safety while those who couldn't, perished.

Even so, the battle wasn't over yet. The tides had turned but not completely. Despite Nina's protests, Arnold took over the makeshift battle centre in the building next to the one he was being kept in. This centre also acted as a safe haven for the injured soldiers.

Alice and Natasha were busy saving whoever they could. Natasha was initially on the battlefield But Arnold called her back once more and more people started making their way through the battle, into the safe haven. But even with their extraordinary abilities, not everyone could be saved. The dead kept piling up with every passing moment. Infuriating Arnold even more. At one point he even snapped and pulled out his guns to deal with them once and for all, then he realised something... His hands were shaking uncontrollably. At first, he thought it was due to the anger he had been feeling but the reality of the situation soon dawned upon him.

It wasn't anger. He was just... weak.

Suddenly he felt so... vulnerable. His body seemed to be utterly delicate. This sudden weakness disgusted him even more. People were dying in front of him and he couldn't do a thing.

'If only I had access to the shop!' He gritted his teeth with all his strength.

It was true. If only he had a bunch of HP and Dispel potions, he could've saved many lives. Nina understood what he was going through and tried to calm him down. But he wasn't going to calm down. Not until he killed each and every one of those sick bastards.

At this time, Johnny and Kolt returned with more survivors. Thankfully all of them only had minor injuries which were soon taken care of. It was the first time Kolt had seen Arnold's pale face since Arnold wasn't there when Kolt arrived in the building for the first time.

He immediately rushed over to Arnold's side. Looking worried he asked, "Don't overdo it, Arnold. We'll take care of everything now. You've done more than enough, just go and rest now."

Nina saw a ray of hope in Kolt's words and was about to press on but Arnold shrugged their concerns off.

"As much as I appreciate that your concern about my safety, now is not the time for it."

Nina was about to protest but Johnny shut her down.

"He's right." Johnny joined in, "The enemies might be retreating, but they are still here. Lurking around. Without Arnold's summons, it would be impossible for us to handle them on our own. As much as I hate to admit it... It's the truth. Even I can go against 30+ S rankers on my own. Not when I got this just by fighting with seven."

Johnny pointed at his broken arm that Alice had patched up. It had been a deadly fight. Had it not been for the sudden appearance of Bad-Breath and Asterios, he doubted he would've gotten away with just a broken arm. The enemies might not have looked like it, but they knew exactly what they were doing. At least when they were fighting against him.

They knew all about Johnny's weak points and didn't hesitate even once before taking him on. These were the weakness not even his most trusted friends knew and yet the enemy knew about it. It was clear they had done their research on him and most likely on the others as well.

As of now, both Bad-Breath and Asterios were guarding the building everyone was residing in. Arnold initially wanted to use the sentry guns Talos had made to check them out but ultimately decided against it. He was already having trouble with everyone present there he couldn't take the risk of using the sentry. What if it lost control once again? The losses would be too much for Alice and Natasha to handle on their own. 

Just then, Arnold's communicator started ringing. It was Talos. He picked it up, wondering what his most loyal soldiers wanted to talk about.

"Go ahead," Arnold mumbled as Talos' face appeared in front of him.

"Master, I have found a couple of survivors who claim that they can restore the communication channels."

"I thought I sent you there to do it yourself. Anyways just do it quickly." Arnold said, his voice uncomfortably loud. Only then did he realised what Talos was asking for, "Don't worry. I'll send Asterois over to protect the people. You should focus on reestablishing the communication channels."

"Will do, master." Talos slightly bowed and headed inside the building with Josh. 

Arnold, on the other side of the estate, immediately notified Asterios about his new orders. When Arnold asked him to leave, Asterois' eyes lit up. He had been getting bored with staying on guard and was more than happy to do what his master wanted him too. Once that was out of the way, Arnold, Johnny, Kolt, and Nina proceeded to do what he wanted to. Interrogate the brawler whom Johnny had defeated earlier.