143. Development - 39

143. Development - 39

As the soldiers gathered behind me, following the silent orders delivered by Charisma, I examined the current situation.

All but a few of the corrupted beasts had been slain until , and those that still drew breath were easily handled by the combined attacks of the soldiers. The weaker cultists continued to attack recklessly, but I used my Speed disguising it as a Charge skill as we discussed with Zolast to kill the majority of them before they could attack the soldiers, and the few that escaped, Baron Maell handled them easily.

For all his faults, he was a good fighter. He likely had a good class similar to Mahruss' new Field Commander class, displaying Strength, Agility, and Charisma although clearly, neither Perception nor Wisdom were not a part of the spread smoothly, and the way his sword danced suggested the possession of a Master skill.

We held the line together while I used that web of Charisma connections to give some silent orders, and the soldiers lined up behind me in a square formation, the ones with intact armor creating the outer layer.

However, as we started to move backward as a singular unit, I pulled a pouch from my belt, and threw it to one of the sergeants. "Healing pellets. Distribute them to the worst of the wounded," I ordered even as I shifted my position slightly as my sword moved, taking down three cultists with one swing.

The pellets that I distributed were made of Lord Beast meat, and they were effective enough to give about a hundred Health points more importantly, they could be digested in under a minute, making them a good replacement for field healers.

The only problem was that they were hard to find, as not only did they require great expertise to create, but also Lord Beast meat, which was hard to find.

Luckily, neither was a problem for us, allowing me to use them just because I was suspicious of the movement of my enemies rather than having to save them in case of an emergency.New novel chapters are published on

The soldiers followed silent commands as the defensive square they had created moved back with steady steps, the outer edge easily handling the cultists that managed to slip our cooperation with the Baron. "For the sun god," he declared happily as he swung his damaged sword, cutting another cultist before he turned to me. "Shall we charge forward, holy crusader?" he asked, his gloom replaced by fervor.

It took all of my energy not to go there and slap the black of his head. It was tempting, but not enough to ruin my carefully crafted persona. Instead, I gave him another Charisma-backed order. "No, we will go to the defensive Bulwark first," I said.

"We're retreating?" he asked, his distaste clear. And, the moment he said that, the defensive square lost its cohesion. The soldiers didn't deliberately try to snap out of it, but the distaste of the Baron was enough to change their attitude.

"Are you saying you want to finish this holy mission without a blessing from the sun priest," I declared, coming up with a quick lie. He was stubborn, but also gullible, which was not that hard to manipulate. Just to be on the safe side, I hit him with another concealed Charisma blast, this time hitting him with a sense of guilt a religious person would feel in a confession box.

A familiar memory from my younger years, Memory helping me to remember it perfectly. Early in my career, I had committed quite a few acts I felt guilty about, thinking that the ends justified the means

Until I learned that there had to be limits. Not what society thinks to be true, but what I believed.

My personal code.

"I'm sorry, holy crusader," the Baron said as he knelt, the guilt affecting him harder than I expected probably the cost of my momentary drift to the past.

"Now is not the time. Stand up and fight. You can repent later," I ordered.

Also, I was happy to see that whenever they used Destruction Mana, their weapons degraded noticeably, showing that I wasn't the only one having that trouble.

With that, we continued to retreat, crazy cultists dying under my sword every second as I held the rear alone. I tried to ignore the tragedy of their deaths, but it was difficult to forget that most of them had been innocent refugees before the cultists captured them, spreading their madness like a disease.

A tragedy that I was powerless to stop.

"For the sun god!" I cried as I charged once more, this time attacking one of the armored ones that finally used his speed to separate from the group, though the metal box in his hand, glowing red, suggested that his plan wasn't a duel.

I rushed forward as he threw the box toward the group of soldiers. Either an explosion or a summoning. Either way, it was not good news.

Luckily, I had one competent ally. Before the box could even cover a fourth of the necessary distance, a blue barrier appeared in front of it, and it bounced.

Its glow started to spread in a familiar manner, confirming that it was a summoning portal. I rushed forward to handle it. I swung my sword, finally letting out a ranged mana blast rather than maintaining the glow around the sword.

[-4 Mana]

The blast was too weak to actually stop the summoning. Luckily that was not its task. It just needed to create a convincing reason. At the same time, I completed my dash, and absorbed the cloud of red mana before the portal could be established.

[Archery of Destruction (11/X)]

Meanwhile, behind me, I could finally see the soldiers stepping through the first ward. Mission was complete, but before returning, I used my fake-charge skill once more, and dealt with that soldier with Speed before he could return.

No harm crippling their strategic capabilities, considering we were either about to end up sieged, or experience a long chase.

When I returned to our temporary encampment, Zolast was already leading a prayer session in the name of the Sun God while he used his healing magic to properly cure them at the same time, though I didn't miss the scathing gaze he sent toward me.

The cultists started to surround our temporary base, but I let them do so without intervening. The wards had several nasty surprises for them if they tried to push. Moreover, I'd rather make sure that the best soldiers were healed and armed to maximize our fighting capabilities.

Luckily, the guild members we saved earlier might not be the best fighters but they had some convenient weapon supplies.

I examined our forces, and the cultist army who had just been replenished and reached double their original size were rapidly surrounding our defensive encampment.

Not a simple challenge, but not an insurmountable one either.

If only I could understand why I was still feeling uneasy.