Even for Warden himself, trolls provided a tough challenge. He had once killed seven of them on his first day of joining the army. The battle had taken away all of his reserves. However, he has grown since then. While he still could not battle them with raw physical power, they could not match his void energy and baleful intent any more.
Thankfully, there weren't many silver-ranked trolls, and even if there were, their regeneration power was suppressed to Iron rank.
Warden hoped everyone was too busy with their fight to notice him as he brought out the Divider. The sleek blade lengthened into two metres as purple smoke spilt out of it. He severed through the arm of the troll he was fighting. Blood spilt like a fountain as he flipped over the Forsaken to attack its skull.
The troll managed to block the attack with its club as Warden managed to draw its wrath away from the rank of the archers.
Unfortunately, it wasn't so lucky in avoiding all of his blows. Trolls were strong and fast, but they were fairly predictable in terms of attack. Warden bided his time for a dozen blows before slitting its throat. He completely beheaded it, just in case.
The others were managing fine, though none of them had yet managed to kill a troll. The noble son looked to be the first among them to have the achievement, though Lady Cassandra was keeping two of the trolls at bay. Her attack had enraged them completely, though it hadn't threatened their lives at all.
Although it did threaten their sanity, or whatever was left of it. Even if they could recover their organs, the trolls could not endure their eardrums tearing apart, minds splitting open with the ungodly shriek of a siren with a sane mind.
Their mental faculties had already deteriorated, and they had become more berserk. Now, they did not care about their target; they only wanted to kill. It would be better if it were the siren in white and blue clothes, but if not...
A realisation dawned on Warden as Lady Cassandra led the trolls into the pit. Her ultrasonic attack was not nearly strong enough to fling them into it, but she did manage by concentrating her attack on one troll at a time.
Now, they would kill their own rank. Definitely a masterful scheme—he would approve of it. Their eyes met for a moment, as he acknowledged with a thumbs up. But he could not let the woman outdo him.
He moved towards the three warriors who were keeping the last troll at bay, preventing it from marching through the ranks of the archers. With a sneak attack, he drove his blade into the back of its neck.
His intent and merciless void energy shot forth from the blade, unleashing a maelstrom of destruction as it nullified all the regeneration powers. Taking their chances, the warriors also flung their weapons into the troll, though his own blade had delivered the critical blow.
That took care of the trolls that were running wild.
That took care of the trolls that were running wild, as Tayl managed fine with his target.
The archers expended all eight hundred arrows quite quickly and withdrew under Lady Cassandra's order. While it looked optimistic that the orcs were wiped out, there was no chance of the trolls killing themselves.
They had killed three of them; hopefully, this would leave them exhausted enough for them to be dealt with easily.
With eye contact, she signalled Cole to disable the isolation formation, and the view became clear. All four of the trolls were standing, along with a few bloodied orcs. Two trolls were battling one another, while the orcs barely held on against the trolls. Their despair reached a new height when they finally realised they were fighting among themselves.
Unfortunately, even with all the shouts and orders, the trolls did not listen to any of them. Cassandra enraged two of them beyond the point of no return, while the complete isolation barrier, imbued with Moonspawn blood, was enough to impair the other two's mental faculties.
The orcs were the first to fall before the four trolls set their eyes on the mastermind of the scheme. They roared and lunged up from the pit in just one attempt.
"I'm taking that one," Young Lord Tayl said as he shot with his spear towards the troll on his right.
"Only a meditation session," the translator said. "She says confidently."
"Well, you'll get just about that much time," Warden said. He found May walking towards them, her eyes searching for injuries she could heal, but Warden was mostly healthy, if not a little weary. "We cannot give the rest of them much time to rearrange their numbers."
So, about eighty orcs, thirty trolls and a few goblins remained at the gate... It did not look that overwhelming anymore. Warden already had a plan in mind, though he wasn't sure if others would like it. After all, this would take everyone to fight actively and put their lives on the line.
But before that, it appeared he needed to deal with something else, as he found Tayl Alebson walking towards his direction.
"You!" he said, his eyes gleaming in the remnant of power. "Who are you?"
Warden turned to him, wondering if he should distract the fella with the bullshit of an answer. Well, it didn't hurt...
"That depends on who asking," Warden answered.
"Well, it's me who's asking," Tayl Alebson sneered.
"And you are?"
"Are you kidding me?" the noble's eyes blinked in disbelief. "You're telling me you don't recognise who am I?"
"I do not recognise most people, do not take it personally," he said. "But yeah, your behaviour shows a type of person I recognise."
Tayl stared at him, askingly.
"The privileged," Warden said. "Anyway, Young Lord, you need not involve yourself in the business of this trivial janitor. It's beneath you. I reckon your time would be better worth it if you use it in talking with your followers. A real leader needed to recognise the needs of his people, no?"
Warden didn't wait for the guy to reply and set his gaze towards the pit.
"Hey, you haven't answered my question," Tayl Alebson shouted after him. "Nobody crosses me, and leave--"
"Oi, Cole," Warden didn't bother to even hear him. "You have collected the array flags from the other pit?"
"Hey, I'm talking to you?" Young Alebson shouted, storming in.
Cole looked between the noble and the janitor. He chose to answer the important question. "I didn't have enough time to collect them all."
"Well, you have now," Warden said. "Have a few people with you there and come back as soon as possible. As for you Lord Alebson, wouldn't it be better for you to help everyone instead of hampering our progress? After all, there were still close to a hundred forsaken remaining for us to deal with."
___________
Not promising anything... but will try to compensate for the accidental fuck-up in my schedule...