Chapter 135: The storm.

Chapter 135: The storm.

Golems, classers and beasts streamed out of the canyon, quickly forming files and columns. Clearly, they had been expecting our warm welcome, and they were well prepared to handle it.

Vaguely, I remember Ash sounding a horn, signaling a charge to our troops. Moments later, I found myself swept up in the frenzy, all 25000 of us sprinting at the rapidly forming army on the other side.

Suddenly, our soldiers seemed to remember they had movement skills, and our charge evolved into a mad rush made up of hundreds of different skills, each lighting up the damp morning atmosphere. Some took off from our column of charging classers, while others seemed to favour more defensive buffs. Momentarily, I almost got caught up in the excitement and used aura step, but held back at the last moment. I and my two tier 4 guards werent meant to lead the charge, we were meant to go after the golden guard that threatened to topple the careful balance Ash had engineered in this war. The way he had phrased it led me to believe my role in this was rather important, though who knew what Ash was thinking anymore. For all I knew I was just another sacrifice meant to fan the flames for him. Oh well. I had unsettled business with that guard anyway. He had made me doubt my cause with his silver tongue, and it would feel cathartic to rip it from his throat...

I paused. That had been a cruel thought... Was the bloodlust getting to me? I shook off this line of thought and placed my focus on the frontline.

Our initial charge had just made contact with the opposing army. Many of the abyss watchers men were no less mad than ours, which meant that our faster soldiers were the first to meet each other on the battlefield.

The horizon turned into a myriad of lights as the two factions met, like fireflies lighting up the night sky. Purple abyssal skill effects met white, ashy auras in mid-air, causing ethereal, hollow sounds to ring out over the battlefield repeatedly. The sound of the abyssal skills being used reminded me of the sound of our churchs bells, though they seemed distorted, as if I was hearing them while someone was screaming themselves hoarse through my other ear. It was an unsettling sound, to say the least. Meanwhile, the dry mans soldiers preferred to use skills based on the concepts of bone, drought, and time. These skills had their own distinct sound, more reminiscent of bones breaking far too loudly, like dry twigs being crushed underfoot.

The two collections of sound came together to form a strange cacophony, which drowned out the hoarse screams of the warriors that were still fighting and the dying, pained moans of those who were about to perish.

As more and more classers joined the front lines, it was becoming extremely difficult to keep up with the battle, however. All I could tell from this distance, was that our side had just created three giant bone mammoths, that were stomping through our opponents frontlines. Oh, no, actually, they were just destroyed by an armada of golems, that had used their green lasers to blow them apart. Just as the tide shifted in the favor of the abyss watcher, our side came up with another change and created a forest of bones around the golems, which slowed them down enough for half a dozen of our tier 4s to break some of their crystals.

From there, the battle only continued to escalate, the tide shifting like grains of sand in the wind.

Eventually, three figures appeared on each side. By now, the majority of both sides soldiers had started clashing. Now, the generals were about to take the stage.

Just like Ash had said, one of the abyss watchers generals looked pretty banged up, wincing as he floated over the battle. He was doing well hiding his pain, but it was still apparent on his face from this distance. Meanwhile, Dullahan, Ash, and Olgierd looked ready for a fight to the death, healthy as can be for the moment.

The two trios wasted no words and threw themselves at each other, uncaring for the shockwaves their battles created. In fact, it looked like both sides were trying to shift the damage to the others side. Entire swaths of both of our armies were being annihilated with each casual swing of theirs. This really put into perspective what it meant to be a tier 5. Let alone a tier 7...

Their battle continued, yet still, I held back. I had my objective, after all. I had no intention to let the golden guard ambush me. Slowly, the generals lifted higher and higher into the sky. Supposedly, both sides had realised that their collateral damage wouldnt serve any purpose, they were just trading back and forth. That felt strange to me, though. I could understand our side trying to delay the battle, but why were the abyss watchers forces attempting to do the same? What did they gain from delaying us here? Before I could satisfy my suspicion with answers, though, a golden figure appeared above the battlefield. It crashed down to the ground, creating a bloody trail as he landed. With each step he took, our side was losing dozens...

The golden guard. Finally, he had seen fit to show himself.Updated from novelb(i)n.c(o)m

I re-entered the battle with renewed vigor, empowered bloodlust, and cut my way through my opponents one by one, reveling in the levels I would gain after the end of the battle. I accrued wounds because of my carelessness, but regained my strength as Dark form kept me alive.

More and more enemies fell to my sword and skills, and more and more blood pooled at my feet. More and more men and women came to me, to die...

Everything became a blur, yet time continued to pass.

After what could have been a week, or could have been just an hour, someone pulled me out of my madness.

My mind regained its clarity as I found myself floating far above the battlefield, held up by the black robe I was wearing.

Who...? I muttered quietly, not quite sure of what was going on yet.

Its me. You seemed lost in battle. Having fun? I heard Ashs voice ask from behind me. I turned my head lazily, too tired mentally to respond coherently. Huh. I didnt know I could get tired anymore...

Wha? I asked intelligently.

Hah... Ash sighed. Listen, I dont have time to wait until you gather yourself. One of the opposing generals had been killed by me, which allows me to mop up some of the small fries. However, intelligence has come in that the abyss watcher might have sent in some units through the dungeon after all, in hopes of catching us off guard. I had deemed that strategy unlikely, since it takes ages for any meaningful amount of troops to get through there, and they would have to be limited to tier 3... Still, it appears the watcher thought ahead and sent some people in right after he got the news of the dry man evolving, so we can expect company from the dungeon after all. I want you to take some troops and hold them off while I deal with the remaining troops here. Got it?

Uhu. I assented, still not in my right mind. I could understand that he wanted me to fight, at least.

The next thing I knew, I was back at the encampment, finally recovered from the mad haze I had swum in earlier. I was staring at some unit commanders that Ash had sent my way. Apparently, two days had passed since the start of the major battle. We only had to stall for another day if we were lucky. Victory was on the horizon. Before that, though, we had a single battle left.

For some reason, the system didnt see combat as finished yet, though. I would have to wait for my level-ups until the dry lord arrived.

Sir, what are your plans? one of the tier 3 commanders asked me.

Right, plans... Shit. I didnt have any of those, unfortunately...