Clay heaved a sigh as he appraised the approaching reserves of the enemy. ‘This doesn’t look promising…’ His eyes turned towards Bjorn, who was finishing off another group of warriors. A smile crept across Clay’s face as he chuckled. ‘Actually, it might not be such a bad thing for them to come here…’ He quickly gauged how long his group had until the enemy could join up.
“Clay? What should we do?” Beans asked with a frown. Her eyes drawing a line to the enemy reinforcements.
“Gather on the left flank. Draw the enemy players over to that side. I’ll deal with making sure the NPCs can break the enemy lines.”
Clay watched as Beans headed off to inform the rest. ‘They just need to buy time. As long as they keep the enemy too busy to realise what is happening until it is too late. Then we have this in the bag.’
He waited until the other side reacted to their placements. The enemy players all moved to intercept Beans, believing they intended to mount a powerful offensive on that flank. Clay’s eyes quickly flickered to Bjorn before rushing to his side. Bjorn hesitated for a moment as Clay reached him. But before he could say anything, Clay reached out and placed his hand on Bjorn’s shoulder.
‘Blood and Glory!’
Clay chuckled as his Divine Spell took effect. He observed the confused look on Bjorn’s face as the latter studied his own body.
“What did you do?” Bjorn asked in a low voice.
“You’ll see. Push back against the enemy’s right flank. Leave the other side to us. We’re relying on you to break the enemy.”
Clay darted off to join Beans and the others in their melee against the enemy players. Bjorn shook his head in confusion before turning towards the right flank of their battle. As soon as he tried to rush there, he had to stop. He had left a fine red mist in his wake. ‘What the?’ Those who had just witnessed the spectacle shared Clay’s confusion. He had moved so fast that the mist he left behind was all that remained of the warriors who had been on his path.
This caused a brief lull in the surrounding battle. Before a Sommerdan warrior realised that some of his closest friends had just died! The warrior let out an agonising yell as he rushed at Bjorn. The warrior’s curved blade cut through the air. Directly aiming for Bjorn’s chest!
The latter snapped out of his confusion and lashed out at the man with his fist. The sound of bones snapping echoed from the warrior’s body where Bjorn’s fist landed. Right before the blow wholly launched him through the air. Angry and confused yells filled the air. The unlucky warrior’s body sent his comrades in his path, tumbling to the ground from his passing.
‘I see… The god Claymore has empowered my body!’ It was all so clear to him now what had just happened. Bjorn started laughing like a madman. The enemy, who had been wary of his prowess before, was now mortified. Moments later, a whirlwind of death appeared on Bjorn’s battlefield as he abused his new power.
Meanwhile, Exile nodded with satisfaction. From his position, he could see the Sommerdan reinforcements faltering under Bjorn’s assault. ‘Looks like Clay has taken care of it. Now, the only question is how many troops have they been hiding?’ Exile refocused his attention on the mountains. Waiting for the first signs of those who sounded the horns to appear.
‘Hm?’ Exile caught a glint of sunlight reflecting off of something from between a crack between the rocks. More of the flashes soon appeared, as the first of the new Sommerdan warriors appeared from the mountain path. This new group already appeared to be larger than what they had been facing. ‘So… This entire battle so far has only been against their vanguard forces. No wonder Parthus didn’t involve himself!’
Exile cursed under his breath as he signalled for Winter to come to him. It did not take her long to notice the new arrivals as she approached him. A deep scowl appeared on her face as she took her place on his right-hand side.
“We don’t have enough warriors to deal with that…” Winter said as she surveyed the entire battlefield. “As soon as they join the battle we have lost.”
“Yes… Put out the word that I want our forces to retreat. We’ll have to use guerilla tactics from here on out until our own allies appear.”ｂｎ𝚘ｖ𝚕．𝚘𝚛𝚐
“Boss… Do you think our ‘allies’ are taking their time so the Sommerdans soften us up?” Winter asked as she glanced towards the sky with an aloof expression.
“Possibly… But it won’t matter. By the time we’ve dealt with these invaders, Skardia will already be within our grasp…”
Winter cocked an eyebrow at this response. “Whatever you say, boss.”
With those last words, Winter rushed off to deliver the news. Capturing the gazes of any men who could see her along the way. Exile chuckled lightly as he cast his own gaze towards the sun. ‘It’s almost midday. It shouldn’t be much longer until the first groups arrive. The Dwarf King should have already made his move… We just need to prevent ourselves from being overrun for now.’
Exile quickly cast several miracles to help the Skardians on his battlefield. ‘The sooner we can disengage, the better.’ he felt that cost was worth it for now. Once the chance for a breather would appear, he planned to use it to recover his DP. ‘Being able to descend anywhere under the sky really has its benefits. I’ll have to arrange shifts so the others can replenish themselves as well.’
He squinted towards the area that he suspected Parthus to be standing in. ‘At some point, I’ll definitely have to deal with you. Let’s see what other tricks you have up your sleeves!’ Exile’s eyebrows rose as he heard Skardian warriors complaining about the order to retreat. ‘It’s good that they are still hungry for battle. Don’t worry, you’ll definitely have your fill!’