Out of the Blue Assault?
Yoahim yelled in surprise, but upon second thought, it made perfect sense. From here on out, they'd be killing or being killed—no room for gentlemanly chit-chat.
"Re—treat!"
Aljes's booming voice rolled out like thunder, and the front lines all took a single step back as one. The Death Knight advanced a pace, hefting his massive greatsword. He drew a deep breath—
"Hah!"
With a sharp shout, he swung. The blade whipped up a ferocious gust, staggering the flames' momentum just a bit—but they didn't die out. They plunged straight for Aljes's body.
But another swing of the greatsword battered the fire aside. A deafening roar erupted as embers scattered everywhere.
Aljes bellowed in his resonant baritone: "Stand—still!"
Yoahim, closest to the shout, thought his eardrums might burst.
"Fil—thy—sum—mon—er!"
Hiiiing! The phantom steed whinnied, hooves pounding the earth. Taking Aljes's roar as the signal, it charged the castle. Dust clouds billowed in the wake of the soldiers surging forward behind him.
Hallidery, watching from afar, snorted derisively and vanished—probably retreating to the rear.
"Kill— them—all!"
"Waaaaah!"
Brave soldiers stormed the gates. Arrows and spells rained down from the walls. Yoahim watched wide-eyed, heart pounding. This was his first real war since getting trapped in the game.
Shouts, screams, clashing metal. All familiar from the game, yet utterly new.
"Yo—ah—im!"
Yoahim snapped his head up at the thunderous call. There stood Aljes, swinging his greatsword with terrifying momentum.
"Here— I—come!"
Yoahim gripped his sword tight. Fear gnawed at him, but running wasn't an option. Time to do what had to be done.
"Waaaaah!"
He kicked his horse's flanks and charged after Aljes, roaring. Sword batting arrows aside, magic countering spells. At the gates, Aljes swung wide and bellowed:
"Bil—le!"
"Don't worry! I'll handle command!"
Aljes nodded, hoisting his greatsword overhead. He summoned his death aura. From behind, his frame looked even larger.
Optical illusion? No. Violet aura cloaked him like armor, swelling his massive bulk further. The surging power gathered at the blade's tip, blunting it like a club.
"Haaaah!"
Power bottled up had to burst. The question was where. Aljes's eyes blazed crimson as he fixed on the gates—and swung.
Kwaaaaang!
Fuck!
A sword doing that to gates? Yoahim froze amid the crumbling debris—like shattered cookies—the blasting wind, the flying shards.
"Power!"
Power? Yoahim tilted his head at Aljes's backward glance.
"Used—too—much!"
"……."
Is this guy dumber than Billad? Yoahim shook off the thought.
"Let's go, Aljes!"
"Un—der—stood!"
Troops poured through the shattered gates. Levia's garrison met them weapons drawn, chaos erupting.
Yoahim scanned for his aides amid the frenzy.
"Leon! Sasha! Help Bille here! I'm going after Hallidery!"
"Got it! Don't die, Apostle!"
"You got this, Apostle!"
Boosted by their cheers, Yoahim rode with Aljes toward the lord's palace. Foes blocked the straight path, but Aljes's swings felled them effortlessly.
Nothing for me to do. No kills, no EXP. Yoahim eyed the corpses and tsked.
Wasted EXP.
No helping it. Clear the path to Hallidery first.
And if I land the killing blow on him, the EXP will be juicy.
A Lv.112 necromancer? Even shared, it'd spike his levels hard.
"There!"
Yoahim spotted the palace and shouted. Aljes's eyes gleamed at the central structure.
"One—dash!"
The phantom steed accelerated. Yoahim's horse huffed hot breath, pounding harder to keep up.
"Block them! Stop them from the palace!"
"Just two foes!"
Armed demons barred the way—strong-looking, ten in number. Aljes didn't flinch; he spurred harder.
The brutal charge reaped merciless results. Yoahim chuckled dryly at demon heads spinning skyward.
"Their commander's there! Kill him!"
"Uwaaaah!"
"Die……!"
Demons and undead swarmed, Hallidery's power resurrecting Aljes's kills. Numbers mounting slowed the charge.
"Go on! We'll hold them!"
Bille drew attention with his squad. Aljes nodded silently and bulldozed ahead. Yoahim peppered foes with spells, keeping them off.
The palace loomed close. Aljes swept guards aside, rearing to smash the doors with hooves—
Shweeeek! Thunk!
"What?!"
Hiiiing!
Pain-filled whinny, world tilting. Yoahim tumbled hard, thrown from the saddle. A demon arrow had felled his horse.
He fired a Magic Missile at the archer, Blinked in, and finished with a sword thrust. The demon crumpled with a groan.
"Goddamn it."
Yoahim seethed at the ambush. The horse twitched in death throes, arrow in its head. Smart beast.
He ground his teeth.
"Ride—with—me."
Aljes extended a hand. Yoahim grabbed it, mounting behind. As Aljes seized the reins:
"After this fight... can you revive my horse as a phantom steed? Hate leaving the poor guy."
Sentiment for a horse, but you don't just ditch one.
Aljes twisted back, eyes shining.
"Ex—cel—lent!"
Ears rang from the boom. Yoahim winced; Aljes pressed on oblivious.
"Steed—is—knight's—com—rade! Knights—ne—ver—a—ban—don—com—rades!"
Now fully turned, Aljes gripped Yoahim's shoulder hard.
"I'll—take—re—spon—si—bil—i—ty—and—re—vive—him!"
"Uh... yeah, thanks."
Overwhelmed, Yoahim just nodded. Fired up on knighthood, Aljes charged the doors, smashing them. Yoahim clung tight to avoid falling.
"Coward—bastard!"
The palace interior was bleak—no signs of life, just chilling killing intent. And a faint whiff of blood nearby. Hallidery was close.
"They're here already! Block them! Don't let them reach the lord!"
Demon soldiers lunged. Futile, as always. Aljes butchered them; Yoahim picked off a couple, thinning ranks.
Level up! 5 stat points remaining to allocate.
One level up mid-kill. No time to allocate; next foe.
Kill as many as possible here. Level up for the Hallidery fight.
Blending magic and swordplay, he culled demons steadily.
Level up! 5 stat points remaining to allocate.
Level up! 5 stat points remaining to allocate.
Two more levels from the slaughter. They reached the audience chamber, path littered with corpses, blood pooling like rugs.
Yoahim slicked back sweat-matted hair, steadying his breath. He didn't need to look up to know who waited—or how strong.
Necromancer Hallidery. No fleeing like a coward; he awaited intruders regally.
"Tough trek getting here. Pointless in the end, though."
Unlike before, Hallidery held a staff—carved wood topped with a black crystal leaking death aura. Thick enough to choke low-level foes dead.
"No reason to drag this out with talk."
He leveled the ominous staff at Aljes.
"Death Knight. And Kahkari's apostle."
Now at Yoahim. The crystal gleamed strangely.
"Die."
Condensed mana. Yoahim instinctively pictured a compressed spring.
Sprung springs rebound. No matter how hard pressed, the force resists, eager to explode outward.
Why the spring? Because—
"Aljes!"
Compressed mana must erupt. Realizing that too late.
The mana—magic's colossal violence—swallowed the Death Knight and Kahkari's apostle whole.