Chapter 671 (Patreon)

Shadow P.O.V.

“It’s Gryndor’s Duke that got them to group up and now they pulled all their champions back.” The complaining continues as Brightree takes a bite of his rations. “I think they’re trying to weaken us just to invade us themselves after.” 

It's a good thing that everyone knows he is just frustrated that we were so close to reclaiming the lands his mansion was in and that Gryndor pulling back its champions meant we had to give up ground. 

“Are you sure you don’t want us to heal you, sir.” Having your own personal healers could be such a pain, especially if it's the first time they are working with you in the field. 

“I’m sure.” I nod back trying not to snap at them, I know the reason they are asking so often is that they are nervous, a clash is going to happen soon. “It’s just some superficial scratches, best we just let them heal on their own and not stress my body before I might need to take a powerful potion or have you heal me after the fight.” 

“My lord, message from the capital.” Rivers, my attendant who insisted on being attached to the elite unit I was shadowing so he could continue his duties approached me. “For your eyes only.” 

What could be so secretive that they would want me to know about before my return to get requipped but want to keep from the other champions. I take the letter and rip open the enchanted seals in the correct order so as to not destroy the contents. 

Ajax finished his first delve early and he already entered the second dungeon. Odd I would have expected him to drag it out, the beastkin already have a bounty on his head higher than mine why is he in such a rush to get back. Ah, a satyr flooded the floor with Curse Mana, that is just bad luck. I can’t even say I’m sorry since his misfortune works out for us.

“Anything we need to know?” Rivers asks. 

“Make preparations for an extended stay.” I answer as I see the orders, I was supposed to return in a few days to resupply after that last fight but they are having me stay out longer.

“They’re what?!” My healer, Heather I believe the dwarf’s name was, finally has an outlet for her frustration. “You have no chest armor and have already suffered in the last engagement.” I agree with her on that point, especially since I wasn’t fully recovered when they sent me back out in the first place.

Ah, we got lucky. Ajax used his boon to pull out the corpse of a shadow cougar, they’re delaying my return so they can have a proper replacement, one that might actually be better than what I lost, be prepared. I like the sound of that.

“The enemy is advancing.” The call travels all the way through the camp. 

It's just the regular soldiers that need to move right now but everyone starts to warm up. With large engagements like this it won’t be long before the elites jump in and then it's us. The entire battle will be changing in a matter of moments.

The entire battle formation of the common soldier changed in its entirety compared to the start of the war. They are no longer as concerned about the enemy in front of them but rather being ready to run once champions get involved, and as much as champions might complain about them not giving their all and forcing them in a bad position we all know why it must be this way. 

Unlike before there isn’t just one champion on the enemy side. They can’t risk only sending out one if their side is losing or we will all jump that person and kill them so they’ll all be going out at the same time. The amount of damage a group of champions can do to our armies once they take the field is so large we don’t have time to pick our moment and have to react almost instantly.

“What were the orders?” Champion Brightree asks seeing me dispose of the letter. 

“Extending my deployment before I return to the capital.” I answer. 

“I can’t say I’m upset since we are quite a bit stronger with you here with us, but why?” The question was obvious. 

“The crafters need more time to work on my replacement gear.” The reasoning was one that was given to champions pretty often and so there would be no suspicion that I was having brand new gear made instead of politics slowing crafters down as usual.

“That’s exactly why we should have our crafter following us, away from all the pampered nobles that hide in the capital and have nothing better to do with their time than slow them down.” Brightree shakes his head as we both watch the elites join the fighting. Both armies were going for an ambush approach. 

“Get ready.” My muscles clench, ready to spring into action, both sides sent their elites to flack from opposite sides, it will turn into a bloodbath quickly as elites crash into regular forces without opposition on both sides. That will only force champions to join the fray even sooner. “We’re not letting them carve a path through our forces.” 

I felt some pity for the enemy elites, throughout the war the enemy had been much more willing to give us some of their elites to give their champions a slight advantage, I couldn’t even blame them since most of their elites were on the older side and with little future or young people who weren’t talented enough to make the push further, all their talented youngsters were already champion level due to all the extra dungeons they delved.

Our elites hit the enemy first and like I expected they broke their lines with ease, coming from the side meant they were heading straight for the mages and the archers that took some off the pressure off our frontline. 

“Follow me.” I called right as the enemy elites were about to hit our own flank. 

A single step took me into the realm of shadows, from there [Shadow Jump] had me exiting out of the shadow of one of the enemy elites. The confusion on their faces as I started to carve through them as my fellow champions joined the fray behind me only lasted a moment. Without my iconic leather chest piece I looked a lot more like one of their champions but reality quickly caught up to them and the cries went out. 

“Champion!” 

“It’s Shadow!” 

Twelve seconds. That’s how long it took for their champions to react to me joining the fight, I could feel the spell right as it was launched towards me. In those twelve seconds I killed over thirty elites by myself and both armies were doing their best to get out of the way of the incoming battle.

The ice lance they threw at me shattered as I moved to block it with my knife. Damn it, Mirabelle is here. Her Epic Skill [Detonating Imbalance] was always a pain to deal with. She focused on pin point spells like the ice lance that would have a large detonation if the spell was broken. The explosion of ice shards was mostly batted away by my cloak but I felt a few new cuts open across my body.

“Control the space.” I call out as I see the number of champions they brought. They have us outnumbered by a good margin. 

We have two mages, we can’t let even their weaker champions close the gap to them. They are mostly relying on their higher Stats rather then Skills to even be counted as champions but that’s really all they need when a physical fighter gets in close with a mage. I’d also hate to see what it would look like for us if their mages go on unchallenged while we are outnumbered. 

As the fight continues it's obvious they haven;t fought together for long. Their newer champions don’t know how to take advantage of the openings Mirabelle’s spells can provide, some of them even being caught in the aftermath of her Epic Skill. Slowly but surely we are gaining the upper hand as their champions keep on taking more and more hits. Sadly we all know we are expending Mana and Stamina at a much faster rate than they are.

“I see an opening.” Brightree dashes towards their mages. 

“Nooo.” My call comes a moment too late however as I take in the entire enemy line [Battlefield Strategist] yelling that the opening is a trap. 

A yellow blur smashes into Brightree and one of the biggest humanoids I have ever seen stabs his sword into his left hip. Another of their young champions, but unlike the others this one feels stronger, [Judge Strength] still marking him as weaker than me but not as someone I could beat without issue in a one on one like the others. Most troubling however is that this one I recognise.

“Is this the best you’ve got?” Victor Bloodmane, the new prince of the beastkin after his father’s coup. Looks like he recovered after that ambush he took part in at the start of this war.

Unfortunately for Brightree Victor’s fighting style was inspired by his father’s most hated enemy. A hybrid fighter with runic spellcasting, where Gryndor’s prince focused on finesse and control to win fights the lion beastkin was all about a relentless onslaught forcing a mistake. Seeing as his surprise attack already landed a powerful hit on Brightree my fellow champion wouldn’t be able to last long.

I tried charging straight in to help but three champions blocked my path. Their movements were stiff, their Skill obviously low and even as my daggers got past their armor and left nasty wounds on their arms they did manage to keep me at bay. 

“Got him.” The earthen snares wrapped around Brightree as he was doing his best to keep Victor from cleaving him in half and none of us were in a position to help him. 

“Retreat.” I couldn’t believe my ears as I heard my fellow champions being will to just give up and let Brightree be captured even as [Battlefield Strategist] agreed with the decision. 

All of my hesitation disappeared in the next moment however as Victor Bloodmane took advantage of the spell restraining Brightree and chopped the elf’s head off. The world froze for a moment as I took everything in. 

Brightree and I didn’t always get along but both of us had been champions for a while and we were friends. They had him restrained, why did they kill him. It was stupid, it was senseless. A cold anger flooded through me right as I started backing away. 

[Killer Instinct], [Feighed Blow], [Precise Throw] and a new Rare Skill I only just got [Enraged Strike] activate with a quick two word Shadow spell to mask my next move the dagger in my left hand sailed with as much power as I could put behind it. The head of one of the three champions that had stopped me from reaching my friend in time burst like a watermelon. My dagger kept going towards its final target but unfortunately Victor had enough time to react and he parried the dagger away with the flat of his bastard sword.

Even as we retreated I made a silent promise to Brightree that I will make sure his death will be avenged.