Chapter 121
Treevor was approaching the gate with each kill and was almost catching up with the defense team.
Astrus was casting spells and killing hundreds of skeletons in front of the gates while the reserve unit blocked the gate, but if something wasn’t done about Treevor now, all his efforts would be in vain. Astrus thought for a few seconds and decided to face him personally.
“Mages, go back to the walls and drink potions to regenerate your mana, I’ll replace you!” Astrus screamed and jumped off the wall. His enchanted boots created platforms of light beneath his feet and Astrus kept climbing as he approached Treevor, Astrus was sure they exchanged glances for a second.
Astrus conjured the sword of judgment again and fell into Treevor’s position. The latter felt alarmed for the first time and leapt back with all his might, white lightning blasting the ground at his feet, along with all the nearby skeletons.
The surviving Crusaders roared with excitement, finally having some time to breathe. Treevor swung his whip to test Astrus and the latter easily dodged. He stopped in midair and stared at Treevor, trying to find any weaknesses in his body.
“Are you their leader?” Astrus asked without hope of an answer. Before Treevor could respond, Sevenus’ voice rang in his mind.
‘Keep the general away from the walls. Now that he’s stopped destroying all the approaching skeletons, I’m going to send the ogres to break down the gate while the demihumans scale the walls. It’s only a matter of time before we take the gates and then the fight is over. Sevenus spoke and Treevor nodded.
The only reason the soldiers were still fighting was that their numbers were superior. The moment the gate opens, skeletons will invade and it will be a bloodbath.
.....
“Can’t you talk? It doesn’t matter, I just have to kill you to find out what you’re made of!” Astrus screamed and lunged at Treevor. He swung his sword and unleashed an arc of lightning, which Treevor ignored as he leapt at him.
‘How fast!’ Astrus thought and immediately gave up, jumping to the side and letting Treevor’s fist pass inches from his body. Astrus sliced off Treevor’s arm as he passed, the light burning the corruption in the wooden arm.
Astrus tried to jump to gain distance, but the vines wrapped around his left leg and his vision blurred. he activated his armor’s light barrier by sheer reflex, saving his life. Treevor spun in the air and hurled Astrus to the ground like a bullet, creating a crevasse resembling a spider’s web.
The barrier broke and kept him from dying, but it didn’t stop his organs from exploding against his bones. Vomiting blood, Astrus activated one of the magic rings on his right hand and regenerated his wounds, but Treevor didn’t stand by and watch.
Treevor landed on top of Astrus, the roots on his right leg crushing the enchanted silver plate and knocking all the air out of his lungs. The blow would have killed him if the breastplate hadn’t had a passive enchantment that dispersed the impact.
Astrus felt like a tinned sardine and cast a cannon of light straight into Treevor’s skull.
Treevor was hit in the side of the face and doubled back, Astrus seized the moment and pushed at the roots with all his might, freeing himself and rolling to the side. The vines on the back of Treevor’s head chased him piercing the ground, but Astrus kept rolling and kicked the ground out of reach of the vines.
Astrus stood up and lightly touched his chest with his hand, his broken ribs throbbing in pain. The impact dispersion enchantment only softened the blow, not nullified it. In comparison, Treevor only had light burns that weren’t visible for his dark color.
‘Only two attacks and I almost died in both. I need to recover-‘ Astrus’ thoughts were interrupted as Treevor’s fist came from above and nearly crushed his skull. Treevor didn’t give him time to think and kept pressing it.
Astrus had no way to dodge and just placed his sword above his head to block, holding on to the hilt and tip of the sword. The blow forced him to his knees and bent his sword, but the second fist caught him from abdomen to chest and sent him flying into the crusaders.
Astrus hit the crusaders like a bowling ball, but Treevor didn’t stop and ran using the spirits’ momentum, catching up to Astrus and punching him to the ground.
Astrus hit the ground and a rock hit him in the spine, bending his body and throwing him back into the air, where Treevor’s fist found him and crushed him to the ground again. Astrus’ body slammed against the ground in a bloody mess, his corpse completely mangled.
‘Oops. I think I exaggerated a little.’ Treevor thought to himself a little embarrassed. He unintentionally got carried away by finally having an opponent who could withstand more than one attack without dying and ended up overdoing it.
The soldiers around him seemed frozen for a second. Not even in their dreams did they expect the general to be defeated so one-sidedly. A sense of desperation spread through the soldiers and the skeletons attacked furiously at that moment, as if they had been waiting for this moment.
The truth is that many of the soldiers weren’t mana users so even after being transformed, they just attacked normally. Athos had just ordered them to circulate mana at full strength, nearly doubling their physical abilities.
A thunderous sound sounded and the gate was knocked down, the two ogres stepping into their giant form and stomping the unit trying to protect the gate. Until now, the defensive unit had only succeeded because Sevenus had sent weaklings that he knew would be destroyed by Astrus.
The ogres absorbed the element of water and earth from the world’s energy, but their own mana made them corrupted elements.
The mages tried to stop them, but the minotaurs and kobolds scaled the walls using their bare hands and attacked them. The minotaurs’ hooves weren’t good at climbing the wall, but their fingers dug into the sturdy stone using sheer brute force, and they climbed using only the strength of their arms.
The minotaurs ran furiously over the wall, using a charge ability to trample anyone in their path. With the size of the minotaurs, it was nearly impossible to dodge the attack, so soldiers on the walls tried to roll, or throw themselves off the walls, certain that they would have a better chance of surviving if they threw themselves off the walls than standing in the way of a minotaur.
Some stupid or overconfident mages tried to stop its charge with spells or mana barriers, but it was useless. The demihumans’ hard bones were unaffected by weak spells and their powerful horns pierced through barriers as if they were made of paper, before impaling the mages.
The kobolds jumped at the fallen soldiers and mutilated their bodies with their claws and fangs. A few soldiers managed to get up and fight, but the kobolds used their small size and numerical advantage to cut their heels and the back of their knees, where their armor didn’t protect.
The mage who was carrying the black cube dropped the cube and the last thing the nobles saw was a minotaur’s hoof, before the link was severed.
The orcs invaded along with ogres and caused a massacre against the defensive unit. The natural rage the undead felt against the living added to the hatred they felt towards humans for enslaving them created an incredible synergy that took their physical capabilities to an absurd level.
They didn’t even need to use skills. His bare fists went through the soldiers’ shields, armor, and bodies as if they were paper. Even when soldiers used skills, the blows still crushed the soldiers’ armor and bones, leaving them on the ground incapable.
“This is impossible.” A soldier muttered before dropping his sword and turning to run. The soldiers realized that this was a losing battle and began desperately to flee, some heading for the fortress in the center and others trying to go around and get to the opposite gate.
It was doubtful if they could get away, but they would have a better chance than if they stayed here to fight. The gates of the inner wall opened and what came out ended all his hopes. Hundreds of the undead rushed at them, cutting off their escape route.
Emilia and Caio had separated from Athos when Treevor undid the field of the dead. Caio dug the ground until they entered the sewers and they descended, the earth closing in behind him and erasing their tracks.
Astrus had learned from his earlier mistake and placed several patrols in the sewers in preparation for an invasion, but killing them all silently and turning them into the undead was simple for experienced assassins like them.
Emilia and Caio invaded the fortress in the same way as the day before, but this time with dozens of skeleton soldiers accompanying them. The inner wall was connected to the fortress, and there were dozens of soldiers guarding the place. The soldiers tried more than once to sound alarms to let them know that the fortress was being invaded, but the passive detection spell was constantly sounding an alarm and drowned out the sound.
The truth was that Astrus and several soldiers had noticed the attack, but they already had their hands full and pretended not to see it.