Chapter 21: Confrontation

When we came out of the building we were in, it was pandemonium that waited to greet us.

Arrows and spears were flying in the air. Men and women, Vikings and Valkyries alike, were pelted and disabled by projectiles left and right. Swords and knives clashed and clang against each other's blades, and roars of fury sounded throughout the entirety of Freylin as several of the buildings went up in flames.

"You do your job," Was all Brunhilda said to me before she ran off to the direction of the largest group of combatants. Offhandedly, I also recognized the Viking chief in the mass - and judging by the way our eyes met, so did he.

But soon, he broke off the look to block an incoming spear, and thus, I was alone.

Frantically, I swam my eyes through the fighting crowds and ignored the noises and distractions all around me as I looked for one single black figure. However, it was not so easy - I found where Alysse was clashing with a Viking whose name I didn't care to remember for now, but I wasn't looking for her.

It felt like hours, just filtering through and through the people, until finally I found the person I was looking for.

"Myrddin!"

The swordsman heard the call for his name, turning to my direction. I only had the time to warn him to duck beneath the impending axe aiming for his neck before he retaliated with a diagonal slash that cut the weapon's shaft in two. After he was sure he was safe, he ran up to me.

"Oh, thank whatever is above up that you're here Rain!" My partner said with obvious relief. "I was getting scared you were gone!"

There was something to tease in those words about how scared he really was, considering the surprising lack of shaking on his legs, but I ignored it for now. Instead, I placed my hands over his shoulders, looking straight into his eyes.

"Myrddin. I have no time to explain for now, but to put it quickly for the following thirty minutes I would be useless offensively. I'm still able to heal - or rather, I'm stuck at healing - which thankfully allows me to be some help in this, but you should know what this means, right?"

As I said my words, Myrddin's eyebrows went up, up, up, until it reached his hair.

"...Rain, you can't fight?"

I nodded solemnly, though making sure to pull Myrddin down with me as a spear flew our way.

"I'll be depending on you to protect me. En garde, Myrddin!"

And even though it still took him the greater part of a minute to recover, I managed a smile when he closed his widened mouth and nodded without a word, turning around and placing himself in a defensive position around me.

I really didn't know how I got so lucky to ever get the chance to meet Myrddin as a friend.

We ran together in a spear formation towards the center of the town. Myrddin, with his large defensive sword and his rarely used kite shield, came in front, diverting any and everything that came in our way with amazing prowess. I, on the other hand, ran behind him, letting out healing and tactical support using Critical Eye to point out weakpoints and incoming Vikings and weapons.

It would've been a quick run to our destination... if I didn't have to do damage control every step of the way.

"Rain, are you done!?" Myrddin yelled as he blocked a sword from one of the Vikings and countered back with a shield bash over the man's head. "They're starting to surround us!"

"Wait a moment!" I called, my eyes still closed as I focused on my job. "I'm about finished, so stay put and protect me!"

All around us, balls of light rose and swirled enchantingly as they did their work. It was no easy feat, but at this point I already had hours of practice on my ledger when it came to healing. Fallen Vikings and Valkyries alike, I focused on as I healed them - not so much as to completely repair their wounds, but enough to put them out of immediate danger.

This was the job that Brunhilda had given me when she found out that I was stuck at healing.

Heal the wounded, she said, as that would make stopping the war so much easier.

"Like it's so easy to do that!" I couldn't help but growl as I finally finished, heaving breaths as Myrddin clashed with foes beside me. Once again, cloudiness filled up more of my mind as exhaustion seeped in regardless of my attempts to push it back.

I didn't have time to rest as I was forcefully pulled up by Myrddin who moved me just in time to dodge an arrow that slipped through his defenses.

"Thanks, Myrddin." I managed as I pulled myself up. "We're done here, so let's go on ahead."

Myrddin hazarded a short glance at the bodies of defeated people around us. "Are you really sure it would be safe to just leave them here after healing them?"

"Both sides don't attack the defeated." I said with a clipped tone. "It's below them. However, the same cannot be said about medics."

"Good enough for me!"

And with that proclamation, we went back into a sprint. Mere minutes later, we were back to the pattern of stopping, defending, healing, and beating in faces if we had to. After all, while I was still unable to fight with magic, I still had a staff that doubled as a club.

It was then that we heard the recognizable voice of Brynjar.

"Aha! This 'all be the blow that 'ould defeat you once and for all, Brunhilda!"

He was above us. Since when did he got over the town and on the cliff?

"Strike him down! Strike him down!" I heard Brunhilda yell from somewhere with a panic I was shocked to find in her voice. "Don't let him strike with that axe!"

All around us, spears flew. Magic bolts of silver were shot towards Brynjar as well, but he was simply too far. Nothing reached him.

Brunhilda also attempted something. "Strike them true, Gungn-"

Brynjar lifted his axe. From the distance we were in, I barely saw the small dot of steel in his hands. But I would swear up and down anytime later that for an instant, the large axe changed into something else.

For a millisecond, an image of a hammer shimmered over his axe.

"Knock them down, Mjollnir!"

The weapon came down on the cliff he was on.

For a moment, there was nothing. Next, a shockwave suddenly hit us, centered from Brynjar's position and radiating outwards with an ungodly amount of force and making small things fly up in the air. In the same time, the smell of ozone filled my nose, and the hairs on my neck stood end on end as the air filled with static.

Then it happened.

It was a simple impossibility, a break in logic and the laws of nature. But nevertheless, it happened; cracks suddenly formed and spread from where Brynjar stood, and like the shell of an egg, the cliff broke apart in pieces in front of our very eyes.

What used to be a cliff was now a large group of rocks coming for the town.

"Strike them true," I heard Brunhilda yell again, "Gungnir!"

A large streak of light came from my left, flying up and splitting into several branches to intercept the large boulders that were falling towards Freylin. Each and every single rock was struck; not a single miss, not a single waste.

Light met stone. Light won.

Everything went up in dust. Like fireworks, all above Freylin the remains of the cliff became even more fragmented inside explosions of dirt, leaving only the smallest bits of rock to reach the town.

That was when I realized how out of their league I was. And judging from Myrddin's bewildered looks, so did he.

"You broke the oath again, Brynjar!" Brunhilda shouted in outrage. "What happened to still keeping our people alive?!"

Brynjar's face was unreadable from where I am. I almost couldn't hear his voice with how softly he said his reply.

"Sacrifices would have to be made, Brunhilda." He said quietly, with no tone of accent. "If only to end this once and for all."

And just like that, the momentary lull in battle disappeared, and Brunhilda's own reply was lost again in the throng of steel clashing with steel, Valkyrie fighting with Viking. And when I ducked underneath an arrow as Myrddin failed to intercept it in his reverie, Brynjar was already gone from his perch.

The clash of titans was over for now. It was back to the battle.

Myrddin shone like a star among the fighting Valkyries and Vikings.

Almost as if he had drunk more than a few pints of 'liquid courage', he fought seemingly undefeated with his large sword in one hand and kite shield over the right. Vikings and the odd Valkyrie who didn't seem to get the memo that Myrddin wasn't an enemy fell alike under his quick blows and flawless counters.

Or that was what it seemed to be at least, considering that I was siphoning quite a bit of my mana constantly over him just to heal all of the hits that he received when he made his 'flawless' attacks. And judging from the way his 'aria' was going louder and louder by the minute, he was also getting quite scared beneath the unfaltering mask he donned for the moment.

But still, it didn't change the fact that for once, Myrddin commanded attention on the battlefield.  More and more Vikings turned to him warily as more people fell defeated all around us, the number of capable combatants dwindling in favor of the Valkyries.

Myrddin stood unflinching beneath their stares. I felt a bit of pride at that - Myrddin had certainly grown quite a bit from his past self.

"Is there anyone who would want a go?" Myrddin taunted, his sword poised to strike as he held it in front of him protectively. "This battle has only begun!"

In response, a Viking went red in the face before running up towards me - Target the medic? Smart. - with a sword lifted over his shoulder preparing for a clean strike.

Myrddin met him before he even came close. Raising the kite shield and deflecting the weapon before it managed full momentum, he yelled another aria as he slashed with his own sword diagonally from the man's torso.

"I'll strike you where you stand! Slant!"

Mere seconds later, the Viking was on the ground, bleeding and defeated. People stepped back as Myrddin flicked off pixelating bits of blood from his sword.

Holding back the proud smile that tempted to reach my lips, I sighed dramatically, my hand held out at the defeated Viking as balls of light formed around him. "Myrddin, Myrddin. Next time, would you not be so harsh on them? It would be hard to heal that."

Actually, at this point, Holy Heal had reached level fifteen with the heavy use it was taking. Now, I could heal everyone in the range of fifteen meters, no problem, but Myrddin didn't need to know that now.

Myrddin turned bewildered eyes at me. Success.

"Rain," He said, almost tiredly, "Are you still teasing me? Even now, in the middle of a battle?"

"Maybe in eighteen minutes I would stop." I replied cheekily. "But didn't I say before my reason why I keep on teasing you?"

The way the Syren nodded told that he understood my message: Eighteen minutes left, and I'll be able to fight again. Hang in there, because soon you'll be able to rest.

"Something about cruelties and mercies, right? Yeah, I remember." Myrddin said back seemingly nonchalant. But the way his shoulders lost a bit of tension told quite a lot about what he was really feeling.  "I still think that it's not 'awesome', no matter how you put it."

Apparently angered by our blase conversation in the middle of a battle for honor, six Vikings jumped to attack us in fury.

Tricked.

I clasped my hands over my ears. "Myrddin, now!"

"Gladly!"

I eyed the title over Myrddin's head with a smile: Fear-Monger.

Just in time for them to get close, Myrddin opened his mouth - and a loud roar came out, bellowing for all to hear and fear. Myrddin's Intimidate was affected by distance after all; when it gets to a higher level, it would be perfect for battles like this, but for now it was best to do it this way.

Taunt them, make them come close before inflicting them the strongest fear they would ever feel in their lives.

Once again, bodies hit the ground. The Vikings near us that remained conscious fell to their knees, shaking as their bodies froze at the sight of their comrades frothing in their mouths as they were scared to unconsciousness.

And this way, we didn't even have to spill blood.

A single sweep with my staff down on their heads took care of the rest.

"Alright." I eyed the center of the town. "We're really close now."

Myrddin heaved beside me for a moment, the breath taken out of him by the loud skill.  When he was done, he pushed himself off his knees and turned to me. "You think the two Chiefs would be there?"

"I'm pretty sure." I nodded. "While you were fighting, I saw Brunhilda rush towards there."

What I didn't say was what I felt about the situation. It felt... like something was wrong. Like there was something I was overlooking, something important that I was forgetting. Was it about the Vikings? Or the Valkyries?

I shook my head of those thoughts.

"Let's go."

It had only been a bit more than twenty minutes since the battle begun, and at this point it was almost over. When we arrived at the center, there were only three people there.

Brynjar Sturgenson, the chief of Thordinn, was one of them. With his polished armor and the enormous axe he somehow wielded with only one hand, he made for a striking figure as the bearded man fought off two other people in the same time and managing to go evenly as he did.

The other two were Brunhilda and Alysse. The two Valkyries worked as a team; gleaming bronze beside dull steel, their spears were almost mirages with how smoothly they wielded them against Brynjar.

A case of theft: this story is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.

It was an amazing match. Steel against steel, legendary weapon against legendary weapon. Streaks of metal were the only thing you could ever see, less moving more like flowing in their hands as all of them compared their mastery with one another.

But then I saw it.

It was a subtle thing - no doubt I had only caught it at first by sheer luck - but it was there. It was the way Brynjar stumbled slightly over his left foot, or how Brunhilda could extend her spear deeper into her enemy's defense, or how Alysse seemed to strike a bit harder... but when I saw it, I realized one thing.

As it was, while Brynjar was matching them now, it would be surely his loss.

That was when he saw us coming. In quick accordance to our entry, Brynjar jumped back, pulling away from the stalemate he was in.

"So, the Seidmadr is finally 'ere!"

I couldn't help but reply, very dryly, "Yes. Yes, I am. It's very nice to meet you again, Brynjar."

I had to hold back a twitch from the corner of my lips when I heard Myrddin smack his face with his palm.

Brynjar's smile slowly disappeared, leaving behind an unreadable facade in its place. "...You're 'elping the Valkyries? You're on 'heir side now? "

This was the moment of truth. There was no taking back after this.

I nodded, slowly.

"I'm sorry, Brynjar." I said with real regret; the man before me wasn't someone I could ever hate after all. He was simply that charismatic. "If there was any other way to end this war, I would've kept on my own side instead of theirs."

I bowed my head. "Please. Brynjar, give up. You have no way to win here, right now."

Brynjar's face could have been a brick wall for all it showed. There was silence, and just when I thought he wouldn't make a response, he opened his mouth, "...Is that so?" I didn't fail to notice the lack of accent again. "It's a pity. We could have made good friends and allies."

"But I'm afraid you all are a bit mistaken." He continued, the continuous lack of any inflection increasingly unnerving with every word he spoke. "I'm not losing this battle; I'm winning it. There is simply too much at stake in this for us to retreat now. And now that you two are here, my trap has been sprung."

To my left, the two Valkyries suddenly went into defensive stances. My own eyes went wide as suddenly, very suddenly, my vision went up in red as my Critical Eye warned me of more enemies.

"COME, MY MEN!"

The Vikings had to have some way of cloaking themselves, because somehow, almost impossibly, one by one they popped up. From behind buildings and alleys, from what remained of the sewers and the few houses that still stood, they appeared.

Dozens and dozens of men, all armed with bows prepared to shoot, the cruelly hooked arrow tips gleaming dangerously. If any of them hit, it would be a painful and slow process taking them out of human flesh.

This must be what my instinct was warning me about! Brynjar wasn't losing - he was waiting for a chance to take us all out!

Brynjar, who was now standing directly beside his men, turned away.

"Fire at will."

Arrows flew towards the four of us from all directions.

"RAIN!"

Myrddin immediately ran to me, shoving his shield in my hands before activating what I knew was his arrow-intercepting skill in front of me. Beside us, Brunhilda and Alysse covered my left and right flanks, using their own deflecting maneuvers with their spears. Immediately getting what they were up to, I turned around and set Myrddin's shield there.

Front. Back. Left. Right.

With the four of us, we could cover the four cardinal directions. Easy peasy, right?

Wrong.

"Gah!" I heard Myrddin gasp out in pain from behind me as an arrow slipped through his defenses. Thankfully, he managed to carry on with his interception even with the arrow in his thigh. But that was no fluke - it was proof of what I feared.

We can't go on like this for long!

Soon, Brunhilda too grunted beside me as a broken arrow below her foot made her lose her balance for a second, allowing an arrow to hit her in the arm. That distracted Alysse, causing her to take on a hit as well.

I opened my eyes wide. Behind the shield Myrddin borrowed me, I was still unharmed - perfect, considering I needed focus for this.

"Heal!"

Instantly, my mana reached out to those beside me, causing their bleeding to stop. But even as useful as my healing was, it was only delaying the inevitable as there was no way for me to take out the arrowheads at any rate.

So, instead, I looked for an alternative. "Myrddin! You think you can use Intimidate here?"

Somehow, Myrddin managed to answer, even as another arrow embedded itself to his left shoulder. "No! They're too far from here, and I'm afraid that would only affect you three!"

I turned to Brunhilda, remembering to heal the three around me again. "How about you, Brunhilda?! Do you think you can do something here!?"

Her response was only a sharp glance and a "No." before she focused again on blocking. I winced - I should not be distracting them, but there was no choice.

Alysse then shook her head in the negative before I even asked.

Panic filled my head only for a second before I ruthlessly stomped it down in favor of further deliberation. Alright, there was nothing Myrddin could do, the same went for our two Valkyries, so logically that meant it was all on me now right? But outside of healing, until I can swap titles to the Magician I couldn't...

The Magician! The last time I checked, it was around four minutes before I could swap!

"Three minutes!" I hissed, going back into healing mode now I had a plan. "Endure this for three minutes, and I'll bail us out of this situation! Until then, make sure to not die!"

There were nods, and thus it was final. Three minutes of blocking, enduring, under a 360 degree rain of arrows.

It was hell.

Ever had a papercut that utterly refused to heal up because it was in a place that kept moving? Imagine slowly gaining up into a dozen of that, with the 'cuts' being hooked arrowheads that eviscerated you from the inside and the movement being complex and frantic efforts to block out dozens of arrows that came from all directions.

Being behind the large kite shield, I was safe. However that didn't change the fact that the three around me weren't.

Watching friends - maybe acquaintances for Brunhilda and Alysse, but it didn't amount to much at this point - suffer as they protected you, unable to do anything more than to force yourself into prolonging their suffering as you healed them of wounds that would inevitably come back...

I was practically rejoicing inside when the timer hit zero and I could switch finally titles.

Quickly, I swapped to The Magician (I).

Then it all happened so fast.

Seeing my halt in healing, Brynjar jumped. In the span of a millisecond, from his place beside his troops, he was suddenly behind Myrddin, his axe raised overhead  in attack.

Myrddin had already turned his face on me with a smile then. He was unaware of the Viking behind him.

"Myrddi-!"

The axe came down, the flat surface hitting my friend, my partner, over the temple and knocking him out instantly. For a second, I wondered why Brynjar hadn't struck him down when he was fully capable of turning Myrddin's HP to zero, up until the Viking chief pulled Myrddin's suddenly unresponsive body over his shoulder and jumped away as quickly as he came.

I only had the time to reach out with my hand before the two of them were gone.

In the span of five seconds, Myrddin had gone from beside me to the behind the Vikings, kidnapped from my side before my very eyes.

I snapped.

When I was a child, I once heard of a really old movie of a man who was trapped in an island alone for so long that he had imprinted on a soccer ball, named it as his friend and companion, and promptly broke apart when he lost the ball that was his only support for so long.

When my father told me that story, it was to tell me how people could be so deprived of basic human needs like food, water, and companionship that when the time came that they received these needs, they went on rampages when they lost it again.

I never thought I would be the same as that man.

But the warning signs were there - while I may have been living a life that some would consider blessed, it still didn't change the fact that I was alone, so hopelessly alone for years up until I had met Grimm, Myrddin, and the rest of the orphanage outside of my immediate family who were often too busy to spend time with me.

Thus, when I lost Myrddin, right before my very eyes... rage and anger filled me in an instant.

It was no conscious action. Automatically, without my pushing, my mana pulsed around me, activating Mana Reinforcement with the same amount of power output I had when I first created the skill.

I heard the two Valkyries beside me suddenly knocked back as my mana pushed them away with the force of a runaway train, but I was too enraged to care or apologize.

Instead, I met Brynjar in the eyes as he turned to my direction after he heard the walking explosion that was my body.

"You." I glared at him. "You dare take my friend from me?"

Was that fear in his eyes? Good.

Brynjar stepped back, almost letting go of Myrddin's body as he did. However, after that second of hesitation, he held on and kept his cool. With a loud yell, he ordered his terrified men.

"Vikings! Shoot him down!"

I roared in defiance. It was no Intimidate, but it shook them for a moment before they started shooting again, all of their bows ignoring the Valkyries beside me in favor of taking me out.

Their arrows were met by balls of mana that swarmed them in waves - weak alone, but quantity was a quality on its own. Leaving only a fraction of my focus in continuing the waves of Concussive Lights, I went down, pushed mana into my legs, and jumped .

Straight into the frontlines of the Vikings.

"Ahhh!" "Knock him down!" "Don't let him come close - you have swords!"

I ignored their yells, hefting my staff off my back and swinging it wildly. There was no grace or hint of holding back in my attacks - just sheer rage and continuous explosions happening from its tip, knocking out Viking after Viking as I ignored their swords and arrows in favor of reaching Brynjar as fast as possible.

Normally, I would be more reticent about spending mana like this. At the rate I was going, I was going to run out of mana in the matter of seconds.

"Argh!" "Odin help us!"

But I didn't care. They had my friend, and I was going to take him back.

I roared out in anger. Above me, a large sphere of pure mana formed - powered directly by my rapidly depleting supply of mana that I was currently ignoring. Vikings cried out in fear at the obvious preparation for a big attack, and attempted to interrupt me.

I ignored how their swords and arrows bounced off uselessly over my body and let go of the force I was building.

Everything around me exploded with the force of several charges of TNT. More enemies fell before me, and pouncing on the opening, I lashed out again with my staff.

"SEIDMADR! FACE ME, AND LEAVE MY MEN ALONE!"

A growl left my lips as I saw Brynjar finally stop running from me, and with the force of a raging animal, I jumped-

"Mjollnir!"

Only to be met by an axe slashing downwards my chest.

"Arghhh!" I yelled, finally feeling pain as the weapon that had destroyed a cliff in one hit went through my defenses. But that pain- that wound that stretched across my shoulder and down to my waist in the form of a gash I knew was immediately fatal in real life- I could ignore, because Myrddin was in front of me, he was in front of me-!

I raised my head - since when was I on the ground, since when was there a pool of red beneath me - only to face an arrow rain.

Debilitated by my wounds, my Mana Channelling skill failed to protect me this time.

I took an arrow head into my left chest. Then to my right arm. Then to my leg, to my neck, to my stomach, to my face-

I howled in pain.

Still- still- I could still stand- still fight- my friend is in trouble- if he's unconscious, he can't escape-!

I attempted to stand- pain rushed me, like fire burning across my nerves, like breaking, breaking, my mind was breaking-

My body fell.

YOU HAVE NOW DIED.

As penalty, you have lost three levels and lost twenty random status points.

You will be forcibly logged out due to the circumstances of your death. Reason: Mental Health.

You can log in again and appear in Freylin, Town of Valkyries after:

12 hours, 00 Minutes, 00 Seconds.

HAVE A NICE DEATH!

I heard the sound of a retreat call before everything faded into a lonely black.

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...A battle is lost, and now the second part of this arc finally starts.

Myrddin is now taken by the Vikings, Rain is now with the Valkyries.

The real story behind the war will finally be shown.

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Next chapter is a cooldown one. 'Real Life' chapter coming up.