Stone

Rippp!

The halberd cut through the fiery wave, and I ran toward the man with the fiery blade.

Suddenly, I sensed the danger and jumped. A moment later, the place I had been spurted, the earth spikes. I barely glanced at it and focused on the danger, that coming at me.

There are two spells coming toward me, in the air, where there is a little maneuverability.

The Earth Laces and Astos Fireball.

Both are powerful balls; the Earth Lances has a crystalline tip, while the Astos Fireball is big and burning with such intensity that it takes me out of the battle.

I looked and brought out the bronze energy, covered the halberd more densely with it than before, and slashed across the attacks.

Bang!

Loud bang round as the bronze wave clashed against the attack, destroying them. Surprising both of my enemies.

It was the first time; I used this attack on the battlefield. I had worked really hard to learn it and would have taken me months to master it without her help. I am really glad Lord Silver had forced me to go to her.

Thud!

I landed on the ground, destroying the Earth Spikes and Fire Burst waiting for me, and turned to the enemies.

The man with a fiery rapier is Ardan Wayne; a spell blade, while the elf is unknown, but she is an Earth Mage. Before the awakening, fighting against one mage of the same level was a challenge, but now there are two against me.

“Surrender, and I promise you a full pardon,” he said, and I laughed.

“Well, I did what higher-ups have asked me to do and since you have rejected the offer, I am free to kill you,” he said and came at me with fiery steps and attacked, slashed his rapier toward me, sending a powerful wave of fire toward me.

At the same time, I felt the Fiery Burst from the ground and Earth Walls around me to contain me in my place.

It would have been a death sentence before, but now I pushed forward and swung my halberd toward him, cutting through the wave and moving at him.

Bang Bang Bang

The fire blazes across his feet, and he avoids the attack. I tried to follow him but attacked with the Earth Lances, which I defended with the halberd.

The halberd might be the broken artifact, but it is amazing. It is sharp and powerful. Most importantly, a great conduct of the bloodline power or any power.

She had tested it, and it could use her power as efficiently as mine.

Bang!

I crushed the Earth Lances when Flaming Pillar shot out of the ground.

Immediately, I covered myself with dense bronze energy and moved, but still singed me and I needed to move again, avoid another pillar, and defend against another bout of spells.

There is a reason why, the mages are called monsters. They are monsters. If one is proficient enough, they could kill tens of warriors of the same level.

I had seen it happen, many times. I was part of that offensive charge against a battle mage. She had killed eleven of us, before Jim, I, and Winter were able to put her to death.

Like all warriors, I hate to fight mages, but I had been forced by fate to do it over and over, and I got quite good at surviving against them and even killed a few.

The awakening had provided me with such power, that I could fight them on equal terms. I plan to kill a lot of them with this power, starting with these two.

“We have given you such an excellent offer, but you are spitting on it. I will make sure, you regret it with every breath you take the rest of your life,” said Wayne and attacked again.

I didn’t reply and defended against his and Earth Mage’s attack.

It is what I am doing the most, with trying a few attacks now and then. I am not fully focused on this battle.

More than half of my focus is somewhere else.

This fight may be important, but it won’t help me win this battle. Even if I kill, the leader and Earth Mage; it won’t affect things much. I need to kill the powerhouses, central pillars especially.

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The necromancers are the most important part of the horde. They are the ones controlling the horde, along with pillars.

I am guiding my forces toward them.

More than half of them have already reached their targets and others will do so soon. Once that happens, we will launch the offensive.

The equalizing hadn't taken all my skill. It had left two; both of them were Commander Skills; they didn’t affect my strength directly. It is the reason why, they have left.

Offensive skills with the power of elder blood would make a terror. The great sky wouldn’t give me such an advantage.

I am glad, I have those two skills because they will help me win the battle.

Battle Awareness gives me a general sense of the battle. I could tell the number of people involved in the battles and the powerhouses’ general location and with it, I was guiding my men through the Commanders' Telepathy.

The enemy, this time, had learned from their past mistakes.

They had brought an even bigger horde, more pillars, and more pre-Level 30 powerhouses; it was the reason, they had lost. On top of that, they had brought fourteen Lv. 30+ powerhouses, a huge number.

It is fourteen, I had sensed. I am sure, there are a few more that are hiding unless they reveal their strength. I won’t be able to sense them with my skill.

It is a force, that is capable of more than enough to deal with this small force.

Still, despite the massive horde and fixing the mistakes, they will lose, because of one thing, they have not looked properly. It could be said that, we were successful in hiding, the most important information; the number of powerhouses we have.

A lot of people had leveled up after the last battle; I mean a lot.

Six of the seven Stone mercenaries have breached Lv. 30. So have Miss Valentina and Miss Salt. Seven from the army had also breached Lv. 30. Of them, two were no-combat personnel.

Aside from them four mercenary captains also breached it. Two had left the city, two were still with us.

There are also three refugees who breached it. Two had joined the army, while one became a mercenary and was still with the city. Four of the volunteers; three of them are still in the city, while one is left.

There are two from the church of Dusk, the bishop and the paladin. Both of them once again part in the battle, along with a new people, that had come from the merchant state.

The highest are from the orcs, a whopping nine of them. Four shamans and five chiefs.

We have over thirty Level 30+ powerhouses and a lot more pre-Levevl 30 and Mid-level 20s.

Twenty-two Level 30’s are on the battlefield and only half of them have revealed themselves yet.

Lord Silver had made a big fuss about those cracking Lv. 30. From throwing a party for them to publishing their names into the papers but keeping the advancement of others secret.

It was hard when the enemy was trying to get information, they could about you.

It sounds like we have a huge number of powerhouses and if we had them in the first battle, we wouldn’t have needed to blast my legacy. Unfortunately, for this battle, they are not enough. Seeing the size of a horde we are dealing with.

It is massive, it won’t take long for it to swallow it. We need to act fast, or we will be defeated by a horde. We are acting fast, but we are dealing with the freaking horde, which is trying to swallow us from all sides.

Only a few battles haven’t been untouched by the horde, including mine.

Our strength is high enough, that if they bring the undead into the fold. It will be an obstruction to them instead of the aid.

Unless of course, it is a special undead or the lich.

I directed my men as I fought, including those on the wall. These bastards aren’t only trying to swallow us; they also want to swallow the city.

Sending tens of thousands of undead at the wall. I had expected it and had five thousand people to deal with it.

There are also the trainees, ready to fight.

I really hope they do not need to; it hasn't been even two weeks since we recruited them. They have only learned how to pick up a weakness; it will take them a few weeks more of training before I could even think about using them in the battle.

They are defending the wall well, with Cardin leading the efforts.

I wished he hadn't been restricted by his ailment. He would have been an even greater asset than he is to the city.

A minute passed, and another company had reached its destination and began engaging with the target. Our powerhouse hadn't revealed its power, only defending against the attack.

I had asked them to not do that unless it was absolutely necessary.

There are no such restrictions on pre-level 30 and below. Many killing squads have reached their places and started fighting the target.

They have lost a number of people, but we have also lost many good people. We will lose more; the more we keep fighting. We needed to finish the battle as soon as possible, but we had barely started.

I was talking with one of the company leaders, who is being pressed hard by the enemy when I sensed something, that put a small smile on my face.

Another company had reached its destination. Though it is not the thing that put a smile on my face; it is Lord Silver killing the enemy.

The difference in strength between them was considerable, but he was still able to do it. I couldn’t have when I was at his stage.

He is growing fast, and taking too many risks. More than I like him to take.

I had seen people like him, advancing fast before burning to ashes. I tried to discourage him from joining the battle, but he didn’t listen.

If he is killed and captured; the entire army will collapse. I may be a commander, but he is a leader and a damn good one, which makes it definite.

On the other hand, his presence also had benefits. The army’s morale is high, seeing their leader fighting with them.

The battles will also help him level up and gave the battle experience, which he lacks. I had seen him fight. He is extremely talented but lacks experience, which he is rapidly gaining.

He will need it all and more to deal with the challenges that will keep coming at him.

The undead have sown their seeds into the region and it is clear they want to conquer it. Till now, they have barely used anything and already conquered half of the cities of the region.

If they use more force, they won’t have a problem conquering the entire region and leaders are not ready, but seeing him, I could see the hope.

He is the kind of leader; I had hoped every city and region would have when I fought on the island. Most were not.

I pushed those thoughts and focused on companies and fighting.

These two could kill me; I am already taking a huge risk of being distracted and I don’t increase it more, thinking about the things that are unnecessary right now.

Minutes passed, and a faint smile appeared on my face.

Nearly all the men had reached their targets. Only three companies remained, and they would reach their target in less than five minutes, and we would finally be able to start on our real offensive.