The Conquistador didn’t have much time to react. The enemy commander was already in the air, getting ready to swing their flamberge and chop him in two. He moved frantically, desperate flying to avoid the next strike that would come. Thankfully, he was able to barely avoid the incoming hit. Barely, as the slash did impact his body.

The slice went right through his armor, exposing his underclothes and creating a small slit on his stomach region. Thankfully, the attack was only surface damage, merely making him bleed. There were no signs of his internals being struck, but one thing was certain: he was in a dangerous position.

He fly up higher, away from the range of those flamberge strikes. He was thankful of one thing at this time: the enemy commander did not have the capacity to fly. That was made clear when the bastard started to fall to the ground.

They slammed right onto the stone road, the impact shattering the rocks and the ground. However, within a few seconds, they stood back up without a single moment of hesitation. The fact they had fallen to the ground had done nothing at all to stop their actions, as they proceeded to rush back in to the house to try again.

Absolutely not. The first time was awful enough, he certainly did not have any desires to get attacked again. With that, he flew a good distance away from the house, before sending an order to his blessed soldier. The goal was quite simple: they would keep on blasting the building to try to hit the bastard using the blast radius.

They launched their attacks without any question. Projectile after projectile slammed into the walls, causing all the walls to flake away into nothing more than black dust. Those strikes allowed to get a clear sight line of the enemy commander. Their target changed instantly, aiming to do some damage to this bastard some way or another.

What happened next was complete and utter insanity to the highest of degrees. The bastard not only dodged most of these projectile blasts, they also found a way to avoid being caught up in the blast radius. Oh, they certainly did get caught up in the radius, but that meant nothing when the only things that were affected were their armor. In fact, not a single one of those strikes did any injury at all: if anything, the only thing they were achieving was whittling away their armor.

So that meant the energy blasts wouldn’t work. That certainly meant that none of his soldiers strikes could do anything at all, not even the one that could instantly kill anyone by inverting their insides out. After all, if they were able to withstand the upgraded blasts, why would they fall to the primitive version?

Hell, would his blessing even do anything to this bastard? With the way they were shrugging off everything he was throwing at them, he was starting to think that this bastard was truly invincible in all form.

Something that was rather depressing to witness. This– He knew there wasn’t any way to win, he understood this. Yet, he had to wonder: what the hell was he supposed to do now? He couldn’t order his men to go back to base, else the enemy commander massacre his settlement. There wasn’t any way to win. That meant they needed to resort to allowing all of his troops to be massacred here and now, as well as dying now.

Though, that shouldn’t be the case. There should be any path to go, anything! He racked his head to try to figure something out, before a realization came to him.

Wait a minute. Why couldn’t he simply get everyone to scatter? Screw whatever was in the wagon, screw trying to maintain a large group: the whole point was to divert the attention of the enemy commander away from him and his blessed soldier so they could get away.

That was truly a waste of resources, but what other choice did he really have? This was a truly immortal soldier, one without any weaknesses and certainly had the skills and power to defeat anything in their path. Well, there was trapping it, but how the hell was he going to achieve that when he had no means of doing so?

There was no way to get this guy stuck in one place, unless he had a giant hole… to work with…

Wait a minute.

He turned towards the remaining forces, then to the walls that had been destroyed. There were still gaping holes that showed the interior. Then he thought back to the melting properties of the black cloud.

Anything the smog had touched melted, yes. However, they did not seem to change completely: they were still made up of the material, just in liquid form. Last he checked, the metal that had been melted had solidified into nuggets, meaning that the effect was temporary.

No way. There truly was a path to victory? Here and now, there was a method of victory, one that would take some time to achieve. All he needed to do was get his men to dig a deep hole, lure the bastard in, then melt all that stone over them! Afterward, they’ll probably die of suffocation or even be crushed from the pure pressure of all the liquid stone.

This was doable. He could do this. He had to simply believe and do everything in his power to win.

You might be reading a pirated copy. Look for the official release to support the author.

His brain started to run at full speed to try to figure out the best process to do this. He looked over everything he had available at his hands.

His blessed soldier that was flying up in the sky, with the capacity to dig that hole as well as melting stone. The common troops were many, but not capable of doing anything to turn the tides of battle. Last but not least were the wagons, though those didn’t really help at all.

He didn’t have any shovels or pickaxes to dig the hole needed. That meant the only one that could achieve that goal was his blessed soldier.

Which meant that the only one capable of distracting the enemy commander and getting him into the hole would be him. What an absolutely awful predicament: the only means forward was to put himself into even more danger.

The Conquistador couldn’t help but grimace. He wasn’t exactly the best soldier, but he was competent. However, what the hell was he supposed to do against an undying monster? There really wasn’t anything he could think up to give him an advantage to living besides, well, flying. Maybe that was all he needed?

He certainly had to figure out how the black cloud worked, but that could come later. For now, he’d need to get this done.

“Everyone! Get ready!”

At his word, every single last one of his regular troops rushed into formation, ready for defense. However, he did not send that same command to those that he was linked to. No, what he did was send an order that was quite simple.

The lizard monster was to run and hide, keeping themselves hidden from the enemy commander. His blessed soldier was to start using their projectile blasts to create a deep pit for the necessary trap.

All of them got their orders and started to work. However, to ensure that the enemy commander didn’t notice, he’d need to intervene.

There. He spotted the bastard going up the stairs of the building, uncaring of the fact that there were open holes that would allow attacks. Why would they, considering the fact that they were absolutely immortal. In any case, he’d need to get their attention.

There was one way he knew how. With a deep breath, he flew forward with his halberd in preparation for defense. He took a small bit of his holy energy, before applying the force onto the bastard’s head.

The strike landed without fail, not that he was concerned of such a thing. His holy blasts came from the soul, which meant that no one could block or dodge those attacks. The impact cause the commander to trip forward and fall, but not before recovering in an instant and getting their flamberge ready to strike.

Thankfully, the Conquistador was too far for that slice to reach him. Unfortunately for him, he was within jumping distance. Something that the enemy commander proceeded to make use of as they leaped forward, prepared to slice down and split him in two.

Well, that would be the case if it wasn’t for the fact that he was already flying forward. With a roar, he slammed right into the bastard’s torso, before speeding up even more. They went through the walls of the building, before going through another building. However, that was where his attack ended, for the enemy commander got a hand on his shoulder.

The bastard started to squeeze and a huge wave of pain came crashing down his arm. He screamed, before slamming into another wall and shaking to get them off of him. It took a good while of movement, but eventually, he was able to get them off and onto the ground.

This time, instead of falling and landing on their back, they rolled. That allowed them to avoid being dis-orientating and having the capacity to get back into position within seconds. They strode forward, ready to engage into combat once more.

That was when the Conquistador decided to pull his ultimate move: diplomacy.

“Wait!” He shouted as he held his hand up, “Let us discuss this, shall we?”

“Discuss? The only thing that is worth conversing is your death.” The enemy commander spat, “Or have you forgotten how you decided to stab me in the back like a brat?”

“Why, I have done no such thing! I–”

“Spare me your lies, whelp.” They growled as they slammed their flamberge directly into the ground, embedding the blade deep into the stone, “The only thing you can do for me right now is die. After I take you out, all of your worthless subjects will follow suit. That is the righteous punishment you all deserve for daring to go against the orders of the Lord.”

Well. That was worth a shot. In any case, now he knew that this absolute wretch needed to be put out of their own misery here and now. How the hell could someone be so delusional and brain-dead to follow the Usurper like that?

Seriously, it’s as if all the people here are incapable of understanding the way things should be. Just what about this world was beautiful? What kind of person wants to live in a world full of monsters and demons, without the capacity to enjoy a warm cooked meal? What kind of moron enjoys this place, where the landscape was absolutely filthy and broken? No sun, no moon, only a tower to illuminate the world? Did getting the blessing from the Usurper perhaps destroy their brains?

Maybe. The Conquistador certainly couldn’t deny that as a possibility. After all, every single last enemy soldier they had faced were either mutated beyond recognition or zealots. There was really no in-between yet, which only meant one thing.

The blessings certainly warped the minds of whoever was gifted such a thing. Whether that be from the Usurper’s touch or the sheer power manipulating them, he knew not. However, none of that really mattered.

He was stuck facing a soldier that was immortal. No attacks did any damage. They could summon metal spikes from the ground and they could extend their strike range. Their strength was enough to destroy anyone and anything that got in their path.

This was a match-up he was bound to lose. Thankfully, he didn’t need to win. All he had to do was stall long enough for the pit to be ready. And he knew quite a lot about making sure he would survive, no matter the circumstances.

He didn’t get to where he was by being a fool.