Mahruss shuffled in discomfort as he tried to adapt the unfamiliar weight of his armor. Well, unfamiliar was the wrong statement. He had worn that golden armor multiple times, often to trick others that the boss was still around. But, it was the first time he would have to fight while wearing that particular piece of armor.
It was ironic that he was feeling more stressed about the armor he was wearing and the role he was supposed to play than the enemy forces that were gathering near their position, unaware of his presence — along with a small but elite army he was a part of — thanks to the wards Zolast had set up earlier.
He didn't have such a worry previous times. To be fair, there hadn't been such a possibility when he tried the armor the previous times due to his lack of attributes … and, that was not a problem since his latest upgrades.
Mahruss still had trouble believing just how strong he had gotten. The improvement in his Life Elevation ability had turned him from a formidable warrior to a true juggernaut, to a point where he had to hold back somewhat to play the role of the Holy Crusader believably. And then, there were the stat Awakenings. If someone asked before, he would have said that awakening a stat would have been his crowning achievement.
Now, he had awakened all of them. Strength, Perception, Charisma, and Agility, a dangerous combination that would have earned him a major noble title from every single kingdom had he approached them. Not for nothing, as it meant he was a warrior that could face against the best knights.
He didn't let that realization feed his arrogance. Or, more accurately, the boss made sure to beat that out of them before it was even possible. Failing to push the boss to get serious even when they fought one against five had achieved that very well.
And, there was still his identity to account. He had already been in awe of the boss before he knew about his true identity as the Hero. Learning the truth about his actions pushed that respect higher … Ironically, it was less about all the stories about the hero class, and more about his achievement.
He had came from a world without magic. Yet, he had somehow escaped a flying castle, avoided a full blown corruption event, stayed hidden from the forces of multiple kingdoms and secret organizations … and even built up an actual organization that could rival a kingdom, most of which were achieved before he reached level thirty…
He was distracted by footsteps. He turned, and saw Takis. "Stay focused, we're about to attack," Takis said.
"Sorry. I was just thinking about … everything," Mahruss said. Takis nodded in understanding, but didn't respond immediately. They both knew their current location was hardly secure enough to have a sensitive talk.
"Understandable, it's a shock," Takis said after a while, even though he didn't look at his face while he said that, instead checking a communication stone in his hand constantly. Mahruss knew on the other side of the stone was Karak, who had been observing the battlefield from a flying cart, his contributions limited to updating Takis about the battlefield from his superior vantage point.
He had been unhappy about not being able to join the fight, but his lack of an arm made him a liability. Not because he couldn't fight, as he was certainly powerful; but because a one-armed warrior was too distinctive. He had already fought under the banner of the guild, and having a second one-armed warrior in a nearby church, showing roughly the same attribute set and fighting style was too much.
At least Terma and Silas could get away with wearing sets of golden armor — no matter how gaudy they looked — to keep themselves hidden.
"Do you think b- holy steward would be angry?" Mahruss asked, forcibly correcting his communication style.
"Not necessarily. The enemy is already pulling back to create a tighter defensive line due to the princess'' sudden attack, but their retreat lacks discipline. More importantly, their flying castles are far away, doing their best to distract the forces of the princess and cover their retreat."
Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.
"That means we are about to face the bulk of their army," Mahruss said, though more excited than fearful. He tried to calm that down, aware that it was his arrogance which flared that excitement. Maybe it wasn't as beaten down as he had assumed.
"Not necessarily," Takis said. "I had seen their clashes earlier. It looks like they had most of their elites transferred away. Whatever chaos that is forcing them away looks like a big one."
Mahruss smiled at the unsaid part. Whatever chaos that the boss had arranged during his short disappearance. Another feat to his mountain of feats. Hero or not, playing two kingdoms like puppets when he was away for less than a week was incredible, doubly so when most of that time he had spent traveling.
"What's our aim, just the army, or the castles?" Mahruss asked.
"You take the army, I take the castles," Takis said, like he was talking about the weather, and not three flying castles. "We have an opportunity here. They didn't catch our forces deploying the ballistas through the tunnels. It's simply the perfect time to deliver a death blow."
Mahruss nodded to the plan, even though he would have objected intensely if it was someone else delivering it. He was already familiar with Takis's tactical genius. Even boss often accepted his expertise when it came to the battlefield, easily admitting that he was not the best person when it came to dealing with matters of grand strategy.
They fell into a comfortable silence as they waited for the enemy army to move in front of them. Not panicking, but only barely, and only because of their commander's intense Charisma usage. The boss would have called it a lack of discipline, and Mahruss would have agreed. Charisma was far more useful in improving coordination than suppressing base instincts like fear, but suppressing fear without Charisma required training.
Training that the nobles often didn't bother giving to their levies.
Two more minutes, and Terma nodded. Mahruss walked forward, and felt the troops behind him tense, ready to follow their 'Holy Crusader'. Mahruss spread his Charisma over to them, turning their already well-trained troops into a homogenous war machine.
And charged.
"Ambush. Form a line!" the enemy scouts started shouting the moment Mahruss' advance forces appeared from nowhere and attacked them, their armor distinctive enough. Some listened to the orders. Unfortunately, their forces were too dispersed to gather together, and Mahruss hit the first group before they could even recover.
It was a massacre. There was no other way to explain it. As his glowing sword cut a swathe through the line of soldiers, Mahruss felt guilty. After all, it was only luck that he ended up recruited by the boss instead of ending up as a disposable soldier.
He could feel an imaginary admonishment in his head. 'The battlefield is no place for mercy.' It was true. No matter how pitiful the fate of the enemy soldiers were, any hesitation would end up with dead soldiers on their side.
He tried to ignore that as he commanded his soldiers, until he felt a sudden shift in the defenders. They had just lost their forced coordination. Limenta, he guessed. Their dangerous assassin wasn't with the main army, instead separating himself earlier to look for opportunities.
It looked like he found one. "Surrender, and you'll live!" Mahruss shouted. He didn't bother enhancing it with Charisma. There was one benefit to his disguise. Looking like a holy knight, his promises were trusted. Immediately, he saw many soldiers throwing their weapons and kneeling down. Mahruss used Charisma to command a squad with speed to visit the surrendering soldiers and tie them up.
"How dare you stop fighting, you cowards!" a shout came from an armored figure who rushed forward. A noble, likely with an inferior class if his artificial charisma, reliant on stat stones, was any indicator.
Silas moved forward to meet him, her axe raised high. The noble tried to put up a fight, but it took only two blows from Silas to deal with him. One to shatter his magic weapon, one to kill him. Silas was already a formidable warrior before, with her class giving double Strength, and after the Life Elevation and stat awakening, she turned into a walking weapon of destruction.
It was a waste to destroy a magic weapon, but Mahruss wasn't brave enough to remind Silas of that. Not when she was in a horrible mood after Jertann's kidnapping.
At least, it helped to reinforce his message. "Surrender, or die!" he shouted again. With their commander dead, and now that one of their premier warriors bisected in front of them, ordinary soldiers were much more receptive to his request this time.
Then, he heard a few shocked cries, and found himself tracing their gazes toward the horizon … where two of the flying castles were descending rapidly as they struggled under the combined attacks of the princess' flying castles and the ground attack from Takis's ballistas, their perfectly-timed attacks wreaking havoc on the defensive wards.
They must have put themselves into a vulnerable position trying to save their army rather than making the smart thing and retreating. Mahruss watched them descend rapidly for a moment before turning his attention back to his soldiers. "Tie them up. We still have a lot of prisoners to capture!"
A spectacular victory, even though it was against the dregs of the Somaton forces rather than the elites. The boss would have been proud.