He could hear them even now, still talking to one another as they plowed through the slowly moving ranks of their own army. The presence of the main bulk of the fighters was merely a distraction away from the main forces sent to capture Jonathan, namely the Tier 2s, and the flying galleons. All they really did was slow him down as he tried to make his way through them, allowing his more powerful pursuers to keep up.
However, Edgar was doing an admirable job keeping the path clear, creating plows of wind that scooped soldiers out of the way. This made a path for them through the throngs of slowly moving fighters standing in their way, allowing them to head for the back of the army. Unlike last time Jonathan had stood against a full army, he was far faster than his enemies now, and it was like watching them in slow motion as he sped past them. Their troop movements were quick and efficient, at least by the standard of their level, but to Jonathan they were abysmally slow. He only entered this state of true speed when he was really into a battle, and his stats were unleashed to the fullest. Otherwise he would have trouble speaking to people of a lower level than himself, even Edgar. It was more of a subconscious thing than anything else, likely some imprint of the System, but Jonathan was still grateful for it nonetheless.
As the two men broke through the final ranks a few minutes later, they were met by the intimating visages of a hundred siege engines, all pointed their way. Jonathan barely had a moment to raise his arms, and Edgar to summon a shield, before the weapons were all loosed their way. A myriad of various projectiles hissed through the air, moving at incredible speeds. None of them worried him overmuch, save for the dozens of glass orbs that contained the same poison that had led to his capture in the first place. As they broke around him, Jonathan sighed in relief as Edgar’s swirling aegis of wind carried off the gasses, sending them into the troops behind. A wave of collapsing soldiers spread across the plain as the gas was dispersed, and Jonathan smiled beneath his helmet. That had gone far better than he had expected.
However, it was not to last. The air in front of the two men cracked open, leaving behind a silvery blue portal that stretched off into infinity. The effect was similar to how it looked if one set up two mirrors facing one another, and looked into them. A moment later, the portal rippled and two figures stepped out, the same Tier 2s, who had been after Jonathan earlier. The same bored expressions were still on their faces as before and the woman yawned openly upon seeing Jonathan.
“I must say, making us personally involve ourselves is impressive for your level. However, you are still ants before us,” the woman said, her voice getting on Jonathan’s nerves. He had no idea if it was some supernatural effect, or if the woman was just that annoying.
“Are you really the best that that bloated worm can send after us? Is he still cowering in his keep, in utter terror of our might?” Edgar said harshly, his voice changing dramatically. Jonathan concealed a smirk. That was likely the effect of the man’s politician skill.
“You dare?” the woman spluttered in utter disbelief.
A wreath of lightning snapped to her fingers and she began to raise them towards the two men, her face twisting in rage.
Beside her, the hulking brute of a melee fighter started to run his hand down the length of his weapon, imbuing it with power. A moment later, the battle was on. A crackling net of lightning shot out of the woman’s hands, spreading across the air. Edgar immediately got to work trying to head it off, using both his elemental energy and his mana to do so. As he did not have any dedicated unbinding spell, it was hard going, but he still managed to shield himself from the effects for long enough that Jonathan was able to get around the field of energy. It was a comical sight, seeing a man riding another man through the battlefield like a horse, but it was a surprisingly powerful combination.
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Edgar banished the shield once they were clear of the web of lightning, and he leaped off of Jonathan’s back, landing in front of the mage. Jonathan needed to take out the melee fighter first, as his build was far more suited for a physical battle. His fists began to glow with power, and he raced towards the other man, cocking back his right hand in preparation. The Tier 2 laughed and swung his massive weapon towards Jonathan’s head, trying to take his head off. The man seemed to remember that he was trying to capture Jonathan moments later and he altered the strike, sending it towards Jonathan’s arm.
Jonathan was too fast to be taken unawares by such a trick however, and he drove his fist into his enemy’s gut, causing the other man to curse. Jonathan pushed back and sent his other fist surging in on the heels of the first one, rocking back the armored man in front of him. Behind him, Edgar was trying desperately to fend off the attention of the female mage, who was laughing out loud as her spells pushed Edgar further and further back. As one especially devastating spell was launched at Jonathan’s companion, he snapped his fingers, sending a dart of Void mana towards the spell, unbinding it. However, this rendered him vulnerable, and his opponent drove one fist into his chin, knocking him off his feet.
As he flew up into the air, the man pulled back his weapon and then swung mightily towards Jonathan, slamming the thing into his stomach. Jonathan was bent double over the blade and was flung off its end, to crash into one of the siege engines parked nearby. As if planned, the weapon loosed its payload, sending a tree trunk like bolt towards Jonathan. He batted it aside with one hand, feeling his wrist twinge as he did so, and slammed into the weapon with a flying punch, taking it out of commission in an explosion of splinters.
Behind him the Tier 2 man charged, catching up to him in an instant, his form limned with the light of some sort of movement skill. Jonathan turned just in time to catch the man’s strike with his gauntlets, stopping it from cleaving him in two. metal screeched off of metal, and Jonathan hurriedly reinforced the gauntlets with energy, causing them to glow with power. The Tier 2 grunted, and forced the weapon down, leveraging his superior strength to crush Jonathan into the ash with his strength. However, the substance was quite yielding, and instead of compressing Jonathan’s bones, the man merely caused him to sink into the ash.
Jonathan sent mana down through his feet, an easy feat with his mastery over mana manipulation, at least for his level, and pushed back, managing to surprise his opponent with the sudden burst of energy. With a roar, he slammed his right fist into the weapon, moving too quickly for the other man to take advantage of. With a creaking groan, the man slipped, sending his weapon into the ash.
Jonathan leaped out of the hole in an instant, and sent a barrage of powerful punches towards the other man, rocking him back on his feet. small dents formed on the armor, and Jonathan heard his enemy grunt in pain. He risked a glance towards Edgar, and found that the man was faring far worse. The battle was less of a one sided beat down than he had been expecting, but Edgar was still being dealt with handily, his wind abilities and the resulting speed the only reason he was still standing. His battle was a far more evasive one than Jonathan, and he was fighting for his life. In comparison, Jonathan was confident that he would be able to beat this man, and perhaps the woman as well, if he went all out.