I was pretty sure that my misinformation amulet was working, so it seemed that Shanra knew who I was based on my appearance. Most orcs, goblins, and ogres didn’t know who I was based on those characteristics, but she should know the value of some good intel.
“I hate people who think that their asses are the center of everything… they can’t think logically or put themselves at the foot of others. It is because of shitty people like that this war started, and…”
Shanra proceeded to say a bunch of similar things. The guys behind her looked rather uncomfortable, but they didn’t try to stop her. I could imagine that it was a normal occurrence for her to rant like that. It was quite the weird act given that she might likely be a diplomat.
I decided to let her keep going for a while until she got tired. It looked like the war let her build up a lot of stress… unlike most of her people, she didn’t find much relief in punching or killing others in times of war, even if it was to defend her nation.
“Are you done talking?”
“Not even a bit, but since this is a waste of time, I am not going to keep bothering you. We don’t have time to defend our dungeons or labyrinths, so I will at least warn you about this. You should leave soon if you aren’t planning to help. The people here are starting to get more than a bit stressed thanks to your people. Even if you are only half human, you might find yourself targeted by those who live here out of frustration.”
“I will keep that in mind.
Shanra let out a sigh and then left with her underlings… I felt a bit bad for her, she was only doing her job, a very hard job given the nature of her people, but it couldn’t be helped that I wouldn’t help them in any situation. I was already screwed over big time when I accepted someone else’s offer to join a war, and that wouldn’t happen again. The same technique won’t work on me twice.
Still, the idea of using Essence Extraction on the items of those who had died in that war was appealing. Who knew how many levels I would get from that? It would let me make massive progress, but it wasn’t worth joining either side.
I turned around and then decided to head to the labyrinth on the Western side of the land… and I used the amulet as much as I could. As it turned out, it was able to use five mana cores before it broke apart. That was enough to use Shadow Step fifty times. Enough to cross around one and half a mile in a matter of seconds. The only downside was that making it took two hours… I could try to make three of them at the same time, but it wouldn’t be as efficient as using my bike. The only good thing was the skill was gaining levels… slowly, but it was gaining.
‘With my dexterity, I don’t have to worry about making mistakes while carving anything. The real problem is the strength necessary. Perhaps to even that, I could just make some molds and then heat them up to carve the necessary shapes on these kinds of materials. Then, mass-production will be possible.’
I wondered how I could do that while riding my bike… I also began to wonder when my mana cores will end since I used a bunch to escape the labyrinth. It felt like my life was a never-ending struggle with resources. I felt bad for complaining about Albert when I was reading his diary… I was bitching as much as he was.
… …
Regulus’ interference helped the defending side a lot more than Shanra told him. She had decided to spare him of the details in order to let the chieftains show him how they were thankful, but the plan didn’t work as intended.
Once that army lost their commander, while someone took their place, the fear was already implanted in their minds… dying while fighting their targets was something. Dying while being sniped and not knowing how that happened was another matter completely. Thanks to that, the chain of command in that army became useless and soon the defenders pushed the attackers away from the area.
At the same time, the defenders had the chance to send some reinforcements to the battlefields, causing a wave that eventually interfered with the whole war. The second battlefield in the north lost one of the towns they had conquered too, but the others were still struggling.
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“What the hell is going on? They are even more annoying than usual!”
Unlike the second battlefield, their battlefield wasn’t attacked by their flank yet. However, the news about their two victories lifted the spirits of the defenders. They were a simple bunch, so even the minor victory in some skirmishes would also have a similar effect.
Things improved a bit two days ago. They even had time to sleep, but since then, the defenders had been using Berserk and similar skills to push down the attackers as much as they could. Remi and Ulric, and everyone else were forced to retreat to the town and then defend it. They couldn’t do much since they destroyed most of the place, though.
An orc suddenly charged to punch Remi, but he stopped the fist of the enemy with the tip of his spear. The weapon pierced one of the fingers of the enemy, but he completely brushed it off. It made sense since his arms were as thick as Remi’s body.
When the enemy approached with the other arm, Remi panicked and then used one of his skills. He blocked the punch with his spear and then spun his body while spinning his spear vertically. The attacks pierced and slashed deeply the chest of the target before he could react to it, but he still approached to attack him while blood was gushing from his chest. Still, the enemy stumbled and then fell in front of him and never got up again.
Remi tried to catch his breath while using both hands on his spear… he was utterly exhausted and he could see other knights in similar situations. Some of them were collapsing thanks to the exhaustion.
For a moment, Remi panicked since he didn’t see Ulric anywhere, but then in the corner of his vision, he saw Ulric being blown away after he blocked the attack of an ogre. While he used the blade to stop the fist, the enemy didn’t care about it and punched anyway. Ulric rolled on the ground several times before his body began to move, but he was getting up too slowly… the enemy was approaching him.
“Shit!”
Remi activated another skill and then threw his spear while rotating in the air and making a high pitching sound. The weapon pierced the torso of the enemy and stopped him in his steps. After the shock, the pain took over his body and then the ogre collapsed. Remi collapsed as well since he had used all of his stamina. His stamina regeneration began to work and he forced himself to stand, but he knew that he had reached his limits. Before he could say anything, another unit advanced to cover for them.
“Second unit! Retreat!”
It was their cue to finally have a break. Remi stumbled to recover his spear… he had brought three of them and that was the final one. He couldn’t let it go. He liked it since it had the wind enchantment and the piercing one as well. He even had a special weaponsmith that made them for him.
Once he recovered the spear, he almost fell, but Ulric lent him his soldier to retreat. It was a sorry sight everywhere… only forty of the one hundred members of the unit were retreating, only thirty of them of the next unit were coming as well. It looked like they were starting to lose the war and that was bad given that once the defenders gain momentum in any battle, they tend to never lose it.
“Fuck it… what the hell is going on?”
Remi clenched his teeth while trying to move with his brother… nothing was making sense anymore. At this rate, they will need the Aquarians for support and that was one of the agreements for their alliance, none of the Aquarians were supposed to risk their lives on land.
“I can only guess that something happened in the other battlefields and then the effect snowballed to the current situation…”
Ulric didn’t believe that a single person could change the flow of a war alone, but he had a feeling that Regulus was involved. It made too much sense since he was the only unknown factor in all this mess.
After resting for ten minutes, all knights that were resting were called by the commander of the first army… that was pretty unusual. The commander usually just gives his orders and never talks any more than that. He was a tall and muscular man in his forties, with blonde hair and blue eyes. He had a certain presence around him, his aura only got more impressive thanks to his dark armor filled with spikes.
“I called you here to inform you that the commander of the fifth army was killed two days ago. Rumors about that were spreading, so it is useless to contain that. It is better to tell the facts in order to avoid chaos.”
No one looked surprised. Some of them had heard the rumors and that would explain a lot of things. Still, they didn’t expect what they had heard next.
“The killer wasn’t an orc, goblin, or ogre. It was an white-haired archer… everyone saw that, even the targets, so there is no mistaking.”
Remi and Ulric felt the gazes of everyone on them. Remi clicked his tongue in annoyance since Regulus was causing problems for the family… even more than he did before. Now, they had to prove themselves even more than before.
“We previously had the order to capture him alive no matter the cost, but the target had already killed thirty soldiers on our side and a commander. Now you have the orders to kill him on sight using any means necessary.”
Ulric and Remi could tell that some information was being hidden from them. Regulus spared them before and he said that he would leave them alone if he was left alone, but at that point in time, it was just a small detail in the greater picture.