Whipping out a tentacle I smack the last Rover soldier over, then I dispatch her before she can get back up. She’s one of the few who wore any armour so I couldn’t easily stab her.

Normally they’re unarmoured and just have swords, other times they’re equipped with some leather armour and padding, whatever the case though this is the first time I’ve encountered a Rover in armour amongst a group of unarmoured ones.

She wasn’t just wearing leather armour either, it was proper chainmail, not a match for a squire's protection obviously but certainly above what every other Rover I’ve encountered has worn.

It also didn’t seem to be of Empire origin which meant it was probably Rover crafted, I’m no expert though so I could be wrong.

Originally I was rather certain that the cunning Rover had been the leader of this band but now I think it might actually have been this one.

It’s strange, every time I’ve been summoned to fight in a battle, its always been against Rovers and yet I know barely anything about them.

I shouldn’t really be spending any time thinking about this stuff, at least not presently.

There’s still some fifty Rovers left and they’re massing together into a single large horde

But for every Rover soldier and bandit, there’s a trio of Empire grunts to oppose them.

It probably helps that they’re fighting as an army now rather than as a bunch of solo fighters or small groups.

The Rovers bunched themselves up to try and make themselves less of an easy target for me but in the process, they’ve lost their main advantage, individual skill.

Now it’s just a proper battle between two armies and while I can’t really intervene without harming my own side, I don’t need to since we’re winning.

Honestly, despite their weakness these Empire soldiers are actually quite capable, at least in terms of bravery, they’re still not a match in a one on one fight for a Rover.

If only they were more skilled I would feel far better about being away from Coralet.

Or would them being more skilled be cause for concern?

I mean I serve my creator Coralet, not the Empire and although it seems like Coralet supports them…

I don’t sense any real loyalty from her, perhaps I’m just failing at picking up on her emotions properly but all I feel from her is a tinge of disgust and distaste for the Empire.

I may just be overthinking things and hopefully that is the case but what if it isn’t?

At the end of the day even if they aren’t actively malicious, isn’t it their fault that she’s in danger?

They have done good things for her, like the ritual they put us through which saved her life and has strengthened our bond greatly.

I would wager that it’s granted us some other boons as well that we’ve yet to discover but they had callous reasons for doing the ritual.

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If it wasn’t for them she would never be in the situation where she would have needed to undergo such a ritual.

But she needs them, I can’t be around her for long and I’ve already failed her once, she needs proper protectors.

But there’s no proper protectors, there’s just me.

Briefly, I consider the possibility of her getting a second summon but I dismiss that idea rather quickly, even if she gets a second summon it wouldn’t solve anything.

I have so many things that I need to do and there’s no way to do them that I can see.

I need to keep her safe, It’s a simple obligation on the surface but it means that I have to carefully vet everything, if I could I would even taste her food to make sure it’s not posioned.

Unfortunately now isn’t the time to worry about my concerns any longer, the Rovers are starting to turn the tides of battle back in their favour.

One second the Empire was winning but now all of a sudden the Rovers have just overwhelmed the soldiers and the battle is going back to descending into just a series of duels and small group fights.

What was the point of getting into formation if they were just going to break it and get back to brawling?

I mean they hadn’t even fought properly for a minute before breaking ranks, or was I just so deep in thought that I lost track of time?

Now that I’ve snapped out of it I actually do feel a little bit hungry, which means my creators probably suffering.

Good thing these fools have broken formation, now I can wipe them out without worrying about the soldiers on my side.

Striding slowly over to a Rover who’s too engrossed in his fight to notice my approach, I swing out with a sword and cleave off his head.

The Empire duo I just helped doesn’t even spare me a glance before rushing off to aid their comrades.

And I don’t care for them either, I’ve got more important things to deal with like the dozen Rovers who are hacking apart a force twice their size.

They either hear me storming towards them or notice me since they quickly disengage from the Empire soldiers and begin to prepare to face me.

The Empire troops are absolutely rabid, their sheer aggression forces the Rovers to switch their attention back on them and gives me a great opportunity to go crashing into the Rover flank.

Sticking out left and right I butcher the majority of the Rovers with ease, four of them manage to avoid my brutal blows but they're just taken care of by the Empire troops who capitalise on their vulnerability.

Turning around I survey the battlefield to spot my next target but other than just a handful of stubborn Rovers it looks like the rest have retreated.

Perhaps it was a slight hint of paranoia as to why the Rovers have retreated only now, or maybe some psychic sixth sense but whatever the reason, I turn slightly and manage to save my life as a gleaming dagger goes sailing right past me.

Had I remained in the same spot that dagger would have pierced right through my centre of mass, likely killing me instantly depending on its enchantment.

Hurriedly I swivel to face my new foes and witness a knight go flying into a tree.

A knight, not a squire but an actual properly armoured and equipped knight.

I know it’s stupid and I should keep sternly eyeing up the large patch of bushes from which the knight and dagger were thrown but I still turn to look at the knights’ still form.

They’ve embedded in a tree, nearly snapping it in half from the force of the impact, the entirety of their chest is just gone.

There’s just a hole there, I can’t see it properly from where I’m standing and it’s covered in gore but I’m assuming that whatever attack was used against them went straight through them.

And now I’m going to have to deal with their killer, the Empire soldiers are quickly gathering behind me, using me as the tip of their spear like formation.

It makes me feel a bit more confident to be treated like this but already my mindset has switched from trying to kill the Rovers, to just trying to hold them off.