He found himself running nonstop, slashing every scarecrow he stumbled upon. His eyes kept glancing back and forth at his surrounding, making sure most of the scarecrows were at a safe distance from him. The lad himself did not forget about the one that eased his battle.
Lindelof stood at the center of a sea of lifeless scarecrows. Again, the end of his wand whirled a fireball that was getting bigger, doing what he always did. Despite the fear that still lingered, Lindelof was steadfast in doing his job. His trembling hand betrayed the focus in his eyes. He fully trusted the man that revealed himself to be a son of the Gardwin House and seeing him fight, bolstered the fact that he made the right choice after stepping into this nightmare.
Through Zach’s perseverance, his level rose another level, and the highbrow that aided him also benefited from the ongoing onslaught. The fire he wield was growing stronger with each new level but against these straw scarecrows, it was still not strong enough. Yet it was enough for Zach, giving him a lot of opening to give the final blow.
“My lord!” Lindelof shouted. Seeing an incoming scarecrow that went beyond the imaginary threshold that Zach imposed for Lindelof’s safety.
Zach turned and ran back. He bolted across the immobile scarecrows on the ground and arrived right before the scarecrow could sneak an attack at the lonely mage. The knife in his hand slashed rapidly. Dismembering the scarecrow's upper limbs, lower limbs, and head in just a few seconds. It was like magic in Lindelof’s eyes as what Zach did was beyond the capability of humans that he knew.
Zach did not ask and merely scanned Lindelof briefly. Since there was no blood in sight, Zach jumped back into the endless number of scarecrows. The beauty of flowers he had seen was no longer sight, trampled by the straw feet of the scarecrows. Taking another look, he had culled the majority of them and a dozen few were left.
“Two points to agility, and two points to perception,” he said.
The battle went on. A continuous endless routine of slashing and covering Lindelof. An hour later, the horde was finished. Zach stood beside Lindelof, his hands on his knee, trying to catch up his breath. Even Lindelof had a seat on the ground as his trembling knees couldn’t take it any longer. His low stamina and the constant pressure were too much to bear for the newbie in battle.
“We finally did it, my lord,” Lindelof said. Barely smiling while he soothed his heaving chest.
Unlucky for the highbrow, but Zach forgot to tell him that there were another two waves to go. Zach eyed his surrounding. Hoping that something would float above these lifeless scarecrows. But alas, there was none. He cursed in the inside as he hoped it was the loot system that was shitty and not his luck. His knife had ended more than a hundred of these things and yet there was not a sight of loot that could reward his effort, and if it was indeed his luck being that bad, then he might have to figure out a way to increase that luck of his.
But now he had to solve how to deal with the last two waves, and from what he had been observing in the eighth wave, he deduced that there was a high possibility of not making out alive. He wasn’t being a pessimist, but that was the truth. He was up against a hundred and twenty-eight, and what he had been doing was constantly running from one end to another. Zach could not imagine what would happen if he fought against twice the number of that.
His lips were sealed as his action did the talking. Zach grabbed Lindelof by the back of his robe’s collar and dragged him off his feet, flustering the confused highbrow.
“My lord?” Lindelof was confused. “Is there something wrong?”
“I’m afraid I forget to tell you that another wave of enemies twice what we just fought is coming,” Zach said.
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“What do you…” Lindelof was trying to say something before turning speechless. He saw the notification, counting down the timer, and as per usual of a highbrow, he was quick to realize the situation.
“What are we going to do?” Lindelof asked. Getting his boots on the ground, and walked beside his only hope.
“I don’t know,” Zach said. Yet his eyes searched for an answer. This was a vast field of flowers, and at each side, he saw the towering cliff side. He discerned that they might be inside a valley of flowers, and perhaps the answer he sought was at these cliffs.
Halfway through reaching the east side cliff, the countdown reached zero. Two hundred and fifty-six scarecrows emerged from underneath the ground, searching for the challengers of the dungeon. Lucky for the duo, those scarecrows spawned from where they battled and not where Zach and Lindelof were. For that, they had time to search. But it was still not enough.
“My lord, they’re coming,” Lindelof said. Looking back, seeing a sea of scarecrows rushing at them from afar.
“I know,” Zach said. At the same time, they reached the east side cliff. “Look over there, and search for any cave opening that’s small enough to fit less than ten men.”
Lindelof stood contemplating for a while and he realized the meaning behind Zach’s order. “I see,” Lindelof said. “My lord is trying to emulate the war tactic of the late Lord Gerard Blackpool at the Battle of the Usurper.” The highbrow began to smile. He was quite knowledgeable in war tactics, seeing he was a massive erudite in past wars for the throne.
While Zach indeed learned about it from the hired highbrow in Feywood, but the tactic he wanted to use was taken referenced from a movie about three hundred Spartans. Which took a stance against a huge army that would triumph against their meager numbers any other day, but their sheer willpower and war tactic almost won them the battle. And Zach was not going to make their situation ‘almost’ as he preferred to win it and stayed alive.
Zach grew frustrated by the second. The thing he sought was not making itself easy to find. If he really could not find it then perhaps he needed to think about the worst-case scenario. Despite how cold he appeared to others, he did not want to leave them to their death. Zach was about to glance at the man he did not want to abandon and right before guilt could plague his mind and heart, the excited voice of Lindelof broke the silence of the valley.
“My lord!” Lindelof said. Waving his hand at him as if they were not in a battle at all.
From that smile Zach was seeing, Lindelof might have found something. He came over and saw where Lindelof’s finger was pointing. Out of the gloom, spring bloomed on his face. Zach smiled as there was a cavern mouth right above their heads.
“Hold on,” Zach said. Before Lindelof could prepare himself, Zach grabbed him by the waist and leaped on the wall. He gripped whatever he could as veins started popping out of his skin. Zach began ascending up the cliff, and in time, their feet found the ground.
“Thank you, my lord,” Lindelof said. He was a bit reserved to Zach as he was literally being treated like a baby by the powerful young lad. Nonetheless, he did not complain. He was just glad he wasn’t abandoned by him. “Oh my days, they’re here,” Lindelof said.
“They’re quick, I can give them that,” Zach said.
“So is my duty the same?” Lindelof asked.
“Yes, fire at them at the distance,” Zach said. “With us having the higher ground, we have a huge advantage against them. Just make sure not to burn me.”
Lindelof nodded. He cast his spell as the scarecrows were starting their climb. Zach waited by the edge as he would not let any of them get a foothold at where he stood.
Their battle waged on. The tension they previously felt was no longer there as getting the higher ground was a bigger benefit than they thought. Zach cut their wrists with ease as if mowing the lawn. It was getting pretty easy for him, and despite the waning adrenaline in his veins, he still preferred being this lax to being in constant danger.
Time went on, and surprisingly he noticed those scarecrows had been jumbling up at the base of the cliff. A quick look and he found out why. They no longer had hands, and without them, climbing had been a problem. Despite having the advantage, Zach could not really kill them as he detached their wrists and not shattering their life source.
Now he had a dilemma. It was either, he let Lindelof handle them all by burning them to the ground or he do it himself.
“Hey, Lindelof, what do you—” his words cut short. The tingle he felt alerted him of an incoming danger from behind. He ducked immediately as he felt the heat brush against his back. Thankfully the leather cuirass kept his flesh from getting burned, but the heat was still there.
Soon anger welled from the depth of his heart. Zach was about to curse out loud as he never thought of getting backstabbed by an innocent looking highbrow. But the moment he turned around, his eyes went wide. Lindelof’s feet were not touching the ground as something sharp pierced right through the back of his abdomen.
“Lindelof!”