Chapter 118: Bazooka Nathan
The palace yard had transformed into a battlefield of madness.
"Hold your protective barriers!"
"Protect the King!"
KABOOOOM!
"I need healing! I lost my arm!"
KABOOOM!
What was once a place of ceremonial grandeur and disciplined order now echoed with the clash of steel, the roaring of spells, and the terrified cries of soldiers as King Auborn's forces locked in a brutal struggle against the envoys of the Empire.
Despite King Auborn's overwhelming numbers, the strength of his army paled in comparison to the merciless synergy of two powerful figures cutting through the chaos: Wardon and Tanya.
"Hahaha! Is that all you have, Austerran dogs!?" Tanya bellowed, her voice thundering across the yard like a war drum.
She stood at the vanguard, her broadsword gleaming red with blood and firelight.
SLASH!
UGH!~
Each swing carried monstrous weight, shattering shields, splitting armor, and sending enemies sprawling across the blood-stained ground.
"That's it! Send me stronger foes! More! MORE!"
Her eyes burned with unyielding courage, her teeth clenched in defiance as she carved a path of destruction made of the Austerran soldiers.
At her back, Wardon moved with calculated precision.
"Stop being too reckless! You fool!"
[WIND SPEED]
[STONE SKIN]
[FIREBALL]
His voice echoed with incantations buffs while summoning bolts of flame, spikes of ice, and waves of force that tore into enemy ranks.
With practiced timing, he cast protective barriers around Tanya, or pulsed her body with spells of strength and speed.
His presence felt like a storm—relentless and unshakable, balancing both destruction and support.
But what made Tanya terrifying beyond reason was not her sword or her courage alone.
She was a Blood Berserker, a class feared on every battlefield.
The more punishment she took, the stronger she became. Cuts and bruises that would slow ordinary warriors only fed her fury, sharpening her movements and accelerating her strikes until she seemed less human and more demon unleashed.
WHAHAHAHA!~ She laughed like a bloody maniac in the middle of the battlefield.
And Wardon, a master of multiple elements, did not allow her to falter.
His healing magic sealed her dangerous wounds while his buffs quickened her arms, and his mana poured like fuel into her growing wrath.
With her vitality sustained, Tanya's rampage became a nightmare that no soldier could withstand. Even the arrows coming from the scouts only bounced on her skin!
Agghk!
Screamed a knight as Tanya's blade ripped through his shield, his voice silenced as he collapsed in a spray of crimson.
"What is happening!? It is just a single Berserker!"
One commander cried, stumbling backward, his face pale as his men broke formation around him. "Warriors, raise your shields! Archers and mages, bombard her from afar!"
"That is easier said than done! We can barely defend ourselves!"
The mage commander shouted back, his trembling hands weaving shield after shield as Wardon's relentless bombardment crashed down around them.
Each spell sent shockwaves rattling through the air, forcing the commander to stagger and bite back curses.
The palace yard had become a vision of hell.
Explosions rattled the marble pillars until they cracked and fell.
Arrows split the smoke, clattering uselessly off shimmering barriers. Screams rose and fell like waves as men were torn apart or burned alive.
Amid the clamor, Auborn's fury burned hotter than the flames around him.
"Keep up the buffs on our front shields! Keep up the healing spellls! Our mages on the back need more support! " Auborn roared, his voice sharp enough to slice through the chaos. His eyes, wide with both anger and desperation, locked on a nearby commander.
"You! Execute those rebels now!"
"Yes, Your Highness!" The soldier saluted quickly and rushed toward the rear.
Auborn turned then, his face contorted with rage, glaring at his attendants who trembled like frightened animals at his side.
'shitty bastards' he gritted his teeth while looking at them like dogs that lost their balls.
Sweat glistened on their brows, their hands shaking uselessly as the battle raged around them.
"Pathetic cowards! Where are the reinforcement!?" Auborn's teeth ground together audibly, veins bulging at his temples.
"T-t-they should be arriving a-any moment, Sire!" one attendant stammered, clutching a glowing communication crystal as though it might shield him from the King's wrath.
Auborn's face darkened further.
He snatched the crystal violently, his fingers digging into its surface, and shouted with veins throbbing in his neck,
"Useless pieces of trash! Bring the whole army here now, or I will have your worthless hides hanging from the palace gates!"
His voice cracked with pure, unbridled rage, spittle flying from his lips as his attendants cowered lower, hardly daring to breathe.
The battle has been going on for at least five minutes but only few of his kingdom soldiers has come. He expected reinforcements from the noble families but it seems like something else is keeping them busy.
While the front yard quaked with battle, another storm began brewing in the shadows at the rear.
The soldier tasked with executing Auren, Robert, and the others had finally arrived.
His boots thudded heavily across the place not far from the chaotic bombardment of Tanya and Wardon.
Auren's eyes narrowed, crimson glints flashing in the gloom. Robert,binded and seated beside him, tensed instinctively, while Mardonio and Austaire leaned forward as much as their bindings allowed.
The four mages maintaining the shadow restraints turned irritably at the sound of approaching soldiers.
"Why are you here?" one mage demanded, his tone edged with annoyance.
"The King ordered their immediate execution," a soldier snapped, raising his chin. "Once they are dead, we are to return and aid against the Imperial envoys."
"Well, it is about time," another mage sneered.
The soldier stepped toward Mardonio first, his blade raised high, the steel catching faint light. His eyes narrowed with grim duty.
But then came a voice, low and sharp.
"I would not do that if I were you."
Mardonio's head hung low, his face shadowed, yet his voice carried a weight that froze the air.
A ripple of killing intent spread out from him, cold and suffocating.
The soldier stiffened mid-step, sweat prickling down his spine.
For a heartbeat, his instincts screamed at him to flee.
'Tsk'
But seeing Mardonio bound tightly by the shadow spell, he forced out a laugh, masking his unease.
"Hah! What are you going to do, old man? Slice me while tied up?"
Before he could act, a blazing blue light erupted behind him. Heat surged, the air shimmering violently.
The soldier whirled, eyes widening as a massive fireball hurtled toward him. It turns out Wardon saw him leaving the King's crew and sent his regards.
Little did he knew this 'regard' was heaven sent.
"Crap—!"
[SHIELD VEIL!]
One of the mages threw his hands up, mana bursting outward in a glowing dome just in time.
KABOOOM!
The explosion roared like thunder, shaking the ground. Dust and sparks blinded them for a moment, screams muffled under the echo of destruction.
'I almost died!' the soldier's throat tightened as he stared past the veil at the molten flagstones where he had stood seconds before.
But then realization struck. He spun to the shielding mage, panic rising in his eyes. "What about the prisoners!? What if they escape!?"
The mage scoffed, his lips curling with arrogance.
"Relax. I hold the weakest among them, a level 27 knight.what can he do against four level 40 mages?"
That pride sealed their doom.
Auren's lips curved into a chilling grin.
His fingers twitched, summoning the strange metallic weapon that had lain discarded.
In the blink of an eye, the bazooka materialized in his grip, its cold barrel humming faintly with mana.
The mages froze, their eyes widening.
"What do you think you are doing!?" the restraining mage barked, beginning a new chant, his voice rising frantically.
But Auren moved with a speed that defied reason, his casting fluid and instantaneous.
"Just trying to live," Auren said softly, almost casually, his crimson eyes gleaming.
He poured his mana into the weapon while the mage panicked while chanting.
"S-S-SHADOW BIN—"
"eat this."
ZZZT- KABOOOM!
The explosion detonated point-blank, so loud it left their ears ringing.
The ground quaked violently, rubble scattering.
When the smoke cleared, only the lower half of the mage remained standing. His upper body was gone, vaporized into nothing.
Silence swept across the yard.
Soldiers and mages alike gawked in horror, their faces drained of color. Even Robert and Mardonio froze, disbelief etched into their expressions.
Austaire saw this and gulped.
'That would have been me...'
Until now, Robert and Mardonio had thought the strange tube Auren carried was nothing more than a crude club or bizarre tool.
But after seeing it annihilate a level 40 mage in a single shot, their perspective shattered.
"He… he killed him," one of the mage muttered, trembling.
"S-stop him!" the soldier yelled, his voice cracking as he instinctively raised his shield.
Too late.
ZZZT- KABOOOM!
Auren vaulted into the air with inhuman speed using his MJ boots and fired again.
"H-how is this a level 27 Knigh-"
The soldier's scream was cut short while his body obliterated in a burst of flame and ash.