NOVEL NEXT 144 - The Real Battle
Div's chest heaved in pain as he looked down at the sword planted in his abdomen. Its owner lay dead in front of him, Div's spear thrust into his head. Moving was hard, but he had to.
He crawled back, just a little, enough to be out of the way of the battle that was still raging on the plaza. His eyes wandered for a moment. Through the smoke, he saw what he believed was the village school's roof.
Perhaps not. In the chaos, it was hard to tell.
Dana carefully stepped closer. She didn't look at him. Instead, she continued to fire an endless rain of arrows into the crowd.
Then, she stopped.
Kneeling next to him, she lightly put her hand on his shoulder.
His vision was blurry, his head spinning. He needed to get that sword out of his body and channel the chorus. But he couldn't bring himself to do it.
He was tired.
Scornforged wasn't giving him that much energy. Maybe it was because he was just one fighter among many. Not even one of the most dangerous.
Div wasn't weak. He knew that. But his fighting skills had not evolved, so unless he was willing to throw caution to the wind and use Rot Magic…
"Div, are you okay?" Dana asked.
He nodded, slowly. "Help me take that blade out."
Dana exhaled and put her hands on the hilt. "Ready?"
"Do it."
She pulled. The sword slid out, ripping Div's insides just a little more.
"I'm out of arrows," Dana said. "I'll watch over you."
Div couldn't muster the strength to answer. He let his consciousness slide into Chorus of Renewal.
For once, the rotting world in his mind was pleasant. More pleasant than the fires of war that were destroying Trabine. Div didn't waste time and focused. Meditating in the middle of a battlefield was dangerous. Stupidly so. If not for the fact that he was bleeding out, he wouldn't have done it.
He waited for his wound to close. It would add another scar to his already impressive collection. Not much he could do about that. In the past few years, he had managed to avoid them by listening to the healers like Medunir.
They were not wrong. Rest and natural healing were better than his twisted skill. Yet, he was glad he had it. Without Chorus of Renewal, he'd long since be another corpse on this plaza.
He took the time to check his skills.
Skill leveled up: Endure Lv2 -> Lv3
Skill leveled up: Rotten Shield Lv9 -> Lv10
Skill leveled up: Rotten Spearfishing Lv8 -> Lv9
Skill leveled up: Blighted Passage Lv8 -> Lv9
As expected, war was a good source of levels. Div couldn't help but smile as he remembered how he had wanted to remove the rot-attunement on Blighted Passage. He had so many things to do that this task had fallen by the wayside. But, truthfully, since exiting the rift, the rot-attunement was not helping at all.
Not that it was hurting much either. It was a relatively minor drain on his near-endless reserves of rot-attuned mana. A small optimization to make. With no one else able to travel the fifth direction, closing the way behind him simply wasn't useful.
Div shook himself out of his thoughts. His wound wasn't perfectly healed, but it would have to do. Healing such a serious injury would take a long time. Something he presently didn't have. He could deal with pain. He could fix the damage later.
He opened his eyes. Dana was standing in front of him, her back facing him.
He stood up.
She turned back. "Done?"
This book's true home is on another platform. Check it out there for the real experience.
"Mostly. How is the battle going?"
She shook her head. "I don't know how long we can hold this place. Our side is losing too many people, Lienien and Kheironites equally. The mountaineers, too, but they are getting reinforcements. We are not."
Div scanned the battlefield. They were surrounded. The mountaineers had slowed down their assault. Unless the reinforcements Lugsellos spoke of arrived, they had no reason to risk their men to slay a trapped beast. Simply waiting would do the trick.
Speaking of Lugsellos, he was standing atop the ruined fountain in the plaza's center. Div could feel Empathic Resonance blistering his mind, infusing him with a sense of inevitability. They would win, that much was certain.
What Div didn't know was if Lugsellos was truly assured of their victory, or if he was bluffing.
"I guess it doesn't really matter…" He muttered.
"What?" Dana asked.
Div didn't answer. He watched as the battle paused and mountaineers regrouped. Fighting was still ongoing elsewhere in Trabine, as sounds of clashes reached his ears.
They were outnumbered. The mass of soldiers, living or dead, made it hard for him to get an accurate count. Three to one? Four? He wasn't sure.
Lugsellos stepped down from the fountain and walked toward him. "Everything's fine."
"Doesn't look like it," Div said.
Lugsellos' face didn't betray his emotion. He was impassive, like he didn't care. "I know. But don't worry, everything is under control."
"What are you talking about?" Dana asked. "We've lost this battle. All they have to do is slowly chip away at our defenses, and we'll be done for."
Lugsellos tilted his head. "Dana, Div, I know I've been distant since arriving in Trabine. But I'm still your friend. Trust me."
Div sighed. "It would help if you explained yourself. Why are you being so cryptic, Lug?"
Lugsellos blinked. "I—I'm sorry. I'm so used to sensing people's emotions that I sometimes forget most people can't do that. It's not some sort of grand secret, but the outcome of this war will be decided by the Ascended Ranks. Not by us. The leader of the mountaineers here is unwilling to risk his men further, so we're not in danger."
Div frowned. "What are we even doing here, then? We should have stayed hidden in the tunnels and waited it out."
Lugsellos shook his head. "No. We needed to come here and buy time. If we let the mountaineer army rampage through the city, the elders would have nothing to come back to. Our job was to delay them, and we did it. We won."
"Now our fate is on the elders' shoulders," Dana said.
Lugsellos nodded. "Basically. Furthermore, while some elders like Terebus can hide from my skill, others can't. All I got from them, Trabinite or Kheironite, was an absolute sense of certainty that they would prevail."
"It doesn't mean they're right," Div argued. "They could be overconfident. Especially the Kheironite elders…"
"That's true," Lugsellos agreed. "I wish I could have met a mountaineer Ascended Rank to compare."
Dana tensed. The mountaineer lines shifted, shields raised in unison. They advanced in measured steps, weapons glinting through the smoke.
"They're coming," she said.
"No," Lugsellos murmured. "They're testing us."
The first wave hit the frontline. A clash of shields, spears, swords, and desperate shouts. Div joined in, his movements still sluggish from the wound. His spear darted in and out, forcing the enemy back, but every step felt heavier.
Div caught the flash of a blade too late. Pain flared as his wound twisted, nearly buckling his knees. Dana's sword intercepted the strike, sparks spitting between the clashing metal. She shoved the attacker back with a grunt, her jaw tight. Another fighter took the dead man's place in the line before his body even hit the ground.
The second wave came before the first fully retreated. Dana's bowstring was silent now, replaced by a short sword she wielded with fierce precision. It wasn't her weapon of choice, but it was better than nothing. The air stank of sweat, blood, and burnt stone.
It was obvious after only a few exchanges that the mountaineers weren't pressing for the kill. They struck hard enough to keep everyone on edge, but pulled back before breaking through.
Div caught Lugsellos' eye between thrusts. It seemed his friend's analysis of the situation was right. The mountaineers had to keep fighting, but they clearly didn't want to commit too much.
Another push, another retreat. The fighting had the rhythm of practice, a mockery of real battle. Div's muscles screamed, his wound twisting his abdomen with pain.
This slow, grinding battle went on for hours. Death still happened, but a lot less now. It was slow, controlled. The plaza had become a mire of shattered shields and broken hafts, slick underfoot with blood that refused to dry. Each lull felt longer than it should, each clash shorter. Div's mind drifted in and out of focus. The shouts of men were sometimes sharp, sometimes muffled.
Skill leveled up: Blighted Passage Lv9 -> Lv10
Then the ground shivered. Just a faint tremor at first, so subtle Div thought it was his knees giving out. But it grew. Pebbles danced on the cracked stones. Men on both sides slowed, confused.
A second tremor hit, deeper, angrier. The mock battle faltered. Mountaineers turned their heads to their captain.
Lugsellos' pupils dilated.
The air itself seemed to vibrate, carrying a distant, rolling thunder from deep beneath the city. Shouts erupted from the far streets, not the cries of combat but fear.
Dust sifted down from shattered rooftops. Dana gripped Div's arm, steadying him. "What the hell is that?"
Div didn't answer. His breath caught as the plaza itself seemed to pulse under his boots, each beat stronger than the last. It reminded him of the time Elenvind walked next to him.
No, it was different. This was no beast.
It was…
Gaumil's power.