A Leader's Obligation

That day, the adventurers finally rested in their beds and Gremory did the same in the Hjmar guild. Until Neywell came knocking on the door.

Gremory went to talk with him, but all he did was deliver a bag full of mitre crystals. That meant that he robed Sani store during the night.

'I can play a little bit with this.'

The bag is full of small mitre crystals, with just 12 medium sizes and one big.

Cerberus was until now summoned, but he was in Gremory dimensional bag. By manipulating the shadows, he was able to compress the darkness of the creatures he summoned inside the dark crystal. But Qetur died in the fight so Gremory took the entire morning making another one to Qetur.

Then, he summoned Qetur in the dark crystal and put him in the bag just like Cerberus.

Furthermore, he looked at the big crystal, thinking if it would be of any use right now.

'Oh, I think I will need you too.'

Many more hours passed to transform the big mitre crystal into a big dark crystal, but Gremory mana was not enough to fill the entire crystal. The process of filling that crystal with mana took two entire weeks.

However, it was not possible to acquire mana from that type of crystal, at least, there was not any way described in the runes of tier 3.

Mitre crystals usually are found in medium sizes in natural caves or ravines, but there are many limitations when handling this much power. The runic blacksmiths who know runes of tier 4, break these crystals into multiple smaller crystals and those have many uses. Also, mages can absorb the mana of these crystals because it has only a thin layer, so it's easy to manipulate the mana inside the crystals.

But, the medium miter crystals need at least a rune of tier 1 of movement of mana, and the big ones were just impossible even to tier 4.

So Gremory decided to also inscribe the rune of movement of mana in the 11 medium size crystals left.

---Two weeks later---

Gremory finally finished filling the big mitre crystal and went to talk with Geoffrey inside the city council room.

The orcs will arrive at any moment by now, and they were getting ready. Geoffrey planned to protect the city walls using the high ground, he cut down all the trees around the city so there would be no places to hide from the arrows. But if we don't defeat them before the destruction of the gate or the walls... we will lose the war. Yet, there was no better option as always.

Gremory and Geoffrey spoke about the new traps around the city and how to activate them, the production of boiling oil, and things that may help during the fight. Geoffrey had lost his left arm fighting Thurius and was severed injured until now, so he would not be able to participate in the fight and maybe would not be able to fight ever again.

Maybe a healer would be able to help, but there was none there and he was the only rank S of the city. The stronger between so many would-be just watching and Gremory couldn't allow that.

"We made five hundred arrows yesterday, and..." Redwig was also in that room, talking about the report of yesterday until Gremory interrupted him.

"Do you want to die Geoffrey?" Gremory asked.

His words were a shock to Redwig and he was thinking that was a joke. But, Geoffrey had no family and was obviously depressed because his guild was almost destroyed. And of course, he was not able to fight anymore.

"Why do you ask?" Geoffrey replied hesitantly.

"Give up your life, join me and I can use you to protect the city."

The atmosphere is tense and cold, but Redwig remained without speaking a single word.

"Why should I do that?"

"Your life is pointless now, everything you have built is destroyed now. Help me save the family of those who fight and died by your orders. We need every man possible and a rank S in the walls firing arrows would be of extreme help." Gremory knew that his words were horrible, but he chose to speak anyways.

Geoffrey became even more hesitantly, he didn't want to admit it, but it was the best course of action. He became silent for a while and then asked.

"And how dying would help?" He knew the answer, but he asked because he wanted confirmation.

"I can bring you back after your death, you will be as new."

Geoffrey was having a hard time thinking in sacrifice himself, after all, so many of his adventurers died on the battlefield and he couldn't stay watching their families dying too. He had an obligation to fulfill as his leader.

"How it is? To die?" Geoffrey asked.

Gremory remembered the time he was holding his guts out of his body on the battlefield, the cold, and the fear he felt. Yet, kept his expression unchanged and lied.

"It's just another way of life, you will be received at the abyss once your job here is finished. This day comes to everyone and there is nothing to fear, so don't worry."

"So be it then." Geoffrey replied while giving his dagger to Gremory.

Redwig was silent until now but became very angry seeing this and left the room.

Gremory took the dagger and stabbed his heart.

Geoffrey started to bleed, the pain was clear in his eyes while holding Gremory arms and losing his strength. Despair appeared in his eyes as soon as the cold and fear reached him, then with the rest of his strength, he grabbed Gremory arm and spoke.

"Yo yoo you lied." The words were almost impossible to hear, but Gremory stood watching him trying to speak more, yet no words come out of his mouth anymore until the light in his eyes disappeared.

"Sorry for lying, but you are the best between us." Gremory spoke to Geoffrey once he died.

'Sometimes you have to sacrifice one to save many.'

He then absorbed his energy, the energy was big, yet not enough to trigger the evolution, and Gremory could feel that he was still far away.

Before the body turning into dust, he took the big dark crystal and used the mana from the crystal by manipulating the shadow into the crystal and then speaking the word. "Gremory" activating his body rune.

And there he was once more on his feet, Geoffrey was now an undead.