No Choice

Ardan Wayne

'Wayne, that bastard is getting close!'

Came the panicked voice from the Tasmid; they had killed four necromancers already and now it is Tasmid's turn.

I have no doubt that if Stone caught him, he would be killed. Tasmid is powerful, but the elder blood isn't weak.

He is a monster, more powerful than we had predicted.

He isn't the only one calling me Arnv, and Jenna is also insistently asking for help. After Tasmid, it will be their turn.

I don't know what to do. It is a fucking nightmare. Powerhouses are dying one after another. They are not weak; they are stronger than average powerhouses due to their experience, but unable to do anything.

I was about to reply to him when I suddenly paused as I felt another death. Har Scott is dead. They had killed him and now they were moving toward others.

Every death of my powerhouses frees up enemy powerhouses, that could target more of my people.

I recognize the slippery slope when I see one. I have been part of many battles where this strategy had been used, by us and the enemies. Most of the time, it failed against us due to the large number of undead and the strength of our powerhouses.

This time, it might succeed. It is solely on me, to stop them. There is no other choice than that. Defeat isn't an option.

Sup Sup Sup!

"Fucking hell!" I cursed as I dodged the sword's arc and defended against the Stone Shower.

These fucking bitches are not giving me even a moment of peace. Attacking me every moment, with all types of attacks. Especially that fucking Earth Mage, she wasn't supposed to be this strong.

Once this battle is over; the one thing I am going to do is kill those bastards at the intelligence department. It is because of them, that I am in such a condition, if I had correct intelligence, I wouldn't be suffering as such.

I calmed myself down as I dodged the attack.

'Keep running and send as many undead as possible to him,' I said to Tasmid, before addressing all the pillars.

'Start blasting the undead. Kill every enemy, you see; I want everyone dead!' I ordered. I will kill their army before they kill our powerhouses, without it, they will be powerless.

It is not a strategy we usually use, given the large number of undead we lose due to it, but currently, I do not see any option to stop the slide. I have to do it, or we might lose.

That would be bad for so many reasons. It would immediately end my career and there would be punishment.

Boom Boom Boom!

A second after my command, I begin to hear the blasting sounds across the battlefield.

They didn't waste any time in acting, which isn't surprising seeing they have been targeted by the enemy's killing squads, and now they are responding in kind.

Seeing that, a smile appeared on my face.

These explosions aren't enough to kill the powerhouses, but they will kill the ones that are holding the undead back. Once they begin to get killed; the undead would easily be able to swarm the others.

Sup Sup Sup!

I dodged another group of spells and passed by the enemy squad. I could easily kill it and really wanted to, and nearly did, before stopping myself.

If I killed them; the two bitches will bring death to every pillar, we pass through. If it had been any other time, I would have been willing to suffer these losses, but now I don't want to.

I want to preserve the pillars; they are the ones that heading the offensive since the necromancers are shit scared about their lives and running around the battlefield to save their lives.

Hun!

A minute passed, and a frown appeared on my face. I concentrated and the smile that had been on my face began to disappear slowly.

'They are defending,' I thought.

The enemies aren't dying at the rate I had expected by the blasts. I had expected thousands to die by minute, but not even hundreds are dying, despite us blasting thousands of undead at them.

They are defending. The mages are casting shield after shield to defend their people. They are also using the wall strategy to lessen the effects of the blasts; it is clear, they have been trained for it.

'The bastard!' I cursed.

The elder-blood knows us well. It seemed to have prepared for it, keeping enough mages and shield warriors in every squad and company to defend against such moves.

'Wayne, he reached me!' I was thinking about how to remedy it when a panicked cry from Tasmid reached my mind.

"Fuck!" I cursed and I wanted to join the battle immediately, but stopped a moment later. That would be a mistake; the moment I did, the two behind me were able to do that as well.

I am confident that I could contain them and, with enough time, might even be able to kill them.

I need to do something. If I didn't, he would likely die and I would be left with only two necromancers, that are full of panic, and who are barely able to do their jobs.

Hun!

I sensed another death. Killed by the high-priority target, who I had specially chosen to kill her.

Azalia was one of the prime targets in this battle. The intelligence stated Silver, had appointed her deputy commander for this battle. If Stone had died, she would take over the charge.

Rip!

"Fuck!" I cursed visibly and turned to glare at the bitches. Their spell hit me, and it was not a powerful spell, but Earth Thorn; one I could crush easily.

Gulp!

I took out the mana potion and drank it, before casting the fire armor. I don't want to use too much mana, before, but I can't take the risks.

While the spells wouldn't have done any serious damage. Even if it had hit its intended target, I should take it as a warning. It might not kill, but those two have enough spells to kill me on the spot.

I was speaking of killing when I sensed another death, and this one shook me. It happened, so fast.

Tasmid is dead. Killed by that giant-blood bastard.

Taking the number of deaths to nine. Four of them are necromancers, the most valuable powerhouses to the horde.

'Wayne. You bastard, you will pay, if I die!' came the threat of Arnv and I shuddered. This time, he hadn't pleaded for the aid and instead threatened me, and I wish, it had no weight.

There is a powerful faction behind the bastard, and they will be angry if he gets killed. It will be bad for me since I owe them a favor; they had lobbied for me to get the command of the horde.

'The battle is nearly lost; I think we should retreat,' said the calming voice of Jenna, who became visible to my senses for one blinking moment, before disappearing.

She is good at hiding among the undead. If I couldn't sense her with my skills and spells; there is no way, Stone would be able to do it.

It made me a little relieved.

I had nearly convinced myself of those words when I had sensed another death, the tenth one.

It made me feel like dying. It is not something, I wanted to happen, and it will get worse, with enemies joining against more of my powerhouses.

'Wayne, call the retreat. We might suffer, even greater losses if we didn't soon,' said Arnv.

'I fully agree,' said Jenna. 'Me too,' added Bennis.

Hearing that, anger couldn't flare up in my heart. It is not something I had throught. 'We have a fucking horde, and you are thinking of retreat?' I asked, with all the fury, I was feeling.

'It is not a desirable option, but it is the only option we have. If we don't retreat on time, then forget us. Even you will not be able to get out of here alive,' replied Jenna calmly, as always.

Hun!

Her words have made me even angrier, and I opened my mouth to reply when I felt another death. Killed by the second Paladin and the Orc.

I stopped what I was saying.

'There will be a punishment and humiliation if we retreat now,' I said after a second of silence. 'Yes, there will be, but we will be alive with a chance of taking revenge on these bastards,'

'If we didn't retreat now, I am sure we will be killed. Even you will not be spared; that elder blood will come for you after he finishes with me,' replied Arnv.

He is right. Jenna is hiding, and if he didn't find her, then the next target would be me. I don't want to die, but retreat didn't seem like an option either.

I have seen the shame and humiliation of the commanders go through. It is fine if one loses against the big odds, but here we had all the advantages, and retreating means, losing.

I have big ambitions, but retreat will destroy it all and I don't want to do it, despite the cost. I still believe we could win, and the win will come. We only need to keep fighting for an hour more.

'You have thirty seconds to decide, Wayne or we will call the retreat!' said Jenna, shocking me. It is not something I expected to hear. These are the words that no commander wants to hear.

'You wouldn't. I am the commander!' I screamed.

They could do it. I may be the commander, but they are the necromancers; all the pillars are under their control. If they did it. It would be a humiliation, that is worse than death.

They didn't trust me enough to lead the army, so they took the command from me. Commanders have killed themselves in shame when such things have happened.

'We will retreat,' I said finally, unwillingly, angrily. 'Though, before we do give me a chance to try one last thing,' I added.

There is no other choice in front of me; the enemies and my own men left me without it, before I retreat; there is one thing I want to do and these bastards, are going to help me.

If it worked. Then this supposed retreat will turn into a victory.