Strike Against The Forces!

Dang~

Nemmy squinted at Akiol, her Rapier was blocked almost easily, "I see Nimin replaced me, I suppose that's fair."

"Not quite, I merely decided to lend a hand."

"What a hand to lend."

Retracting her rapier she rapidly executed a barrage of stabs. Akiol moved swiftly to counter these, sparks forming from the impacts.

With a flick of his wrist he knocked away the rapier. Nemmy blinked and found a sword to her neck. Akiol stared into her eyes and asked, "Is it really worth it?"

"Don't reprimand me, I've long since made my decision."

"That you have, but I feel like your reasoning is lacking."

"What?"

"If you really were doing this to return to the old days, I'm sure you should've communicated with Nimin."

"Ha, that guy is full of justice or whatever. The thought of teaming with Perina was never going to cross his mind."

"Yet you still went and joined her?"

"I already gave my reasoning."

"You're working towards something else aren't you?"

"That's none of your business."

"True. In that case surrender here. You may be skilled, but you can't win this one."

"Don't get arrogant."

"I won't."

Clang~

Akiol deflected a surprise attack. Nemmy backed away immediately, "Someone of your skill level shouldn't be here. Are you from across the river?"

"You can say that."

"To think someone would willingly come to this hell. However I can't let you beat me here!"

A cloak suddenly formed on Nemmy's shoulders. It was simple in design, the only significant detail was the silver threading.

She launched forward at an incredible speed. Akiol lifted Stars and blocked a blow, but suddenly found himself on the losing side of strength.

He frowned, it wasn't a Berserk Skill that's for sure. It lacked the chaotic mana. Yet the power increase could rival one. . .

A thought rose in his mind: Synced Nexus?

Stars suddenly answered, 'It is! I don't know how much she practiced to do it with a non-sentient weapon. But she managed to sync with her rapier!'

This arose a problem. If the benefits of Synced Nexus was on par, if not greater than, a Berserk Skill, then Akiol was against someone who vastly outmatched his strength.

Not that he wasn't used to this situation, he even could use his Aura to regain the advantage. But he simply didn't wish to use it so soon. Why?

Because Akiol messed up. When he used the Form of Fortification's catalyst method to enhance the Form of Growth, he managed to fuse to the two. This meant he was unable the Form of Fortification like he used to. The catalyst was linked permanently to the Form of Growth, and in return whenever the Form of Fortification was active, it would eat away at his reserves of Aura.

This negative wasn't without its benefits however, the results from this link made the effects of the Form of Fortification enhance drastically. The boost he would gain outmatched his previous limit, even when he used Star's Berserk Skill as the catalyst.

Now for as why he didn't wish to use his Aura was simple. He was saving it to fight Perina. Due to his link with Givale and Stars, Synced Nexus was out of his reach. He was forced to use Aura to close that gap, so using it here was not a great idea.

Nemmy thrust the rapier forward, Akiol moved to dodge but he was a little too slow. The blade of the rapier formed a gash across his cheek.

Watching in surprise Nemmy witnessed the wound automatically close back up. She also noticed how she failed to do any damage. With a frown she demanded to know, "What are you?!"

Akiol did not respond, instead he immediately began to close the distance. Sets of afterimages followed his path, leaving a confusing sight.

He would bridge the gap in strength through his skill!

Nemmy lifted her rapier to deflect the incoming blow. Suddenly the sword vibrated slightly and three additional swords appeared from different sides. With a frown she dodged one of the swings and back stepped to evade the rest.

Akiol had attempted to mimic the sword Skill the genius had used back in the solo dungeon he attempted. However it proved to be far more complicated than he originally thought. Nemmy rapidly stabbed at Akiol, her rapier reflected nearby light causing it to give the illusion of hundreds of sparkles.

Unable to block all of these Akiol felt several cuts form across his body. He grit his teeth, the attack was too sudden. He couldn't get into the stance of {Absolute Territory}.

"Right then, Stars it's your time to shine!"

Akiol ignored defense and pointed Stars directly forward, "Repulse!"

Repulse underwent a drastic change ever since Akiol entered Second Stage. The large blast it normally produced seemed dwarfed in comparison to what it did now.

A large dark ball formed at the tip of Stars. It shrank rapidly before condensing to the size of a bead. Suddenly it expanded, destroying anything that came into contact with it. The ball reached a certain size before disappearing completely. This move destroyed most of the floor as well, Akiol rapidly used mana to form a few footholds to retreat to safer ground.

The upgraded repulse was similar to Givale's spacial erasure, but instead of erasing it forcefully pushed and destroyed. Despite the difference, the outcome was quite similar.

'Aha finally! I was wondering when you were going to use me!'

Akiol smiled faintly, "I'll leave this to you."

~ ~ ~

Yielya witnessed the barrier dim and fall apart. With a grin she ordered, "Double your efforts! We can take the castle!"

Thanks to the Guilds holding off the reinforcements they now had enough time to defeat the enemy army. Once the castle was secure they could assist the Guilds and claim victory.

Turning her head she shouted, "Jarvis! Your tames will be to chaotic here, join the wall defense!"

Jarvis heard the orders and nodded in response. Summoning Neorvil he flew to the outer walls of the city.

Loni was sitting on his shoulder and asked, "Still have that bad feeling?"

"Yeah, I don't know why."

"What about you Neorvil?"

"I sense someone strong here. It's worrisome."

Jarvis guessed, "Must be Perina, she's Third Stage after all."

"It would be safe to assume that, considering the feeling is coming from the castle."

Loni questioned, "Do you have faith that Akiol can handle a Third Stage?"

Jarvis pondered the question. He had an undeniable faith in Akiol's abilities. However one solid rule they had yet to break was that the gap between higher Stages could not be crossed with mere ability. It didn't help that those of a higher Stage were incredibly skilled as well.

However from what Jarvis gathered, Perina's strength was forcefully acquired through absorbing those weaker than her. Such a way of ascension would undoubtedly lead to a much weaker end result. Additionally she seemed to be a spellcaster. Perhaps this time they would break that iron rule?

In the end Jarvis shrugged, "We can only see."

Loni snorted, "What an answer."

Neorvil landed on the wall. Jarvis slid off and surveyed the battle. Surprisingly the Guilds were doing a decent job holding back the army. He estimated they could last a single hour at this pace.

"Right, let's fortify this wall."

Guarton flowed out of the book and snorted, "So soon?"

"This time I need you to create a moat."

"Around the whole wall?"

"Yeah."

"That will take a while."

"I'll leave it to you."

Neorvil interjected, "Don't think about having me fill that moat. There isn't enough water in the area to do that."

"Even if you create it?"

"Water is not something so easily created."

Jarvis faintly chuckled, "Don't worry, wasn't planning on that."

Leaning against the wall he scrutinized the battlefield. While he was fully willing to assist, he didn't wish to put his tames in needless danger.

He needed an opening of sorts, an opportunity even. Several plans flew through his head, his hand hovering over the book.

"Alright, we'll go with that."

Second Stage brought Jarvis a new level of freedom when it came to managing his tames. The amount he could bring out increased, to a total of ten.

Not that he would actually use all ten slots of course. Sometimes it was unnecessary. For now he only needed to provide support. The best way to do that. . .

Color flew from the book of life and formed. As the color settled three beasts came to sight. A large mantis, covered in a shiny grey metal, an abnormally large wolf, and a fox with two tails.

Jarvis smiled, "We need to provide assistance to them. Mantid will lead the charge. Extreok you're to provide assistance against any ranged attacks and flanks. Ruyi, I need you to confuse the enemy with your illusions.

Ruyi, the two tailed Kitsune, tilted her head, 'My illusions aren't strong enough to mask us.'

"I don't need you to hide us, just confuse the enemy."

'How exactly?'

"Make us look like soldiers, or maybe something much larger. Make their allies disappear."

'I can do some of that.'

"Then I can leave it to you?"

'Of course!'

"Thank you."

Extreok stretched, "The war has finally come?"

"Much sooner than anticipated."

Sniffing the air Extreok turned her head towards the castle, "Something fierce is over there."

"Perina, Third Stage opponent."

"Who's to fight them?"

"Akiol and some dude named Nimin."

"Will they be enough?"

"I don't know. Right now our job is to make sure the walls don't get breached."

"Is that why the others are here?"

"Yeah, Neorvil you hang around the sky out of range. Evacuate us if things go south."

Neorvil replied, "I sure hope I'm not needed."

With a flap of her wings Neorvil launched skywards, soon only a faint silhouette of her wings could be seen.

"Guarton how's the moat coming along?"

"Almost, two minutes."

"Then we can start."

Jarvis climbed onto Extreok's back, Ruyi jumped along with him and settled into his lap.

Staring at the waves of soldiers, Mantid could only see various shiny armors made of precious metals. It was like a buffet in its eyes.

Jarvis nodded, "Let's go!"

~ ~ ~

Mira swung the axe and cleaved apart the sorcerer. Suddenly the ground rumbled and the tower he climbed onto fell apart.

Jumping to safety Mira soon found himself in the middle of the fight. Remembering Yielya's orders he cut down only those who attempted to fight him.

Five foes were dispatched easily. This sadly did not deter any of the other soldiers, it only enraged them. Forcing Mira to defeat even more.

As he fought he found himself dragged to a part of the battlefield he could not recognize. Searching around he failed to spot Yielya and frowned, "Sensei said. . ."

His trail of thought was interrupted by a sneak attack from a brave soldier. Naturally this soldier was also defeated.

Looking at the castle he murmured, "I could jump up there and get a better look. But Sensei said to stay away from the castle."

He frowned, such a troublesome choice. The tallest point besides the castle was destroyed. He could jump around to try and gain a better view, but that would put him in enemy lines. And he wasn't to fight needlessly.

"Then, I will wait here!"

Seemingly satisfied with his decision Mira decided to stand around, only dispatching those who dared to fight him. Soon enough the soldiers began to fear his presence, and a gap around him was formed.

Mira ignored this gap and patiently waited. Like this he wouldn't disobey any orders!