Battle Above part 02: Surrounded!!

Gulp…

Night has fallen and from the firelight, they emerged.

Alice's father, Alen, looked directly at the approaching undead.

Shit, they aren't even concealing it anymore, their aura is all over the place!

The three of them are Death Knights, even grass is dying just being close to them!

"Hurry!! Heal the guild master and his secretary or we will end up killed here!" Alen shouted.

I might be able to stand my ground against one but three is too much! I don't have that kind of strength.

The information relayed by the scout said that there was five abnormal undead, but now there are only three! Are the enemy giving us false information intentionally? did the other two perish in the flames?

My instinct is telling me something bad is about to happen! What could it be?

The enemy movements were simple and easily detected from the start! why this now?

Hold up! easy… simple? we detected them easily, they didn't try to hide neither do any notable tactic.

Something clicked inside Alen's head, his experience told him, watch your back!

Alen turned his head toward the camp and screamed.

"Send someone to the City immediately! Inform Alice that this is just a distraction! they might attack from other directions!"

If they used this to attract our attention, we might be in a pincer attack right now! I have no time to waste here, I have to return to my daughter's side! I don't want to lose my family again!!!

Traces of fire engulfed Alen's body, on top of his horse he readied his longsword!

His horse's neigh, no that was the roar of a battle-hardened beast that sent shivers in whoever heard it!

"O'flames, engulf my sword, becomes my blade, and cut the night sky![Fire Magic: Flame edge]"

[Fire Magic], [Sword Arts]

[Double activation: Crescent Moon] Alen swung his with all his might! A crimson crescent moon of pure fire was launched toward the undead at a terrifying speed!

The death knight who just appeared focused on the upcoming attack!

They were three, Alen distinguished them by their weapons and body structure, as well the armors they are wearing!

The three of them are mounting skeletal horses.

A heavily armored one, Alen wasn't able to his face due to the full-body plate armor he was wearing, his weapon was a greatsword. That was a knight!

Another one wasn't wearing armor, a face of rotten flesh and worms, just some rugs on his body, holding a long wooden staff, that gotta be the mage!

The last one only wore light armor, without a helmet, he was a skeleton, with a falchion in each hand, what is he? A ranger? Alen though.

The mage took the front and weaved his staff, a loon stone wall appeared to intercept Alen's attack.

Alen smiled, Stupid this isn't a simple attack!!!

The Cresent Moon slashed right through the stone and hit the Mage's horse, exploding it into bones.

The mage was sent flying, with the fire burning him!

The Cresent Moon activate two times! the first time it contacts something it acts as a blade, cutting through! and the second time it contacts something it acts like a fireball and explodes! You won't stop it unless you build a 1.5-meter thick wall at the least!!!!

This attack consume too much of my mana, I only used it to strike down castles walls and siege weapons, It was overkill to use against a human.], Even a monster since it will destroy the material that can be obtained like hiding and magic crystal!

The mage used a water mage to put the fire out.

"So that how you three survived!" Alen said.

The Adventures present were mostly B-rank, the few A-rank there were just a bit stronger than their comrades, they currently aren't on Leon and Lisa level.

Even tho, this wasn't their job, they were only paid to provide support!

"This city is our turf! get the hell back to your graves!" One of the adventurers screamed as he released his arrow toward the ranger!

"For the guild Master! Lightning bolt!" A woman yelled as she unleashed a spell toward the knight!

Before anyone realized, the adventures have drawn their weapons, each fighting for his own reasons, but with one goal, protecting the city and surviving!

"Let's do this! We will use that!" Alen said.

As it heard this, Aren't trusty horse started weaving from left to right, its movement as smooth as if it was a boxer.

Using that momentum, Alen unleashed two more strikes.

[Double activation: Crescent Moon],[Double activation: Crescent Moon]!

These two seemed a bit smaller than the first one, but they were faster.

The moment they were unleashed Alen rushed with his horse,

The attacks were aimed at the mage and the knight,

The mage used multiple walls of stone to

Engaging the ranger, Alen swung his flaming sword but was blocked! The ranger delivers a left slash toward Alen's torso.

"Neighhhhhh!"Alen's horse turned violently, saving its master from a deadly strike, in the same motion, it delivered a powerful kick to the skeletal horse's head, cracking its skull.

The death knight ranger realized at that moment, he's not facing a single man, he is facing two powerful beings.

[Sword Arts: whirlwind slashes] swinging his two falchions, multiple fast slashes.

Alen did his best to block them, [Sword Arts: Swift Deflection]

In a split moment, Alen thought as if this death knight, who is just a skeleton, had smiled.

Alen wasn't able to block them all, he got slashed multiple times! since the death knight is using two swords, they wouldn't carry as much power as a two-handed grip, but the number of attacks is that great.

Out of the blue, Alen realized that one of the strikes is not aiming for him, it's aiming for his horse.

Shit! I can't block it!!!!

Just a moment before the strike connect, Alen horse jumped, twisting its neck.

The attack missed, only cutting its mane. Mid jump, he bit the death knight's wrist.

The horse tuned again dragging the death knight and delivering a kick to the skeletal horse body. Separating the Death knight from his horse.

"I thought you were getting old, but that was a nice…" Alen stopped as he saw his horse's mouth. Some teeth are broken, his lips are rotting while bleeding from his nose.

"Necrotic mana exposer?" Alen gasped. Of course, it is, Avander blessing will protect us from the necrotic mana released by the undead. With how dense the necrotic mana is inside a death knight, even the blessing isn't enough to protect you!

Alen jumped down from his horse, throwing a glass bottle on the ground as he pointed his sword toward the death knight ranger.

"It's holy water! drink it!" The horse understood Alen's words instinctively and bit the glass bottle.

Alen was about to face the Death knight on the ground.

On the camp, a priestess is healing Leon as she watched the battle unfold.

Alen is fighting the ranger Death knight, while the adventures are buying time, fighting the mage and the knight.

At a moment's notice, she felt a wave of heat, looking down at her hands, Leon's eyes are wide open.

"Guild master! Are you Alright!" The priestess used an appraisal orb on him to check if he need more healing.

--------------------------------------------

Name; Leon Strongheart. Level: 58

Social stats: Guild master of Eric city adventurer guild branch.

Class: Barbarian, Berserker.

Titles: Enraged, Living wall, Beast, Giant, Primordial Will.

Health: 2785/2951.

Mana: 856/942.

Stamina: 1975/2254.

Strength: 45 , Dexterity: 24 , Speed: 29 , Magic: 18 , Luck: 12

Constitution: 46 , Wisdom: 26 , intelligence: 14 , charisma: 22 , Will: 44

Skills:

[Battleaxe Arts: Level 37], [Berserker: Level 39], [Vanguard: Level 38]

[Gigantification: Level 31],[Pain Resistance: Level 39], [Physical Resistance: Level 38]

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It was the first time she saw his stats, unable to put it into words she said.

"Everything is above level 30?!"

Leon stood up, half-naked since his cloth burned with fire, His Gigantification half active, he was almost three meters tall. even his arm was thicker than the priestess's waist.

she felt a bit weird, looking at him.

"Where is Lisa?" Leon asked.

The priestess snapped back to reality from her fantasy.

"Inside the tent, getting healed!"

Without a second wait, Leon barged into the tent.

" Who is it? get out this is a priv…" before the priestess that was inside could finish her sentence she stoped.

In front of her was the massive Leon, barely fitting inside the tent crouching.

"I come to see my wife!" he said.

"Ah! It's you, guild master! she is inside!" The priestess replied in relief.

just inside, behind a curtain, Lisa was lying unconscious, stripped to her underwear!

"Her injuries were a bit more than expected! after we examined her whole body we found multiple new wounds! A tree branch prised under her chest! broken ribs! Burns on the inside of her thighs and back! This on top of the broken limbs!" The priestess said.

"Will she be alright?" Leon asked.

"No need to worry! you were in a worse situation than her! she will be up and kicking in a few minutes! You two are our strongest fighting power now, the holy maiden ordered us to use the best potions and strongest healing magic to keep you two up!" The priestess said while pointing at the glass bottles on the table.

Leon recognized them as one of the most expensive healing potions!

"In that case, I'm returning to the battlefield! please take care of her!" Leon then silently crawled out of the tent.

Outside, a group of adventures was awaiting Leon with a looked like a drawn carriage.

"Whoha! The priestess was right! he is walking like that!!!!" One of them said!

"What?" Leon is confused.

"The priestess that was healing you said that your walking half-naked, Give your guild master some clothes! those were her words!" One of them replied.

"You definitely gave her material for a couple of nights!!! hhhhh!" another one started laughing.

They gave Leon his leather clothing, alongside his signature Battleaxe.

The one he used inside the forest was just a normal Battleaxe since he know it will wight down his escape with Lisa.

---------------------------------

Magic Item: Red bear Battleaxe.

Class: Rare

Effect: Slash and break(The user can freely change between slashing and bludgeoning damage)

Extra effect: Blood rage (If the wilder dropped below 30% HP This Battleaxe will convert Stamina into health to keep him at 30%)

----------------------------------

…

On the battlefield…

[Crescent Moon]!!!

The skeletal ranger easily dodged the point-blank crescent moon, counterattacking with a roundhouse kick to the ear.

[Sword Art: Block] Alen blocked with his sword.

The Kick did hit Alen in the head but its force was greatly reduced.

[Fire Magic: Blast kick]

Fire engulfed Alen's steel boots as he kicked the Death knight in the groin, with a massive explosion the death knight was sent flying.

[Crescent Moon]!! Direct hit mid-air.

The Death knight ranger fell to the ground burning. he instantly regained his stance, extending his hand.

[Necrotic Magic: Deathball] A ball of burning shadow-like, dark purple flames, was lunched toward Alen.

[Fire Magic: Fireball] Alen launched his magic to counter the Deathball.

The magic clashed with a massive boom, the fire erupted, as well the unholy necrotic miasma, causing a massive dust cloud.

The Death Knight looked at the dust, waiting for it clear.

[Wind Magic: Gust drive]

As fast as the wind, Alen zipped from the cloud at high speed. with a low stance, even the Death knight will find it hard to parry a strike.

[Sword Arts: Triple slash] It was a single sword strike but! to anyone watching it looked as if two other spectral blades were following Alen's sword.

The death knight tried to block it but he only managed to block two blades, the third slashed him across the chest.

Following with a back kick [Wind Magic: Wind blast] to the torso, the death knight was sent rolling.

The moment he lifted his head he was greeted with a horse hoof to the face. Alen's horse appeared out of nowhere and gave the Death knight a solid hit to the skull breaking his teeth.

The kick was strong enough that the death knight kept rolling.

"He took his revenge!!" Alen said to the Death knight.

Alen took a look at the battlefield where the other two Death knights are.

He returned to reality, The situation is dire, corpses were everywhere. The knight and Mage Death knight are overwhelming the scouts and the adventurers.

In the brief moment, Alen was watching the knight cut down two adventurers and the mage blasted gods know how much of the scouts with a single Deathball.

Shit! that's right! Only me, Leon, and Lisa can take those monsters head-on. Others don't stand a chance due to weak magic or lacking experience.

To make the situation worse, some undead survived the fire and are slowly emerging from the woods.

…

On the other side of the battle, The knight Death knight is wreaking havoc on the battlefield.

From the back of his skeletal horse, a single swing of his massive greatsword is enough to cut anyone in half.

[Greatsword Arts: Cleaving] The death knight swung his sword trying to cut an adventurer in half.

As he covered his head with his arms the adventured was covered in darkness.

Clash!!!!!! The Death knight's greatsword hit something hard.

It was bones, The greatsword is stuck in a massive ball of flesh and bones.

The death knight was surprised, he has never seen a human this big before.

It was Leon, he protected the adventure with his body, the death knight strike hit Leon in his left latissimus dorsi muscles, and it was stopped by his ribs and shoulder blade.

As Leon stood up he was a bit taller than the death knight who is on his horse!

The adventurer quickly backed off as he splashed Leon's back with a healing potion he had on hand, that was enough to at least stop the bleeding.

"Grawwwwwww!" Leon growled as he punched the death knight in the torso with a straight punch so hard, he was thrown alongside his horse.

Following it with a downward strike from his Battleaxe.

[Battleaxe Arts: Heavy slash]

With a high guard [Greatsword Arts: High Guard Deflection], the death knight deflected Leon's attack. Using this opening he aimed at Leon's neck in a chained attack [Greatsword Arts: Horizontal slash].

Luckily with how tall is Leon now, he only needed to move his neck a bit to dodge it.

[Vanguard: Taunting Roar] Leon roared with all his might, All the undead present shifted their attention toward Leon, Of course, the death knights weren't affected.

This will give the other adventurer time to breathe, heal, or strike the undead from behind.

The battle tide started to shift toward a brighter ending with Leon joining.

…

Down in Roa, Connor was chatting with Alema, about the reasons the prices are extremely high in this city.

"I remember that 40~50 silver coins is enough for a family to live with for a month! why the entrance fee is a whole month's salary?!" Connor asked.

"Even if said that! As you can see we're located underground which make moving supplies harder! and we also can't grow food here besides mushrooms!" Alema replied.

"Are you saying that The market's high prices are the reason?" Connor asked.

"Are you dumb?" Alema asked.

"{Notice: Yep, he has a monkey brain! Let me explain!}"

"I'm counting on you!" Alema sat down.

"{Notice: Down here there is no sun, that means no farming or animal rasing. Since you have to transport food through a cave system with the danger of monsters, the price will definitely rise! Add that this is a lawless city!}"

"That's insane…" Connor sat down as he felt a burst of heat from his chest.

Ah! whats this! I felt as if I drank ten espressos at once! Ariel, is this a heart attack?

Alema noticed Connor and rushed to him with some water.

{Notice: A huge surge of power has been detected through the holy maiden link! The energy received was absorbed by the Portfolio of Destruction and converted into Mana.

That mana was absorbed by the Divine Slayer class and your mana core for it stabilize!}

What? did Alice do something?

{Notice: Why don't you just call her?}

Good idea!

"Alice! Can you hear me did something happen?"

-" Connor-sama! Nothing had happened, I was just watching the battlefield!"-

"Listen to me, I just felt a surge of power through the holy maiden link! did you do something that could have caused that?"

-" If you're asking, Just a moment ago we burnt the whole mountain in Avander and the hero's name! In the name of Avander the god of renewal and rebirth, and by the will of the hero, we burn thee to save more lives! Something like this!"-

"How could that cause me to get energy?"

-" I don't know, this is what I know, other than this I was just standing the whole time!"-

{Notice: Hold up! I have an Idea!}

"Oh! Ariel-sensei! what do you think!"

"{Notice: The energy traveled through the holy maiden link, so it has to be related to that burning! Since your Portfolio absorbed it, It must be related!

The burning of an entire mountain is a form of destruction, it must have reacted to it!

You're Connor Von Eric Hakai Monke, The Hero of destruction! so it might be a way to support you!}"

-" I see! Ariel might be right, Avander, for example, ask people to bring newborns to his church for blessing, when someone repairs something they tank Avander, He was the one who ordered the building of orphanages to care for the new life! The more people did that the more active Avander became!"-

"{Notice: Are you saying he is getting power from people following his teaching? Or its…}"

-" You seem to get it! wait for a minute I will be back"-

What she is going to do?

{Notice: No idea!}

-" Ho ha ho ha ho ha…"-

Hmmm! I could hear her breathing heavily as she runs.

-" You there! and you, you, you, and you two!! Carry those stones and follow me!"-

What is she going to do with those stones?

{Notice: probably going to use them to break something in the hero name and test what we discussed earlier!}

-" Now! Throw them and break those windows in the hero's name!"-

-" No questions asked! just do It!!!"- Connor could hear Alice yelling at the poor soldiers!

{Notice: Confirmed! there has been a small surge in power! it less than 0.0001% of the previous surge! But it definitely exists!}

-" Connor-sama, did you feel anything?"- Alice asked.

"Yeah, I did! but please listen! This is an order, Don't go around destroying things to make me stronger!"

-" Understood! I will try to obey that, but if your life was in danger I might attempt it!"-

If I died, someone close to me will die, would I exchange that with a material object? No, This only gives me energy, Mana, it's not reviving me like [Plot Armor], if I was killed out of the blue, facing an enemy far stronger than me, would supplying with extra mana really help?

{Notice: You might not win, but it will allow you to run and regroup!}

"Alice, just don't do it! it's not worth it!"

-" As you order!"-

-" Connor-sama, I have to cut, a soldier came with information, so excuse me!"-

"Take care, don't force yourself and run if it seems dangerous!"

Connor cut the call.

…

On Alice's side, the messenger was Accompanied by Alva.

"Holy maiden-sama, I have bad news!" The man was about to report but Alva pushed him and got to the point directly.

"Were surrounded, from all directions (West, north, south, and east!). Order the closer of the city!"

Trusting Alva, Alice shouted.

"Close the gates! Let everyone in then Close the city! We're going into siege!!"

"Alice-sama but…"

"If they get close to the gate and there was no enemy in sight we will let our troops in, doing otherwise will just result in the entire city getting slaughtered!!" Alice replied.

"She is right! Avander said that a blessed wind is coming toward us, that might be our only saving grace!"

"No way! what about the hero?What about The gold dragon?" The soldier asked, and rightfully so, Alice is being protected by the hero and a mighty dragon.

"The hero is now Clashing with the enemy leader in the underground city of Roa! he can't come to us now! And about kinryuu, I don't really know what that old man is doing, if things get worse I will try to suicide by jumping from the castle walls!" Alice said.

"Suicide? I didn't mean that…" The soldier was confused.

"Kinryuu wants Alice to stay Alive if she tried to suicide he will most likely appear to save her! The risk is that if she actually died, Kinryuu will be the one to erase this city from the map!" Alva explained to him

"No way!" The soldier is shocked.

"Hurry, prepare the siege weapons! we will use them to slow down the enemy as they get close!"

"Alva-sama! Alva-sama! New development!" The soldier said as he was out of breath.

"Thre enemy approaching from the south is being assaulted by Bluemill forces!!" The soldier said.

"What! they did send us reinforcements!" Alva cried.

"Kage and Roxanne, they are smart and cunning, I guess the moment the soldiers reported what happened with the zombie troll, those siblings managed to conclude the situation and sent their soldier just in case!" Alice said.

Another soldier came in rushing.

"Report! Report!"

"Don't it's the capital now sending reinforcement?" Alva said.

"No! It's weird! to the west, the enemy troops are being assaulted by a pride of griffons! they number around 16 females and 9 males and lastly one big Alpha male with golden feathers! total of 26 griffons!" The soldier said, not believing his own words.

"Did the enemy destroy a nest on their way or something?" Alva questioned.

"I don't think that is the case. Soldiers have reported seeing a child riding the Alpha male griffon!" The soldier spoke.

"Are you joking with us?" Alva screamed.

"Calm down Alva, It might be some druidic circle that is actually attacking!" Alice said.

"What do you mean?" Alva asked.

"You know, Adventure, soldier, and bandit being attacked by druid after they trespass onto his land!" Alice replied.

"But they rarely do, and they don't usually interfere in wars!" Alva replied.

"This isn't a war between humans, elves, or any race, this is a war against the undead the common enemy of all living beings!" Alice said.

"Then why a child?" Alva keeps asking questions.

"How would I know? The soldier might have seen it wrong, he might be dwarf for all we know!" Alice was visibly getting irritated.

"Sorry, I will return to my post!" Alva said as she hurried to her squad.

As Alice was left alone, she headed to the castle armory.

On her way, she saw a maid swiping the ground.

"You there, Follow me!"

"My lady! but I'm working!" The maid replied.

"This is urgent, just follow me!" Alice said.

the maid followed her in silence.

Soon they reached the armory, the guard saw Alice running toward them.

"Open the door!" Alice ordered them.

"Sorry Alice-sama, Lord Alen's orders were strict to not open the door to anyone!"The soldiers refused.

"Listen, I'm the lord now, open or I will force my way in!"

The solder barred the way with their spears.

"I see, I understand!"

Alice gently caught both spears with her hands.

Crack! The spear's wooden shaft broke under Alice's grip strength.

As the soldier looked at their spears in surprise Alice caught them from the neck!

"I don't have time, Open the damn door or I will take the key from your corpses!"

Finally, the soldier opened the door for Alice and the maid.

Don't let anyone follow me in! she told the guards.

After they entered the door was closed.

As Alice was walking in the armory she started stripping which left the maid following her confused.

"Alice-sama, what are you doing!" The maid asked, but she got a part of the answer the moment she saw Alice's naked body.

Strong build, big back muscles, wide arms, and thick thighs.

Alice stood in front of a mirror, her body looks the same, but the moment she flex the muscles shows up.

Lydia's strength, I'm finally accustomed to it!

"You are going to help me wear a suit of armor!" Alice pointed at a certain armor in front of her!

Yes, that's the armor my father prepared for Lydia!