Another One Bites the Dust(PD inc. 20)
I wonder if Gawain is too op.
But what would a Isekai novel be ,without an super strong character supporting the protagonist.
******
(Samuel's site)
"Ice Bolt"
"Ice Lance"
"Ice Bolt"
...
The necromancer's spells flew across the battlefield again and again, each fired in a different direction at perfect intervals, with the aim of saving as much as possible of the rapidly depleting mana pool.
However, the wolves still did not give him a moment's peace to breathe or mentally rest.
The big monsters constantly attacked him from the right, left, and sometimes even from the center, while during the fight, which lasted several minutes, it happened more than once that the necromancer was attacked from several directions simultaneously.
Like sharks who sensed blood, the beasts did not leave him even for a step, subconsciously sensing in Samuel an easy prey to catch.
"Ice Bolt"
The patient and tenacious Samuel, on the other hand, still endured and continued to defend himself fiercely, also not giving up an inch of ground held without the bloodletting of one of the large creatures.
This had unpleasant consequences, as constantly casting spells, repairing the arena from time to time, and on top of that healing Randaloph, who had just wanted help in the duel, only caused Samuel's mana to start shrinking dangerously and alarmingly fast.
"Ice Bolt"
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Mana : 590/2100
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Having already experienced the power of the necromancer's spells more than once, the wolves attacked him ruthlessly, and methodically but no longer stupidly and dismissively.
This is why Samuel was able to slow down his spellcasting by bluffing that he was still at full strength, or at least not so weakened as to pose no real threat. This way, he would gain precious seconds before support from the rest of his army arrived.
"Ice Bolt"
The mindless animals could not know that the necromancer was already on the verge of his strength, so they did not try to finish him off.
Thanks to this trick, Samuel could probably have prolonged the fight by a good few minutes or even longer... if not for an unexpected incident...
...
Out of nowhere, Samuel was attacked by a fourth wolf which appeared out of nowhere. From this side, which was not defended by any shield-men at all, the unexpected attacker had access directly to the necromancer.
The only thing that saved him from instant death was a paranoid check of his surroundings every once in a while. By looking back, he gained a few precious seconds, before the monster's mouth would reach him and crush his bony head.
And of course also...
"Ice Walk" Samuel shouted slightly desperately before the wolf's fangs could reach him.
"Gawain you idiot" Samuel shouted furiously at full volume before continuing to defend himself.
The ice wall stopped the young, impulsive wolf's momentum but even it did not forbid the mobile beast from simply and logically going around the wall.
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Mana: 375/2100
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And wounded in many places, the wolf did just that. When he did so he attacked the 'innocent' necromancer once more without delay.
"Ice Bolt"
"Ice Bolt"
"Ice Bolt"
The wolf, with the ease of a dancing ballerina, dodged the projectiles fired in his direction with each moment and dodge bringing him closer and closer to Samuel who, having constructed an ice wall, moved away from him and fled as fast as he could.
The other wolves, meanwhile, were not wasting their time either, for each of their attacks without counter-attack or reassurance from the necromancer this time ended up destroying at least one undead or more.
...
"It's over..." Thought a desperate Samuel.
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Mana : 150/2100
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"I have almost no mana left, I am surrounded on two sides and Gawain's support is nowhere to be seen...what to do?"
"..."
"I will not give up"
"And if I am to die once again then at least this time with a weapon in my hand," The necromancer thought as he began to prepare a new ice spell.
"Time to pull the last ace out of my sleeve and pray to my new boss for victory, if he is watching me."
Samuel promptly ran to the nearest unthreatened shieldman still surviving, took his weapon, and bravely charged at the wolf attacking the other side.
Right in front of him, the necromancer stopped and then crouched down on the ground and stretched out his hand holding the sword in front of him. As if to impale the monster leaping towards him on it.
The wolf, no longer threatened by the ice spells, foolishly jumped at the necromancer, completely unconcerned about the sticking-out sword, which he could easily avoid, then attacked him with his fangs.
"Ice Lance" whispered Samuel as the young monster dodged his obvious trap.
The ice sorcery cast with his right hand barely scratched the wolf, who quickly and safely dodged the blow, moving slightly to the left.
Straight at the necromancer's sword approaching from which he shifted.
Unable to dodge the attack this time, the wolf quickly closed its mouth in an attempt to minimize the damage. He knew that the sword held by the necromancer would not hurt him too much, at least not enough to kill him immediately or seriously injure him.
"Ice Enchant," Samuel thought as he cast the new ice spell for the first time.
The rusty skeleton's sword was surrounded by a glowing blue aura with fragments of ice, signaling the presence of magic on the sword.
And when this happened, the necromancer swiftly slammed the sword straight into the wolf's mouth, easily piercing the animal's lips and destroying several teeth that were in the way of the blade.
In desperation, the wolf tried to snatch Samuel's hand away by snapping its jaws...which it succeeded in doing, but it was too late for such a move.
The sword, pointing upwards, slashed first the wolf's palate and then its insides as far as the necromancer's hand would go inside the beast.
Eventually, Samuel lost his hand and the wolf its life.
"From now on you can call me Tyr" shouted the exultant new one-armed undead as he looked at the beast's corpse.
"..."
"Never mind...you don't look much like Fenrir to me."
"..."
The goddess of luck this time favored the necromancer in the duel...but it might not be the goddess...
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Mana : 50/2100
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"It wasn't even close..." Samuel thought as he once again survived the fatal clash. He then fell into an almost wild joy of victory over his adversary.
"..."
Fortunately, in a moment he came to his senses and stopped raging, knowing that the danger to his life still lingered.
The fight continued but this time Samuel was almost alone because as the necromancer fought for his life other wolves razed the necromancer's remaining guard.
The race with lives on the line began.
"Minor Death Touch"
Said Samuel as he began to pull vitality from the wolf's carcass. However, still looking to see if the rest of the wolves rushed towards him.
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Mana : 175/2225
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"Better than nothing, right?"
"Now all I have left to do is..."
"Gotta go fast..." Thought the necromancer and then threw himself into flight toward the rest of the army.
*****
(Gawain/Samuel site)
Gawain ran as hard as he could until he spotted his master directly in front of him who also, like him, was desperately running.
Samuel, however, had three menacing monsters sitting directly on his back.
"How good to see you Gawain" Shouted the necromancer as he approached his knight.
"I've never been so happy to see someone before".
" Well, we must talk about what you've done after..." Said Samuel, but he did not manage to finish the sentence because the nearest wolf jumped directly at him.
At times like this, the undead giant is always useful and ready to act.
Gawain raised his damaged wooden shield and prepared to counterattack the animal as his master retreated behind his defender's back.
Bang
The only surviving juvenile hit the bone giant with all his momentum, but even despite all his mass and speed she barely moved him backward.
SLASH
The knight did not wait for his opponent's next move, instead, he swung his blade with all his might, aiming perfectly at such a place that the great wolf would have no chance of avoiding without being damaged.
The young female, as one would expect, tried to dodge the blow, but to no avail, because she was not sufficiently experienced and Gawain, already familiar with the reflexes of her species, knew well how the animal would behave.
SLASH
A second slash only finished the job and decapitated the female wolf.
The other two wild best next to them, seeing what had happened, stopped in place as if struck.
The wolf-coward began to shake with doubt and hesitation was visible in his eyes, probably wondering whether to look back and simply run away.
However, seeing his companion's behavior, the second wolf quickly 'calmed' him with his howl.
In contrast to his companion, the "old one" behaved completely unexpectedly.
From time to time, he only growled threateningly and anger and rage poured out of his eyes.
"Ohoho..." Exclaimed Samuel from a safe position.
"Could it be someone close to you wolf..."
The animal only growled at this and did not move from his position, stifling his anger, all the time looking with his eyes for the best opportunity to attack.
Unfortunately for him, Gawain's defenses were as impenetrable as always, impenetrable at least for an enemy of his caliber.
"Family perhaps?"
"Hmmm... mate?
"Not too young...or maybe..."
"A daughter...Yes, a daughter" said Samuel comparing the two wolves, after a while finding that they looked very similar.
"I'm sorry for your loss...not really...but you know what I mean"
"Wait you're just a stupid animal, so you don't get it..."
"Ehhh.... and why am I even trying?"
"..."
"Gawain, would you be so kind as to move a few steps forward so that I can take care of the corpse of the animal... I mean the wolf lady?" said the necromancer when he was already in a much safer position.
The rest of the undead army finally arrived at the place of the skirmish and surrounded Samuel in such a way that even the smallest part of the space was not vulnerable to attack from the outside.
At the command of his master, Gawain took a step forward and then another and another, all the while approaching the larger wolf, stopping only when the large monster was practically at his fingertips.
The "Old One" didn't seem to react at all to the slow movement of the undead knight, he just continued looking ahead unconcerned.
But in fact, with every step, the wolf's body tensed up more and more, ready to jump, while adrenaline pumped faster and faster into his brain with every second.
However, the impasse continued.
Seeing that nothing was happening further, Samuel decided to stop the duel of staring.
He walked with slow steps towards the headless corpse of the wolf, surrounded all the time on all sides by his servants.
Just when he was about to touch the corpse with his skeletal hand and suck the vitality out of it, "Old One" decided to finally attack, starting the last stage of the fight.