Dantean battle (1/2) : one step away

The energy in front of Alain was close to the level of an elementary energy creation warrior, and it was rushing at them at high speed. He didn't even have time to curse the enemy for appearing in an area so close to the village, each second being more precious than gold.

Swiftly, he started giving orders. An elite would escort away from the people who were training, carrying with them a good part of the booty. The rest of them would then face off the beast.

Afterward, he camouflaged himself in the surroundings, waiting for the arrival of the beast.

''It's coming, get ready!'' From start to finish, only 30 seconds had passed, hardly enough time to prepare.

The elites tightened their grip on their swords as they heard these words. Having followed Alain in battle coupled with their training by Eloise, they had become accustomed to such orders and knew how to react.

However, this time they clutched their swords particularly tightly. If Alain's orders were never filled with joy, this time a trace of desperation could be heard.

'If he had hidden his energy...' Alain did not dare to imagine what the repercussions would have been.

In front of him was a boar of two meters in diameter, destroying everything on its charge. Lightning bolts covered his skin and his path without hurting him, proof that he had mastered the creation of energy.

The lightning bolts were all small, and Alain assumed that they were only used to defend himself, mainly during his charge and his fight. So, if they managed to keep the fight going long enough, they could survive.

The question was: how many would survive? Alain had already logically given up hope of winning without sacrifice, though an illogical thought in his heart still believed it, darkening his heart after each battle.

Information being key, he had positioned elites to attack and test the creature while others supported them further out. Finally, Emily was defended by 4 elites, possessing the most important role in this fight: recovering in a war exhaustion battle.

''Roar! '' The beast roared with a voice incomparable to that of a classic boar. The sheer force of its cry created a strong wind that even affected Alain. Fortunately, the wind didn't yet have the power to physically destabilize them. However, even Alain was temporarily panicked, let alone the elites.

The boar gave them no time. Taking the initiative, it charged at the nearest soldiers.

The soldiers were still shaking, some of them now stunned by its charge. Trying by all means to control their bodies, some cut their lips while others dug their nails into their skin.

''You fucking beast! ''

''It's only a wild pig.''

''They are the laughing stock of all beasts''

''He's alone''

'' We can do it!''

Everyone tried to motivate and calm themselves in their own way, belittling the enemy and lying to themselves.

The boar seemed to ignore them, however, continuing its charge as if nothing had happened. Soon he came within range of the elites, sweeping his body to hit two elites, creating a curtain of dust.

At the same time, the elites stuck their blades into the beast.

''Ahhhhhh!'' one was knocked down by the beast, his head shattering, while the other couldn't move her body, crushed by the beast. It was not even clear if she would make it.

When the dust cloud disappeared, Eloise and all the soldiers were shocked to see that no damage had been done. The blades hadn't penetrated the beast's skin. Worst, the boar's defense didn't seem to have weakened one bit.

Seeing this, Eloise glanced at Alain who nodded.

Self-controlled or fearful, none of the soldiers tried to avenge their dead comrade. Quickly surrounding the boar, Eloise entered the encirclement, serving as a decoy.

The plan had changed. The exhausted one was no longer an option, as only Eloise or Alain could try to hold out against it, supported by the rest of the team and Emily. Speaking of her, she didn't hold back anymore but used her powers to increase the team's power.

'' Goddess of strength Viresbus, bring courage and strength to your warriors, 'sufgium'. ''

Alain couldn't help but clench his fist. Even in times of war, priests felt obliged to speak the sacred words rather than incant. Despite this, Alain remained calm. His men were counting on him.

The moment the spell was completed, divine spiritual energy flooded Eloise with an orange color.

The transformation was obvious, not only had her spiritual energy increased - now possessing an orange glow - but her body was energized and optimized, making her more powerful. This caused her breathing rate to increase.

This came at a price, however. Not only was the caster using a lot of her sacred energy, but the receiver would strain her body much faster, increasing the risk of injury.

Gritting her teeth, she silently lunged at the beast.

The boar spotted her, however, pausing for a second before making a decision. Observing the situation, he decided to deal with the weaker ones first, guessing the cost of using such a technique.

He would win by time!

''Ahhhh!" for every ten seconds that passed, the boar charged at a person, injuring or killing them.

After about thirty seconds, however, a new encirclement took place, this time much closer to the beast, allowing for more than one person to deal with it.

''Keep it up! We're going to get him!" shouted Eloise.

Without waiting, she dashed back to the left side of the beast, which decided to get rid of her.

Enchanting the sword with her energy, she used all the strength in her legs to sprint at her maximum speed. If she had initially held back to deceive her opponent, she now demonstrated a speed that surpassed her maximum speed but could only be used for an instant.

'' Uahhh!'' She shouted, filling herself with courage.

The beast panicked as it noticed the enormous amount of energy being used, and went on guard, concentrating eighty percent of the lightning to counter it.

''Bang! '' The clash between the two energies produced an enormous wind that pushed Eloise backward.

Seeing the result, the beast smiled evilly. At this, Eloise smiled back.

''Now!'' she shouted.

Behind the boar appeared a soldier with a sword glowing with energy. It looked like a mini sun.

''Uahhh!'' He shouted back, swiftly swinging his blade at the beast.

In alarm, the beast's eyes seemed to quiver in horror. He hurriedly concentrated twenty percent of the energy on the other parts of his body to cover the attack. Knowing that this wouldn't be enough, he ordered the energy that had defended Eloise's attack to come in for support.

It was a race against time for the boar!

''tzz! '' The impact of the energies produced a hissing sound, lasting for a few seconds. As the seconds passed, a black trail of burning appeared on his body, the energy continuing to attack relentlessly.

Yet even this energy couldn't last forever, disappearing little by little to leave only an icy silence on the battlefield.

Only when the boar felt safe, looking at the exhausted elite as a whole, did he smile again, a satisfied look appearing on his face.

At the same time, a figure appeared silently above Eloise, his sword charged with energy. It was Alain.

''Slash! '' With the beast's lightning bolts directed away from it, Alain's sword had no trouble getting past its defenses, entering the flesh.

A millimeter, a centimeter, three centimeters, very quickly the wound grew to a dozen centimeters.

'I can do it! ' Still cold and seemingly indifferent, an emotion of joy quickly flashed across his face.

Soon, the wound expanded to about fifteen centimeters. It had already been a second since he had attacked.

It was at this point that he began to look around, his body freezing.

Despite the wound, the beast's smile only increased.

His energy left his body to immobilize Alain for a short moment, enough for him to attack him with his leg.

''Bang!'' The blow threw Alain against a tree, which moved a few inches, making it wobble.

''buaa!'' Alain ejected blood from his mouth.

It was only then that Alain understood. It wasn't because his opponent didn't know how to hide its energy, but that he didn't need it.

His opponent... He was only one step away from being a Knight...