Chapter 8: Honour Guards In Action

On the 97th Floor, ten figures encircled a single figure as the kneeled. These were none other than Marcus and his Honour Guards. "I have a mission for you," Marcus told them, "I want you to eliminate all the adventurers on the 1st Floor."

"Consider it done Milord," Delsair said stepping out, "I am more than enough for such a trivial task."

"I know all of you have become strong enough to wipe out all the adventurers on the 1st Floor, Delsair," Marcus said softly, "However, you are my Honour Guards. My Honour Guards are supposed to be the strongest force that I can send out on the battlefield. Force not individual. Therefore, for this task, I want all of you to suppress your Grandmaster Rank strength to that of an Apprentice Rank. I want all of you to work together to defeat all the adventurers on the 1st Floor. I have already taught you the basics of fighting as a team, now all you need to do is to implement it."

"Yes Milord!" they shouted in unison.

Marcus turned around and said, "I'll await the good news."

The Honour Guards waited for him to leave before standing up and discussing amongst themselves.

"I'll go get your gear," Granmir said, "Master already said that I am not to take part in combat expeditions."

"Are the new gear ready?" Delsair asked excitedly.

"No," Granmir shook his head, "But even if they were ready I doubt His Highness would allow us to use it. He had told me some time ago to slow down and take my time. In my opinion, this means that he doesn't want us using equipment to defeat our enemies."

"I agree," Asura said, "His Highness is right. We are too individualistic to be able to serve him as a force. So I think the first step to being a team is to pick a leader and solidify the chain of command."

"That's simple," Drathalsiel said, "You shall be the Team Leader, Mimphralgos and I should be the Close Combat Specialists, Crowncrest and Delsair are the Scout/Artillery Support, Xako and Pharos are Magicians, Azzid is an Assassin along with you, Asura, Kerrigan should be the Medic/Magician while Granmir should be Technical Support."

"All in favour?" Asura asked. He looked around and he saw that no one objected, "Once Granmir returns we move out. In the meantime let us discuss our formation."

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On the 1st Floor, thousands of adventurers kept flooding in small teams. In one of the groups, a boy wielding a shield and a sword suddenly stopped walking. "What's wrong Team Leader?" the only Magician of the team asked. The boy held a finger to his lips and motioned for that person to be silent. Suddenly he lifted his shield and shouted, "Combat positions!"

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Delsair let her arrow loose. She was aiming for the only person with a shield in the team. Tink! She was surprised to see that the boy was able to lift his shield up in time and deflect her arrow. She silently cursed Granmir as she notched another arrow. "Team Leader ambush failed. The enemy has been alerted," she said telepathically. His Highness had connected them all together telepathically. He said that it would prove useful in communicating in team battles. Delsair had her doubts but all of them were lost once she saw it working like a treat. The telepathic link solved once of the most important factors in the battlefield - communication.

Asura heard Delsair's report and couldn't help being surprised. However, he quickly moved on and showed the stability of a leader. "Stay on Crowncrest and aim for vital spots," he ordered her, "Mimphralgos and Drathalsiel go engage them in combat."

Immediately, two figures shot out and engaged the group of adventurers in close quarters combat. The one with the shield was stunned and sent flying as Mimphralgos charged right into him. Then he swung his greatsword in an arc to intercept the arrow and [Fireball] heading his way. Drathalsiel dashed through the ball of fire created by the [Fireball] and intercepted the two Close Combat Specialists of the team. One of them had a dual-handed sword while the other had a longsword. She stabbed the one with the longsword while slashing her other sword at the other. The one with the longsword hurriedly defended himself while the one with the dual-handed sword rolled underneath her swing and stabbed her. As he was about to connect Mimphralgos kicked him out of the way.

Asura watched Mimphralgos and Drathalsiel in satisfaction. He was standing on a hill to watch the proceedings of the battle and to make sure that no team flanks them while they were fighting. Delsair was still sending occasional arrows to disrupt the enemy Magician's casting. He had also sent Azzid to scout ahead and warn him if there were any teams incoming. Just as the battle was getting to the crucial moment Azzid suddenly said, "Two groups coming from the East; a total of five people." Delsair's voice could be heard immediately after, "Group of ten from the West."

Asura calmly commanded, "Pharos help Azzid dispatch of those in the East. Kerrigan and Xako group up with me. Drathalsiel and Mimphralgos, end your fight quickly and support me on the East; Delsair helps them out, let Crowncrest attack too."

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Marcus watched his Honour Guards fight their first battle as a team. He nodded with satisfaction as he saw that they had very quickly assigned jobs to one another. Suddenly he saw three groups head towards his Honour Guards and smiled, "Let's see how you handle such a situation. Your outmanned and their equipment seems to be better than the ones I had Granmir make specially for this." Marcus watched as Asura calmly gave out orders without any hesitation. The others quickly executed the order. "You want to have Pharos and Azzid delay or defeat the ones to the East while you delay the ones to the West. Then you want Mimphralgos and Drathalsiel to act as a reserve force and breakthrough at the crucial moment?" Marcus nodded with approval, "However, you will find out that the battlefield is ever changing and such an accurate plan is a bad plan on the battlefield. You should also always have scouts watching no matter what." Marcus lowered the magnification of his Dungeon Interface. To the South of his Honour Guards was a group of fifteen that was rapidly approaching. There was also another group of five approaching from the North.