Chapter 263 C263. Angel Of Decay
"Attack!"
As Jarret gave the signal for the start of the battle, Lo also did the same as he ordered his undead infantry unit to attack. His force compromised of over 1,000 low-level skeletons and zombies and more than 500 heavily armored mid-tier warriors leading the charge. It
He also commanded the undead beast riders to charge un from the sides and take out the enemy archers while the mage artillery Corp prepared the fire. However, Jarret's unit was a tad faster.
Before Hart and Talen's team could even clash with the horde of undead heavy infantry, Lora had already ordered the Liches in her unit to continuously cast Giant fireballs at the flank of Lo's regiment. Aiming for the undead mages artillery Corp their Magic support unit.
Of course, those units had set up several layered barriers to protect themselves but due to the Liches being able to infinitely cast the fireball spell, that was not a problem. For now, it slowed down the undead mages while the rest of her mages aimed at the undead infantry effectively reducing their numbers as much as they could.
Without adequate support from the undead Magic support, their spells decimated the low-level undead infantries but she did not attack the heavy infantry ahead of the army to avoided harming Hart and Talen.
With that, Gail's unit could target the undead beast riders who were harder to be targeted by the mages. The hobgoblin's archers were incredibly skilled and they all used high-quality crossbows that fired multiple rounds rapidly like machine guns, making escape impossible.
The only problem was the undead archers scattered all over the undead army. As the mages were preoccupied with the continuous streams of Giant fireballs, they could not make any decent attacks but the archers could move around more freely and Lo had commanded them to take out Lora who was being the biggest nuisance right now.
However, it was at that moment that Hart and Talen collided with the Heavy infantry and things escalated quickly.
They were both 4th tier warriors who had received powerful skills from their master and these so-called Heavy infantries were only at the Basic stages of Tier 3 and Peak stages of Tier 2 and they could not hope to stand in front of the pair.
Naturally, they moved like a pair of hurricanes, shattering the formation of the heavy infantry with a single swing of their weapons.
The Black knights that accompanied them were stronger than the ones from Lo's unit but with their limited number, they normally wouldn't make much difference.
However, with Hart and Talen moving like hurricanes, their Black knights could take advantage of the opening they provided, pushing the enemy undead back as the hobgoblin warriors skillfully disposed of them.
They shattered through the army defensive line and opened a path for Jarret's unit to attack the enemy's General. Jarret and Kela moved quickly through the gaps in the army and using one skill after another, they claimed the lives of any undead that met their blades.
Naturally, even with their current advantage, they were still vastly outnumbered and the Liches could not completely stop the undead mage Corp as spells and arrows came flying their way.
However, Nadine wouldn't let them have their way as she moved nimbly across the battlefield, intercepting any attack that could not be blocked by its targets or simply countering them with spells of her own.
They had been ordered not to suffer any casualties and they would not be the ones to disappoint their master.
Although she could not completely defend everyone from unexpected attacks by herself, they had a few healers amongst the hobgoblins and they quickly moved the wounded to the back to attend to them.
Their battle was the most intense and evenly match battle yet the next thirty minutes were spent slowly chipping away at the undead numbers which were still over 2,000 while their forces of less than 500 were getting smaller with the increasing amount of wounded.
Currently, Jarret and Hart were engaged in battle with Lo who was a nimbler fighter than one would expect, and even with their newfound strength, they could only just keep him occupied while Kela and Talen prevented any of his special units from helping him.
The tension was high all around and any wrong moves and they could lose their lives in an instant. Especially if Lo was given a chance to touch them directly.
•Razor Wind•
Using one of his most proficient skills, Jarret swung his sword at Lo severally in quick succession and thin slashing blades of razor-sharp winds cut through Lo's armor but didn't do much damage given the tier difference between them.
Besides, most undead creatures were immune to cutting attacks and only took bludgeoning damage. This explained why they hadn't even scratched his body until now. If they wanted to have a chance of winning against a stronger opponent like him, they needed to play to his weaknesses.
As neither he nor Hart wielded any blunt weapons or knew skills that caused blunt damage or could simply overwhelm the Wight, Jarret scanned around the battlefield with his Spirit Vision and quickly decided on his next course of action,
"Hey switch!"
As he yelled that, Kela didn't even think twice about it as she immediately ignored the Zombie warrior she was fighting and turned around to charge at Lo.
Of course, the Zombie warrior wouldn't stop its attack simply because its enemy was trying to run away so it swung its blade at her opened back but was met with a sword that pushed it back and another razor wind was used and before it could understand what had happened, it's body wad already in pieces.
•Necrosis Slashing Sword•
Understanding why Jarret had switched places with her without even needing to ask, Kela, an ogress who had been a member of Jarret and Erin's hunting party for years, activated the skill she had only recently attained from her master.
Her long sword was immediately wrapped in a golden aura as she skillfully avoided the blade of Lo who had been distracted by Hart and swung her sword at the Wight General.
[Foolish Girl, Die?]
Unfortunately, her blade did not penetrate the bones of Lo and her weapon bounced off him but she had anticipated this results and used the momentum from the bounced weapon to twist her body around as she yet again avoided Lo's attack before striking at his neck then swiftly moving to strike his shoulder and then his knees, each time her weapon bouncing off his bones.
[Do not make a mockery of yourself mortal and accept your fate.]
Lo snorted as he shoved Hart aside and moved to decapitate the head of the annoying pest that had been bothering him. However, as he raised his arm to strike, he suddenly froze.
He has lost control over his arms, legs, and neck, all the places that had been struck by her blade. As undead were magical creatures that were dead, they moved only with the aid of the mana emanating from their cores.
After all, they had no motor functions and muscles to move with any physical force again so the moment their joints could hit be supplied mana, they would be unable to move.
This was because the skill she used, disrupted mana flow to the cellular level by destroying the mana circuits in the body that transport mana, not even a stronger undead could recover from this effect in a short time.
"Now!"
Seeing as her skill had taken effect, Kela yelled at the top of her lungs to nobody in particular, however, both Hart and she had immediately jumped back in anticipation of something.
"Secret Technique - Nine Collapsing Star."
In the next moment, a figure came crashing down from the skies as she gathered all her remaining energy in her Bo staff and forcefully swung it at the head of the immobile Lo with all her might.
*Bang! *Bang! *Bang! *Bang! *Bang! *Bang! *Bang! *Bang! *BOOM!
In an instant, nine consecutive strikes could be heard with the last resounding across the battlefield like a devastating explosion that shattered the ground beneath Lo's feet.
As her only secret technique, the nine collapsing stars was her strongest form of attack but it required a long prep time and used up a massive amount of stamina and mana.
Leaving the user incapacitated for a while after use but thanks to her reaching the 4th tier because of her master, she no longer had to fear passing out during battle but would no longer be able to participate in the fights.
However, it seems to be worth it as the 5th tier Wight had been crushed under the weight of her nine instantaneous strikes.
Hart then quickly rushed into the small crater she had created and helped her out of the battle into the hands of a medic as the battle was about to get a lot more chaotic.
Most of the hobgoblins had collapsed on the ground out of exhaustion and they had only won by the skin of their teeth. However, they had suffered no casualties even though they had a large number of wounded that were practically on the verge of death.
"Wow... we won."
••••••••••••
••••••••••••
—At the same time as Jarret's teams battle, another regiment of undead led by the Angel of Decay, Azratta came out of the forest further away from the castle then anyone else.
This was the 4th unit of the undead army led by one of the conjured creatures gifted to Zerahut by the Behemoth of Greed, Mammon.
An Angel of decay, also known as Rot harbinger. It was an undead monstrosity powered by decay, a mockery of true angels but with the strength of a demigod with dominion over Rot and Decay.
Azratta had a vaguely humanoid form and wings. He stood about 9 ft (2.7 m) tall and weighed approximately 230‒320 kg. His body was constantly rotting and streaming off liquid corruption that rapidly destroyed the ground he stepped on.
When he spoke to commander his unit, he did so with a slurred, muddy voice that could barely be understood so he generally left commanding his unit to his assistant, the Lich that walked behind him.
As the last of their force had moved a consider distance away from the forest, he suddenly sensed a divine presence that threatened to swallow him whole and he froze.
As an Angel of Decay, he was stronger than ordinary demigods and could not be easily destroyed. Yet, what he felt now was the presence of a being that completely outclassed him to the point that it would even be considered an insult to compare the two.
Every fiber of his body told him he could not win against this new opponent but as a summoned being, he could not run neither could he retreat. He hesitantly raised his head up and spotted their ambushers.
However, unlike the other units up to this point, Azratta's unit was not faced by numerous opponents with no one assigned to either lure them out or kill the weaker undead.
Instead, they were met with a single glowing divine figure that floated in the air above them with a graceful appearance and an all encompas presence that had brought the entire unit to an abrupt halt.
He knew it was a bad idea to look directly at such a being but was unable to stop him and the moment their eyes met, his entire being felt as though it was being ripped apart from within just by the force her aura alone had infused in him.
Her figure then suddenly wave an arm as the clouds suddenly parted ways and rained destruction upon them.
•Pure Water Infusion - Water Meteors•