The central battlefield was a symphony of chaos, the harmony of life clashing with the discordant melody of death.
The newly raised undead, once part of the Greengale Phantoms themselves, now rose as hollow shells of their former selves, devoid of their past memories, filled with a singular purpose - to serve their master, Sebastian.
Skeletal warriors formed the vanguard of Sebastian's forces, their eerie silhouettes daunting in the twilight. They were armed with rusted swords and tattered shields, their skeletal hands clenching their weapons with a death grip. Ghostly archers floated above, a macabre reminder of the fallen, their spectral bows trained at the living.
However despite the tough battle that had gone on for so long, the undead were unable to force the Greengale Phantoms to break rank as afterall, the Greengale legion was composed of disciplined and determined mercenaries.
The Phantoms' hunter swordsmen lunged at the undead, their blades whistling through the air, aiming for the exposed skeletal frames. However, the skeletal warriors were not easy prey. They parried and clashed, their inhuman strength and endurance turning the battle into a war of attrition.
The undead archers rained bone arrows from above. Each volley forcing the Phantoms to take cover under shields, however there were little to no casualties.
Being expert hunters themselves, the Phantoms knew better than anyone as to how to defend against archery attacks.
However when the phantom archers retaliated, their arrows tipped with hunters magic that glowed with a bright green aura caused devastation across the undead ranks.
Each successful shot caused an undead mage or archer to screech and dissipate into a misty form before disappearing entirely.
The stalemate was finally broken when The druid forces amongst the Phantoms, standing in a protective circle, began an ancient group chant.
The ground vibrated under their feet as they drew from the elemental energy around them. Slowly, a wave of life-energy emanated from them, washing over the battlefield.
[ Life sprout ]
The druids had used a spell called life sprout which was a spell used to revitalise crop fields and forests that was recovering from fire or death and decay.
It was technically useful to reverse the condition of withering plants but when used against the undead, the life energy put the stronger ones in a debuffed state while acted as poison against the weaker one's, killing them outright.
Wherever the wave touched, the undead faltered. The skeletal warriors collapsed as their magic was nullified, while the flying mages vanished mid-air, their ghostly cries echoing in the chilly wind.
Taking advantage of the ensuing disarray among the undead, the Phantoms charged. Their swordsmen swept through the stumbling skeletons, shattering bones and clearing the way. The archers changed their targets, focusing on the remaining undead forces that were still standing.
Sebastian tried his best to keep his undead in proper fighting shape and to reverse the shift in momentum but he could not do much despite his best efforts.
The druidic magic that surged through the battlefield had provided the Phantoms with a much-needed respite and an opportunity to gain momentum.
With each fallen undead, the Phantom warriors roared louder, their spirits bolstered by each victory.
Skeletal warriors crumbled to the ground, their numbers dwindling with each passing moment.
The Phantoms pushed forward, a torrent of determination and force sweeping across the battlefield. Their weapons shimmered in the dimming light, splintering the undead forces who now seemed less formidable than before.
As the sun rose higher and higher in the sky, so did the spirits of the Greengale Phantoms. They could win this fight!
If they could just keep this momentum up for a few more minutes they could decide the outcome of the battle for sure.
The battle, once dominated by the eerie silence of the undead, now resounded with the determined cries of the living.
As the undead army reeled from the Phantoms' newfound momentum, the battlefield's atmosphere shifted, painting a sombre picture for Sebastian's necromantic forces, Sebastian had did his best to delay the fighting for as long as possible, but if Max hoped of wiping this legion out, he needed to show up personally and that too soon.
*********
( Meanwhile Max )
' Grandpa Drax, can I use that move once again or is it still on cooldown? ' Max asked with an edgy voice as Drax could sense the fear behind his voice even though he himself asked the question.
' Yes it's been 72 hours already, it's no longer on cooldown but you are not in a physical condition to use it. The strain will incapacitate you in the best case and put you in a coma in the worst. Don't do it Max, it's absolutely not worth it ' Drax replied as he tried to talk reason to Max but it was useless.
The enemy had already used the divine move [ Death Shot ] and Max could not wait to find out what would happen if any of the arrows were to connect with his friends.
This war, the victory- nothing mattered if he lost one of his closest allies in the process and hence even if it meant putting himself through a gruelling experience likely to strain his body enough to put himself into coma, Max was ready to pay the price.
Sucking in a breath of cold air and used the Agni-Astra's tier6 divine attack that he used to kill Matumba.
[ Blazing Onslaught ]
Divine aura exploded out of his body, overloading his already exhausted mana circuits with energy that Max could not handle anymore.
His muscles felt like they were burning from overheating as his palm literally caught on fire as he began casting the divine power laced fireballs.
BOOM!
BOOM!
BOOM!
BOOM!
BOOM!
The five death-shot arrows met with five blazing fireballs which neutralised the attack and created tectonic explosions in the air rocking the entire battlefield.
Shock-waves so strong that it forced even Anna to lay flat on her belly to avoid being blown away gripped the area as the visibility of the naked eye was reduced to near-zero levels from all the dust and debris that had arisen.
Max tethered between the line of consciousness and unconsciousness as he tried to sense where Thalion was using his way of the wind but even that was a task since he felt like his brain was 100 times heavier than it usually felt and his arms refused to budge even an inch.
" Just one more " Max muttered as he vaguely shot out one last fireball towards the direction where he believed that Thalion might have been standing before the darkness gripped his body and he passed out cold.
He had given the ultimate sacrifice by pushing himself beyond his limits to safeguard his friends, but in the process he was knocked out cold defenceless in the battlefield.
An outcome which prevented him from looking at the grinning golden eyed tiger man standing across him once all the dust and debris settled.
Gurdan was here!
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/// A/N - Bonus chapter for hitting the GT target, good job everyone!
Also guys we are 96 tickets behind rank 10 GT book LOTM2: circle of inevitability.
So I'm going to reintroduce the 5 day 20 chapter challenge in hopes of beating him to the punch by the time the month ends, so expect 4 chapters a day for the next few days! ///