Taking Over
‘Although it’s possible for me to deal with a magic-based Professional at rank 15 or above, it really doesn’t make sense...’ Leylin watched the werecreature priest while feeling a headache coming on.
He was only a rank 12 mid-ranked wizard, and could not do anything that stepped beyond the boundaries of what was proper. Such a thing would attract the attention of powerful forces, which was the last thing Leylin wanted.
However, with spiritual force that exceeded that of regular wizards, as well as the scanning functions of the A.I. Chip, Leylin was able to discover some magic undulations that had been concealed.
He abruptly stepped sideways, turning left to dodge a sudden long green arrow. This corrosive arrow did not reduce in strength as it whizzed right through the body of a werecreature, turning it into froth.
High-grade Poison Arrow! Leylin looked grim, and the Mage Armour inlaid in his uniform activated.
“Why are you not in your Blackblood Tribe? What are you doing out here?”
“Hehe... that’s not something you need to know, because your head’s about to become my loot!” The priest opposite him snickered.
At this moment, the situation changed again. Another high-grade werecreature suddenly emerged, launching a sneak attack on Aulen!
A dagger with terrifying black corrosive energy stabbed into her chest. “AH... AULEN!” Upon seeing this, powerful and dazzling qi burst from Rafiniya. It seemed to have a burning effect, causing the other werecreatures around her to back off as she took Aulen into her arms.
“See this? Your leader’s going to die. Give up! As long as you give up your faith, swear in the name of the God of the Hunt and join us, I can let you off...” Tempting words left the werecreature priest’s mouth. Perhaps he had also realised that Leylin would be difficult to deal with. While it was possible to win, there was a high chance that Leylin would run off.
“Hmm....” Leylin chuckled, and it caused the priest’s expression to change suddenly. Seeing the summoning rays light up on the opponent’s body, Leylin knew that his preparations had been successful.
Even as the priest looked confused, he suddenly retreated and activated the spell scrolls he had prepared long ago.
Magic Barrier II! Thorns! Summon Guards!
Immensely powerful spell barriers instantly cleared out the area, enveloping Leylin and his teammates. Meanwhile, a thorny forest rose swiftly from the ground. Heavily-armed soldiers were constructed from the soil, rising to confront the werecreatures.
“What’s going on?” After seeing the fall of the werecreature priest, a few leaders immediately headed over.
“Our base is being attacked. It must be a plot by those crafty humans!” The priest spoke in frustration.
The other werecreatures’ expressions quickly changed, “What do we do?”
The high-ranked werecreatures watched Leylin and the others within the barrier. While basically everyone had injuries, they naturally still were able to fight to a certain extent and had magic protection. While it wasn’t impossible to break through and wipe them out, they needed time...
In this period of time, their own camp could be wiped out! However, if they were to divide their troops, not knowing the power of the opponent would be very dangerous. Leylin’s troops were not the benevolent type.
These vile humans were of no importance at all compared to their own mission. While werecreatures were synonymous with brainless savages, the ones who could become leaders still possessed some level of intelligence.
“Let’s go!” The leader suddenly waved his arms, and the others quickly retreated.
“What about them...” One of them looked unwilling to do so, but was immediately shot down, “Just think for a moment with your stupid brain. What is more important, our camp or these humans?”
The priest was also in favour with this decision. As he left, he gave Leylin a deep look. “This isn’t the last you’ll see of us!”
“I look forward to it!” Leylin answered with a slight smile.
They retreated quickly. In tens of seconds, they’d completely disappeared.
Arcane Eye! After using a few detection spells, Leylin nodded in surety, “They really left and didn’t leave behind any traps...”
“Oh, we succeeded!” “Haha... I survived!” “I knew I wouldn’t die so easily...”
The ecstasy of living through a desperate situation immediately caused the soldiers who had survived to descend into a chaotic mess. Many of them even began to cry.
After this excitement, they looked at their camp that now looked to be in complete disorder, as well as their comrades who were dead or gravely injured. A soldier began to sob, and soon and all sorts of wails began to burst out from the others.
“Ley- Leylin!” Aulen had a huge wound on her chest. Even with Jinx applying pressure and casting divine spells with milky-white light, the blood still gushed out. The bright blood dyed Jinx’s pure white priest robes red, making her look slightly disturbing.
“I’ll leave my brothers to you. Promise me that you’ll bring them back to Silverymoon alive!” Aulen’s lips were cracked, looking like a traveller on the verge of dying of thirst.
“What do I do? What do I do? This sort of wound needs a Cure Serious Wounds spell at the very least! I’ve used up all my divine spell slots...” Jinx sobbed. Clerics and priests that used up all their divine magic were even more useless than wizards without spell slots.
“I promise!” Leylin nodded grimly.
“Then... I can relax now...” Aulen’s hands hung down, her eyes closing slightly.
“Captain! Captain!” Jinx began to weep.
“She’s not dead yet!” Leylin was speechless as he pulled Jinx aside, a spell scroll abruptly appearing in his hands.
Create Water! Freeze! The powerful magic encased Aulen in a gigantic later of ice like an insect. There was still a look of shock on her face.
“She might be able to hold on for a while longer.” Leylin looked serious, “Jinx!”
“Yes!” The female priest looked up, stunned.
“I have an important task for you!” Leylin looked at the priest before him, “I need you to escort her back. You’re our only cleric beside Aulen, only you can keep her alive... As for safety, I’ll send a few people to accompany you!”
“No problem!” Jinx wiped off her tears and answered quickly. After they lost Aulen, Leylin now had the right to command them all.
“Wait, won’t you go back with me?” Jinx only managed to react after a moment, asking in surprise.
“Go back? Do you want to be court-martialled? Cassley definitely won’t let us off...” Leylin looked serious, “I’ll stay behind and complete the mission!”
Leylin now had a noble aura similar to a hero, which touched Jinx’s heart.
“Oh...” Her tears began to flow again, “Don’t worry, I’ll complete the task without fail and tell the church of your achievements...”
As she was a cleric, Jinx was one who would not be criticised. She obviously believed that Leylin was giving her this chance of survival, which completely moved her. Leylin picked two soldiers who seemed alright to send Jinx and those who were gravely injured back.
After Aulen left, the entire squadron was now entirely in Leylin’s control. With the priest leaving, there was nobody who would be monitoring Leylin, and he could now act without reservations!
“But this method... will it work? I’ve never heard of it before...”
Watching the large horse carriage with ice inside leave, Rafiniya stood by Leylin’s side, looking confused, “Can using ice slow down the worsening of injuries?”
With this method, business at the shrine would pick up. Wizards would also begin to pay more attention to ice-type spells, but Rafiniya had never heard about this before.
“Yes, in theory. I haven’t tested it out before though...” Leylin nodded.
“IN THEORY!” The female knight shrieked.
“Yes. That’s at least some hope!” Leylin answered irresponsibly, and then clapped his hands to gather the rest of the soldiers.
Standing high above, Leylin looked at the few men they had below. The team had had less than 50 people originally, and with last night’s massacre and today’s injured leaving, there were only a dozen or so people left. It looked rather pitiful.
“You’ll definitely ask me why we aren’t going back...” Leylin’s voice was low. Now, with the deaths of the many leaders and those who had gone off, he had the most authority here and was the only reasonable commander.
Of course, Leylin only needed this authority. It would be much easier for Leylin to just die than make use of these scattered remnants of a defeated troop. To get them working together, Leylin even spoke of what had happened before with the mission, as well as their hostility with Cassley.
After saying all this, he saw looks of despair in the soldiers’ eyes.
“Yes. With Cassley around, we will become deserters if we go back and be sent to trial... Don’t think about escaping, because your identification as free citizens as well as your family are all in Silverymoon...” Leylin’s voice had a strange infectious effect.
“This battle is not just for yourselves, it’s for your future! We must eliminate those wretched werecreatures. At the very least, we need to succeed in battle and return without blame...” The soldiers below were first bewildered and afraid, but flames were now blazing in their eyes. Noticing it, Leylin secretly burst into laughter.