'Just as I thought, their archers can't do anything to Bhaltair's men… He puts them through worse than he put me through… Though I can probably only say that because I'm not being trained by him anymore… As for Tbaernath's men… They are certainly taking a beating… He's still trying to advance through this? Well… Then again, he doesn't have any better options…' As their forces approached mine, I waited as long as I could, and just before they met, I let out a deafening roar that nearly shook the ground. "Mo, start changing the flags."
Our archers put away their bows and drew swords, charging into the thick of the battle, and his forces hunkered down, bracing for the incoming attack from behind. It wasn't like we could have hidden our cavalry's movement. Although… No matter how hard they braced, it wouldn't be easy to fend off a charge headed by a war beast with stone skin.
As soon as the flags changed, the cavalry charged and absolutely demolished the formation, just as I expected. His men were being forced back, but with my other three guilds there, it was like he had his heels against a cliff, and a bull charging him head-on.
"See Vive…"
I turned when she didn't respond, her eyes staring at the dusty battlefield in awe as my forces began to sweep through like a wave. Only… the cavalry continued to stay in the thick of battle even after losing momentum from their charge… Which wasn't ideal, to say the least. 'It's not like the tide of battle is really turning… But… The whole point of having a mount is so you can be fast… Not so you can stand still and try fighting from horseback…'
I sighed. 'Well… It doesn't matter… Honestly, the fact that they can take a charge like that in a mock battle and not kill anyone just further proves no one here is really human… Even the horses are absurdly sturdy…' "Hey, everyone here, gather into formation! Let's prepare to move forward."
'There are only 20 of us… And while he's losing, he might try something crazy… I don't exactly know what that would be… But… Oh… Yeah, something like that…' I groaned loudly, yelling orders to get the few men I had into a proper positioning, weapons at the ready, as I stared at him and 3 of his men charging me. They had stolen a few of our mounts and were bolting across the battlefield towards our main camp.
'Great…' Taking a deep breath, I focused my eyes and scanned each of them. Sure enough, they were his guild masters, the top dogs of his army… I could take any of them one-on-one, but I'd probably lose to any combination of more than that. "Mo, take the guy to the far right, Bear, far left. I'll take the commander. The rest of you, once we break the charge, try to take out the other one together. Rune, Vive, you two stay behind us, ok?"
I took another deep breath, latching my sword to my back and feeling my body heat up as I flooded manna through my veins to increase my strength. When the horses got close, I glanced at the ground in front of us with my breath and made the horses rear. After my fire ran out, they tried to charge again, but their momentum was dead. I stepped out in front and was able to grab his horse with him on it and tripping one of its legs, threw it to the ground. "If you wanted to fight me so badly, you should have just challenged me to a duel!" I grinned, finally pulling my sword as he rolled away and readied his own.
He grinned back without a real response, dashing forward at full strength and quickly forcing me to defend. Unlike Bhaltair, his technique was refined, flawless, yet he still had the same unmatched strength. Even with his bone-crushing swings, his breathing stayed steady and controlled, and his muscles didn't tire with his relentless attacks as we exchanged blows. Any openings he did have were covered before I could dare make use of them, even as I controlled time and tried to read his movements.
'I'm going to feel this in the morning… But it's the only way to win…' Just like in my duel with Bhaltair, I focused all my manna on one aspect of my physical ability at a time, surpassing him, albeit barely. Finally, I was able to find small openings. A pommel strike to his temple off a block, a kick to his left shoulder that dented through his armor, and a swipe of my claws at his right forearm, weakening his grip. The wounds slowly mounted up until finally I caught his sword on my crossguard and stabbed my own into the ground to trap his blade before punching at his throat. He pulled a hand to block just in time, but I grabbed that same hand and quickly threw him over my shoulder. Before he could get up, I had a sword to his neck.
The whole fight lasted no more than a minute… But, I couldn't have gone on like that any longer, so I wasn't sure how impressive it really was. Out of breath and low on manna, I threw my sword to the side. "So this means I win, right?" I said, gasping for air and grabbing my knees.
Before he could respond, I heard a loud shriek like a scream that could shatter glass.
Mo was still fighting one, but Bear had been knocked out, and all of the other men had followed. One was holding Rune still, and the other was pinning Vive to the ground, clearly trying to do it as carefully as possible so as not to hurt her as she struggled violently. As for the other students, well, they were all on the ground in various places…
Vive's arms grew into giant black claws that gouged the man's entire chest through his armor before she threw him off and, in a single bound, reached the other. She landed with her feet on his chest and pulled her claws around his armor, tearing his pauldrons clean off as she kicked him away before teleporting behind him and bending him backward over her shoulder and onto the ground. After he hit the dirt, she quickly spun, wrapping Rune around her arms and sliding her behind her giant claws, staring at us with intense blackened eyes.
"Yeah… I'd say… You won…" Tabernath said stiffly, standing up and grabbing a small horn from his belt, blowing it to stop the fighting.
I quickly rushed over to Vive, and at a single touch, her claws vanished, making her arms go limp as they changed back to normal. Her whole body was shaking, not so rapidly from fear, but slowly having tremors from exhaustion as she failed to stay steady without me holding her up. "Are you hurt anywhere?" She didn't respond, but I couldn't see any injuries on either of them. Rune didn't even seem scared, more just a little confused. The man who "Captured" her more or less just gently tied her hands together as she surrendered… "You're both fine, right? That's good. Rune, is it ok if I take a little manna?"
She hesitantly nodded. After taking some of her manna, I quickly rushed to the guild master, who was gouged by Vive and ripped off his armor to expose the wound. 'Dark magic basically cuts through everything… It doesn't matter how tough your skin is…' I groaned, tearing his shirt with my own claws and taking a closer look. "Can you talk?" 'Luckily, it's not as bad as it looks… He has a bit of fat, and his abs are thick enough that with his armor, they didn't reach his organs… At least as far as I can tell.'
"Yeah… Yeah, I'm fine." He muttered, starting to try and get up, blood spurting out as he contracted his muscles.
I shoved him back down. "Are you stupid? Stay still until I stop the bleeding…"
He groaned, unwilling to try and stand up a second time, closing his eyes and gritting his teeth.