The Kingmaker System

Chapter 724 - 723. Fourfold Calamity (2)

Eric quickly realized that the dark mage wielding the scythe was not someone he could overwhelm through brute force alone.

The man fought with terrifying precision despite the enormous size of his weapon. Every movement of the black scythe flowed unnaturally smoothly, as though the weight of the massive blade simply did not exist for him. The curved edge repeatedly carved through the rain-soaked battlefield in vicious arcs that forced Eric backward step after step.

Their weapons collided again and violent violet aura erupted around Eric’s sword while dead mana burst outward from the scythe like black smoke.

The impact cracked the ground beneath them.

Eric pushed the scythe aside and immediately counterattacked toward the dark mage’s shoulder only for the man to twist his body at an impossible angle before the black shaft of the weapon slammed directly toward Eric’s ribs.

Eric barely managed to block in time.

Even then, the force behind the strike hurled him several feet backward across the ruined street.

His boots dug harshly into the muddy ground before he steadied himself again.

The dark mage did not give him a moment to breathe as the scythe swept across the battlefield once more and Eric ducked beneath it just as the black blade sliced cleanly through the remains of a stone building behind him. The upper half of the structure slid apart before collapsing entirely.

Dead mana spread instantly across the severed stone and Eric’s eyes darkened slightly, anything touched by that weapon began decaying almost immediately.

Meanwhile, farther across the battlefield, Miri’s situation was hardly better.

The hidden archer refused to remain in one place for longer than a few seconds. Every time she located him among the trees or rooftops, another arrow would already be flying toward her from a completely different direction.

The arrows themselves were equally troublesome.

They were infused with dead mana strong enough to corrode whatever they pierced. One of the sand walls Miri summoned to block an incoming shot had partially crumbled apart moments after impact, the grains turning black before scattering uselessly across the ground.

Another arrow whistled toward her head.

Miri instantly tilted sideways and the projectile grazed past her cheek before embedding itself into the wall behind her.

The stone hissed violently.

Black decay spread outward from the point of impact like rot consuming flesh.

Miri narrowed her eyes, this was becoming irritating.

The rain continuously disrupted the finer control of her sand while the hidden dark mage kept forcing her to divide her focus between offense and defense. Worse still, every time she attempted to close the distance, the archer would deliberately target the knights farther behind her.

He was forcing her to protect others instead of pursuing him directly.

Another volley descended from above.

Miri raised her hand sharply and a massive wall of sand erupted upward, intercepting the incoming arrows before they could strike the retreating knights behind her.

But the moment her attention shifted upward, she sensed movement behind her, Miri reacted instantly.

The ground beneath her feet exploded outward as she leapt away just before a black arrow pierced through the exact spot where she had been standing moments earlier.

The rooftop behind her shattered apart from the impact.

Her expression finally hardened completely.

This was no ordinary battlefield harassment. The archer was deliberately cornering her movements while Eric was simultaneously being pressured into close combat.

The dark mages were coordinating.

Below, Eric was beginning to realize the same thing.

The scythe wielder drove forward relentlessly, never allowing Eric enough space to properly build momentum behind his strikes. Whenever Eric attempted to overpower him directly, another attack would immediately arrive from a blind angle, either from the hidden archer or from the wandering dead mana spreading across the battlefield.

And worst of all, the injuries they managed to inflict upon the dark mages never remained for long.

Eric had already sliced through the scythe wielder’s arm twice.

Miri had buried several sand spikes through the archer’s shoulder earlier.

Yet both injuries had healed unnaturally fast beneath the influence of the third dark mage standing farther behind the battlefield.

The healer remained motionless beneath his hood, black mist continuously flowing from his hands toward the other two.

As long as he remained untouched, the battle would continue dragging in the enemy’s favor.

Eric exhaled sharply as another violent collision forced him backward again.

The rain poured heavily around them while the ruined town continued crumbling beneath the pressure of the battle. Their knights could no longer interfere without risking immediate death and the undead surrounding the outskirts still had not fully disappeared.

For the first time since the battle began, Eric could feel genuine pressure settling over the battlefield.

This was no longer a fight against mindless calamities.

They were now fighting enemies who knew exactly how wars were won.

***

The western harbor districts of Sestia had long descended into complete chaos.

The rain-soaked streets were buried beneath layers of corpses while the seawater crashing against the harbor walls had turned dark with blood and ash. Broken carts, shattered ships and burning debris floated throughout the flooded lower roads as the endless tide of undead continued pouring through the city.

The ordinary knights had long since reached their limits.

Only a handful of individuals were still capable of properly holding the battlefield together.

Ocean’s assassins moved through the ruined harbor like shadows of death itself. Their black blades flashed repeatedly amidst the rain while severed undead bodies collapsed across the streets one after another. The assassins fought without hesitation or fear, smoothly dividing their attention between the swarming undead and the dark mages attempting to pressure the battlefield from afar.

Even then, the strain was beginning to show as the undead simply refused to stop coming.

Drac clicked his tongue in irritation as another wave rushed toward him from the collapsed harbor entrance.

"Persistent bastards."

Blazing flames erupted violently around his sword before he swung it downward. A massive torrent of fire surged across the flooded streets and swallowed dozens of undead whole.

The burning corpses collapsed almost instantly, their rotten flesh turning black beneath the overwhelming heat.

Steam exploded upward where the flames collided against the rain.

Ordinarily, weather like this would have weakened any fire mage considerably, but the bloodline flowing through Drac’s veins made his flames unnaturally resilient. The rain could suppress ordinary fire.

It could not fully extinguish the dragon’s fire.

Still, even Drac’s expression had begun growing grim.

He himself was not exhausted yet, but the humans around him certainly were.

The harbor guards and knights had been fighting continuously for hours against enemies that neither feared pain nor remained dead properly. Their movements were visibly slowing and more injuries were beginning to appear throughout the battlefield.

Drac’s sharp gaze shifted toward the farther side of the harbor.

Alyssa, the captain of Herot City’s guards, was currently locked in combat against one of the dark mages. The hooded figure wielded a twisted black staff formed entirely from writhing dark vines. The vines moved like living serpents around the battlefield, lashing viciously toward Alyssa from multiple directions while dead mana spread across the ground beneath them.

Alyssa’s chain sickles repeatedly severed the incoming vines apart, but every severed strand immediately regenerated and rushed toward her again.

The battlefield around her had already become filled with black roots twisting through the flooded streets.

Not far from them, Carlos was faring little better- or rather Ruel was.

The longsword in Carlos’s grasp carved through the battlefield with ruthless precision while severed undead bodies collapsed around him one after another. Every strike was efficient, brutal and utterly unlike the hesitant swordsmanship Carlos once possessed.

Yet Drac could already tell the body was nearing its limit.

Carlos’s breathing had grown noticeably heavier while the strain spreading through his muscles became increasingly obvious. Ruel might possess overwhelming skill and experience, but the human body he occupied simply could not sustain that level of combat indefinitely.

The dark mage fighting him seemed to have realized the same thing.

Unlike the others, this one carried no visible weapon beyond the black gauntlets wrapped around both his arms. Dead mana continuously leaked from the cracks between the armored fingers while the rain hissed violently each time droplets landed upon the cursed metal.

The mage moved like a beast rather than a warrior.

He abruptly closed the distance again and his fist smashed toward Carlos with enough force to distort the air itself. Ruel immediately intercepted the strike with his sword, but the impact still sent violent vibrations through Carlos’s exhausted arms.

The street beneath them shattered apart and before Ruel could counterattack properly, the dark mage twisted his burned arm forward and grabbed the blade barehanded despite the lingering dragonfire scars blackening half the gauntlet.

Dead mana exploded violently across the weapon.

Ruel’s eyes narrowed sharply before he kicked the man backward and immediately retreated several steps.

The bastard was trying to corrupt the sword directly.

Drac clicked his tongue in irritation.

Earlier during the fighting, he had already burned the dark mage’s arm badly enough to char the flesh beneath the gauntlet black. Yet despite such horrific damage, the man continued fighting almost normally as if he could no longer even feel pain.

"Tch. Freak."

Another massive fireball gathered above Drac’s palm before he hurled it directly toward the approaching undead. The resulting explosion consumed an entire section of the harbor street and blasted apart several dozen corpses at once.

The shockwave briefly forced back even the surrounding dead mana, but only briefly as more undead were already staggering forward through the rain.

Sir Hopkins cut down another undead lunging toward Carlos from behind before shouting furiously.

"Why the hell are they all targeting His Highness?!"

Ruel’s expression darkened faintly within Carlos’s body.

Somewhere beyond the battlefield, hidden beneath the endless rain and death surrounding the harbor, Azar was watching him very carefully.

Drac’s senses immediately bristled. His head snapped toward the distant rooftops and his crimson eyes narrowed sharply upon the lone figure standing atop one of the ruined buildings overlooking the harbor. The distance was far too great for ordinary humans to properly notice someone standing there amidst the storm.

But Drac’s senses were not human.

The figure stood motionlessly beneath the rain, cloaked entirely in darkness, yet the very presence surrounding him felt wrong. Like a void staring back at the battlefield itself.

Drac’s jaw tightened slightly. His gaze briefly shifted back toward Carlos who was currently retreating beneath another brutal barrage from the gauntlet-wielding dark mage before he looked toward the distant figure again.

That thing was the source- or at least, something important enough to make his instincts scream.

Drac quickly glanced around the battlefield. Undead still flooded the harbor roads endlessly while exhausted knights struggled merely to survive. If he unleashed a large-scale spell carelessly here, their own forces would get caught within it as well.

His eyes sharpened.

Dragonfire erupted violently around him once more and the undead nearest to him were instantly reduced to ash before he pulled at the reins of his horse and rushed directly toward Carlos.

"Your Highness!" Drac called out loudly over the battlefield.

"What?!" Carlos snapped back immediately while narrowly avoiding another crushing strike from the gauntleted mage.

Drac felt another flicker of annoyance hearing the tone, but he ignored it and immediately hurled a massive fireball toward the dark mage instead. The explosion forced the enemy backward several meters before Drac finally looked toward Carlos again.

"Please order everyone on our side to retreat."

Carlos turned his head slightly and Drac’s jaw clenched faintly as he met the dark eyes of the possessed prince.

"Why?" Carlos asked coldly.

Drac exhaled sharply before answering.

"I’m planning to cast a single spell that will erase every undead in this district." His eyes briefly shifted toward the distant rooftop again before narrowing. "And we need to move farther inside the harbor. I think I found the one controlling them."

Ruel fell silent within Carlos’s body for several moments.

Then, slowly he nodded, "All right."