Chương 19: [BL] 19. Taste of battle [1]

When Shera and Josha explained to her that green portals tend to be weaker and the one they'd found was the smallest in size, Willow expected nothing grand. But when she rode with Habel through the green, rippling portal. Her breath caught for a moment as a heavy, oppressive air gripped her throat. Bones littered the dark cave. The cave floor was filled with hard earth and clay, leading to a deeper tunnel inside. Claw marks filled the ground, and bones strewed especially around a rising mound of earth.

The horsemen had already spread out, forming a triangle. One guard cautiously led the front, holding his spear.

"No one here?" the guard asked, then flinched as his voice echoed. Willow took the chance to identify everyone's level. Habel was the highest, and most of the guards were around six to ten. That seemed very low to her. Maybe the veteran was all taken into the Hollow Rift?

"They're here," Habel said. Before he explained, Habel dismounted and offered his hand to Willow.

"Oh, thanks," she mumbled, hopping down.

"Everyone dismount," Habel ordered.

"Form up. We will protect the horse right in the middle. Well? Now! Move! Look around us; they have a burrow system ready!" The cave wall—perhaps she should not call it even a wall. Willow scrunched her eyes and made out a dozen holes dug into the earthen wall. They positioned stones to cover the entrance, yet they couldn't hide something. A reptilian eye blinked. Willow shuddered as those yellow eyes stared at her. She stepped back, built a Sycthe on her right hand, and sent it across in a sweep.

Not a second after, the kobolds shrieked out a war-call, and they descended upon them through the darkness—their eyes glowing as they did and their tails swaying behind them. Her target was the fastest one, and it carried a shovel that it slammed down against Scythe. Because of the monster's ferocity, Willow'd thought that the Shovel would somehow disperse her Scythe, but no. It cut apart into two, and the blade of wind carried forward, cleaving a deep wound down the creature's neck to its chest.

It let out a pained shriek before its brethren behind it trampled over its body. She did not even have time to think about the kill. Willow built another wind, this time two Scythes. Scaled skins of varying colours slammed themselves against a sudden aegis of blue of the guards. Horses whinnied behind her, and then Habel shouted another order.

"Spear!" Willow sent two keening dark winds to different kobolds, and both landed. One across a throat and another split its head in two. [You recover two dark Wind Runes] [You grow stronger] [D--] She ignored the prompt and sent another Scythe to alleviate the relentless shovel slam against the blue aegis. In front of her, the [Guard]'s spell began to flicker weakly like a dying light. Willow glanced backward, and the other guards were also struggling, their spells likewise flickering.

Those without the Guardian Rune shoved their spears and swords, killing the kobolds with relentless efficiency. A crack then echoed like the start of breaking glass. We cannot hold on much longer. They could still retreat, as Habel had ordered them to make their formation near the portal. So Willow expected Habel to order it soon. Meanwhile, she built another two Dark Wind and carved them down, sending them into another two Kobolds, killing one in the process by dissecting its chest.

The Kobold's corpse was pinned against the blue shield and pushed by its brethren.

"My lady, save your spell. We will start our offense," Habel said after throwing another spear. The man had been a brutal efficiency. He launched spears into the area he deemed to be in the most danger, not just killing one, but three at once as his spear sailed through the kobold's chest.

"Offense?"

"Yes. We will take them by their flank."

"Flank…" Willow said the word again. Of course she understood what that meant, but still…

"How are we going to do that?"

"You will be the spear that shall carve our attack, my lady; that's how," Habel bowed with his fist on his chest again. He turned toward Josha, who mounted alongside three other horsemen. Shera ran past Willow after Habel gave her a command. She squeezed Willow's hand as she passed her.

"Good luck," Willow called after her. Standing behind the guards who were still holding the Kobolds back with his dying shield spell, Shera spread her arms, and a heavy mist rolled out from her body toward the Kobolds.

"Fortune be with you." Habel clasped his fist, and the three horsemen tromped across the ground. Josha led the charge—he bizarrely held two medium-length spears in both hands, not even bothering with Enzo's reins. They roared out as they rode into the fog. The small Kobolds tried to stagger backward, but their bodies pressed in, and the horses' momentum was unstoppable as they ran down the monsters, their riders swinging swords and stabbing spears, breaking apart the Kobolds' formation.

Find this and other great novels on the author's preferred platform. Support original creators! Cries rose among the monster's ranks. The blue aegis dissolved into nothing cheekily under the Shera's rolling fog.

"Two of you! On me! Faster Sheepherders!" Habel snapped at the remainder of the guards whom he had positioned as reserves, just two of them. He looked at Willow and laid a hand on his breastplate.

"My lady, we will rely on your firepower."

"I'm feeling the treatment difference here," one guard grumbled.

"Let's go," Willow said. She unsheathed her sword, given by Habel—a legionary sword half the size of her arm. It could almost qualify as a dagger, but Willow preferred it as it allowed her to move easily while using her spell. Habel led the way with a long spear he held two-handed while the other guard switched into a short mace and shield. Shera and another guard who had been using his shield spell followed them, the latter exhausted but still retaining his [Guard] uniform.

The five of them plunged into the fog, and the silhouette of horsemen riding across the loose Kobold's formation danced. Willow could see which one was Josha, thanks to his spears; in fact, he had levelled two times in such a short time. Willow and Shera also got the advantage from the experience share. [You Grow Stronger] [Scythe]→[Sever II]—Increased by 5 Arcanic. A tier 2 spell. Willow let the information flood her mind.

"To the left," Habel commanded. They turned and saw eight kobolds in front of them. A sling lay by their feet, and half of them knelt, fastening rocks into them. One kobold stood and spun the Sling above. With a cry, it sent the stone streaking through, blowing a small part of the fog, but it harmlessly flew by the horseman. That's dangerous.

"My lady, if it please you." Willow built her new spell on her left finger and sent it streaking through—a keening blade of dark wind, bigger than Scythe, whooshed forward, splaying the fog apart. One Kobold barely screamed before its body split in two. After the brutal split of flesh, the wind carried through and raked across another one. This time the dark wind didn't cut it apart, but the Kobold died regardless; its body limped backward after a sloshing sound that sent the surrounding fog dispersing.

[You recover two Dark Wind Runes] Two of them from a single attack? A smile crept around Willow's mouth. The [Legionary] dived into the Kobolds that still hadn't pulled themselves together and punched his spear through a throat. In one motion, he pulled the spear back, dodged a kobold's shovel swing, and lurched in again, goring its chest. Shera and the Guards followed the attack by descending upon the Kobolds from their flanks on both sides.

Despite Shera being under-level, the surprise attack was enough to make a difference as she slashed onto one kobold's chest, killing it. Shera levelled up from that kill. She turned and pointed a misty hand. The mist rolled toward one kobold and entered its nose—when Shera formed a fist; the creature choked and writhed on the ground until its body went limp. Willow drew her sword and followed them.

Whilst the others slaughtered the kobolds in front of them, Willow watched out for their own sides just in case there was— Three Kobolds streamed in with their tongues snarling from their mouths. Six reptilian eyes locked in on Willow, and they charged with shovels held up. Shit. Willow jumped back. Dark wind built on her left finger. It took her everything not to throw her sword away and rely solely on magic. She sent Sever to one kobold's head, and the wind cut apart its brain.

Blood spurted like a waterfall as the Kobold's neck danced around and collapsed backward. [You recover one Dark Wind Rune] Her training with Mera kicked in. She identified the fastest Kobold. The left one. Willow swooped in and met it. Her sudden speed took the Kobold aback as it failed to swing its sword in time, allowing Willow to send a cut to its scaly chest. The sword skittered around the Kobold's scales and dug into its flesh in a cruel arc.

A blood trail followed the strike, and the Kobold staggered backward, hand on its fresh wound. Willow did not allow herself to celebrate as the other Kobolds came at her. It pounced on her, swinging the shovel in an almost drunken flurry. Willow made no attempt to parry it since her sword was too small for that. She kept dancing back, looking for a chance, but the Kobold's relentless swing instead pushed her farther and farther, and at this rate she might leave the fog.

So she sent a quick Sever with a flick of her left finger. Her spell met the Shovel's head and the steel split apart. Dark wind wound the Kobold's stomach, and it stumbled sideways. Not missing her chance, Willow lunged forward—two hands gripping her sword's handle. She skewered the kobold's neck. It croaked and spat blood in her face. She kept going, tripping the kobold down and pinning the creature down—its tongue lolled and light escaped its eyes. The monster's tongue fell like a snake to the earth below.

Willow breathed in and out. Her body shuddered. It's just a monster. She snapped her eyes up to see the other kobold staring at her with its jaw open in shock. Then it hooted out loud, making Willow stumble backward. She failed to cast Sever in time as the Kobold exploded into motion and brought its shovel to swing down on her. Willow threw her body into a roll to her left. She raised and whirled around with her sword lashing, cutting the Kobold's back knee. The Kobold lost its balance.

Gravity pulled it down on both knees. The monster tried to turn on Willow, perhaps to bite her, but she wrapped her left arm around its neck, forcing its head up to face her. She smiled down at it. Before the Kobold even attempted to bite her, Willow spun her sword grip and raked across its throat, and blood rushed out, spraying over the earth below. She kicked the Kobold down, and it convulsed for a brief moment until it went limp.

"You need a longer sword," someone suddenly commented. Shera stood just two meters to her right. Blood marred her [Witch] robe, and she gave Willow a nod at the two dead kobolds by her feet.

"I—" Willow stopped. She wiped her bloodied hand on her own darkish blue sleeves and let the euphoria of the battlefield calm down.

"Maybe I do," she mumbled.

"My lady!" Habel ran to her. Blood stained the man's spear shaft and his hands.

"You're separated. Are you well?"

"I'm fine, Habel," Willow said, shrugging off his worries. Without being asked to, the man turned around and lifted his spear high. The sound of hooves started again. Willow walked alongside Habel and Shera to the edge of the fog. The other guards had waited for them, and they arrived in time to see the three horsemen slammed straight against another ten kobolds.

"Do we need fog again?" Shera asked Habel.

"No, save it," Habel said. He walked forward, and the [Legionary] pointed his bloodied spear at the kobold line that was breaking.

"Charge! And free your comrade! We rout them now!"