Chương 87: 1-86 Having it handled

"Ha! They're finally sending their pet back in!" The booming voice of the bull erupted next to Josef as Onyx stepped forward. Even as Sprout pulled in another patient for him to treat, his eyes remained glued on the well over two meters of scales and muscles. There was not a shred of silvery armor on the reptile, not even some makeshift protection like that of the bovine. All he had were black metal greaves which almost seamlessly blended in with his scales and open gauntlets that revealed a wicked set of claws.

Then, their gazes crossed, his two eyes catching Onyx's remaining one. How come they still hadn't fixed that? Losing an eye must have been a heavy blow for a melee fighter. What was the point in working with a healer when they wouldn't even restore an injury like that? And why was there pity in that eye when it looked at him?

"Get ready, everyone." There was little need for him to say it out loud, but it felt wrong to let the moment pass uncommented.

"I'm always ready!" Zippa laughed, just a little too cheerfully to sound normal.

"Magic me up, I'm going in." Josef made the time between patients to extend a generous amount of mana into putting a Regeneration effect on his friend. Him, and the rest of his companions immediately after.

"Be careful," Bezzo warned him before he followed after his brother, who immediately rushed towards a group of adventurers that was being rushed down by several knights. Shouldn't he be the one saying that? Linda, meanwhile, stomped away with barely a nod of gratitude for his magic. She headed off into a completely different direction, where their own forces were just about to go to town on some knights, after breaking down their cover.

Unlike Zippa, her focus appeared to be less on helping their own, and more on cutting down Sanctum's forces. Would she be okay all on her own? As much as she had grown during those grueling floors she fought through under Aifreed's guidance, she had still shown shortcomings even when her concentration wasn't impeded by anger. Sure, she had his magic to shake off some of the inevitable injuries she would sustain, but… Pretzel hissed in annoyance when Josef's plea reached her through the link.

"I don't care for this woman. You are much more important than her." Her tail was drumming the ground in agitation, now that she had released her hug and slithered down. He took a moment to scratch her chin, knowing she enjoyed the gesture even as her eyes remained fierce.

"That's why I'm grateful to you for doing this." She wouldn't have vacated her spot on his body if she was truly going to deny him. The snake was simply making a point to show just how much she disliked what she was going to do.

"You better be," she mumbled through their connection when she went after Linda. With Sprout still by his side, none of them would be on their own. It wouldn't quell all of his worries about this fight, but everyone having a partner did give him some peace of mind. From there, the fight evolved into an uneasy rhythm of treating patients, checking the battlefield, and worrying about his friends. There were no grand, flashy moves or bombastic magic that turned the fight at a moment's notice.

Fortunately, or unfortunately, no one present had the apparent power to do so. Or maybe they were held back by the same issue Josef ran into when considering stepping in. He had considered unleashing Sprout at full power, she herself had definitely expressed wanting to do so, but doing so was too great a risk. Not because she would've turned into a massive target and caught attacks from the entire opposition at once. That one would have been a setback, but she was too hardy to fall to that.

No, he was much more worried about everyone's footing. His plant familiar might have been less hefty than expected when she had last grown into a massive size, but she would likely still more than double the weight present. Considering most of their lives balanced on magically created platforms meant to hold a couple people each? She might have been able to spread out her vines for an even distribution, but a single error in during so could end with both sides facing certain doom.

Except for that one smug elf at the stairs, and whichever lucky bastards would find themselves on the remaining pieces of the original dungeon. Instead, he had softly admonished her when she tried to use her mana for a growth spurt, and coaxed her into focusing on spreading out more rescue-vines. Those, at the very least, were doing well. She had created quite the network, spanning almost half of the hallway and touched most of the platforms they held control over.

Most adventurers had gotten the gist of rolling their fallen comrades to her whenever someone got struck down. And when the knights focused their spells on the vines? It was at most a temporary setback, considering all the mana he could shovel to her, and they paid a heavy price whenever they did. After all, they had to momentarily leave themselves open for a counterattack, a chance many adventurers seized even at the risk of injury. Such was the advantage of having a reliable healer to fall back on.

Something which should have applied symmetrically to both sides, but Boreas was apparently doing his best to avoid healing whenever he could. Instead, he was shouting increasingly loud orders to his men, ordering them to fight to the death for him. Thanks to whatever influence he held over those knights, they didn't question a single order, even if it would lead to inevitable death. Find this and other great novels on the author's preferred platform. Support original creators!

The only exception was Onyx, who intermittently returned to receive healing from the elf, who in turn cussed loudly enough for some words to be audible even over the sounds of battle. Clearly, he wasn't happy to do so, suggesting he was somehow forced into it. Josef suspected that it was an order from the bishop to keep their asset alive, because he doubted a man with that attitude would listen to anyone else.

However, every time the reptile sat on the floor and waited for his treatment, he would once again seek out his gaze, staring him down with a touch of emotion in his eye. Was he trying to send a message? It almost worked as an intimidation tactic, if that singular eye hadn't lacked the distinct glint of aggression it should have held in such a case. Still, he couldn't dwell on that expression forever, and continued to focus on his work, or whatever was left of it.

Truth be told, there was little more he could do for those who had fallen before he had even arrived, and the influx of new patients was no longer overwhelming. The former group had been completely gathered and sorted by Sprout, who had learned to neatly arrange those that couldn't be healed far in the back. A pile that was a lot larger than Josef was comfortable looking at. Compared to that, their arrangement of those who were healed but unconscious was depressingly small.

Many times the wounds people had received were simply too decisive to allow recovery, even via magic. The same held true for their newer patients, but at least they had the option to pull back with an injury, instead of continuing on and getting caught out because of the debilitating damage. As the rows of recovering patients grew, however, the fight as a whole progressed into an even tenser state. Despite his best efforts, they had never gained a true numbers advantage.

Sanctum's forces were simply too suicidally aggressive to make that happen. And Boreas continued to shout orders to ensure it stayed that way. Sure, he was pretty much summarily throwing those troops into a grinder, with no chance of recovering any of them, while Josef ensured that a good amount of theirs could recover once this fight was over. However, that would only make a difference if they could win. Otherwise, all those defenseless people behind him were going to be done for.

He doubted that the elf would show them mercy. Either way, they were making large strides towards a Pyrrhic victory that would leave both sides with a devastating loss of life. Try as he might, though, he found no way to prevent that. He had contemplated going for a surprise attack on Boreas himself, cutting off the head of the beast to end things early. But considering the state those knights were in?

They would lose some of their coordination without his tactical input, but they were already fanatically bent on killing them all. When he had probed the possibility by extending some space mana towards the other side, though, he couldn't even get close. The white mana was still very present over there, and creating a stable line through it was simply impossible. The space mana would simply stop in place if he tried.

Adding his chaos into the mix only made things worse, because his spell refused to stay stable outside of his immediate vicinity. Unless he found a way to clear the way, he would not be making any surprise teleport attacks. Maybe he should just enter the fight himself now? Even their own commander hadn't remained in one spot for long, running to and fro, shouting commands and largely just reacting to Onyx's repeated attacks at their frontline.

Which had shrunk considerably during however long this fight had dragged on. Some platforms were now entirely abandoned, as the remaining fighters had formed new groups, shifting towards the center of the hallway. Many of the further away footholds had also fallen into disarray, dissolving after no more mana had been added to them in a while. Others had simply been shredded during combat. It was because of this change in the battlefield that disaster finally struck.

Josef saw it coming a moment before it happened, having a prime spot to observe, yet he was too far to prevent it. Onyx had once more entered the fight, immediately clashing with the rushing bull. At this point, their repeated meetings on the battlefield could hardly be chalked up to luck. It was as if they had decided that the fight would be decided between the two of them. Which was lucky for everyone else, considering how devastating the clash of their fists was.

Even Zippa had trouble withstanding that force, as they had learned during an earlier attack. Now, though, their luck had finally run out, because after those continued clashes, something finally had to give. It wasn't the hulking reptile, whose stamina seemed never-ending. But it also wasn't the bovine, who continued to fight as if there was no tomorrow. What couldn't endure their clash was the frozen platform below. It was one of the more precarious ones, old and damaged.

Onyx had tried to use it as a shortcut, and the bull intercepted him. Then the ice broke, and only one of them managed to claw their way back up from the frozen rim. Somehow, he looked even more upset with the outcome than they were. Zippa was close by, and he could see his friend struggling with himself to rush in. Maybe he could have pulled up their strongest fighter before he was lost to the void, or finished Onyx before he could recover.

Unfortunately, his steaming hot body wasn't suited for the meltable platform. He had to navigate around those all the time, and now it stopped him from stepping in. Which also gave the black lizard a direct vector behind their frontline. He could flank and assault just about anyone who remained from there. Once he locked someone into melee, they would be hard-pressed to survive. Panic mounted, and adventurers desperately shuffled away, scared of being his victim.

Josef, however, knew that they had nothing to fear from him. That eye had already settled on a target, and he was staring right into it. Yet, even with the path clear, Onyx's steps were steady but unhurried as he approached. Behind him, Sanctum's soldiers managed to press the advantage due to the chaos the loss of their commander had created. Worse, Zippa, and thus Bezzo, made to abandon their position to rush to his aid. At least none of the adventurers could desert the fight.

They would now have to pass him and the scary lizard to do so. However, at this rate, they would lose badly.

"Stay where you are!" He wasn't looking at the approaching reptile, but at his scaly friend.

"Take back the fight! I got this one handled!" At the same time, he pressed down on his connection with Pretzel, forbidding her from abandoning Linda. That elf was one of the few who continued to fight unabated. And despite running out of regenerative magic, she continued to carve a path into their enemies, creating one of the few points of resistance they still had. Readying himself, he faced Onyx as he stepped onto his platform.

Sprout had just finished vacating the last person they treated, leaving only the three of them. Looking into that one slitted eye that was locked onto him, Josef knew one thing for certain. He definitely didn't have that one handled.