Chương 90: 1-89 Outmaneuvered

Josef's patience was just about at the end of its rope. Every time he ran into Sanctum, he encountered another disgusting side of them. An organisation that draped itself in a holy mantle, but committed one atrocity after another. And right now, he had his eyes on one of its key figures.

"Come on, Sprout. Let's finish this." His encounter with Onyx had just given him an idea on how to give the tide of battle a final push. He only had to figure out how to navigate his familiar through that plan.

"Don't leave." Onyx rasped behind them, trying to rise from the ground with little success. Josef had made sure nothing too grievous was wrong with his body, but the reptile's wounds ran deeper than anything he could heal with his magic. He sighed before turning around to face him.

"Look, I won't kill you. I don't know what Sanctum did, and I'm sorry it happened to you. But right now I have a corrupt healer to take down, and a friend to save. So if you've got nothing else to say, then just stay here and wait." Focusing on their connection, he began sharing his plan with Sprout, taking care to keep things simple. Along with some gesturing and pointing, as well as pulling her vines, he was just about confident she understood him. Or, at least, not completely misunderstood him.

Meanwhile, the reptile's mouth opened and closed several times, trying to form words that never quite left his throat. Finally, he sagged on his spot like an empty sack of potatoes, as if all strength had left him. Seeing this, Josef couldn't help but feel a pang of pity, and even some guilt. It wasn't right to turn his back on someone in such a state, but the situation left him with no other choice.

"Once this is over, I want us to have a proper talk. Please hang in there until that time." With that said, he walked off alongside Sprout, making his way towards the edge of the platform. Peering down into the endless abyss below, he knew his plan was the most horrible thing anyone had ever thought up. Then again, if it worked out, he could just switch things up and call it brilliant instead. Putting his entire weight on his familiar, Sprout practically grew out her body to shift herself under him.

Firmly seated on the dog-like plant, now the size of a small pony, he even found himself promptly secured by several vines. His adorable, not so little mount came with her own seatbelts! Considering he was down an arm, those would be very helpful with the next step of his plan. Looking around, he took in the sight of the battle. Whatever lull the fall of Onyx might have caused was short-lived, as the remaining fighters of both sides had already engaged once more.

Sanctum's troops might have been devoid of emotions, but their own side had received a massive boost in confidence after the reptile's defeat. They were pushing above and beyond now, almost rivaling the zealots in sheer intensity. Boreas was frantically shouting at them now, somehow still unwilling to get his own hands dirty by helping them directly. Still, his ability to command was decent enough, or he would never have been able to maneuver those troops as well as he did.

Fortunately, that meant no one was paying too much attention to the two of them right now. Finally, with several more vines attaching themselves to platforms, everything was in place. For a single moment, Josef's stomach lurched as Sprout jumped off the secure footing. Thanks to all the connections she held taut, it could have barely been called a drop, creating more of a controlled descent. Inspired by how she had pulled herself back up, he had realized that they could traverse the battlefield below the platforms.

There wasn't going to be any concentrated fire on them if they weren't even in sight. Even if a couple of knights spotted them, they would likely be too preoccupied with following the opposing healer's orders. And keeping something solid between themselves and the one guy with a functioning brain? That was simple enough. Now, he only had to avoid looking down, or fear alone might just make him turn back. The void below looked many times more threatening when he had no solid ground to cling to.

Josef shook his head to throw off the growing unease. This was not the time to develop a fear of heights, if that term even applied when there was no measurable distance involved. In the end, no one was any wiser to their move, except for Pretzel, who had checked in through their shared link. Anyone else who had the time to look over to the platform he had fought on would have no idea where he had disappeared to. Hopefully, Zippa and the others wouldn't get too worried about his absence.

With only a crumpled Onyx left behind, the site of his battle would no doubt raise some eyebrows. As much as he had hoped otherwise, traversing the battlefield like that turned out to be a rather slow mode of transport. Sprout just wasn't some spider-bitten city hero, only a very determined plant. On top of that, he had to carefully remove any obstructive mana out of their path, because they didn't want to test if a vine stuck in white mana could function as an anchor point.

The narrative has been illicitly obtained; should you discover it on Amazon, report the violation. They weren't swinging by any definition of the word, but slowly growing their way forward. Dozens of vines stretching out to secure them, and only when a new set had attached further ahead could the old ones be discarded. All the while he had to supply her with a generous amount of mana to enable those growths, though there was still plenty of that white mana to act as their fuel.

Even though, in his perception, the conversion was giving worse returns than before. Still, there was plenty to go around for the two of them. He only hoped the dangerous mana wouldn't spread too quickly up above, as he couldn't stretch his streams all the way up without giving his position away. Worst case, the two brothers would have to retreat for a while. If he was successful with his infiltration, that was an acceptable compromise.

Josef wondered if he should name that stuff, since calling it by the color all the time didn't really fit with how he would usually call it by the affinity. But how to call an affinity for magic that could simultaneously cause people to freeze in place, but could also send their minds off the deep end? Well, considering how it contrasted his own chaos mana in color, and reacted violently when in contact with it, he decided to name it after the opposite. Order affinity.

He silently congratulated himself on his outstanding ability to come up with names. Familiars were only the start, and there was not a thing he could not name! Below him, Sprout gave a muted woof, showing her agreement. Which just happened to coincide with the moment they started their ascent. Aiming just slightly to the right of the rocky platform's back end, they would emerge close to the stairs behind the commanding elf. At least if their aim proved to be true, which he had little reason to doubt.

They certainly didn't get the wrong foothold, that much was revealed by the bossy voice screaming mere meters above them.

"Use more fire, melt that ice!" Boreas barked his orders.

"Put out the fires, now! Break your platform, don't let them come closer!" Josef could practically hear the elf whirr around frantically, addressing one issue after another, trying to stem a tide. By the tone of his voice, he was really feeling the heat. Finally, ascending above the platform's edge, he was once again part of the battle. This time, however, he was on the opposite side of the field. The first thing to catch his eye was Pretzel, who had tracked his progress with growing giddiness.

Now, their eyes crossed, and hers revealed a certain glint that seemed to belong to an ambush predator in motion. The water serpent couldn't abandon the elven lady she fought alongside, but she was living out the fantasy of surprising her enemy through him. With how eager she felt about what was to come, who was he to deny her satisfaction. The elf didn't even hear their approach as they advanced on his location, where he was still shouting commands over an earthen barricade.

He had covered his position quite well, but never accounted for danger to approach from behind. Maybe, if he hadn't been operating at the top of his lung's capacity, he might have noticed the vines lunging for him before they struck. Unfortunately for him, that wasn't the case, and the only resistance he mustered was a milk-curdling, girlish scream when Sprout yanked him off his feet. She needed barely a moment to restrain him, vines surrounding every inch of the elf's body, except for his face.

"It sucks to make your acquaintance, Boreas. Now tell your troops to stand down, or this lovely lady will mulch you on the spot." Josef had spent no small amount of time of their traversal to come up with these lines. Hopefully, the healer would comply as easily as he expected, or he would have to be spontaneous about the follow up.

"W-what? How did-" Boreas's eyes were as big as plates, and his voice was strained from terror.

"Your troops," he repeated with his most deadpan expression.

"Don't make me repeat myself." The elf's eyes were darting around frantically.

"You can't do this! Attacking a healer is-""Fair game." Josef crossed his arms, nonplussed by that attitude.

"After all, you sent your attack-reptile after me."

"A misunderstanding!" Boreas yapped, clinging to a straw only he could perceive.

"I-It was meant to be an invitation." Then, his eyes almost glowed as they settled on his face.

"T-to help restore your hair! To teach you how to do it! How could I stand by when a pillar of our society remains defaced like this!" In response, all the elf got was vines tightening even further around his body. His adorable Sprout didn't even need him to give an order. Clearly, she could smell the bullshit the elf was spewing.

"A-And your… nose," Boreas was gasping between words.

"I can make it lar-" He was cut off by an earth-reinforced punch to the face, snapping his oversized smelling implement halfway at an angle. Then, before he could even roar in pain, Josef's hand clutched his mouth in a vice grip.

"If your next words aren't the surrender of your troops, your mouth will never open again. Understood?" He let those words settle for several seconds before pulling back his hand.

"Stand down! Lower your weapons! Just stop fighting!" Then, after witnessing his own knights turn about in complete confusion, he added, "The light wills it!" That one did the trick, and a cacophony of noise spread throughout the hallway, as all the remaining troops of Sanctum almost simultaneously dropped their swords. In the end, when all of your zealots had to follow one voice without question, those very commands would be their greatest downfall.

One moment they threw their lives away without abandon, the next they were disarmed and kneeling, waiting for further instructions. Once the clanking of metal receded, a profound silence spread over the battlefield. Josef felt everyone's gazes on him, as people stared in shock and dawning realization at him and the tied-up healer in front of him. He had really hoped to land a couple more hits on the elf, bound or not. The guy was simply that punchable, and his childish sobbing didn't help that impression one bit.

Grabbing one of the thicker vines around the healer's neck, he, with some help from his familiar, yanked it up and gagged him. It didn't turn off the sobs, but at least it was muffled.

"What are you waiting for? Tie them up, celebrate, and get your asses in line for treatment. You all look like shit," said the man with a burnt head and pulverized arm, covered in blood.