Milo urged his horse forward. He still hadn’t quite mastered the art of horse riding, which was why he had no idea what to do when his horse started freaking out as soon as it caught the scent of the undead army. Not wishing to look like an idiot he dismounted and let the horse run off.
The robed figure waiting for him was watching him with scorn when he reached talking distance. The man beneath the robes was gaunt to the point that he looked starved, had pale white eyes and stubby ears. He looked so close to human that he might have passed for a starving man back on earth. His voice was devoid of emotion when he spoke.
“I am Rostrian, champion of Enox, lord of death and master necromancer.”
“Milo Harper, champion of Lilith.”
Rostrian looked past Milo up at his much smaller army, he did not look even slightly impressed by the sight.
“You have come between me and my prey, I offer you one chance to leave this place with your army intact, refuse and you will be destroyed.”
The offer surprised Milo. Unlike his faction which got huge payoffs for converting the native citizens, the death faction probably got their main income from slaying and reanimating them. For such a cold and brutal faction to offer him a chance to leave must mean that Rostrian realised how overextended he was. Fighting here was a risk, and not one Rostrian wanted to take if he could avoid it.
Milo plastered a fake smile on his face and inched a few steps forward.
“A generous offer indeed.”
Rostrian remained unmoving and his eyes narrowed as Milo inched forward half a step at a time. When Rostrian spoke again he sounded impatient.
“Well?”
Milo stole another half step as he beamed up at the other man.
“Normally I would accept, but you’re quite far from home.”
Rostrian’s eyes suddenly focused on Milo’s feet and he could practically see the alarm bells going off in his head. His staff was lowering in Milo’s direction, but it was already too late. Milo lunged forward and drew his claymore in one smooth motion. Rostrian’s undead horse made no sound as Milo’s flaming sword swept through its neck. The horse fell apart as if it had been glued together and Rostrian landed on his shoulder with a grunt. The dazed champion opened his bleary eyes just in time to see Milo’s sword smash into his skull. Flesh blood and bone exploded in a shower of gore as Milo’s strike obliterated his opponent’s head.
Milo looked up at the undead army, he’d hoped that killing its leader might sever whatever spell animated the undead. Unfortunately, the army remained just as large as before as it charged across the ground towards him. Milo started running in the opposite direction just as fire spells started hitting home.
By the time Milo made it back to their lines spells were flying in both directions in such numbers that it was hard to tell who was winning. Fireballs, inferno spells and even a meteor shower went one way while lances and huge orbs of green magic went the other. The magic from the other side looked to be coming from a large group of men and women in white robes who were hiding within their massive army.
Milo could hear Beldan shouting orders.
“Archers fire at will!”
Arrows surrounded by shadow magic joined the spells, but Milo could see at once that they were having nearly no effect on the dead. Beldan must have seen the same because he changed tactics.
“Archers switch to melee and focus on taking out their mages! Infantry prepare to charge! Charge!”
The demons started running and Milo was impressed by the speeds they reached before the front lines struck the undead horde. Skeletons and zombies literally went flying as demons ploughed through them. The undead responded by swarming any demon which got separated from the line. What they lacked in strength, armour and creativity they made up for with numbers.
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Milo lacked the understanding to tell how the battle was going but Beldan took time to fill him in.
“Looks like we got lucky, I think the champion you killed was also their general. Good job by the way, even if we lose this battle, we might still win the war since their champion is now out of business for 7 days.”
Milo watched as the battle started to stall. Both sides were taking heavy losses which he was failing to replenish thanks to the low number of spirit essence the undead gave per kill. Already they’d lost about a fifth of their troops. Still Beldan clearly thought they could win because he took personal command of the small force which was guarding the elementalists. The general lead them in a wedge straight into the undead army’s flank and towards a group of hostile mages. With the reserve committed their army was now well and truly all in.
To neutral observer it might look strange that Milo was holding himself back from the battle. But his instincts told him this wasn’t the full power of their enemies. He was proven right a few minutes later when Lily returned to his side. She pointed to the west and Milo saw something moving. A large force of riders on skeleton horses dressed in black was approaching at a gallop. With Beldan and the reserve committed the elementalists were almost defenceless. They were trying to cut down the riders, but every spell seemed to hit a shimmer green shield of some variety. The rider had clearly identified Seti as the most important person in the group because they were heading straight for him.
Milo activated the metamorphosis spell at the same time as a handful of the elementalists did the same. Seti on the other hand was pulling no punches and had activated his far superior true metamorphosis form. Milo watched as his teacher launched himself at the riders, his claws and spiked tail wreaking havoc. Milo followed in Seti’s wake and the entire thing devolved into the most chaotic battle of Milo’s life.
Milo tried to stay close to Seti but the two of them kept getting separated by their enemies, most of whom had dismounted by now. This unknown race didn’t possess the same strength of body as the hybrids but what they lacked in raw strength they made up for with magic. Milo’s exoskeleton had so many holes in it that he was certain the spell would’ve failed if not for his amulet. On a positive note, these enemies were worth a lot more spirit essence than their undead minions. Every now and then Milo would pause, check his spirit essence and summon what he could. Still even with reinforcements they were vastly outnumbered, and Milo kept stumbling over dead hybrid elementalists.
When he finally caught up to Seti the elementalist was still in his true metamorphosis form and was going toe to toe with a giant in black armour whose sword was surrounded by a green sheen of magic. One glance was all it took for Milo to tell that while Seti was far stronger and faster than his opponent, he was hopelessly outmatched in terms of skill. The fight ended when Seti was smashed into the ground and reverted back into his hybrid form. The black knight raised his sword for a killing strike and Milo barely managed to get there in time.
The black knight staggered back as Milo deflected his sword and followed up with a side kick to his knee that would’ve crippled an ordinary man. The black knight recovered and launched a vicious attack which Milo fended off with ease. His opponent seemed to sense that the scales had turned and must have cast some sort of spell because his body started to change. Wings of bone erupted from his back and his sword morphed into a giant scythe. When he next attacked the strength and speed behind it was completely different.
Milo struggled to keep up with his opponent. The scythe as a weapon was completely alien to him and this particular scythe was so large it shouldn’t have been an effective weapon. Yet his opponent moved the weapon as if it weighed nothing. In addition, Milo kept having to deflect strikes away from Seti who was all but defenceless now that he had run out of magic and his true metamorphosis form was spent.
The black knight roared, and its scythe took on a green glow, once again Milo blocked the blow but this time he knew at once that he should’ve dodged or deflected the blow. The force of the blow sent him flying across the field and he was certain he would’ve been dead if not for the exoskeleton surrounding his body. He still felt a little dizzy as he got back to his feet, unfortunately there was now nothing between Seti and the black knight. Seti bared his teeth in a snarl as he stared up at his death.
The scythe went up and then came down in a flash.
Seti cast some spell at his left arm and tried to block the scythe but the weapon went straight through it and cut deeply into his shoulder. Milo was already running but he could tell that he was going to be too late. The scythe descended again but just before it landed a shadow passed over the black knight’s head. A clawed hand covered in shadow magic punched straight through the black knight’s throat and out the other side. The black knight fell to the ground dead and Milo stared at its killer.
A tall woman with one blood red eye and one pale red eye stood over the black knight. Her right foot, leg, arm and chest was covered in tiny black scales and a single wing poked up above her right shoulder. The other side of her body was completely normal. Lily raised her clawed right hand into the air in victory, then her true metamorphosis form vanished.
Milo had always suspected that Lily was more than just a regular hybrid, her one blood red eye was a dead giveaway. And yet Lilith had gone out of her way to not mention Lily as one of her children. There was a mystery there, and one of the clues was her tight bond to Ivy. Whatever the truth it was a mystery that would have to wait.
Milo checked his spirit essence reserves and noticed that it had spiked with the black knight’s death. Forty demon soldiers arrived on the field and Milo ordered a knot of them to protect Seti. The elementalist was badly wounded and was missing his hand and half his shoulder.
Still even with Seti down they were about evenly matched. With Seti down the enemy switched to trying to kill him. They kept coming in wave after wave and Milo was worried his metamorphosis spell would run out before the onslaught ended. The only reason he hadn’t been brought down yet was because Lily was guarding his back. The two of them were fighting in tandem so perfectly that Milo knew Lily had specifically trained for it.
By the time Milo’s metamorphosis spell finally ran out the battle had turned in their favour. What remained of Ferdor’s city guard had clearly determined the same because they finally left their rear-guard position and charged into the fight. Despite being hopelessly outmatched they provided a valuable distraction, and the fight turned to butchery.
Milo could barely stand by the time the last of the riders was cut down. Only a handful of the elementalists remained alive and the guard force from Ferdor had lost half their number. He ordered his troops to flank the main undead army and Lily lead them into the final battle herself. Just like their own force of elementalists the enemy’s mages had been heavily reduced by Ivy and her fellow shadow stalkers. Even someone as untrained in strategy and tactics as himself could see that the battle was now over.
