Chương 227: B3 - Chapter 59: Coward

Seth charged straight at the two towering foes. Chasing down the Empress's daughter could wait; eliminating those immediate threats now took priority. The dark teal aura of Armored Phantom Fists still shimmered around his gauntlets. Once the spell expired, his offensive power would drop dramatically, and Dusk Scythes was already on cooldown. Just have to make every second count, Seth thought, sprinting toward Jaz and casting Identify on the beast beside him.

Iron-mantle Bear Potential: Silver Tier Rank: 60 (Peak-Iron) Affinity: Earth Strength: 148 Arcane Power: 106 Toughness: 171 Well Capacity: 96 Agility 87 Regeneration: 92. Wild arcs of lightning crackled across the giant Guardian's heavy plate armor as he rushed toward Seth. Beside the man, the monstrous bear slammed down one of its front paws. A wall of stone spikes erupted from the ground and sharp rocks surged toward Seth, threatening to impale him. Yet he didn't slow down.

At the last possible instant, Seth pivoted sharply and swung his fist to the side while preparing to use Shadow Step. Then, the moment the deadly flurry of piercing stones was about to skewer his chest, he vanished. Seth reappeared beside the beast's flank, and his fist slammed into its ribs. Jagged scales exploded like brittle glass under his absurdly high Strength and the penetrating power of Armored Phantom Fists.

Even if the monstrous beast boasted an incredible Toughness, it didn't matter: the spell drove deep into its iron fur and shattered ribs beneath. Seth unleashed a relentless barrage of blows, each punch crashing into the bear's side with enough force to buckle its large body and crack bone. The punches reverberated across the battlefield like thunder and made the beast roar in pain. Blood spurted from its maw as its head was whipped to the side. It lashed out on instinct, snapping its fangs toward Seth.

Yet the jaws closed on empty air—Seth had already slipped beneath the attack. Seizing the opportunity, he exploded upward, and his fist crashed into the beast's jaw. The uppercut snapped its head, causing teeth and blood to spray out. The beast staggered, but Seth refused to give it even a second to recover or use a spell. He surged forth, driving another savage punch into its ribs, then another into its throat. Behind him, Jaz let out a roar filled with murderous rage.

The Guardian planted his feet and raised his warhammer toward the black sky. And the sky answered. A colossal pillar of white-blue lightning descended from the clouds. It struck Seth's back with a deafening clap. His leather mantle burst into flames though the downpour soon extinguished the blaze. Agonizing lightning arcs ripped through every muscle in his body, locking his limbs in agonizing spasms. Seth gritted his teeth but refused to fall. Instead, he threw another punch. Then another.

Ignoring the pain, he hammered the Iron-mantle Bear with everything he had. The beast desperately cast several spells, wrapping itself in fresh layers of stone. Imperial soldiers nearby activated Instant spell-scrolls, healing crushed injuries while others lunged at Seth with swords and spears alongside Jaz. None of it mattered. Every layer of rock that formed was pulverized a second later. And every healed wound was worsened by more blows.

Seth danced around the beast with incredible speed, never remaining in place long enough for the surrounding soldiers to pin him down. Jaz roared and swung his warhammer to cave in Seth's skull. Like all the others, he was too slow. His weapon struck empty air. The giant Guardian's confidence began to crack. Panic flashed across his face, and he cast a spell to wrap his beast with a hazel barrier. It only delayed the inevitable. Armored Phantom Fists was made to break barriers.

Seth's next punch tore through the layer of aether, smashing it into fragments before continuing on its path. His gauntlet buried itself into the bear's skull, and bone burst inward. The beast's eyes turned vacant before its large body even fall, and neither Jaz nor the surrounding imperials could do a thing to stop it. The creature then crashed into the mud, shaking the battlefield. Love this novel? Read it on Royal Road to ensure the author gets credit. Jaz let out a scream of pure fury.

A normal reaction for someone who just lost a contracted beast. Unlike Celess' own reaction. Seth slipped beneath the Guardian's next hammer swing just as the teal aura of Armored Phantom Fists flickered and dissolved from his gauntlets. The spell had ended, so Jaz seized the opportunity to press on. He slammed his hammer into the ground, causing a violent ring of lightning to erupt outward.

The thunderous wave tore across the battlefield and forced Seth to dive aside as bolts of electricity ripped through the rain and scorched the ground where he had been standing moments before. Once he'd rolled back to his feet, his eyes landed on Celess in the distance. The Empress' daughter had retreated beneath the protective radius of another Stabilizer Obelisk near the edge of the imperial camp. Seth glanced back at Jaz, who was already charging back in.

The giant Guardian had survived multiple attacks empowered by Armored Phantom Fists. Without that spell—or Dusk Scythes—bringing him down would take far too long. Seth's gaze moved back to Celess as he knocked aside a wind-clad spear thrust from a nearby soldier. Unlike Jaz, the noblewoman looked terrified. It was as if she had never faced any danger before in her life. Seth changed direction and charged straight toward her. I don't need either of the spells to kill her. Dread flashed across Celeste's face.

She hastily cast a spell, conjuring a bird of blazing blue fire that shrieked toward him. Seth shifted his weight, which let the summon of flames hissed harmlessly past his shoulder.

"Stop him!" she screamed at the guards who'd begun forming a desperate ring around her. Seth wove between the attacks of the soldiers converging on him.

"Do you honestly think any of them can stop me?" he shouted over the roar of thunder, eyes locking onto hers. Every trace of color drained from Celess' face. Seth charged and closed the distance with terrifying speed, causing panic to overtake her. The woman thrust a trembling hand into her Endless Pouch, yanked out an Escape Scroll, and crushed it before Seth could reach her. A brilliant flash of light swallowed her up, and just like that, she was gone. Seth gritted his teeth. Pathetic.

One of the nearby imperial soldiers lunged forward, swinging a broadsword in a wild arc. Seth parried the blade with his armored forearm, stepped inside the man's guard, and drove a crushing punch into his sternum. The bone shattered under the blow, and the Warrior crumpled lifelessly into the mud. Seth turned and let his eyes settle on Jaz, who had for once stopped charging and was barking orders to reorganize the men around him.

'Seth, we need some help here,' Nightmare's tense voice echoed through Link. Seth's attention snapped toward the direwolf. He raised an armored gauntlet and knocked aside a heavy broadsword, though his shoulder strained from the impact. The direwolf and Colossus carved relentlessly through the imperial soldier, both of them under the empowering effect of Beastmaster Rage, yet it wasn't enough. No matter how many soldiers they killed, the tide refused to break.

Devus and Elena desperately held the collapsing defensive line alongside the battered remnants of their squad. Marine, Selena, and Henry had abandoned their concealed artillery positions and joined the others to fight shoulder-to-shoulder. At the heart of the formation, Lumi flew beside the party's Priest, both of them chaining healing spells without pause. Golden and pale-blue aether flashed continuously through the rain, sealing deep gashes and mending shredded flesh as quickly as new wounds appeared.

Unlike Seth, the rest of the squad were nowhere near the peak of the Iron Tier—and they also didn't carry several Seeds and a Legacy to elevate their attributes to the level of a Silver Wielder. On the right flank, the remnants of Jaxar's force were also rapidly collapsing beneath the relentless pressure of the Empire's infantry. Seth ducked beneath a sweeping battleaxe. The steel whistled inches above his hood, and he answered without missing a beat by driving a punch into the attacker's throat.

The man's windpipe fractured, and the soldier crumpled. Kastal had entered the battle with a severe numerical disadvantage, a direct consequence of Jaxar's disastrous failure the previous day. Even with Seth, Nightmare, and Colossus scything through the enemies like they were wheat, the disparity in numbers and Ranks was becoming more prevalent. The three of them couldn't carry a battle of this size. Seth's gaze found Jaz. The giant Guardian stood among the imperial ranks as fury twisted his rugged features.

His massive hands tightened around the haft of his lightning-wreathed warhammer. Seth ran through the possibilities. Without Dusk Scythes or Armored Phantom Fists, breaking through the man's defense would take far too long. By the time he brought Jaz down, Kastal's line would already have collapsed, and his own squad would likely be dead. Clicking his tongue in frustration, Seth spun on his heel and sprinted back toward Devus, Elena, and the rest of his party. As he ran, he cast a quick glance over his shoulder.

Jaz wasn't following. The giant Guardian remained with the other soldiers, likely realizing that chasing Seth across the battlefield was a fool's errand. Shifting his focus back ahead, Seth cast Shadow Step. The world around him blurred into violent streaks of grey and red as he reappeared directly beside Devus and Henry. Not wasting his opportunity, he drove his fist into the side of the closest imperial soldier's head as the man raised his sword to strike at one of the kastal soldiers.

His helmet crumpled inward, and the foe's skull collapsed beneath. The body had yet to drop into the mud before Seth whirled to throw another devastating punch deep into the ribs of a second attacker. Thick plate armor buckled, and bones gave way with a sickening crunch. The blow hurled the soldier backward, creating a perfect opening. Devus capitalized on it right away, lunging forward to plunge his spear straight through the downed soldier's exposed neck.

"We can't hold much longer!" Elena shouted from the rear of the formation.

"Yeah, we need to fall back!" Marine yelled beside her. The noblewoman drew an arrow of aether and released it in a fluid motion. The glowing projectile sliced through the rain and pierced the chest of an imperial Rogue attempting to flank their position, dropping him before he could close the distance. Seth gritted his teeth. The reinforced part of his gauntlet rang out with a deafening clang as he caught an incoming short sword on his forearm and shoved its owner backward.

Every part of him wanted to keep fighting. Beastmaster Rage still ran through his veins, and there were still roughly five minutes remaining. But it was undeniable: winning this battle meant nothing if it cost him the lives of his friends.

'What do we do?' Nightmare asked through Link.' Keep up the pressure,' Seth answered. He then spoke aloud to address the rest of his party.

"Give me a minute or two so I can take out more—" Before Seth could finish his sentence, Jaxar's frantic voice boomed from the opposite side of the blood-soaked clearing: "Retreat! Retreat!" The king's grandson had decided that he had enough. Well... shit.

"Never mind!" Seth shouted, looking at Elena and the others.

"We're leaving." Everyone nodded, and the party moved out as one. They broke toward the fallback route they had mapped out before the battle, fighting every step of the way to keep the imperial vanguard at bay. Seth, Nightmare, and Colossus shouldered the burden of the rearguard. The three of them executed short clashes, sweeping from one flank to the other. Fists crushed armor, fangs ripped through flesh, and stingers lashed out.

Any foe who pushed too far ahead from the main formation was taken down without any mercy. Seth kept his Distortion Rod active throughout the retreat. The field prevented the enemy from overwhelming them with dozens of spell-scrolls. At the same time, he never lost sight of his retreating companions. If one of them was in danger and wanted to use an Escape scroll, he was ready to deactivate the artifact and allow them to do so.

Bathed in Lumi's healing rays, Seth, Nightmare, and Colossus killed every imperial they could, buying the rest of the party the precious seconds they needed. Just as Elena and the others disappeared behind the leaves, Seth caught a movement in the distance. Jaz was charging in again. Aether streamed around the giant Guardian's boots as each of his steps made the whole forest's floor tremble.