21 – Manticore Extermination (4)
Unique confrontation between the Manticore and my extermination squad had begun. Unlike the front and center that were ambushed by the beasts, the Manticore and the slaves slowly approached us.
I removed the patch covering my right eye. The Manticore and the slaves following it stopped in their tracks, surprised at the sight of my spirit.
“What an unsettling eye.”
“I hear that often.”
I casually retorted towards the Manticore. However, the situation wasn’t good.
The mercenaries, paralyzed with fear, still stood in place.
“Move! Pick up your weapons!”
Even though Sir Leonard frantically yelled towards the immobilized mercenaries…
“It’s impossible…”
“How are we supposed to fight such a monster!!”
Their morale and enthusiasm were nowhere to be seen.
The appearance of the Manticore was indeed shocking, but the simultaneous ambush at the center and front of the extermination team also played a part.
The word “defeat” was seared in the mercenaries’ minds.
If they do not move, this fight will certainly end in defeat.
I had to somehow boost the morale of the mercenaries.
I gave an order to the skeleton horse. The skeleton horse let out a horrid wail asHe began to scrape the ground with his front foot.
“–––!!”
With a terrible screech, the skeletal horse began to charge towards the halted slaves. The slaves clumsily swung their wooden spears to counter the skeletal horse’s charge.
However, the crude wooden spears had no effect on the skeletal horse, who wasn’t a living creature. The horse’s sturdy bones deflected the wooden spears, beginning to sweep through the enemy throngs.
“Ahhhhh!!”
“Block it!! Block it!!”
“Hey!! Don’t you run, brat!!”
The screams of the slaves following the manticore echoed. They couldn’t stop the skeletal horse’s rampage.
The slaves got trampled and thrown around due to the horse’s rampage.
I scrutinized this world with my soulful gaze. This place now constantly birthed new souls from the departed.
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Creatures die. Among them, animals with will and ability to act leave their spirits behind when they die.
In my soulful gaze were the souls of people and beasts killed in this battle.
In such a battlefield, the art of commanding can exhibit excellent ability.
I smote the ground with my staff. Then, the bodies of the wolves, who had met their death by the mercenaries’ swords, began to melt away, leaving only the bones.
“What, what’s that.”
“It’s the wizard’s power! Don’t mind it and focus on the front!”
The black wolf, glaring with one eye, scolded the mercenaries.
I played a sound filled with emotions of resurrection to the fallen souls.
The sound of my staff hitting the ground was like a pack leader’s howl to the dead wolves’ souls.
From the death, seven wolves began to wake up. Their eyes, white as moonlight, began staring at the enemies.
The living wolves instinctively felt fear towards their comrades who came back from the dead. The mercenaries, locked in combat with the wolves, utilized the wolves’ fear and terror for their advantage.
“Fight!! Now’s the time!!”
“Keep pushing!! Gift death to those bastards!!”
The seven undead wolves, who had awakened from death, were on the move, leaving the mercenaries behind.
Three undead wolves that were rushing from the front to the rear plunged into the mass of slaves, who were in chaos around the skeletal horse.
The remaining four charged at the mighty manticore. The manticore scowled at me with its huge face.
“Darn it, a wizard!”
The strength of the undead, revived by the commanding art, lay in the fact that no matter how, they couldn’t be killed, and in order to stop them, one had to break all their limbs.
The undead wolf rolled on the ground as it was flung away by the giant manticore’s blow but only stood up again to attack him.
“That’s impossible···”
“Is this a wizard···?”
Then, the mercenaries, whose spirit had faded, saw the will return to their eyes. I sent a signal to Leonard.
Then Leonard, who had been blankly gazing at the sight, came to senses. He drew his sword and cried out to the mercenaries.
“Now’s the time!! We have a wizard who can control death!! As long as we have him, we will never die or lose!!”
With his sword drawn, Leonard took the lead and started to dash off.
“All forces!! Charge!!”
At the powerful cry of Leonard, the mercenaries’ morale began to rise incessantly.
The mercenaries, each holding their weapons, followed Leonard’s steps, shouting out.
“Charggee!!”
“Fight! We’ll never lose!!”
The echo of the mercenaries’ powerful shout seemed to pierce the whole mountain, and the counterattack began.
The slaves didn’t stand a chance against the well-armed mercenaries. It was limiting to cause significant damage with their crude wooden spears.
The mercenaries began to drop the slaves with their swords, who began to bleed.
I sent the undead wolf and the skeletal horse dealing with the slaves to challenge the manticore.
Leonard and the undead wolves were fighting the manticore well.
However, it seemed that the manticore figured out how to deal with the undead.
The undead were immortal but not invincible.Then, the manticore crushed the undead wolf’s body with its forepaws and began to tear at its waist with its teeth.
The undead wolf, split in half, could only squirm on the ground, unable to move any longer.
Blood flowed from the wolf’s tooth marks on the manticore’s body, but the four wolves that attacked the manticore first were all defeated.
The undead had depleted faster than expected. Currently, I could only summon ten at a time. I needed to summon powerful undead that could deal significant strikes to the beast…
I turned my gaze to the middle of the battlefield, where we suffered devastating damage from the bears.
I had entrusted Dorothy, who had shown great feats in our last fight with a bear and wondered if there could be any problem.
With that uncertainty, I found her in the center of our extermination squad.
The center was littered with bodies crushed and trampled by the bears. Out of the original 30 members, only ten remained.
It was a disaster in the center. It wouldn’t have been surprising if the soldiers had fled, but…
Quite unexpectedly, they continued to fight the bear to the death.
Then I realized the cause. Despite the devastation in the center, there was only one bear still standing among those that had ambushed us.
Lord Freud was bravely fighting the bear, and the soldiers following him were zealously wielding their swords at the bear.
“Draw its attention!! Until the female swordsman can attack accurately!!”
“Yes!!”
Only then did I spot where Dorothy was.
Dorothy was waiting for her chance behind the bear. Although dirty with blood, there wasn’t a single wound on her body.
A common feature was found on the bodies of the bears. Blood flowed from both eyes. They must have been pierced by Dorothy’s rapier.
While the lord and soldiers drew the bear’s attention, Dorothy seemed to seize her opportunity. She lightly leaped from the ground to the bear’s back.
Upon the moving bear’s back, Dorothy ruthlessly stabbed down with her rapier, and the bear started thrashing about, screaming.
Dorothy didn’t miss the chance. She thrust her rapier deeply into the bear’s eye. The bear’s bestial screams echoed deafeningly in the forest.
Dorothy didn’t stop there. She used the back of her heel to further drive the rapier’s hilt deeply into the bear.
Then the rapier pierced through the brain, and the bear finally fell.
“Wowww!!”
Looking at Dorothy’s prowess, the lord and the soldiers marveled and shouted in admiration.
“Such amazing skills!!”
Lord Freud approached Dorothy, who was catching her breath with her rapier still stuck in the bear’s eye. But…
Dorothy, catching my gaze, spryly ran over to me.
“Master!”
“Dorothy! I’m glad you’re safe.”
In front of Dorothy’s smile, I put aside Lord’s awkward outstretched hand and smiled back at her.
“You did a great job.”
“Hmm.”
Then, Dorothy stared at me as if she wanted something.
“Dorothy?”
“Praise me more.”
Dorothy pouted and looked at me with dissatisfaction. With an awkward smile, I embraced her and lightly patted her head.
“You’re perfect as ever, Dorothy. You were a big help.”
“Hmm.”
Only then did Dorothy show a satisfied expression and gave a faint smile.
Oh, this wasn’t the time for this. I shifted my gaze to Leonardo who was having a tough time.
Only two of the undead wolves remained. Pieces of split bone were scattered around the manticore.
“Alright. Let’s end this fight now.”
“Hmm.”
I struck my wand into the ground once again. Then a vibration greater than ever before began to reverberate throughout this place.
The skin, innards, and blood of the fallen beasts melted and began to seep into the ground.
A beast so enormous that it couldn’t compare with the skeletons I had controlled so far, awakened from death.
Two undead bears, the size of the manticore, stood up causing a grand vibration in the ground, waiting for their new master’s command.
That is so cool