Reincarnated With The Van Helsing System-Chapter 630: Challenges Daimon & Nethereal sisters, Jazmine’s version (part 19)
Seeing her damaged pawn approaching the priest pawn which was busy holding onto the light chain net that was restraining her other three pawns, the enemy queen pointed her right palm at one of the remaining five blank golems on her side.
"Explosive Throw!", a stream of dark orange battle aura was shot from Erika's hand to then land on the blank golem a second later.
The gray statue gained a dark orange tone as it changed its previously generic shape to a male one with a slender but athletic body constitution, with light metal armor carved into it.
The new pawn hadn't even completely formed but it was already advancing towards the battlefield, as a sign that the enemy queen was in a slight of a hurry, she had gained the upper hand by destroying the outermost barrier of her opponent first and she didn't want to waste even a single second of it.
Only by the time the newly activated unit reached Erika's outermost barrier, was the effect of the martial art she used to create it, explained.
[Middle range damage increased by a 100% for the next sixty seconds]
The explanation was accompanied by Erika casting another martial art, this time it was done through the newly activated pawn though.
"Rock Spears!", the newly activated pawn which turned out to be a spearman, extended its hands and dark brown earth spears manifested in front of him, there were around a dozen out of which the spearman pawn grabbed one with each of its hands to then tense his muscles as it threw them at Jasmine's priest pawn.
At the same time the damaged pawn reached the priest pawn to then aim its remaining first at the chest of latter.
"Healing Light", Jasmine made her move as well, which resulted in the enemy queen smirking.
'Do you want to endure both the punch of the warrior pawn and the throwing attacks from the spearman pawn with just a healing spell, you couldn't even cast the spell through the priest pawn since its busy holding onto the chain net', she thought.
"Silver Staff!", Jasmine then used a second spell this time she used the priest pawn as the medium, to manage and get it done a second before the punch and the rock spears reached it.
"Too late, crush her!", shouted the enemy queen.
"Booom!", a loud thunder echoed through the vicinity as an orange and dark brown energy explosion was produced.
[The single target healing spell will have its effect doubled]
Surprisingly the multiplier this time wasn't as crazily high as usual, but it was understandable, it was completely new, since while Jasmine did know a couple of stapple healing spells, she didn't have any spell to buff their effects.
There is "Silver Citadel" which as a side effect of recovering the mana and stamina of the target, accelerates the recovery ratio on said target, but it's not because it buffs healing effects but because by recovering stamina there is an instant burst of vitality produced in the body of the target, which results in wounds being cured.
So, this was unexplored territory for the light princess and yet she still created a spell to buff healing effects in a short period of time, it was praise worthy.
"How ironic for a light affinity bitch to have so low talent when it comes to healing, perhaps it's because you ultimately descend from the Lord that you aren't apt to use what's supposed to be strongest healing property among all the elements", mockingly said the enemy queen, to which Jasmine softly snorted in response.
"Unfortunately, I couldn't dedicate more than one day to create this new spell, and since I had no previous experience, the limit was doubling healing effects, however that is more than enough, I'm not the main healing mage of the group after all".
Leaving aside the fact that Erika refused to believe that the light princess created an effect buffing spell in a single day, she didn't understand what did she mean with "that is more than enough", at least until the energy explosion caused by the attacks of her pawns, was dispelled.
"What!", the result was definitely not as expected, the priest pawn was completely fine, which even with a healing spell and something to buff the healing effect produced by it, shouldn't have been the case.
But everything was explained when one looked at the warrior pawn which had a rock spear piercing its chest while the other one had broken through its remaining first all the way to the elbow, in other words, the warrior pawn had taken the hit instead of the priest pawn.
The reason was simple, the healing spell casted by Jasmine and then amplified through the priest pawn was directed to the damaged warrior pawn, which after having used that self-harming martial art and flying at full speed back to the battlefield midway to returning in order to rest, had its reserves of energy reached a level low enough for the light princess to steal it from Erika.
But of course, if Jasmine directly aimed to do so, the enemy queen would have noticed it and blocked her from doing so, so she instead cunningly used a healing spell and a healing buffing spell in order to take over the control over the damaged warrior pawn.
In fact, it only happened at the last second as the three-quarter parts of white color that the warrior pawn had gained while still having a last orange colored part left, which created the illusion that it was still under the control of Erika, but had weakened way too much, so basically Jasmine completely tricked the enemy queen.
'It's good that she has learned how to outwit her enemies but… I'm not sure whether the source of this "cunningness" is the best one for her', thought Daimon who could feel see the words "Praise me" written all over the light princess's face as she turned to look at him.
Naturally this was the result of the crazy girl teaching her little sister about "the ways of the world", speaking of which after seeing the previous both Reyne and Cassy directly turned to see Sarah with accusing gazes.
"You better not teach anything weird to her", said Reyne.
"Mm, don't you dare try to corrupt little Jas with that twisted mind of yours", added Cassy, to which Sarah giggled in response.
"Don't be jealous, I'll make sure to have some "sisterly" time with you two later as well~", she said, which made those two feel a chill running down their backs.
Back to the battlefield, Erika's expression was worth seeing, she had attacked her own pawn and to make matters worse, the thing crumbled apart the next second.
"Crack!", having suffered damage on purpose to then be forcefully taken over by Jasmine and then receive heavy attacks head on without any defense nor any buff from Jasmine, since the healing spell was used to restore the arm with which it took the rock spear and to steal the control from Erika, its durability reached zero.
And with that Jasmine had become the first to destroy a pawn during the game, she might have stolen it but it didn't affect her at all, since she was fighting with seven pawns to begin with, the loss was completely on Erika's side, who had gone from having nine pawns to have only eight remaining.
'This bitch, what kind of light mage uses such underhanded tricks and I can't believe I actually fell for it, damn it!!!', inwardly roared the enemy queen, to then explode in battle aura.
"Rock Spike Explosion!", with the tank pawn which was still being trapped inside the light chain net, as the origin, earth spikes covered in battle aura flew in every direction.
"Booom!", a couple of them scratched the two warrior pawns that were trapped with the tank pawn, but it was a small price to pay in order for the martial art which was the weakened version of the "Battleground" level stalactite explosion used by the rook guy that fought Loren, to completely obliterate the light chain net.
"Retreat", Jasmine gave the order and the priest pawn let go of the net which was being ripped apart as of current, to then rush back to the third barrier where the ranger pawn was stationed, or at least that was the idea but after having suffered a loss at the light princess's hands, Erika wasn't going to let the defenseless priest pawn go so easily.
"Light Rock Trident!", said Erika in unison with the tank pawn, resulting in the spells activating two times, this was another of the dynamics of the game one that allowed the commander to cast the same spell twice by using a pawn as a medium.
The result of the previous were earth tridents appearing on the right hands of the two warrior pawns which had made their way out of the light net, to then charge at the fleeing priest pawn.
"Radiant Step", in response Jasmine activated a spell with the priest as the medium, making its legs lit up in white light to then flash into the distance, that was a movement spell which focused in instant explosiveness, and was the same that Jasmine learned.
After all, she as a support type mage wasn't supposed to be on the frontline, so for movement spells, her priority should be not continuous movement but short highly explosive increasement to escape shall the need for it arise, and that wasn't all, she rolled her staff to then cast a spell, this time by herself.
"Silver Boots!".
"Damn it, Battleground Throw!", listening to the name of the spell used directly by the enemy, Erika could see her opportunity to "even" things out, disappear by flashing into the distance and she finally used a Battleground level martial art, which resulted in one of the two warrior pawns having its right arm explode in dark orange battle aura as it threw the rock trident it was holding.
'The warrior doesn't have the buffing effect of the spearman for throwing, but it should be more than enough since a weapon martial art and an attack type martial art are being combined for it to attack', thought the enemy queen as she saw the dark orange stream that flashed all the way to where the priest pawn was.
But just as the trident was about to land on the back of the priest pawn, a white blur pushed it out of the way.
"Crack!", the trident did manage to hit something, which was revealed to be… a left arm?
[The effect of the next movement spell will be tripled and the target will then be moved to a designated spot within three kilometers of distance]
It was a composed spell and Jasmine used it on a blank golem instead of casting it on the priest pawn, she used the movement spell on the priest pawn to make it so it reached the border of the area where the newly activated pawn could flash to.
Each Barrier was placed exactly at tree kilometers from the previous one, so from where Jasmine was floating with her blank golems not too far from her, to the border of the third barrier where the ranger pawn was stationed, the total distance was of nine kilometers.
Speaking of the new pawn activated by Jasmine, it had a short and slender figure while being covered from head to toe with light looking clothes and a cloak, a bit similar to the ranger but without even light leather armor carved on it, an assassin looking pawn to put it in simple words.
It was also amusing, that the shape was that of a male, which made Calvin mockingly laugh at Michael as if saying "It resembles you", to which Michael pointed at the brute looking tank to insult Calvin back, resulting in them discussing with each other, going as far as to Calvin affirming that Michael looked like the priest in the sister attire, but that's beside the point.
Though the assassin pawn lost its left arm by pushing the priest pawn out of the way of the earth trident's attack, the latter was saved and the two of them retreated into the safety of the third barrier, so that the three pawns that Jasmine had activated were all stationed there.
'Tsk, wasn't she a damn "sheltered flower" inexperienced when it came to war, she even knew that protecting one's healer is of extreme importance for the long run, I'm going to boil that turtle bastard once I make it back to the castle of the Lord!', inwardly swore the enemy queen.
For the first half of the battle, which was destined to deal with the fourth and third barriers, the best strategy was to focus in creating fighting pawns, since the barriers were not that hard to take down, but then for the other two, healing will be needed since the pawns will be at the perfect firing range of the queens, meaning that the pawns might be bombarded quite easily.
Also, it was wasteful to use more than one pawn as a healer, so if it was destroyed it would be huge disadvantage for the one that lost it, to be forced to create a second one, hence why Erika thought Jasmine went to such lengths to save her priest pawn.
Unfortunately, Erika was simply overthinking after being tricked by Jasmine before, the light princess's plan wasn't as complex as that, she simply didn't want to lose any of her pawns, because she was aiming to get a perfect win like her sisters, because she wanted to impress Daimon with her improvement.
There was also the fact that with her priest she could heal her other pawns faster, because that was the first pawn she used as a medium and so even if by milliseconds the speed of activation of spells through the priest pawn, surpassed what Jasmine could do with the others, she was too knew to this dynamic so it was normal that it was unstable for her.
With the ranger pawn pointing its crossbow at her pawns, while the priest pawn healed the assassin pawn next to it, all behind of the third barrier from the enemy, Erika clicked her tongue as she saw the damaged warrior pawns, result of the tank using that martial art earlier to destroy the light chain net.
"Retreat!", the enemy queen had learned her lesson, so under the protection of the tower ethereal shield wielded by the tank pawn, the three of them retreated back into Erika's outermost barrier, where the spearman pawn was stationed.
The score was tied, Erika destroyed one of the Jasmine's barriers, but the light princess got rid of one of her pawns, this wouldn't be a bad result for Erika's standards, considering that she still has one more blank golem than the other party.
Had it not been for the fact that the enemy was supposed to be a first timer, in other words she wasn't being able to gain any noticeable advantage over an inexperienced commander, it was a humiliating situation for the enemy queen.
"Battleground Glorious Banner!", with a roar, Erika's body exploded in dark orange battle aura, which turned into a flaming banner that floated behind of her to then fly into one of the remaining four blank golems she had left.
Transforming it from its previously genderless generic shape, to a tall but balanced male figure with an intricately designed metal armor carved into it, one would easily think of it as an ancient general that has lived through hundreds of battles.
[Movement speed, strength, defense, dexterity and regeneration ratio will be increased by 15% for all the allies under the influence of the banner]
The effect of the spell, perfectly went along with the shape that the blank golem had taken, that pawn was a general and having it in the battlefield will boost the "morale" of the army as a whole, as long as the general was still alive that is.
Also, that spell used by Erika was quite something, it buffed five different aspects by a 15% each for a total of 75%, the multiplier might not be crazily high, but it had no time limit, meaning that it could be active for as long as Erika supplied energy for it, in terms of versatility that was probably her best buffing martial art.
"Charge, force her to retreat to her second barrier!", ordered Erika, with the previous martial art, the scratches on the warriors were healed and the tank hadn't suffered any damage so the four pawns she used for her charge were in perfect conditions now.
"Light Arrow Barrage", seeing the incoming four pawns charging at her third barrier, Jasmine unleashed a rain of light mana arrows on the battlefield through the ranger pawn, while she casted another spell on her own.
"Silver Sword", with a couple of words, Jasmine's staff which was pointed at one of the four remaining blank golems near her, glowed to then release a stream of light mana that was absorbed by it.
As a result, the gray genderless figure of the blank golem turned white, before its body gained a male athletic shape, as for the attire carved onto it, it was pants and a shirt accompanied by light metal armor protecting the chest, legs and arms, nothing too spectacular as the words of disdain from the enemy queen suggested.
"What are you planning to do with a "novice swordsman" pawn", she mockingly said.
[The next slashing attack will have its effect quadrupled once]
The effect of her buffing spell was as monstrously high as ever though, but at this point Erika had gotten used to it, in any case it was limited to be a onetime thing.
"Humph", for a change, the light princess showed some reaction towards Erika's words, she felt offended of having her spell being looked down upon by the enemy, but didn't say anything regarding the matter, instead she gave her own orders.
"Swordsman pawn and assassin pawn charge, priest pawn follow them and provide support from behind, ranger pawn you cover them".
It was a basic formation but the light princess had a well-balanced team, the swordman and the assassin for damage, the priest to provide support in many ways and the ranger for control, her team leaned towards a strong offensive.
In comparison, Erika had a tank at the front with two warriors that used tridents behind of it, the three of them being followed by the general pawn that "supervised" the other three from a relative distance, she seemed to lean more towards a defensive and long run stance.
Once the seven pawns from both sides reached the area where the two battlefields met with each other, it was time to see who had made the better preparations, starting with Erika who casted a martial art using the tank as the medium.
"Battleground Charge!", the tank suddenly exploded in battle aura, its legs tensed to the limit before it jumped frontwards, obtaining an explosive increase in speed that didn't go along with its towering figure.
[High defense allies will have their instant speed tripled by five seconds]
It was for a good reason, with the ongoing speed boost that the general provided and the tripled speed brought by the martial art she just used, Erika's tank pawn gained a speed that didn't lose when compared to the assassin pawn from earlier, of course it was for a way shorter amount of time and distance, but that was fine for Erika.
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"Booom!", the tank heavily landed the next second, producing a loud thunderous shockwave as well as a wave of dark brown battle aura that engulfed the vicinity blocking the Jasmine's view.
'It's not meant to directly harm my pawns, so the attack will come from…', the mind of the light princess worked at full speed as she casted her own spell.
"Light Protection!", through the priest pawn she created a white mana sphere around the assassin pawn, just in time to block the earth trident coming at him from the right.
"Crack!", naturally without a spell to buff the defensive properties of the light protection, while the warrior pawn had a weapon, the barrier cracked on the spot before it crumbled apart, but it gave enough time for the assassin to jump backwards avoiding the earth trident coming at him from the left.
"Silver Cape", this time the spell was activated by Jasmine directly and resulted in the assassin "vanishing" into thin air.
'Damn it, I thought she was going to protect the priest like before', seeing her surprise attack not working, Erika gritted her teeth, she was aiming to eliminate the high damage low defense pawn first, since the assassin pawn could be a troublesome enemy to deal with, as it could use its speed to bypass the tank pawn to aim for her general with it.
But the enemy didn't fall for it and instead protected the assassin, which resulted in her first waves of attack being for naught, however that didn't mean her charge had failed.
'Let's see you deal with the "complement" I prepared for the general pawn', thought Erika a she pointed her hand at yet another of the blank golems to then say.
"Armored Ride!".
