"Did the village just got struck by lightning?"

Verc asked after seeing a streak of light strike the heart of the forest from a distance.

He was standing on a high ridge, his eyes narrowed as he watched the fading glow of that massive golden pillar. It’s been a day since he got out of the massive cave where he fought the Dark Lich, and since then—he wasted no time and immediately started heading back to his territory.

His body was still humming with the remnants of that battle, his clothes a bit dusty and torn.

’No... it looks like one, but that’s no lightning.’

Verc thought to himself after short analization of what he had just seen.

’It came down straight like a line. In the first place, there’s no cloud above the village that where that light could come from.’

He added, looking up in the sky with his advance eyesight.

The sky was clear, save for the dark, swirling mist that always hung over the [Cursed Forest]. There were no storm clouds, no thunder. This was something else.

Verc frowned as he realized all of this, a small, bad feeling rested on his heart.

TAP—CRACK!

He pressed his feet onto the ground, cracking them with force.

The soil beneath his boots shattered, turning into fine powder as he prepared his body. He concentrated mana on his legs, feeling the energy coil like a tight spring.

Then looking straight ahead, where the heart of the [Cursed Forest] is—BOOM!

Verc kicked off and propelled himself forward!

SWOOSH!!!

He went so fast that he destroyed the sound barrier!

A loud sonic boom echoed throughout the area, and the shockwaves destroyed the nearby trees! The force of his departure flattened the grass for dozens of meters!

He became a blur of black and red! 𝚏𝐫𝚎𝗲𝕨𝐞𝐛𝕟𝚘𝐯𝚎𝗹.𝕔𝐨𝗺

*****

Back in the village—

TIIING— TAAANG— CLAAANG—!!!

The sounds of battle were constant and deafening.

Kael and his squad members are still fighting the five beastmen kids and the orc family heads!

"GURGH...! HOLD OUT!"

Kael shouted, his voice hoarse from effort.

TWHACK!

He moved his shield just in time to catch a heavy blow from Epona, the impact vibrating through his teeth. Kael and his squad members are obviously being pushed back. They were outnumbered, and their opponents were as skilled, or even stronger than them.

The beastmen and the orc family heads moved with a synchronization that was terrifying to behold. They didn’t just attack; they hunted.

The only reason they weren’t still defeated until now—was because their enemies are going against them carefully; avoiding any unnecessary injuries.

Tatum’s orders had been clear: defend, but don’t be reckless unless necessary. The orcs and beastmen were pulling their punches just enough so they could pull back incase something unexpected happen.

Meanwhile...

TINK—! SLASH!

Elianna was still being held back by Tatum, Groo, and Jed; preventing her from helping the others.

"...!"

She looks frustrated, but she’s still holding fine herself.

Her sword glowed with a white light that sizzled whenever it met her opponents. She moved with a practiced elegance, her feet barely touching the mud as she spun and parried.

Although her opponents were under her debuffs—she still can’t shake them off.

The holy field she created was supposed to drain their strength, but their natural vitality was immense. They were still strong, and the three of them are encircling her, preventing her to move wherever she wants. Every time she tried to break through to help Kael, one of them would be there to cut her off.

"Don’t dive in recklessly and get too close—one direct hit from her sword can kill us."

Tatum stated as Groo and Jed stood close beside him.

He was watching the way the golden aura around her sword flickered. He could feel the danger radiating from her. He said that so quietly for them to only hear. He didn’t want the human woman to know they were becoming wary.

Groo and Jed silently nodded their heads.

Their eyes were locked on her every movement. Then when they noticed that Elianna was trying to move over to where Kael and the others are—BAAAAM!

They both kicked off!

They were so fast that they arrived on Elianna’s each side in a blink of an eye!

SLASH! SWIIIISH!

Groo swung his heavy battle axe with both his hands, aiming at Elianna’s head! The weapon whistled through the air, carrying enough force to split a boulder. While Jed swiped his sharp claws, going for her stomach! His movements were low and jagged, designed to catch her while she was focused on the heavy axe.

FWIP!

Elianna ducked down to avoid the axe, the blade passing so close she could feel the wind pressure on her scalp. Then with her sword—TAAANG!!!

She blocked Jed’s claws. The sparks from the impact lit up her face for a split second.

SWISH~SLASH!

She then smoothly transitioned from blocking, to a horizontal counterattack!

She used the momentum of her crouch to spring forward. Her blade threatening to cleave Jed in half while it was glowing with divine power!

CLANG!

But before her sword could even go near him—Tatum appeared and blocked her attack with his claws!

"Ugh...!"

Still, Elianna’s attack was so strong that it shook Tatum’s whole body just by stopping it.

His feet slid back a few inches in the mud, leaving deep tracks. The raw power of a Saintess wasn’t something to be taken lightly, even with three-to-one odds.

SWOOOSH—!

Anyway. Elianna didn’t have time to sit still—another attack from Groo was coming from above—it was a vertical slash that wants to cut her head open!

He had recovered from his missed swing and brought the axe down with a roar.

B O O O O O M—!!!

Elianna had no choice but to roll backwards to avoid it, and in doing so—she was led away from Kael and the others once more.

The axe hit the ground where she had stood, burying itself deep into the earth and sending shards of rock and clumps of dirt flying. But still, if she hadn’t move; it was her head that would’ve been destroyed, not the ground.

"Tsk."

Elianna couldn’t help but click her tongue in annoyance.

She stood back up, her chest heaving slightly. She can’t just use a lot of her divine power and fight as hard as she can right now. She needs to save her stamina.

After all, even if she wins against her three opponent by doing that—she would still be too spent to save the others. And exhausting yourself while in the middle of a cursed place isn’t a good thing.

’And lastly... I need to still be able to fight... in case the leader of these people show up.’

Elianna thought with a deeper frown.

If everyone here was already this strong, and none of them were the leader—then she just can’t imagine what kind of a creature, or monster, is able to make all of these their subordinates.

Anyway...

Although Elianna, Kael, and the other Knight Templars from [The Radiant Church], are still having trouble despite the buff put on them and the debuff on their enemies because they were facing the strongest among their enemies—this wasn’t the case on the whole battlefield.

The tide was turning in the wider conflict.

"[FIREBALL!!!]"

FWAAAAAASH--!!!

The mages’ magic got stronger, their fireballs burning brighter and their lightning bolts striking with more precision.

"DIEEE!!!"

SWOOOSH--TIIING!

"WE WILL NOT BE DEFEATED!"

SLASH!

The knights sent by the nobles and the mercenaries started doing better. They started being able to fight back the wave of orcs.

With the Saintess’s power backing them, their fear had turned into a zealous courage. They were pushing the orc warriors back toward the gate, their formation holding steady!

But Mamon and Kuma who was left on top of the wall didn’t let their side be pushed back.

Mamon’s eyes were sharp as he surveyed the field from his high vantage point. He held his staff aloft, his voice carrying over the noise of the battle. They both gave precise orders to the gnolls when to shoot their crossbows and were able to keep the enemies in check.

"Left side, to that side! Fire!"

Kuma exclaimed.

FWIIIIIIISH—!!!

"R-RETREAT! GAH!"

A volley of bolts rained down, catching a group of mercenaries who had tried to break the line.

Kuma and Mamon received good support from the agriculture team too who kept throwing mutated plants onto the enemies, making them wary and disrupting them.

Every time a group of knights tried to charge, a violet "potato" or a cluster of exploding spores would land in their midst. One knight screamed as a vine sprouted from the mud and wrapped around his leg, pulling him down into the dirt where an orc was waiting.

Mamon personally hold back the remaining four mages of the enemies on his own.

Every time they tried to cast a large-scale spell, Mamon would twist the air around them. He used his wind magic to disperse their mana before it could take shape, or he would create a sudden gust that sent their fireballs flying harmlessly into the trees. He was a wall of air that they couldn’t overcome.

.. ... ...

... ... ...

... ... ...

A few time had passed.

The battle had become a gruesome stalemate.

Each side was losing member one by one as minute passes by. The ground was littered with broken shields, snapped arrows, and the bodies of those who couldn’t keep up.

The humans had the divine buff, but the village defenders had the home-ground advantage and superior individual strength.

In Kael and his squad members’ side—Stanford and Kelton are already neutralized.

They were hit in the stomach so hard they lost consciousness. Stanford was slumped against a broken crate, his breathing shallow, while Kelton lay face down in the mud. They had been overwhelmed by Jagan and Pol’s relentless heavy strikes.

While Gibson and Harper are heavily injured, they can’t fight properly anymore.

Harper was clutching a deep gash on his arm, his sword shaking in his hand. Gibson was limping, his leg having been struck by a blunt weapon. Kael was wounded himself as well, a cut above his eye bleeding into his vision, but he was still holding on while protecting his squad members.

"Just hide behind me."

He stood in front of his fallen friends, his shield raised high, refusing to let the orcs finish them.

.. ... ...

Elianna—she was getting used to the pattern of the three.

She was slowly pushing back Tatum, Jed, and Groo. Her movements were becoming more efficient. She stopped falling for their feints and started predicting their pincer attacks.

"..."

The three realized this and they frowned.

They haven’t landed a single hit on Elianna, and they know that she wasn’t using everything she had as well. They could see that she was still holding back, waiting for a opening to end it.

On the other hand—the three of them are slowly piling up small wounds.

Jed had a cut on his shoulder, and Groo’s armor was cracked in several places. If they weren’t half-vampires with insane regeneration abilities, they would’ve been riddled with wounds now and bleeding all over. Their wounds would close, but the pain and the drain on their energy were real.

But slowly—Elianna was losing stamina as well.

"Huff... haaaa..."

The golden light around her was beginning to flicker at the edges. She had been holding his large area field skill now for a while now as she was using divinity too—she was running out of gas as time passes by.

Maintaining a divine domain was like trying to hold a river back with her bare hands. Her breaths were coming in short, sharp gasps.

Now... it was hard to determine whose side is going to win.

SWOOOOOOOSH!!!

But then, all of a sudden—a silent, cold breeze passed by the heart of the forest!

The wind didn’t just blow; it felt like the temperature had dropped twenty degrees in an instant. The smell of the battlefield—the blood and the mud—was suddenly replaced by a sharp, metallic scent!

"..."

"..."

The battlefield came to a standstill.

Everyone felt like everything went quiet. The knights stopped their swords, the mages stopped their chants, and even the orcs lowered their axes. It was as if the forest itself had held its breath.

B O O O O O M—!!!

Then out of nowhere, at the back of the expedition group—an explosion suddenly occurred!

A huge dust cloud erupted, thick and grey, seeming to want to swallow the whole area!

SwAaAaaaAAHhhH~

"!!!"

Everyone then was surprised, they felt a calm, yet overwhelming presence coming from the dust cloud... It was a pressure so heavy that some of the weaker mercenaries started stepping away from the dust unconsiously!

And as the dust cloud started fading...

"Looks like we had some visitors while I was away."

They heard a weak, casual voice.

It wasn’t loud, but it carried to every corner of the clearing. It was so cold that it sent shivers to everyone who heard it.

Then when the it fully settled and disappeared.

"..."

They saw a handsome man with long black hair, and sharp red eyes. He was wearing an outfit that made him look like a noble.

His presence seemed to pull the light away from the Saintess’s field, casting a shadow that stretched across the mud. He looked at the chaos, the wounded, and the intruders with a gaze that promised nothing but a swift end.

"..."

Verc had returned.