This might not sound like a problem on the surface. After all, the duo had waded through hordes of higher-level wraiths and the like when they had broken through the first encirclement, no?
Well, the problem was that back then, they had been at their peak. On the other hand, at the time they had encountered the ambush… they had not been feeling so good.
With his high Intellect, Darius had instantly realized just how deep the shit hole was, in which they were about to fall. His face had paled and he had quickly approached the wraiths to intercept them.
It would be difficult to use brute force to break through this ambush since they were stationary and well-spread out, as opposed to the first mob who had been unorganized and changing numbers quickly.
As such, the various undead had struck Darius with all their mental spells head-on, dealing great damage to him. Individually each attack had been more apathetic than the ones that came before, but their numbers had been far higher this time.
Sustaining severe damage that Darius had resolved with his Heal spell, Gunner had fared much better on the other side as he dealt with the various melee type undead. Almost every single attack of his, no matter how common, had resulted in an instant KO.
However, Darius had a harder time. The mental assaults had disabled him from using melee attacks to engage the various wraiths. As such, he had to rely on the system to cast his spell, killing one wraith with each cast of Sparks or Heal.
By the time he had killed enough that the rest had been scared off and he could continue to push through with Gunner, Darius had been partially dazed and jogging very strangely and uncertainly, like a drunk fellow trying to run.
The real tragedy however was that the ambush had given the stronger Journeyman undead from behind the chance to catch up a bit.
As such, the ranged fighters among them, especially those darned Wraith Lords and Wraith Kings, had maliciously abused Darius and Gunner with their mental attacks, focusing mostly on Spirit Punishment to achieve the desired effect.
Darius had borne the brunt of it and had fainted at some point, forcing Gunner to carry him on his back, leading to the current situation.
The Branded Servant was in a rough spot, not because of the crowding Amateur undead that were coming from his front and sides, but the still chasing Journeymen undead.
Up until now, they had not given up on their relentless pursuit. Since Darius had already been incapacitated, Gunner was no forced to bear the brunt of the attacks himself.
Unlike Darius whose 50 points of Intellect had granted him the basic ability of Mind Power which increased his mental resilience greatly, Gunner only had 35 points in Intellect. He simply could not endure spiritual attacks of the level that Darius had.
Luckily, many of the more powerful undead had to give up on the chase or had fallen behind. They had been chasing the duo for as long as they had started fleeing, and the undead didn't have potions or the like to reinvigorate themselves.
As it were, only a few of the less powerful Journeyman wraiths were still on his tail. As for Amateur wraiths, they were very rare, so Gunner was not hounded by any to his front.
However, the occasional strikes that came from his back made him flinch severely as his body trembled even as he jogged swiftly. This was why his eyes were bloodshot, because he was suffering intense mental agony that he had to forcibly suppressed in order to reach the goal.
Gunner would have loved to stop, turn around and punch those blasted wraiths to pieces, but doing so was foolish, especially with him having to protect his unconscious master.
What if something were to happen to him while Gunner was indulging himself in venting his frustration and rage?
As such, the large lad simply buckled himself and absorbed whatever came his way, silently enduring it as he moved towards the end of the Plains of Death ceaselessly.
Even the wraiths were left speechless and helpless with how resilient this fellow in front of them was. They were certain about harming him from the spiritual feedback they got, but the half-giant had turtled his mind, allowing them to strike the exterior while he protected the core.
Eventually, Gunner's endurance paid off! The wraiths were finally unable to continue chasing as they ran out of strength, only able to screech with frustration and hatred as they watched Gunner disappear into the horizon slowly but surely.
When Gunner was certain he was clear, he almost faltered as his mind relaxed. His face changed as he grimaced and refocused, rekindling his will to continue to the safe haven not too far away now.
He couldn't relax his mind after the beating it had taken, or if he did, he would end up like Darius, unable to go on. It was just like a fatigued person who should be fainting still pushing on with what little willpower they had.
The moment they tried to rest, they would blackout as the body had overdrafted its strength to compensate for the circumstances!
Gunner took out some of the Stamina potions he had and drank them crazily. Previously, he hadn't dared to do anything other than focus under the constant bombardment, both of his hands gripping Darius to his back firmly to prevent his master from falling.
Now that he had more leeway, he could use one arm to pour the potions down his gullet. Better yet, his brisk jogging pace picked up into a solid run as his Stamina was reinvigorated.
He didn't run before because he wasn't sure how long the wraiths would chase, so he had to pace himself and conserve Stamina. Just fast enough that they were always behind but not fast enough that his Stamina would drain too fast.
Gunner didn't even use his hands, he simply crashed into any Amateur undead who was foolish enough to try and stand in his way to block him, crushing them underfoot.
Like a blur, his speed increased, his eyes able to see the untainted land on the horizon.
In less than an hour, he should be out of here!
