?Archibald might be formidable, but there was little he could do alone. He didn't want to give up. He didn't have a choice for that anymore. When he decided to attack, that was it. Despite believing his cause was just, not many followed him. The ones he brought here were it. They were currently getting slaughtered. Even if he could flee, these followers couldn't. If he fled, that meant accepting that his cause was over.
He was unwilling. He thought that as long as he could end Horatio, then it would be worth it.
Hence, he tried to get to Horatio, but Horatio continued to stay out of range. Horatio cast his enhanced spells from a safe distance while the daemon, Jonathan, and Horatio's enhanced troops continued to bar his way.
As he continued to fight, he noticed that only his spot still had the fighting ongoing. He turned and saw that all his followers were gone already.
Realization dawned then.
He looked at his HP. It was below one-third now. In his zeal, he had forgotten about his surroundings and continued to fight holding onto his belief.
He roared in desperation and made one mad dash. His desperate attempt successfully knocked the daemon aside. Jonathan immediately took the daemon's role. He was nine levels below Archibald but the demonic contract enhanced his stats. He also had Paladin's faith armor in effect.
Aside from that, he had a special class, Crusader Knight. It was only a normal special class, so he only received three new skills despite being level 81.
The first skill was the Unyielding Faith. A buff skill that was currently active. The second skill was the Crusading Charge, which was stronger than a Warrior's Charge but weaker than the Heroic Charge. He received the last skill at level 70, and it was called Heavenly Smite. He was using this skill now.
He lifted his hammer high. A beam of light shot down from heaven and entered his hammer. He then brought this shining hammer onto Archibald.
Archibald's charge had stopped after he knocked the daemon away. Jonathan's Heavenly Smite arrived then. The impact of the Heavenly Smite created an energy shockwave that threw Archibald into the ground. Jonathan himself bounced violently back.
Horatio's spell struck then. A huge pillar of fire erupted from the ground underneath Archibald. Archibald was still unbalanced from Jonathan's blow, so he suffered the full damage from the flame pillar. His HP fell to below 10%
He didn't get up.
When the soldiers were about to land follow-up blows, Horatio stopped them. "Halt!"
Archibald remained still in the ground.
"Do you yield?" Horatio asked.
Archibald didn't answer.
"Do you choose death over serving me?" Horatio asked again.
Archibald remained silent.
"… Very well. Sangrod thank you for your service," Horatio uttered.
He motioned for the troops to move back before casting Warlock's Hellish Explosion. Under the effect of Devil Possession, the spell dealt extra damage.
Archibald's body was lying still on the ground when the spell subsided. He had given up fighting. He didn't use any defensive skill to face Horatio's enhanced Hellish Explosion, so he received the full damage. Several loots were beside his body. Jonathan picked those loots up.
"It's finally over," Darius said.
The death dealers he called for reinforcement just arrived but their service was no longer needed, so he sent them back to fight in the capital. Jonathan did the same to his guild members who were rushing over.
"I already told you people that there is no need for reinforcement. Do you two have so little confidence in my words?" Horatio asked when he saw those reinforcements.
"Forgive me, my lord. I just can't gamble on your safety," Darius replied.
"I have a feeling you planned this," Saint Jonathan said. "That's why you didn't hole up inside Themisphere's mobile fortress, didn't you? You suspected Archibald was nearby."
Darius gave a surprised expression hearing that, while Horatio simply smiled for a response.
"Now, we no longer have a hidden thorn to worry about," Horatio said. "Sangrod is wholly mine."
"We still need to win the war here. Can you do what you did with that book again?" Jonathan asked while pointing at the Book of the Damned beside Horatio's waist. The crimson thread that strengthened the legion here vanished after the battle was over, and so was the summoned daemon.
"The spells in this book have cooldown time," Horatio answered. "Additionally, the spell is not without a drawback, especially the demonic contract. The cost of using that spell is getting my age cut down by one day for every follower I strengthen. So, I just lost around twenty-seven years of my life in that battle just now."
Twenty-seven years might be nothing for a vampire, but it was still a loss. Hearing that, both Darius and Jonathan felt that it made sense Horatio didn't use the spell indiscriminately. It should only be used as a last-ditch effort.
Horatio didn't inform them that this cost was only applied to natives. If outworlders were the ones using the Book of the Damned, they didn't suffer the same penalty. Just like how Master could use the Necronomicon freely. If natives were the ones using the Necronomicon, they also had to pay something when they revived their fallen followers into zombie soldiers.
Horatio kept this information because Jonathan was there. If the outworlders knew, they might get the temptation of trying to steal this book from him.
"Now that we have taken care of our hidden enemies, perhaps it's time to move to a safer location and watch this battle inside that mobile fortress?" Jonathan asked.
They turned to the mobile fortress. It was still battling the eldritch beholder. Its pincers never let go of the ancient monster ever since they gripped the tentacles. Relying on its weight, the mobile fortress had been keeping the eldritch beholder from moving away. The two had been constantly trading blows to see who could last longer.
"That fortress doesn't look safe to me," Horatio said. "Also, how do you think we can enter that fortress while it is tangling with the eldritch beholder? I don't suppose they will stop the fight for us to enter, do they?"
Horatio and the others might not have had a way to enter the fortress in such a situation, but one person did. And this person was not of the Allied forces.
