"BaIley!" Jack yelled.
Jack used Shooting Dash toward Bailey, but he was too late. Claudius delivered another assault. Scores of spear energies tore through Bailey's body, zeroing the lieutenant's life.
"No…!" Jack shouted. He sent Wind Slash. Three Wind Energies rushed at Claudius.
Claudius saw the attack. His spear turned into three images and destroyed the three incoming wind energies.
"NO!!" Jack heard a voice and a shadow rushed past him. It was Miller.
Miller's spear clashed with Claudius. From his expression, Jack could see that Miller was in a rage. It seemed that his relationship with Bailey was not simple. However, Claudius was higher in level as well as grade. Despite his rage, Miller's attacks were easily repelled by Claudius.
Jack looked around. All the high-level soldiers on his side were occupied with another high-level opponent. Even the common soldiers had someone they were fighting against. There was no one to spare. Only he was available to help Miller.
"John! Is it not time yet?" Jack sent a message.
"We haven't routed the players here. I can't move the guild soldiers here with the enemies still hanging around," John sent a reply. "A little bit more. They are mostly finished here."
'F*ck! Why do these lord commanders have to come here? Aren't Armstrong or Ahab's forces closer to them?' Jack cursed in his mind as he turned back and saw that only his Ice Demon Fiend was fighting the lightning golem now.
The lightning golem almost died, but it was still stronger than the Ice Demon Fiend. Arlcard almost arrived, but Jack sent a mental message for him to come over. He instead instructed Therras who was fighting the regular troops to come and help the Ice Demon Fiend. Despite having much lower levels, the two creatures should be able to finish the near-death lightning golem.
Arlcard changed direction and headed towards Jack. He transformed into a swarm of bats. The swarm rushed past Jack and attacked Claudius who was pushing Miller back with his lightning-fast spear attacks.
Claudius was evidently annoyed by the swarm of bats. They were too small for him to hit while the flying rodents kept on biting him. Small damages kept on coming up above the Lord Commander.
"Bothersome nuisance, begone!" Claudius yelled. His spear stabbed in all directions. The spearlight it created made it resemble a blooming lotus. A large portion of the bats was struck. The surviving one gathered and turned back to Arlcard. A damage number appeared once he appeared. The damage received by the bats was transferred to him.
Jack had been casting a spell when Claudius was busy with the bats. The ground underneath Claudius shone and fifteen green vipers shot out. Claudius made a circular swing with his spear. Knocking the vipers that came to grab him. But one sneaked from under and coiled around one of Claudius' legs.
Turning this spell alive indeed made its targeting mechanism more complex. If it was the old Myriad Ensnaring Chains, it wouldn't have been able to look for an opportunity like this. His current Myriad Venomous Vipers was indeed more advanced.
However, Claudius was still too strong. His spear stabbed down and the viper that was coiling and biting his leg was cut. He then jumped just as the other vipers came back. His jump took him out of the area of Jack's Myriad Venomous Vipers. Jack cast Arcane Turbulence where he was landing. But before he landed on the area affected by the spell, a translucent wing sprouted and carried him away.
'Shit! He also has a wings tool,' Jack thought.
Claudius didn't keep using the wings, though. He landed elsewhere and his wings disappeared. It seemed he preferred a fight on the land.
Miller came at Claudius again. His rage was still evident. It made his attacks reckless, Claudius easily countered his assaults. But he was not alone. Since he took Claudius' attention, Jack stole attack from ranged, while Arlcard came closer and attacked with his rapier when he saw an opportunity. Jack's fifteen vipers that were out of melee range also helped by spitting poison bullets.
Despite being much stronger, facing attacks from so many sources still nicked Claudius' HP little by little. Yet, Miller who was in direct contact with Claudius, had his HP going down at a fast rate. Peniel cast Fast Heal, Group Fast Heal, and Healing Field to keep Miller alive. Jack even gave Miller a Grace of Tranquility potion during a reprieve when the lieutenant was smacked away by Claudius, healing as well as buffing the native.
Arlcard tried to use his runic technique, but this move required a large amount of uninterrupted time. Miller was not strong enough to keep Claudius' attention on him, even after the help of Jack's potion. Claudius always noticed Arlcard's attempt and sent long-ranged energy spears at Arlcard every time Arlcard started manifesting the runic symbols. The attack disrupted the runic technique. Arlcard had no choice but to attack normally.
As the fight went on, Claudius was getting annoyed by all the little bites. He sent a powerful thrust at Miller, causing him to stumbled back. He then swung his spear in another direction. Three rows of earth spears thrust out from the ground. One heading towards Jack while two went to Arlcard. Arlcard turned into a shadow and moved away from the spears while Jack used Flash Step.
Arlcard shadow dodge brought him far away from the two rows of earth spears. Jack's Flash Step also allowed him to escape the area where the earth spears struck. However, he was not far enough. When Jack thought he was safe, the earth spears exploded, turning into shrapnel that came at him. Luckily, Jack had cast Barrier beforehand.
The shrapnel struck and depleted his barrier before hitting and taking out a quarter of his life. He was glad for the protective spell. He wasn't careless despite keeping a distance from Claudius.
The earth spears that had been evaded continued forward and struck the group of soldiers fighting behind.
While all his opponents were momentarily disabled, Claudius got into a stance. As he did, the dust around him swirled, as if turbulence was building up. Before long, this turbulence took shape. An image of a long eastern dragon flew around circling him.
Jack was already alarmed since the lord commander took a stance. Any move that required him to do this kind of preparation was certainly not something simple. When the image of the dragon appeared, he was genuinely frightened. The creator of this world had put dragons as a creature of the highest degree. A creature that was only below the Gods and Goddesses that were the apex beings of this world. He should know since he had met two of them. Now, the opponent was using a skill that summoned the image of a dragon, how could he take it lightly?
Jack watched Claudius' eyes. Usually, someone kept his eyes on the target when executing an attack. Since Claudius began his stance, his eyes had always been on Miller. This informed Jack that the skill Claudius was about to unleash should have Miller as his main target.
Jack used Charge in Miller's direction while casting a spell at the same time. Jack arrived before Miller just as Claudius thrust his spear out. The imaginary dragon roared and rushed forward, heading to where Jack and Miller were.
Jack completed the spell and Magic Wall was formed. The imaginary dragon arrived and slammed its one claw into the magic wall. It shattered. The dragon moved forward again.
'Shit! This is not a skill that disappeared after hitting something!' Jack cursed within. He put himself right in front of Miller and shouted, "Peniel, invulnerability!"
Peniel cast the spell just as the imaginary dragon slammed onto Jack. Jack didn't lose HP but he felt the full brunt of the pain. He felt as if he had been hit by a bullet train, he was sent flying a long-distance away. While he did, he saw in dismay that the imaginary dragon still didn't vanish.
The imaginary dragon flew back after hitting Jack but then returned to Miller. Miller thrust his spear with what should be his strongest attack. His spear turned into a shooting star headed towards the incoming dragon. But the spear hit nothing, the dragon swerved to the side dodging the spear before coiling its body on Miller's spear. The spear was snapped into two. The dragon then slammed itself into Miller's body.
Miller screamed as numerous light spears pierced out of his body. His HP went down rapidly. He was not in a good shape to start with and Peniel had exhausted her healing spells. Miller's body exploded when his HP reached zero.
Jack was still on the ground watching the scene with a sinking heart. He lost both the lieutenants Gruff had sent to aid him. How could he face that old warrior when this was over?
When he was still struggling to get up, he saw a huge lightning pillar strike the ground nearby. The explosive impact caused him to stumble to the ground again. When the lightning subsided, he saw Duke Alfredo on the ground. The duke was not in a good shape.
