"Just what is happening, Second?!" General Phobus asked as he urged his mount to retreat as fast as he could. "Aren't the Woodlands under our control?!"
After capturing the Yelan Army's headquarters during their night raid several days ago, General Phobus' confidence reached its peak. He was certain that before the week was over, he would finally be able to get rid of the Yelan Army and reclaim one of the towns that used to belong to their nation.
He could already imagine getting the most merits in the war. General Phobus was sure that his family would shower him with praises, and his achievement would allow their clan to rise above the rest and to be given accolades from the Royal Family.
Unfortunately, this dream was shattered a few minutes ago when explosions started to erupt all around them, breaking their formation, as well as forcing them to give the order to retreat.
As much as General Phobus and Second wanted to regain law and order, it was simply not possible due to the fact that anyone who stood a few meters from another, would be caught up in the corpse explosions, further expanding the destruction and death that was sweeping through the Woodlands.
Before everyone went to full retreat, Second only gave one order and that was to scatter!
That was the only order that everyone followed, because it was the only thing they could do. To a certain extent, it worked.
However, Lux had also anticipated this move, so he detonated the corpses that had been buried all over the woodlands, killing as many people as possible, and expanding the "Corpse Explosion" area of effect.
"I have heard about this strategy before," Second replied. "This was how General Moriarty was defeated in the Kingdom's previous campaign. I didn't think that it would reappear on our battlefield."
General Phobus' face paled because he finally remembered what his father had said about Moriarty's latest defeat. According to the few survivors that managed to escape that horrifying ordeal, the Yelan Army detonated the corpses of their own men in order to wipe out General Moriarty's army.
The soldiers doubted the credibility of this news, but the generals of the Ammarian Kingdom took it seriously.
Because of this, they had added several powerful Clerics to the ranks of the battlefield at the Great Plains, allowing them to study the real method that the Yelan Army had used back then.
However, the technique that the Yelan Army had used to defeat General Moriarty never appeared again, causing them to almost forget it.
General Phobus finally understood what they were up against, and it made him hold the reins of his mount tighter.
"Necromancer," General Phobus hissed.
Second nodded. "For now, our priority is to escape. As long as we can make it back to our Main Camp, we will be able to reorganize our troops."
"We are almost out of the Woodlands now," General Phobus said. "Just a little more."
A minute later, General Phobus' and Second's mounts broke through the Woodlands, allowing them to run in an open field.
However, before the General could feel relieved, his Second in Command pushed him off of his mount, making him fall to the ground.
Before General Phobus could even curse at his right-hand man and ask him what the hell he was doing, three Dragon Breaths descended from the sky and incinerated his mount, making the Great Tiger roar in pain.
The Great Tiger was a Rank 5 Alpha Monster, so it didn't die from the three Dragon Breaths. However, it was seriously injured, making it roar angrily towards the sky.
If its attackers were only within its strike range, it would have already attacked them without holding back.
"Master, you are amazing," Bedivere said. "You ordered us to aim at the Mount because you anticipated that General Phobus would be saved by his subordinate, right?"
"... Not reall– I mean, yes, It is all part of the plan," Lux replied as he gazed at the ground. 'I just thought that General Phobus might be wearing protective charms just like General Moriarty had been back then, preventing us from landing a killing blow. Since that was the case, dealing with the mount was the best way to delay his escape, allowing General Fahad to catch up to them.'
Second narrowed his eyes as he looked up at the sky.
He specialized in close combat, and although he had a ranged ability, their enemy was outside of his strike range.
Lux looked down on the Vice-General who had killed him with a solemn expression on his face. There were times when he would remember that moment of dying so vividly that he would recreate it over and over in his head, trying to think of a way to prevent it from happening.
However, no matter what countermeasures he thought of, they were not enough to surpass the difference in rank, as well as the Vice-General's uncanny speed, which had given him no time to react whatsoever.
Because of this, he was very wary of Second and only dared to fight him in a way that his sword would fail to reach him.
"Eiko, Fei Fei, Do it!" Lux ordered.
Immediately, the two baby Slimes started throwing their Blast Bombs.
Just like Lux's earlier order, it didn't matter if they hit their targets or not. What they need to do is create a sense of tension, delaying General Phobus', as well as Second's escape.
From the sky, the Half-Elf could see General Fahad's elite cavalry unit closing in on the two Generals.
According to their earlier agreement, Lux would stall General Phobus' and Second's escape, while General Fahad and his men would send an elite unit to pursue them, leaving the retreating Ammarian Soldiers to the other commanders of his army.
Their goal was to capture or kill the General and Vice General, in order to finally end the battle on the Eastern Front.
Just as Bedivere was about to circle in the sky to make another attempt for a Dragon's Breath, a black lightning bolt shot out from the woodland, almost hitting his dragon mount.
Fortunately, the Dragon Knight's sixth sense was able to warn him of the sneak attack from behind, allowing him to maneuver his mount at the last second in order to evade it.
Lux shifted his gaze in the direction where the black lightning bolt came from and narrowed his eyes.
"Nero…," Lux muttered when he saw the Guild Master of the Storm Dragon's Guild.
The last time they fought was during the tournament, and the two of them had not had any interactions with each other, save the last time they'd come to the Dungeon.
Lux had been busy creating his Guild, while Nero had dedicated himself to getting stronger.
"So, you're still alive," Nero said as black lightning bolts snaked around his hands, and arms. "This time, I won't lose to you."
The strongest member of the young generation from Wildgarde Stronghold, who used to look down on Lux, was now looking up at him.
To this day, he didn't know how the sickly Half-Elf was able to become strong and beat him in the tournament.
However, that was no longer important to him.
Now that an opportunity had come for him to legitimately fight him again, the proud Guild Master of the Storm Dragon's Guild decided to personally kill the Half-Elf, and end his heart's demon once and for all.
