Second gritted his teeth as he was slowly being pushed back by the two Rankers that were now going all out to kill him.
With every exchange was new injuries. The two Rankers weren't faring any better due to his sharp and precise strikes that drew blood whenever he counterattacked.
The elite soldiers who had accompanied General Fahad, and Benjamin in battle now focused their attention on the Ammarian Soldiers, who had now managed to break free from the woodlands, and were currently trying to regroup and reform their ranks.
The Ammarian Army had the advantage in numbers, so letting them regroup was something that they couldn't allow no matter what. Fortunately, Lux's one-sided slaughter managed to bite a large chunk out of their forces, allowing the Yelanians to gain the upper hand as they killed the panicking soldiers who were in disarray after losing their commanding officers.
A few minutes later, Lux arrived at the scene and saw the intense battle that was happening on the ground.
As much as he wanted to help General Fahad and Benjamin to fight against Second, he decided that it was best for him to not intervene.
Right now, all three Rankers were going all out.
Aware that even a stray attack could instantly kill an Apostle like him, he decided to just watch the battle from above while checking the whereabouts of Cai and the others with his Soul Book.
After locating them, Lux immediately messaged Cai and Keane through their Guild Chat and asked how Cai managed to kill General Phobus.
The Boar immediately replied and exaggerated the events that happened, making it look like she had fought a dozen General Phobuses single handedly.
It was at that moment when Lux realized that he had asked the wrong person.
"Keane, what happened?" Lux asked.
"Cai used some kind of poison that has the ability to paralyze Rankers," Keane answered. "When General Phobus lost the strength to move, Benjamin and General Fahad clashed with Second. Since their attention was on each other, we used that opportunity to snatch General Phobus under their noses.
"It was Val who dragged him with his spider web, and we took him away from the battlefield, so that Second and General Fahad would not discover us. Cai was the one who gave General Phobus the killing blow and ended his life, allowing us to get the gold rewards from our subquest."
Lux was quite amused about how things turned out, but the thing that caught his attention was the poison that could paralyze Rankers.
"Do you have more of that poison, Cai?" Lux asked.
"There's only a little bit left," Cai replied. "Do you plan to catch Second? Our quest only grants us rewards in killing Generals. I don't think we will get anything from killing him."
"It's fine. I only want his corpse. Do you still have General Phobus' corpse?"
"Yes. I stored it in my Bounty Ring. I know that you'll want to get his body since he is a Ranker."
Lux nodded his head in satisfaction after seeing Cai's reply. "Good job. All of you, return to the battlefield. We'll see if we can help General Fahad and Benjamin kill Second."
The Half-Elf narrowed his eyes as he looked at the battle that was still on-going below him.
Although Second was at a disadvantage, the two Yelanian Rankers didn't underestimate him because he was truly a strong fighter.
Lux and the others also didn't underestimate him because he was the one that slaughtered them without even breaking a sweat.
"Cai, I have a plan," Lux stated. "However, it will be very risky. Since you have already coated your tusks with the poison, you are the only one that can cripple Second. If you fail, you will die and be kicked out of the Sacred Dungeon. Are you willing to take the risk?"
The Boar didn't reply right away as if weighing the pros and cons. A minute later, Cai finally made its decision and sent a message to the guild chat.
"Tell me about your plan first," Cai said. "I'll decide if I will accept it or not after hearing the details."
Lux didn't hold back and told Cai the details of the plan he had in mind. Keane, who was able to participate in their discussion frowned because the plan the Half-Elf proposed was indeed quite risky.
However, he had to admit that the chances of the plan succeeding was quite high.
"If you die, I promise to share half of whatever rewards I gain in this dungeon with you when the campaign is over," Lux promised.
"There's no need to share anything," Cai replied. "Because I won't die."
The Boar had analyzed Lux's plan step by step and saw nothing wrong with it.
Yes, there was risk involved, but the Boar was confident that it would be able to execute the plan perfectly.
"Feel free to stop if ever you feel that your life is in danger," Lux stated. "We can always start over, but losing you this early will be a big blow to our manpower."
"Relax," Cai commented. "I got this."
After finalizing their plan, Cai and the rest positioned themselves at the very edge of the woodlands, using the trees as cover.
Einar, Val, Xander, Henrietta, and Malcolm were spread out around Cai and Keane, who should be defended in this strategy.
Right now, the Swordsman could no longer fight, and Cai was the one that needed to deal the final blow.
Because of this, they were at the center of the formation, protected from all sides by their comrades, who had also been briefed on the plan that they were going to execute.
Lux once again shifted his attention to the battle that was happening on the ground.
What they planned to do was let General Fahad and Benjamin exhaust Second first, so that the Vice General wouldn't be able to react on time once they started their operation.
They couldn't afford to commit a single mistake. Because of this, everyone focused on the role they were going to play and ensure that Cai would be able to deliver the blow they needed, in order to incapacitate the Vice General, whose strength exceeded everyone on the battlefield.
