"Hmm… I don't know, Lux," Watson said as he rubbed his chin. "I don't like this idea."
"It's quite shameful to switch sides when the war has progressed to this point," Sherlock commented. "Also, I don't think I will be able to completely trust them if they switched to our side. It's like having to always watch your back, so you won't get stabbed when you least expect it."
The two Great Generals of the Yelan Army looked at Diablo, who was currently sharing his senses with Lux, allowing the Half-Elf to see and hear Watson and Sherlock.
"I see," Lux muttered. "Thank you. I will pass this message to them."
Diablo repeated Lux's words and passed the message to the two Great Generals, who were currently resting after a skirmish with the Ammarian Army in the Great Plains.
After doing what he could, Lux bade the two Great Generals goodbye before giving a few orders to Diablo and Asmodeus. When he was done, he returned his senses to his body that was currently inside his tent at General Carran's camp.
"As expected, it's no longer possible," Lux muttered as he looked at the Quest details inside his Soul Book.
When they were given the choice to switch their allegiance for the first time, the information said that they would not be able to switch sides after their decision was made.
In short, all of them were locked in their respective Kingdoms, and no one could go to the other side if things got dicey on their end.
Lux sighed before writing a letter and summoning Ishtar to his side.
"Give this letter to Jasper, and tell him that I have done what I could," Lux ordered. "Also, tell him that the next time we meet, we will be enemies."
Ishtar nodded. "Yes, Master."
After giving Lux a brief bow, the Nightstalker vanished without a trace and headed to the location where Jasper was waiting for his reply.
At the very start of their expedition, he didn't think that he would be fighting against the representatives that were sent by the other factions.
Their purpose was to clear the Gate of Conquest together, but due to a difference in opinion, they all went their separate ways and chose the side that they thought was most likely to win the war.
The main reason why Lux and his teammates, with the exception of Henrietta and Malcolm, wished to join the Yelan Army was due to their previous experiences with them. It would be mentally challenging for them to fight against the army whom they supported during the war.
Also, Great General Watson and Great General Sherlock were very generous individuals, giving them great rewards when they conquered the Gate of War.
Compared to the measly rewards that they could get by helping the Ammarian Army win, they opted to go to the side with high risk rewards.
"I just need to do what I need to do," Lux said softly as he gazed outside of his tent. "Nothing else matters."
The Half-Elf knew that there was nothing he could do about the current situation of his former comrades.
Since it was not possible for them to stand on the same side, they would sooner or later face each other on the battlefield.
—-------------
"So, it has come to this," Jasper said as he read the handwritten letter that was given to him by Ishtar. "Tell your Master that I understand. If we ever face each other on the battlefield, tell him that we will show him no mercy."
Ishtar gave Jasper a brief nod of acknowledgement before disappearing from sight.
The temporary leader of the different Factions that now belonged to the Ammarian Army sighed a second time before merging with the earth.
Now that he had received Lux's reply, he had to share it with the others, so they could resolve themselves to fight against the Half-Elf and his team to the bitter end.
—-------------
Back at the Yelan Camp…
Lux gathered his teammates and told them the result of his proposal to Great General Watson and Great General Sherlock for their former comrades to join their side.
After hearing that the two Great Generals rejected the idea, a conflicted expression appeared on Henrietta's and Malcolm's faces, while the others simply took this news in stride.
Simply put, aside from Henrietta and Malcolm, none of the others cared whether the other Factions joined their side or not.
"Do you know how many of them remain?" Malcolm asked.
Lux shook his head. Jasper didn't say anything about their numbers, which was actually a smart thing to do.
"So, we have no choice but to fight them." Henrietta sighed before shaking her head helplessly.
If she wasn't strictly ordered to follow Lux, she might still be on the Ammarian Army's side and facing the same dilemma that Jasper and his comrades were having right now.
Although she was somewhat grateful for following Lux, she was still unsure about how the outcome of the war would proceed from here.
They might have won one of the four campaigns, but three remained, and based on what Lux was telling them right now, the Yelan Army was simply outmatched in terms of numbers of soldiers.
Even now, the forces under General Revon had swelled after it had absorbed the remnants of General Phobus' Army, forcing General Carran to not meet them in places where they didn't have the geographical advantage.
'I just hope that I'm overthinking,' Henrietta thought. 'If Lux can overcome the disparity in numbers with his skills, we might be able to win this battlefield, just like we were able to win the Marshlands.'
Although Henrietta tried to assure herself that everything was going to be okay, she was still worried because the General they were facing was very different from General Phobus and his Vice General, who fought them in the Marshlands.
Military men with both brain and brawn were rare, but if one were to rise to the rank of General, this made them exceptionally dangerous, especially when they were commanding tens of thousands of men.
Henrietta's fears were proven true two days later when General Carran lost over five thousand of his troops in the surprise attack that General Revon had launched against them.
Due to their superiority in numbers, they were able to push the Yelan Army all the way back to their main camp, where the fighting had become extremely fierce.
Because everyone was fighting in close quarters, Lux wasn't able to use his skill, Corpse Explosion. If he ever decided to use his Trump Card, it was possible for him to accidentally wipe out more than a third of the soldiers belonging to the Yelan Army.
This forced him to use Corpse Explosion remotely, injuring soldiers here and there, but the damage they received wasn't enough to kill them completely.
Out of desperation, the Half-Elf was forced to use another one of his Trump Cards in order to deter the enemy.
"Skeleton Make… Catapult!"
Lux and Eiko summoned their doppelgangers and created six Giant Catapults.
However, the ammunition they used weren't rocks, but the Skeleton Gangbangers, who were holding a corpse in their arms.
Each catapult could hold up to six Skeletons each, and all of these skeletons huddled together, as if they were a football team preparing to make a touchdown.
"Fire!" Lux ordered and all six catapults threw their payloads in the air, which fell in the middle formation of the Ammarian Army.
Even before his Skeleton Gang Bangers touched the ground, Lux had already cast his Skill, which he had been waiting to unleash since the beginning of the battle.
"Corpse Explosion!" Lux shouted and a chain of explosions erupted within the center of the Ammarian Formation.
Screams of pain reverberated in the surroundings as Lux's deadly attack started to spread among the Ammarian Army's ranks.
However, before Lux's skill could spread like wildfire, several barriers appeared in the area where the skill was starting to expand, cutting off its advance before it could reach the other soldiers, preventing the Half-Elf from wiping out countless soldiers, like he did with General Phobus' army.
In that short span of time, Lux had been able to kill dozens of soldiers, but the numbers that he had slain didn't even surpass three hundred, making the Half-Elf order another barrage of Skeleton Gang Bangers to be hurled onto the enemy's ranks.
"Don't let those Skeletons land!" General Roven shouted.
Although he was told that the Necromancer they were facing was only at the Apostle Grade, the Ammarian General didn't underestimate Lux.
When it came to Necromancers, their Ranks didn't matter much.
As long as the Necromancer had the ability to use the skill, Corpse Explosion, they became a menace that needed to be purged as soon as possible.
