"This is disastrous.No matter how many I kill their number never seemed to decrease,'' Lucas muttered as he sliced the branches that came towards him and threw a fireball on the tree and then ended the life of the tree in front of him.
As the fight progressed, Lucas felt that the sword in his hand was getting heavier. It was mostly due to his arms aching and reaching their limits. His palms seemed to be swollen from holding the sword and his eyes were dry without a wink of sleep.
It was at that time when he ducked to the side barely avoiding a sneak attack by the dark tree.
The lapse in concentration allowed one of the dried branches of the tree monsters to coil around Lucas's legs and tightened its hold pulled him, pinning him on the ground.
Lucas tried to muster the strength in his other leg and kicked the branch but the kick had little effect on him. Lucas was about to bend down to cut the branch with his sword but he was pulled up by the branch in the mid-air, hanging Lucas upside down and Lucas was about to be thrown off to the back which was full of the monsters.
Lucas's heartbeat increased as he struggled to get free from the branch.
"Lucas."
A familiar voice screamed, followed by the voice, not long after a person appeared and slashed his dagger at the branches, cutting down branches.
"Ahhh." Lucas groaned in pain as he fell to the ground on his back.
As the branch on which Lucas was supported in the mid-air was cut off, he fell to the ground with a large thud on his back.
Panting heavily he looked to see Parth appear beside him and squatted down as he saw Lucas not moving.
"I am alive," Lucas spoke breathing heavily as he looked at the anxious expression Parth was making.
Lucas stood up holding his back which was aching from his previous small.
"Are you alright?" Parth asked with concern, he sat on the ground for a moment as he was exhausted.
"I am fine," Lucas spoke as he saw the knights slicing off the trees and fending them off.
Every time a tree monster was killed, it looked like a drop of water was taken out of the sea.
Just like the inexhaustible water in the sea, the monsters were an uncountable number.
"Everyone evacuate to the fortress. We can't hold in." Alabaster ordered.
Following his order, we made our way.
As we came near the fortress, we saw Charles shielded by five knights and they were discussing whether to take Charles away or not.
After all no matter what they can't compromise their safety of Charles and if required they have to abandon the fortress.
"Young Master, it's better for you to leave now. This place is very dangerous. You should leave with the guards." Hugo said with a pleading look.
Charles look around and pondering for a moment asked"What about you?"
"I will stay behind. We can't abandon them. It will tarnish the prestige of the Warren Dukedom. Young Master, you can leave with others."Hugo replied.
Charles closed his eyes and thought about it. He tried to recall when he fled from the village. It had already become a shadow in his heart.
He doesn't know why but he can feel his inner conscience telling him that if he fled and turn back today, for the rest of his life he can't move forward.
Previously, he looked down on people calling them cowards and weaklings so if he ran away today wouldn't it make him a coward also, a weakling who ran away when he knows he can't face the situation.
After all only cowards ran away from the true battle.
No, he can't escape today. He doesn't want to spend the rest of his life being looked down on when people call him a coward.
Charles opened his eyes which were full of resolution. His previous confusion and fear all vanished as he looked at the brave warriors.
" No, Hugo. Today I will fight and will see the end of this battle. Until then we are not allowed to leave."Charles shouted.
Hugo was surprised for a moment and thought if His young master had taken the wrong medicine.
Knowing his personality, the first thing he would do is to escape, if the situations turn out unfavourable but today he changed his way and changed for good.
Hugo secretly smiled seeing his young master growing up and was quite optimistic about the changes his young master will go through to become a better man in the near future.
"Knights of Warren, raise your swords.No one is allowed to leave until we slaughter these monsters," Charles spoke as he stepped ahead.
He had already decided what to do.
Charles move forward as he ordered everyone to step back.
Everyone was surprised by his declaration and looked at him curiously, thinking about what he wanted to do.
While Charles was giving instruction, a trio was observing him from a distance.
"He changed. I still can't believe it." Parth spoke with a surprised expression.
"Why you don't want him to become a good man," Fredrick asked.
"No, no that's not it." Parth shake his head and added, "It's just that, life will be boring without Charles playing tricks."
"Think about it, Charles hiring members to block our way. We defeat them and despite the trouble, we defeat Charles in the end and in just like that many other situations occur where we slap his face and make a joke of Charles on the whole Academy."Parth spoke
"Ohh!!That expression, those anger, that agony in his eyes. I just like the way he reacts and throws a tantrum when nothing goes the way he wants. What a life that was man!!" Parth shook his head in sorrow as he thought the days of glory will be over.
Lucas and Fredrick's throats choked when they heard his words and saw his melancholy expression. His words almost made them cough a few mouths filled with blood.
They were amazed at his ability to spout so much bullshit when their lives were on the line.
Fredrick thought it was better to stay away from Parth otherwise he would be wounded by Parth's words before the monsters can harm him.
Lucas was both happy and worried as he looked at Charles. Only God knows what kind of trouble or blessing Charles's transformation will bring about.
Charles rolled his sleeve and noticed everyone stepped back. He put his hands on the ground and. gritted his teeth as mana surged all around him.
As he poured all his mana to manipulate the earth, his face became pale as a sheet of paper as he felt nauseous due to mana exhaustion. Still, he bit his lips and tried to maintain his consciousness.
From the spot Charles was standing, the earth started to vibrate and small earthquakes started to occur that threw everyone off balance.
A very big and wide crack started to appear from the spot Charles stood and with a rumbling voice the crack the ground expanded all around.
"Just what is happening."
"What is young master doing to make such huge commotion."
"What is the crack that is appearing on the ground."
Everyone noticed the crack was widening more and more and forming a small deep ravine, Alabaster's pupil shrank as he looked at the ground and ordered everyone to step back further.
Charles wasn't better position, he gulped down all the potions still it wasn't able to support him in what he was doing.
"Little more, just a little."
"I need to hold on."
"I can't lose my conscious now," Charles muttered as he tried to concentrate to his utmost.
After a few moments, the tremors ceased and as they look ahead their mouth was wide open and their jaw almost falls to the ground.
As the dust settles after the mini earthquake, they noticed a huge rift of around 100 meters deep has been formed separating the huge number of monsters and them.
The rift in the form of a line not only divided both sides giving them some relief but also made many tree monsters fall into it and trapped them from getting up and attacking them.
Charles's move can say to be a brilliant counterattack which was enough for them to launch their attack and change the status quo of both sides.
Charles staggered on his steps as he stood up and looked down at the other end which was full of monsters.
It was just a temporary preventive measure as the monsters can still come up if they move around but since their intelligence is low, it will take some time for them to start coming again.
His vision turned blurry as he started to lose consciousness but as he was about to fall, he felt many hands supporting him and taking his back.
Charles just gave a small smile as he let them carry him.
Many orbs and trails of different types of light fell behind him which created a chain of explosions.
The mages took their chance and fired the spells at the other side.
They have already recovered most of their mana and it was now their time to counterattack.
The other side filled with trees started to burn as the many fire types spells were shot in their direction.
The trees screeched emitting shrill cries as they thrashed around here and there to extinguish the fire but their action just made their surroundings trees catch fire.
The other side started to burn followed by many explosions as a huge trail of black smoke rises high up in the sky.
