Chapter 984: Chapter 984: Intense and brutal clash (2)
"Ahhh you bastards!!!!" Rathborne roared in anguish as he was forced to take several steps backwards, his arms tingling from the residual force and his heart bleeding as he saw his men being cut down like weeds. The difference in strength was vast for sure, but what really did the damage was the ambush, the sneak attacks. Before his men even had the chance to understand what was happening weapons landed on their flesh, carving deep enough to reveal bone and in some cases sever entire limbs. The element of surprise was an advantage all military soldiers would do their best to either acquire for themselves or avoid letting the enemy gain it.
This mission was supposed to be a cinch, move quickly and deal some decent damage, cut down Sedrick’s forces and thus make the following clash between brothers lean heavily in Randolph’s favour.
Rathborne couldn’t understand, where did they go wrong? How could they have made such a grievous error? The enemy had not only managed to unite their entire force before their arrival, but they also managed to get the jump on them, a serious, life threatening jump.
Within five minutes Rathborne’s mighty 150 soldiers had been culled by a third with the enemy suffering not a single loss, a few scrapes, cracked rib bones but that was all.
"Cavalish you mother fucking bastard, you want to go then let’s go. I’ll show you the might of one of the Crown Prince’s hidden blades." Rathborne filtered all his anger and aggression towards Red or rather Cavalish, one of Prince Sedrick’s most trusted knights who held a similar position as himself beneath Randolph. He believed this merciless attack had him at the head, keen to leverage their combined might to earn himself a glorious merit from his master.
Rathborne’s choice of weapon was a mace and shield, equipment that provided him a durable defence, even with Cavalish and Baron Glorfile working in tandem it was hard to take him down in little time. Five minutes and all they had managed to do was consume his stamina and pressure him, preventing him from lending aid to his men as their side continued their massacre.
Five minutes however was a significant turning point, by this time those that remained were fully alert, their squads reestablished and their hearts determined to take a bite out of the enemy. At the same time those that remained were the cream of the crop, the veterans of many battles and were thus much harder to take down.
Skills flared and magics were cast as the state of ambush lifted.
"They’ve regained their mettle, double down on the pressure but keep your guard up I want a clean battle understood."
"Yes Lady Yellow." Even a single loss among their number would be painful as even their weakest soldier was mid stage B-rank the same level as Frost.
Across the battlefield attacking the opposing flank Ovaria marched alongside Green.
"Watch out for suicide attacks and remember leave no survivors." She roared in concert with Lady Yellow, her eyes keenly watching the state of the forces under the neutral nobles while at the same time she cast a deluge of debilitating spells. Her speciality lay in wind magic and debuffs, those targeted by her staff found themselves slowing down both physically and mentally before getting ravaged by wind blades and devilish gusts. As a mage she was perfectly capable of casting wide scale spells with devasting destructive capabilities, but such things took time and struggled to differentiate between friend and foe.
Green who had previously disregarded Ovaria retracted such thoughts upon seeing her magic, she was a rare gem. Shame she was helping the neutral nobles but at least it wasn’t Randolph.
With their aura in effect it was very easy for Green, Ovaria, Yellow and Blue the cull the enemy lines, even those at the peak of B-rank would quickly find themselves overwhelmed, their lives cut short the moment they let down their guards or made even the slightest mistake. The divide between A and B-rank was even greater than the one between C and B.
Frost himself couldn’t help but remember the incident at Icethorne wherein he and seven Majors of the War Ursa Battalion protected Colonel Casper from a General from the Glacial mountain liberation alliance. Back then they were just as helpless perhaps even more so as their opponent was a General with a wealth of battle experience, not something an agent active in a civilised domain like Northrend could compare to.
His eyes opened wide to scan each and every clash involving them, he wanted to better understand how they utilised aura, a power that was still beyond his ken.
Aura manifestation was basically a cheat; it offered not only an enhanced form of attack but an almost impenetrable defence. Unless you had substantial strength yourself or a vastly superior weapon each and every A-rank was protected by a second skin that was tougher than steel, even mages like Ovaria benefited from this broken ability. If you add on their mana shields mages could have a well and truly broken defence.
"Everyone keeps your eyes peeled, what you see before you is the physical manifestation of Aura, the domain of A-ranks and the next step in our evolution." Frost sharply reminded Yuna, Findley and Khuno who like him could benefit most from this kind of demonstration.
""Yes Master"" They responded unanimously, locking their eyes on a chosen target, taking everything in and locking it away in their memories to be repeated at will at a later time.
Frost himself after prying his gaze away from Ovaria and her magic gazed fiercely at Rathborne, Red and Baron Glorfile feeling that the contest between those three would serve him best.
’Let me see the capabilities of these two leaders.’ Baron Glorfile was the military leader of the neutral nobles’ forces, a well-established General who rose to prominence several decades prior, an old gun who could smell weak points in any battle formation. His strength was no longer quite as sturdy as back in his prime, lingering at advanced early stage rather peak like his compatriot Red or rather Cavalish.
If Frost had to choose which man he’d like as reinforcements in the war against the five nations of the Glacial mountains’ inner regions it’d be Baron Glorfile a million times over, his military ken was exactly what one needed when you already bore a substantial pool of talented soldiers.
Similar to Cavalish, Rathborne was at the peak of the early stages, just a paper thin margin between him and mid stage A-rank but that paper thin distance was akin to a chasm, many would fail to make any further progress even after decades of dedication, a matter of innate talent that could only see them go so far.
From his point of view Rathborne seemed to be the strongest of the three, his battle style also allowed him to better compete against more than one individual, but Baron Glorfile was quicky getting a read on his movements, narrowing down his attacking options with every passing second....things were looking bleak for the hidden blade.
’Strange his partner’s still nowhere to be seen...same with Anya.’ Frost soon noticed that the supposed sickle bearing beastwoman was still nowhere to be seen nor was General Anya whom he wished to see fight most of all. It was doubtful that the rest of the A-ranks were aware, but Frost was certain that Anya was not merely at the early stages, that she was likely hiding her true strength through some method or another. Even the Dungeon was somewhat confused, her passive DP shifting up and down every so often, a trait he wouldn’t have noticed unless she was here for an extended period of time.
’She’s likely waiting for that woman, serving as a secret ace amongst the seven of them. The less strength she revealed the better after all, at least from the prospective of herself and the neutral nobles. ’I do wonder though how effective she’d be with a sabre rather than her usual spear.’
Since Anya wasn’t showing herself Frost returned his focus to Rathborne, Cavalish and Baron Glorfile as things were about to jump to the next level.
So far only simple [advanced grade] skills had been used, the bread and butter of most B-ranks, hardly a strain on the reserves of A-ranks such as themselves but that was about to change as such tactics were too slow and too unreliable. The longer Rathborne lived the more dangerous the situation would become, his forces would maintain their morale and even if he didn’t manage to wound Cavalish or Baron Glorfile he might flee. B-ranks could be nurtured without too much difficulty and if in dire need money could always move mercenaries and often adventurers but A-ranks were different they were the true force wielders within Northrend and its surrounding territories, even a single loss could prove catastrophic, especially a fighter like Rathborne who was at the fringes of mid A-rank.
Cavalish and Baron Glorfile therefore kicked their aggression up a notch, willing to risk a degree of injury if it meant harming Rathborne.
Just as the tiger beastman was sent reeling back from his enemies’ momentum a sharp glint appeared in his eyes and a mad fascination marred his facial features, his heterochromia even disappeared as both his irises turned blood red.
"You’ve pushed me too far, time for you two to die!" He loudly bellowed as his entire body started to pulse, his physique growing larger before everyone’s eyes.
"Beastman transformation."
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