Chapter 976 976 Wiped Out
"Jace, are you almost finished removing those tusks?"
"Just like the last time you asked, I need a bit longer. I am not a miracle worker you know. If you want the job done right, I need to be careful and cut through this stupid troll's tough muscle. Of course, if you want it done quickly, I can start hacking and slashing without concern for the quality of the material."
"Okay, just try to hurry up. We have already spent more time than expected just mapping the periphery of this island. If we don't find out what is at the center soon our superiors are going to give us a real lecture when we get back."
After rushing one of his subordinates for the umpteenth time, Holden the leader of this operation turned his attention towards the injured and asked the healer of their team how things were going.
Of course, all he got were snide remarks about how the injuries would have been less severe if he had taken more time to solidify their formation before starting the assault on the titan troll.
Unfortunately, Holden did not have much leeway for their current mission. He had been told to complete the survey of the island's resources and threats as quickly as possible to avoid detection by the adventurers guild who had claimed this island. This led him to making rash decisions when otherwise he would have shown caution.
"I understand, but we got a timetable to keep. Patch up those that are hurt by the time the troll has been fully dismantled. We still have a lot of ground to cover." Holden said to their team's sole healer.
lightsΝοvel.cοm Once he had finished relaying his order once again, he took out a bottle of distilled alcohol that he had been leaning on more and more recently to steel his nerves. He had been put in charge of helming a deadly operation and whenever he was sober, he only thought about how foolish it was for his nation to launch an expedition onto this island.
Not only was it a place filled with unknown dangers, but the adventurers guild, one of the greatest powers in the world had laid claim to it.
Still, orders were orders, and he intended to follow his. He had not earned his position over century of service just to throw it away because of one perilous mission. If he succeeded here, even greater riches and fame awaited him when he returned home.
This was the driving motivation that kept him going even when they were besieged by uncompressible monsters on this island that spat in the face of normalcy.
Creatures that would rarely appear in the rest of the world were abundant and it prevented any senses beyond a range of three hundred meters of range.
'I deserver far more gold and land than I was promised for leading this team. The emperor better pay out what I am owed when I returned.' Holden thought as he emptied the bottle of hard liquor he was drinking.
Yet as he imagined the even more lavish life he would have upon his triumphant home coming, holden felt his danger sense began to blare in his head.
Holden looked up towards the sky and saw what looked like the sun falling down upon him and his troops.
Covered by the blinding light, he also noticed several other powerful magical attacks packing immense power behind them.
With only a couple of seconds before all hell broke loose, Holden shouted for everyone to use their best defensive powers and braced for the impact of the several spells raining down upon them.
When the first spell hit, Holden felt himself engulfed by an intense heat like nothing he had ever felt before.
Following that the ground around him shattered and necrotic energy caused coursed through his body and caused his veins to turn black as he felt his body being destroyed.
The unprecedented attack that had hit his team was greater than anything he had experienced and pushed past even the best protections he could deploy on short notice.
Once things had calmed down enough for him to tell what was up from down, holden could only see a devastated landscape that was devoid of the allies he had been around just moments before. It was as if he had suddenly been thrust into hell without any warning.
All over his body was scorched with burns, damaged by necrosis and battered by extreme physical force.
Thankfully he had survived, and his regeneration skill was hard at work mending the damage, but he had no idea where this attack had come from.
Clearly, they had been assaulted from outside their range of destruction by a force far greater than anything they had so far encountered on the island. Certainly, they had come head-to-head with plenty of strong beasts and monsters, but not once had they been blasted by a coordinated attack like this.
Holden swiftly got up despite the intense pain he was in and searched for his comrades.
Thankfully he found a few that had survived the initial volley of spells and was able to rally them.
Yet, just as eh was beginning to get he situation under control several unfamiliar people burst out of the fog and began attacking them.
At once Holden realized that this was most likely the group that had been sent by the adventurers guild which explained why they had been attacked with such prejudice.
The first adversary that charged towards him was a towering ogre woman that wield a giant adamantine axe.
Using his shield and mace he parried her vicious attacks, but the injures he had incurred from the initial volley of spells prevented him from going on the offensive.
Slowly he watched those around him being cut down by superior combatants that out leveled them and possessed stronger gear.
By the time most of his squad had been wiped out Holden had gotten an accurate count on their attackers and found that they were a force only a bit greater than half their size.
Nevertheless, by some means this group had attacked them from outside the limited detection range this island's fog enforced on any outsiders.
He and his team were hopelessly out maneuvered and outmatched from the start of the fight.
The team that had attacked them without warning possessed combatants stronger than the military might of most nations, and despite them being an elite group, Holden and his subordinates found themselves hopelessly outmatched.
In the end Holden watched a single woman clad in church vestments use a spell that instantly killed a dozen of the people eh had been in charge of.
Their resistance quickly came to an end after this overwhelming display of power, and Holden was the last one standing.
He figured that the end was coming for him as well, but his attackers showed no signs of finishing him. They had identified him as the leader and no doubt left him alive to question him.
'Like I will give them the chance. If all that awaits me is torture and betraying my nation, I might as well die.' Holden thought as he found himself surrounded.
Taking his spear, he positioned it towards his neck and planned to take his own life but felt an invisible force weighing down on him before he could.
As much as he tried to move his weakened body, he could not easily suppress the power crashing down on his very soul.
By the time he had found the strength to jam his spear in his throat, a woman with striking blue hair had reached him and slapped away his spear.
Before he could do anything else, Holden found himself restrained, and at the mercy of the group that had wiped out his squad.
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