On the other parts of the armies, they were also noticing the same things that Louise noticed. Some groups were too tough. Others had too much brute strength… and the final group had massive magical power…
Frederick's group was facing Hugo's group, and they were having a hard time wounding them at all… their endurance truly was beyond the charts… until now, and only a few people managed to wound them.
"Hugo… why did you do all of this?" Frederick asked while trying to buy some time for his allies, that were completely exhausted due to the continuous battles.
"I am really sorry about this, Fred," Hugo said. "There is just no other way… I don't have much time to explain all this, but I can at least tell you that we don't have space in this universe… our presence is unnatural… you only know half of the truth."
"How can that explain anything? You fucking asshole!" Luke shouted. "When is genociding your fellow comrades an answer to anything? You fooled all of us this whole time, and you still act like you have the reason on your side? Don't give me that bullshit, motherfucker!"
"I guess you are right… maybe we aren't in the right, but we already made our choice in what we believe is the best," Hugo said. "We will do what is necessary for our survival."
Frederick could feel the conflict that his former friend had inside, but he also could feel his resolve… talking wouldn't lead them anywhere… they could only struggle and hope that the enemies would show some kind of opening. Once they do that, they can find a way to escape. Even if a small fraction of them escape, it will already be a massive victory.
After making up his mind, Frederick made several earth swords emerge from the ground and hardened them to the limits. From brown, they turned to orange-ish, then silver, then gold, and almost completely white… Hugo raised his guard since it wasn't supposed to be a skill that Frederick had. It seemed that he also had his fair share of secrets…
Blinded by the wish to obtain some glory and defeat someone powerful and famous like Frederick, several of Hugo's followers charged toward him. In the end, they regretted that deeply… Frederick fired his swords with pinpoint precision at their hearts… they imagined that they didn't have to worry about defense… but then sparks of lightning emerged from the weapons and increased their moving speed… the weapons easily passed through those guys.
"You have gotten better, Fred," Hugo said.
"I got this idea when I heard of Louise's and Jake's combination," Frederick said. "Unlike you, I didn't choose the most convenient path of sacrificing others and keeping myself alive. I put in the hard work."
"I suppose so… that is very like you," Hugo said. "I can't help but imagine what you would choose in our place… even though I am grateful that you aren't."
"... Luke, cover me," Frederick whispered. "Frederick is the one making others a lot sturdier… my swords can't stop him, so we can only decrease their numbers as much as possible."
"Roger that," Luke said and then stepped forward.
That combination of spells was unnatural. Earth doesn't combine well with lightning. So, Frederick would need a lot of mana and focus to be able to use that combination for a while with a lot of precision.
He sat down and began to meditate while he felt the presence of everyone nearby. In the meantime, Rose explained to as many people as she could that they had to defeat the dark guild masters if they wanted to have any chance of winning. Still, a lot of them had already realized that.
"Fall back. I will handle them," Hugo declared. "Only my defense can withstand his attacks. Attack the others while I have his attention."
Luke clicked his tongue… he sparred with Hugo many times, but he didn't win even once, and he could tell that he went easy on him with the strength to spare. Hugo drew his longsword and then charged while swinging it down. Luke was barely able to see him moving, but he still raised his weapon and blocked the strike. The impact had been so powerful that the area below his feet began to sink.
Frederick's swords flew toward Hugo's head, but he ignored them. He felt a sting on his skin when they hit, but he only felt a more powerful sting inside him, knowing that his friend had tried to kill him. Still, there was no going back on his actions, he could only move forward, and so he did it…
Hugo overpowered Luke, but he refused to take a single step back. He used Mana Blades several times, and the impact made Hugo's sword tremble. That decreased the pressure of his attacks, and while the enemy was frowning, Rose made ice chains emerge from the ground and grabbed his legs.
Luke used that chance to move to the side and escape from the enemy's grasp, but a single step had been enough for Hugo to break the chains and then attack Luke before he could do the same. Since he didn't expect that, Luke didn't have enough time to block the attack properly and was pushed away for several meters.
Before Luke could recover, Hugo targeted Frederick. Even though his earth swords were fired again and hit him, they didn't stop the enemy. As a last resort, Rose stepped forward and then fired an ice cannon toward the enemy… that covered his body with ice, but that thick layer easily crumbled away. In the end, Hugo just kicked Rose to the distance and then raised his sword to strike his friend.
Luke hurried to stop the attack, but he showed an expression of despair since he knew that he wouldn't reach him in time… in the end, Frederick didn't look away or close his eyes when the enemy was about to kill him. However, Frederick stopped for a moment and then looked to the dark sky…
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