Right as the two dark clouds emerged, the first wave of Pzenium warriors reached the main group, causing an intense clash to break out between both sides.
Since the main group was retreating toward the east, that direction became the first area to be closed off by the Pzenium warriors.
As for the other directions, they were still quite a bit away from reaching the main group. But, at the current rate, it looked as though it would not take long for the main group to be left at the complete mercy of the Pzenium forces.
"Fall, cowards of the battlefield!" One of the Pzenium warriors roared as they lashed out with a scimitar at one of the nearby 2nd Unit troops.
Bang!
The soldier from the main group narrowly avoided the strike. But, instead of launching a counterattack, the soldier continued to run forward through the wave of Pzenium warriors.
"How dare you turn your back on me!" The Pzenium warrior angrily yelled as they turned about to chase after the 2nd Unit soldier in a fit of rage.
This was not a unique situation. Surprisingly, a similar scene was unfolding all throughout the battlefield.
Rather than confronting the Pzenium warriors, the soldiers from the main group avoided getting locked in a battle and focused all their energy on dodging and running.
Naturally, this served to further enrage the Pzenium warriors, who already viewed them as cowards for their hit-and-run tactics. For many of the Pzenium warriors, it was their first time fighting such an enemy that held no shame or honor in their choice of tactics.
"Fight us!"
"Why are you running?!"
"Don't let them escape! Cut them all down- Hey, get out of my way!"
"Bastard, my enemy is getting away! You're the one in the way!"
"Say that again, and you'll be at the end of my blade!"
"Ha?! You think I'm afraid of you?! Try me!"
Due to the Pzenium warriors turning around to chase after the opponents who escaped past them, many of them bumped into each other and had a rough time maintaining a certain level of order. This led to several arguments erupting—some of which even led directly to a fight between Pzenium warriors.
As the chaos among the Pzenium forces seemed to be growing with every passing moment, the main group had yet to lose a single troop as they skillfully moved against the current of Pzenium warriors.
"What the hell are those fools doing?!" Menkar growled as he witnessed the chaotic scene from a distance.
The great warrior wanted nothing more than to go over there and personally bring order to things; however, he was currently dealing with a headache much bigger than he ever anticipated.
Swoosh! Phhhtk!
Niflheim's sword grazed against Menkar's right arm, leaving a shallow cut. Even though he did not suffer much damage from the attack, Menkar was growing increasingly frustrated.
That's because every time he attacked, he always seemed to narrowly miss his mark. To make matters even worse, when Menkar thought he successfully evaded a strike, he was somehow still hit.
Was it poison? Or, perhaps, magic? Maybe it was the work of a curse? These were the thoughts flowing through Menkar's mind. While he did not know the exact cause, the great warrior understood that something suspicious and unusual was going on.
Meanwhile, Niflheim carefully observed Menkar's actions along with the change in his behavior and movements.
"It's starting to work. His attack patterns and movements are becoming more erratic. That being said, it's still a bit troublesome to land any solid blows, thanks to this sand." Niflheim thought to himself.
Despite Champion's passive Meadow of the Wayward, Niflheim had little success in landing vital blows against Menkar. Even just now, his attack was supposed to be aimed at the great warrior's neck, not his right arm. But, Menkar's control over the shifting sand made maintaining one's balance challenging.
Niflheim had grown somewhat accustomed to it; however, Menkar's battle experience was on full display as he minimized risky positions and capitalized on opportunities.
As for the chaos in the distance, Niflheim was not too shocked by Menkar's outrage.
For one, Pzenium warriors had no true command structure among themselves outside of listening to the strongest one present. However, if there were no one around to give out immediate orders, they would end up doing whatever they pleased.
It also greatly helped that the main group was made up of elites from the 2nd Unit who all excelled in agility. This was why despite the Pzenium forces' best efforts and obvious number advantage, they had such a difficult time catching them.
However, what outsiders would not know is that those with the highest agility among the 2nd Unit were those of the 2nd Division under Captain Ward. And they accounted for more than 20% of the main group's numbers.
It was due to the members of the 2nd Division leading the way that the number of causalities among the main group was virtually nonexistent. After all, they were skillful in drawing attention to themselves before fleeing.
This is why even though Ward was a coward by nature, Aurie appointed them as a Captain under her command.
In the eyes of most, having a cowardly soldier under them was seen as a great deal of shame. However, to Aurie, one of the most important things she instilled in her troops was to survive on the battlefield at all costs.
It was because of Ward's training that the 2nd Division members were so skilled at running away after drawing enemies in.
Ward's actions may be looked down on by other War Brigade Units; however, if you asked the soldiers who served under him what they thought, none of them would speak ill of him. That's because when it came to survival rate of one's troops, there was none better than that of the 2nd Division under Captain Ward's command.
BANG!
Out of nowhere, Menkar slammed his battle axe into the ground in front of him. This caused a small tidal wave of sand to form and rush over toward Niflheim's direction.
Niflheim reacted swiftly as he kicked off his back foot while simultaneously using the Rush to gain a small burst of movement speed.
At the same time, Niflheim glanced over at the dark clouds in the sky.
"Those clouds... Can it be?" Niflheim said to himself.
...
Somewhere on the east side of the battlefield...
"Die, demon!" A Pzenium warrior cried out as they thrust their spear forward with all their might.
Before the Pzenium warrior's spear could reach its target, they were effortlessly split in half by a purple streak of light.
"For those who block my lord's path, only one fate awaits—death," Sagarus stated as he stepped over the dissipating body of the Pzenium warrior he had just cut down.
pαпdα`noνɐ1`сoМ Not far off from Sagarus and clashing with the Pzenium warriors in small units of three or more were a total of 26 lightning soldiers.
At the moment, the Pzenium warriors were being overwhelmed by lightning soldiers who seemed to have emerged out of thin air at their backs.
Although their numbers were not that great, the Pzenium warriors at the rear still struggled to hold up against the lightning soldiers' individual might. That, paired with their flawlessly organized teamwork, the Pzenium warriors felt as if they were battling against a group of mentally linked warriors.
However, while the lightning soldiers and Sagarus were certainly great threats, they could not compare to the monster wreaking havoc.
What made this monster frightening was that their movements could not be followed with the eye alone, and in every place, their flickering figure emerged; several Pzenium warriors perished as a burst of purple lightning exploded from their bodies.
"Where did these monsters come from?!" One of the Pzenium warriors scowled.
"Who cares? We have to stop them before the encirclement is fully breached!"
"Look at their numbers! Losing here would be a disgrace! We must eliminate them before- Gah!"
One of the Pzenium warriors was abruptly cut down as a flickering silhouette with purple eyes of flowing lightning appeared next to them before coming to a halt.
"That's no monster! How dare you try to fool us!" One of the Pzenium warriors shouted before angrily lashing out.
'It's a lot more chaotic on this side than I imagined.'
Izroth's Flickering Steps came to an end as the purple lightning in his eyes vanished.
'My First State: Heavenly Descent and Flickering Steps are both on cooldown now. But, with this much, it should be enough to draw some attention away from the main group.'
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