Even for Warden himself, trolls provided a tough challenge. He had once killed seven of them on his first day of joining the army. The battle had taken away all of his reserves. However, he has grown since then. While he still could not battle them with raw physical power, they could not match his void energy and baleful intent any more.
Thankfully, there weren't many silver-ranked trolls, and even if there were, their regeneration power was suppressed to Iron rank.
Warden hoped everyone was too busy with their fight to notice him as he brought out the Divider. The sleek blade lengthened into two tres as purple smoke spilt out of it. He severed through the arm of the troll he was fighting. Blood spilt like a fountain as he flipped over the Forsaken to attack its skull.
The troll managed to block the attack with its club as Warden managed to draw its wrath away from the rank of the archers.
Unfortunately, it wasn't so lucky in avoiding all of his blows. Trolls were strong and fast, but they were fairly predictable in terms of attack. Warden bided his ti for a dozen blows before slitting its throat. He completely beheaded it, just in case.
The others were managing fine, though none of them had yet managed to kill a troll. The noble son looked to be the first among them to have the achievent, though Lady Cassandra was keeping two of the trolls at bay. Her attack had enraged them completely, though it hadn't threatened their lives at all.
Although it did threaten their sanity, or whatever was left of it. Even if they could recover their organs, the trolls could not endure their eardrums tearing apart, minds splitting open with the ungodly shriek of a siren with a sane mind.
Their ntal faculties had already deteriorated, and they had beco more berserk. Now, they did not care about their target; they only wanted to kill. It would be better if it were the siren in white and blue clothes, but if not...
A realisation dawned on Warden as Lady Cassandra led the trolls into the pit. Her ultrasonic attack was not nearly strong enough to fling them into it, but she did manage by concentrating her attack on one troll at a ti.
Now, they would kill their own rank. Definitely a masterful sche—he would approve of it. Their eyes t for a mont, as he acknowledged with a thumbs up. But he could not let the woman outdo him.
He moved towards the three warriors who were keeping the last troll at bay, preventing it from marching through the ranks of the archers. With a sneak attack, he drove his blade into the back of its neck.
His intent and rciless void energy shot forth from the blade, unleashing a maelstrom of destruction as it nullified all the regeneration powers. Taking their chances, the warriors also flung their weapons into the troll, though his own blade had delivered the critical blow.
That took care of the trolls that were running wild.
That took care of the trolls that were running wild, as Tayl managed fine with his target.
The archers expended all eight hundred arrows quite quickly and withdrew under Lady Cassandra's order. While it looked optimistic that the orcs were wiped out, there was no chance of the trolls killing themselves.
They had killed three of them; hopefully, this would leave them exhausted enough for them to be dealt with easily.
With eye contact, she signalled Cole to disable the isolation formation, and the view beca clear. All four of the trolls were standing, along with a few bloodied orcs. Two trolls were battling one another, while the orcs barely held on against the trolls. Their despair reached a new height when they finally realised they were fighting among themselves.
Unfortunately, even with all the shouts and orders, the trolls did not listen to any of them. Cassandra enraged two of them beyond the point of no return, while the complete isolation barrier, imbued with Moonspawn blood, was enough to impair the other two's ntal faculties.
The orcs were the first to fall before the four trolls set their eyes on the mastermind of the sche. They roared and lunged up from the pit in just one attempt.
"I'm taking that one," Young Lord Tayl said as he shot with his spear towards the troll on his right.
Warden was about to leave as well, but Cassandra's words stopped him.
"Assist ," she said. "We can deal with them fast if we work together."
Warden understood what she was implying, so he nodded. While her ultrasonic power was enough to keep multiple trolls at bay, it wasn't enough to kill even one of them. So, it would be a lot easier if she used her abilities to distract the trolls, and Warden completed the job.
Warden could not deal with more than one troll at a ti without showing off his Legendary Equipnt. June had argued not to use them in front of others, as sothing like a soul relic held a great position in everyone's mind. So people might not be able to keep their greed at bay if they knew he had two and a damaged one with him.
Miss Cassandra clapped her hand as pinpricks of ultrasonic projectiles plunged into the trolls. Although her attacks were concentrated on the trolls alone, Warden had to cover his ears with essence to not be affected by it. While the troll was busy dealing with the ultrasonic attack, Warden shot between its legs, his blade plunging into the back of its knee.
He hadn't managed to sever the knee, but the wound was serious enough that it would take several seconds to heal. And for those seconds, the troll's movent would be impaired. Before the troll could turn, Warden lunged up after rolling on the ground. He struck the back of its head, the blade plunging into its thick skull.
The defence of trolls was as tough as orcs, but along with the regeneration power, they possessed a formidable challenge. Unfortunately for them, against the essence of Void, they held only a little challenge.
Cassandra bombarded its mind with sonic waves, while Warden's blade drilled into it physically. The troll fell on its four limbs, the other one ca to its rescue, swinging its club at Warden.
He didn't have to ask Cassandra. The siren shrieked at the other troll, keeping it busy from attacking Warden, as he finished up his target with relative ease.
[Higher order essence harvested.]
[ 2.1 Recovery.]
With their numbers dwindling, pressure decreased from their shoulders, as most of them didn't even need to fight to win against the trolls. To be honest, your regular soldiers could not battle against a Troll, while most of the soldiers here were seasoned and could be called semi-elite, they still fell short of dealing with a troll.
Warden was weary, though most of it ca from overworking the last couple of days. The battle only added to that. But it wasn't a ti for rest or lazying around. If he wanted that he would have stayed in the artificer departnt.
Warden rode on the back of a mad troll as it did its very best to throw him off. But Warden stuck to it like glue. His blade into the back of its skull, a relatively weak spot which could deal a critical blow for it to heal.
Tayl had dealt with the troll he chose, and now roaring, his body full of blood, his own and the trolls. He jumped to the last one, not caring about to wounds he took. So might say, not only the trolls that lost their mind in the fight.
[ 0.3 Recovery.]
"That took care of it," Warden muttered as he retracted his blade. He turned to Cassandra who was healing, her face fell, ridden with sweat. "As we have feared not every one of them fell to the trap. . . Half of their numbers still guard the gate."
Cassandra nodded, she opened her mouth to say sothing, though no words ca out. Instead, she turned in another direction as a woman from Azalea Garden ca to stand next to her.
Cassandra turned to him and began talking with hand gestures.
"Apologies, I won't be able to converse conventionally for so ti," the woman translated for her. "Don't worry, my battle power isn't hampered, but if I utter any sound now, I won't be able to keep its frequency within the limit for everyone to endure."
Warden frowned. "How long will it take for you to recover?"
"Only a ditation session," the translator said. "She says confidently."
"Well, you'll get just about that much ti," Warden said. He found May walking towards them, her eyes searching for injuries she could heal, but Warden was mostly healthy, if not a little weary. "We cannot give the rest of them much ti to rearrange their numbers."
So, about eighty orcs, thirty trolls and a few goblins remained at the gate... It did not look that overwhelming anymore. Warden already had a plan in mind, though he wasn't sure if others would like it. After all, this would take everyone to fight actively and put their lives on the line.
But before that, it appeared he needed to deal with sothing else, as he found Tayl Alebson walking towards his direction.
"You!" he said, his eyes gleaming in the remnant of power. "Who are you?"
Warden turned to him, wondering if he should distract the fella with the bullshit of an answer. Well, it didn't hurt...
"That depends on who asking," Warden answered.
"Well, it's who's asking," Tayl Alebson sneered.
"And you are?"
"Are you kidding ?" the noble's eyes blinked in disbelief. "You're telling you don't recognise who am I?"
"I do not recognise most people, do not take it personally," he said. "But yeah, your behaviour shows a type of person I recognise."
Tayl stared at him, askingly.
"The privileged," Warden said. "Anyway, Young Lord, you need not involve yourself in the business of this trivial janitor. It's beneath you. I reckon your ti would be better worth it if you use it in talking with your followers. A real leader needed to recognise the needs of his people, no?"
Warden didn't wait for the guy to reply and set his gaze towards the pit.
"Hey, you haven't answered my question," Tayl Alebson shouted after him. "Nobody crosses , and leave--"
"Oi, Cole," Warden didn't bother to even hear him. "You have collected the array flags from the other pit?"
"Hey, I'm talking to you?" Young Alebson shouted, storming in.
Cole looked between the noble and the janitor. He chose to answer the important question. "I didn't have enough ti to collect them all."
"Well, you have now," Warden said. "Have a few people with you there and co back as soon as possible. As for you Lord Alebson, wouldn't it be better for you to help everyone instead of hampering our progress? After all, there were still close to a hundred forsaken remaining for us to deal with."
___________
Not promising anything... but will try to compensate for the accidental fuck-up in my schedule...
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