CHAPTER 37

The fight goes on and on. We move deeper and deeper into the village. As we move, I cannot help but to reminiscent the information I gained about this village. Some buildings were once a marketplace. Military training ground was once a farm to grow wheat. The kitchen for the mess hall was once the biggest bakery in this village. In fact, the building for the mess hall was once owned by Nostrazeus, Nostrades, and Nostreidon. I cannot imagine what the brothers feel as we fight closer to the mess hall.

There are some building missing. That is to be expected. However, the most important missing building is the community center. There is a green portal in its place. This must be the Low Leyline Point. The Fey’s portal. The source of Contractuaries’ spores.

DETAIL CHECK
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What? I didn’t call for you. Go back.

It won’t go back. What’s going on with the floating words? Is it because of the portal? Either way, it is blocking my vision. This won’t affect everyone else, but this will definitely hinder my performance in battle.

We’ve advanced quite far. The fight is still ongoing. Some of us have depleted our options. I myself need another suit to keep track of everything. We’ll need somewhere to retreat. Based on my tracking, there is an empty barrack not far from us. That should be good enough.

I take one of the dead knight. Then, I drag his body towards the barrack. Everyone knows what this means. It means that we’ll take the suit inside the building. It has the downside of letting us be tracked, but it will also give us more protection and additional weapons. Another possibility is that the knights can’t tell which one is their friend or foe. We have to take the bet or die like sitting ducks.

The Nostramounts without any weapons will have top priority for the armor. Nostrades and Nostreidon are not in that category. Their weapons can still work fine. As for me, I don’t have my harmonica anymore. I can cover my head with a new helmet now. I’ll also need a new gauntlets. Unfortunately, we didn’t pick any extra gauntlets. If that’s the case, I can still use my metallic arms.

Some of the squads from outside are coming. Some of the squads from inside are coming to this barrack. They’re near!

Smoke bombs! Nostrades and Nostreidon keep their head low since they don’t have any helmet to filter the smoke. I lead everyone with the armor to defend our position. I plant my cubes inside two of the knights. Then, I move their bodies via the cubes as shields to block their path. My effort reduces the direction where the knights can attack us. However, some of them actually decided to cut their comrades. They actually cut these two to create a path. It’s their own allies!

I have no choice but to use two other knights as my shields. The smoke is clearing itself. Good! Nostra brothers and the rest can continue the fight! On the other hand, all of the squads from the outside are in Bread Village. Assuming that the entire fleet of Ambrousian Empire won’t decend upon us, this should mean that the final battle is near.

The bodies are piling up inside this room. They provide natural cover for us. However, that also means that we don’t have anywhere else to retreat or fall back to.

The assault stopped. They’re waiting for us to come outside. We’re waiting for them to come in. Stalemate. We use this chance to change our armors. This time, I have extra gauntlets for myself. I use two bodies as shields. Ready!

There is something purple outside. It’s bright and moving. Oh no!

The purple beam!

The beam goes through my two flesh shields. It is so strong that it pushes me to the wall. No. It keeps pushing! The wall breaks! It is pushing me even further!

DETAIL CHECK
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I must be near the portal. The ground is hard but accepts me. My entire body is fighting to stay still, but I need to move. The fight isn’t done yet.

My arms can still move. Good. There’s no armor. Bad. My cubes are still around. Good. Someone is walking towards me. Bad. It is someone with Lapis Lazarus. Bad. Just outside of my vision, there is something purple. Very bad!

The figure doesn’t move. She maintains her distance in case I’m going to attack. The purple light becomes brighter and brighter. Is this it? You’re not going to give me a chance to say the final word? Why don’t you at least tell me why you were hunting me in my world?! No? Not even that? Oh come on! If this is fiction, we would have a long dialogue before your killing blow! But to be fair, there were many clichés subverted already. You will not be remembered. Everyone will think of you as a nobody that doesn’t even have a personality.

I stand up, shaking. I face the purple light itself. This will kill me? I still have a revive ready. I’ll have another round against you. Who even are you anyway? Even Sorcerous Lake doesn’t recognize you. Imagine that. The hub for many worlds doesn’t know you. How worthless must you be to be that low? If there is a powerscaling, they will rank you the lowest of the low! Haha!

Any plot armor would be welcomed. Anything?

Based on the knowledge I gained from Sorcerous Lake, the purple beam is an ability that any Ambrousian can gain under certain condition. First, they must be able to cast Submissing Form. Second, they must drink 1 liter of molten silver. This will allow them to shoot purple beam out of their eyes but remove their ability to be revived once per day. Safe to say that killing this knight will remove her control over mind controlled people in this military base. Now, how do I kill her?

Steam comes out of my limbs, mouth, and horns. It fills the air where no one can see me. A purple beam clears out the center of the steam, but I’m not there! I’m at the edge of the steam! With a spiky, burning, and metallic arm, I punch one of my cube! It goes straight through this woman! You can’t revive anymore! That’s what you get for drinking silver!

Everyone stops moving. This is it! Submissing Freedom is taking its niche effect! If the caster is dead, everyone affected by the spell cannot take any action other than the basic functions of their internal organs! They are not a problem anymore!

It’s also almost the time for dusk. We have no choice but to carry everyone we can to the bunker and wait the night out.