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Chapter 29 - Fair Play?
🕑 Added 2024-10-12 23:34:01 +0000 UTCDamian knew what he had to do. He might not like the tactic, but it would completely change the game.
How things were going, he didn’t even have a chance of reaching 50th place.
“If the game isn’t in your favor, maybe you’re playing the wrong game,” Damian remembered one of the things the patriarch of the Nero family always told his children.
Before the battle began, the captains had mapped out the river and the monsters around it. But they weren’t the only ones gathering information. Damian’s ability allowed him to “communicate” with creatures, a skill he despised, at least in its current form.
The Great House of Nemo could dominate and enslave any non-rational creature, but in the early levels of their Boon, they could only communicate with such creatures. It was almost useless in battle, which made advancing through the ranks of the House a difficult process.
Unsurprisingly, many of the Nemo’s developed a silver tongue, which is helpful with other humans and monsters.
However, unlike humans, Crabits couldn’t count. So, even after gathering information from his targets, Damian didn’t know how many Crabits were around the combat area. He had only learned that a big horde was upriver and some smaller groups were downriver.
‘If I can take some competition out of the fight, I’ll have more time and targets to climb the rankings.’ Damian justified.
While contemplating his next steps, he didn’t stop attacking the easiest targets around him. Although his whip was not strong enough to kill a monster, it could lacerate the Crabits’ skin, making them more susceptible to his suggestions.
Gradually, he started moving toward the lower part of the river, distancing himself from the battle while always facing forward to avoid a surprise attack.
A chaotic battle like this made it difficult for him to move, but there was also a positive side: no one was paying attention to him. Almost at the edge of the battle, he spotted two Crabits that were easier targets; both were injured and seemed to be avoiding the battle. Quickly moving his whip in a figure-eight pattern, he struck both monsters with the sharp tip.
[Beast Charm]
His mind connected with both creatures. Their senses became shared, amplifying the intensity of the combat hundreds of times. Through their heightened senses, Damian could feel the emotions of the two animals, but also from the entire horde; it was complete and utter fear.
The creatures might have been irrational, but even in their limited understanding, they knew they were facing extermination. If the battle continued, they would be wiped out.
The fear made it easier for Damian to access their minds; there was little resistance to his suggestions. He could issue basic commands or assign simple tasks within the animals' cognitive limits.
The task wasn’t easy, but Nemo’s training had been even harder. Sweat drenched his forehead as he concentrated entirely on adjusting the monsters’ minds. Every explosion around him added time to the process, and he silently hoped no stray projectile would hit the two Crabits, forcing him to start over.
‘There! The first one is ready. Go and bring help.’ Damian sighed in relief
It was a simple command, ‘head upstream and bring reinforcements.’ Damian didn’t know how many Crabits were upriver, but if he could bring back a few hundred, it would be enough to injure some cadets and knock them out of the rankings. Maybe even get to Oliver.
He then shifted his focus to the second Crabit. Now that he wasn’t handling two simultaneously, the process went faster.
‘Done! Go downstream, bring help.’ Damian finished his plan.
With his scheme in motion, all the boy had to do was wait and hope. In the meantime, he continued attacking, accumulating as many points as possible without advancing too far and risking getting caught by the reinforcements.
His score wasn’t improving much, but even if his scheme worked, he would still need more points to move up in the rankings. So, he stayed focused and kept attacking.
Seconds turned into minutes, and minutes into hours. As time passed, it became clear that humans were winning the battle. Of the thousands of Crabits, only a few hundred remained. Even the less experienced cadets were stepping in to clean up the field.
Meanwhile, Damian began to worry. Perhaps his plan hadn’t worked.
‘Maybe someone eliminated the Crabits?’ The boy pondered.
He could imagine the one heading upstream had been taken out. It had to cross most of the battlefield, but the one going downstream was already far from the fight.
However, before he could consider further, things started to change. He felt the ground tremble near the swamp, and the trees began to sway.
‘Damn it! What have I done?’ Damian grabbed his head in frustration.
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Unlike the previous day, Oliver was lasting much longer in combat. He hadn't drained his stamina or energy as much by controlling the energy output of his Energy Pistol to maximize each shot’s efficiency.
Even after an hour of fighting, he was still scanning the battlefield for new opportunities. But with each passing minute, there were fewer and fewer, as the number of Crabits had drastically diminished.
Some cadets had already left the battlefield to rest, while others pressed on to finish off the remaining monsters. From his position, Oliver could easily spot a few cadets climbing the hills, Astrid resting on the side of the battlefield, and Katherine still fighting off the last of the Crabits.
Unlike at the start of the battle, Katherine’s movements were slower, focusing on one opponent at a time. Her stamina was nearly depleted, especially with the mud from the river sticking to her feet.
‘I think that it. It makes no sense to continue watching.’ Oliver stood up, realizing there would be no more opportunities.
He began to prepare to rejoin the company. But before he turned, he noticed something odd. The trees at the top of the river started shaking violently, and he could hear footsteps growing closer until the ground itself began to tremble.
“Hey. Are you feeling this?” One of the recruits screamed.
“Felling what?” Another one asked.
Soon, Oliver wasn’t the only one noticing the signs.
Where there had once been trees, there was a massive horde of Crabits advancing, destroying everything in their path. They were in far greater numbers than the ones they had just fought, and the creatures weren’t stopping, surging forward like a wave of destruction.
The cadets still on the battlefield were attacked from all sides by overwhelming numbers. Few students were in any condition to fight, making it even harder to withstand the new onslaught.
Before the captains could order a retreat, another horde appeared, advancing from the lower part of the river. Though smaller in number, they pincered the cadets, who were already exhausted from the battle. The damaged armors were now being shredded apart.
“IMMEDIATE RETREAT!” Musk shouted at the top of his lungs. The cadets closest to the hill managed to retreat quickly.
However, this only worsened the situation for those near the river, who were now the few remaining targets for the Crabits. Oliver quickly readied himself and began shooting again, this time not worrying about waiting for perfect opportunities. There were too many Crabits; he couldn’t keep track of the exact number, but it looked like three times the amount they had fought earlier, perhaps around five thousand new enemies.
“Shit! We’re fucked.” One of the recruits screamed while running away from the battlefield.
‘It … looks grim.’ Oliver thought, simultaneously happy not to be on the battlefield like the last day.
It was time for the captains to step in. Facing thousands of Crabits was easy for them, as each was a specialist in Ranger Weapons and had already dealt with even worse scenarios. The biggest problem was the number of recruits they needed to save.
Oliver watched as each captain advanced, but his eyes were mainly on Musk, who was responsible for his company. His speed wasn’t extraordinary as he moved forward slowly, step by step. But when he raised his revolver, the effect drastically differed from the previous day.
"BOOM!"
Instead of a simple shot, the revolver fired an explosive blast. Each shot cleared the entire field in front of him, killing hundreds of Crabits. The situation improved with each shot, but Oliver could see clearly that those near the river might not have even five minutes left.
His focus was mainly on Katherine, who was surrounded. Her helmet, which had already been cracked, was now gone. Her face was covered in cuts, and her hair was matted with dried blood and mud. She continued fighting with her back to the river, thinking with each attack, ‘Just one more... just one more.’
But her strength was fading. Her vision, already blurry for a while, was starting to darken. Her legs, trembling and in pain, used whatever energy was left just to keep her standing.
She looked around, trying to find a way out, but her mind was exhausted. Part of her wanted to give up and leave things to chance, while another part urged her to fight until the last second.
Oliver, observing from the hill, saw the situation getting worse. He knew he shouldn’t leave the hill; it would be foolish, incredibly stupid. But before he could make a decision, his legs started running.
“What am I doing?” Oliver screamed to himself.
He had confidence in his agility to dodge the attacks, but the numbers were overwhelming. As soon as he entered the battlefield, he barely made any progress without firing his Energy Pistol to clear the Crabits in his way.
While his eyes were on Katherine, he used [Observation] to gather information around him. Unconsciously, he kept firing.
Near the river, Katherine finally came up with an idea. Realizing no one was left around her, she closed her eyes, took a deep breath, and jumped.
"SPLASH!"
She threw herself into the river, hoping the current would carry her away. Her only problem was that she had no strength left. Not enough to swim, not even to stay awake.
About ten meters from the river, Oliver saw everything unfold before him.
“How did she not see me!?” He questioned her sanity and his own.
Everything was going from bad to worse; none of this had gone according to plan.
“I’m an idiot. A complete idiot. Ugh, damn it!”
The boy ran, dodging every Crabit in his path, and jumped.
