The Kingmaker System

Chapter 729 - 728. Eldarf Team Dispatch (3)

The dark mages responsible for maintaining the black mist remained completely focused on the battlefield below them.

From their perspective, the battle was progressing exactly as planned. The knights had lost their formation, the horses had descended into madness and the two princes were being forced to waste their energy saving their men instead of hunting Gargi down. The black mist continued spreading throughout the ruined streets while the shifters prowled through the darkness, picking off anyone unfortunate enough to become separated.

Neither of them noticed that the battlefield had already changed.

The first mage only felt a slight disturbance behind him, a faint shift in the air that made him instinctively glance over his shoulder. What greeted him was the sight of a tall figure clad entirely in black standing no more than a few steps away.

For a brief moment, confusion crossed his face.

The figure should not have been there, no one should have been able to approach them unnoticed through the mist.

Then he noticed the silver eyes, before the figure blurred past his vision. The mage never saw the blade.

One moment he was standing and the next his vision spun violently. The world tilted sideways and for a single incomprehensible second he found himself staring at his own body still standing upright. Dead mana continued swirling around the fingers of his severed corpse while the vacant space above the shoulders sprayed black blood into the darkness.

Shock never had time to settle in as the world disappeared before his mind could process what had happened.

The second mist caster met a similar fate.

He sensed movement and began turning toward it, but the assassin was already faster. The silver blade passed across his throat with frightening precision and his body collapsed before he even understood he had been attacked. Black blood spread across the rooftop beneath him while the figure responsible continued moving without the slightest pause.

The nearest earth mage witnessed the second death.

At first he simply stared, his mind refusing to accept what his eyes were showing him.

The body of the mist caster lay crumpled upon the stone while a black-clad figure stood over it. The assassin’s clothing blended so naturally with the surrounding darkness that he almost seemed like a part of the mist itself.

Then the assassin shifted slightly.

The blue insignia embroidered upon the back of the cloak became visible, the flying blue Dragon.

But it wasn’t the insignia that made the Mage’s blood run cold, it was the glowing silver eyes of the assassin that met with him when the assassin turned.

A Dark Elf.

The realization struck him harder than the deaths of his companions.

Why was a Dark Elf here?

The dark elves should have been in Edrisyl. They should have been fighting for their own survival. There was no reason for one of them to appear in Sestia, let alone on this battlefield.

His breath hitched as the assassin vanished from where he stood. Panic immediately surged through the earth mage’s body.

He spun around, intending to warn the others.

"Beware-"

The word never left his mouth.

Something flashed through the darkness and the rest of the warning died with him.

The three assassinations happened so swiftly and so cleanly that the remaining dark mages never realized their companions had fallen. Their attention remained fixed upon the battlefield below while the bodies of the mist casters and the earth mage collapsed soundlessly amidst the darkness.

The moment both mist casters died, one of the black-clad assassins raised two fingers to his lips and released a short, shrill whistle.

The sound carried surprisingly far and Davian and Rune both heard it.

Moments later, the black mist that had swallowed the battlefield began to thin. Wisps of darkness drifted apart beneath the wind and visibility gradually returned to the ruined streets.

As the haze dispersed, figures slowly emerged throughout the battlefield.

They stood atop rooftops, broken walls and ruined streets alike. Every one of them wore black and every one of them carried the same blue insignia embroidered upon their backs.

The battlefield that slowly emerged from beneath the dispersing mist looked less like a town and more like the aftermath of a massacre. Corpses littered every visible street while shattered buildings leaned precariously over roads stained black with blood. The remains of the mutated shifters lay scattered amongst fallen horses and knights, their torn bodies piled atop one another in grotesque heaps. Entrails had been dragged across the cobblestones and mixed with the muddy rainwater until the streets resembled rivers of filth and death.

Rune stared around himself for a moment before a wave of relief washed through him so suddenly that he nearly lost strength in his legs.

The reinforcements were here, and not just any guard team or assassin’s team but the Eldarf team. The most elite and dangerous under Ocean’s command. The very teens whom he had trained and lived with were now here for his aid.

For the first time since the mist appeared, Rune felt the battle shifting back into their favor.

If the Eldarf Team was here, then they finally had a chance to eliminate the calamity.

"Prince Davian."

Rune turned toward Davian only to find that Davian was no longer looking at the battlefield around them.

His gaze was already fixed upon the rooftop ahead.

Gargi stood there alongside the remaining dark mage, Kiev. Unlike Gargi, who still appeared momentarily stunned by the sudden collapse of their advantage, Kiev recovered far quicker.

The dark mage’s eyes swept across the battlefield once before he immediately slammed both palms against the rooftop beneath him.

Dead mana surged outward.

The ground trembled.

At first the movement appeared insignificant. Small stones rattled across the streets while loose fragments of masonry shifted amongst the rubble. Then the cracks began spreading.

They raced through the roads like veins splitting apart beneath the earth. The damaged buildings groaned loudly as sections of walls tore free from their foundations. Broken cobblestones ripped themselves upward while shattered carts, ruined pillars and chunks of collapsed structures began rising into the air.

The convergence happened frighteningly fast.

Thousands of fragments of stone and rubble spiraled together as though pulled by an invisible force.

Sand flowed upward from the ruined streets.

Broken masonry rotated through the air.

Entire sections of collapsed buildings disintegrated and joined the growing masses.

The knights watched in stunned silence as the swirling debris gradually took shape.

Massive limbs formed first.

Then torsos.

Then heads.

The grinding sound of stone scraping against stone echoed throughout the battlefield as enormous humanoid figures emerged from the storm of rubble.

The golems towered over everyone present.

Some stood ten feet tall while others stretched even higher, their massive stone bodies casting shadows across the ruined streets. Cracks ran throughout their forms and within those fissures pulsed streams of dead mana that held the constructs together like veins beneath flesh.

One of the golems shifted.

The ground shook beneath its weight and then another.

The remaining knights felt their blood run cold.

They had barely escaped the mist.

Now they were staring at monsters large enough to crush entire groups of soldiers beneath a single step.

Panic threatened to spread once again, but before it could, a sharp command rang across the battlefield.

"Take the weak ones out and engage the golems. Make way for the Princes to eliminate the target."

The order had barely left the speaker’s mouth before the black-clad figures moved. They descended upon the battlefield like shadows.

Some landed beside injured knights and effortlessly hoisted two wounded men at once before disappearing toward the outskirts of the town. Others rushed directly toward the advancing golems, weapons already drawn.

The speed at which they moved left the human knights stunned.

One moment an assassin was beside them, and the next they had vanished entirely.

The knights barely had enough time to process what was happening before they found themselves being carried away from the battlefield.

Only then did they finally get a proper look at their rescuers.

Pointed ears.

Unnaturally sharp features.

Eyes that seemed almost luminous.

Others were shorter and broader, carrying the unmistakable build of dwarves despite moving with startling speed.

The realization struck the knights one after another.

"E-Elves...?"

One knight stared in disbelief at the figure who had just lowered him onto the ground.

"Am I seeing things? That was a Dwarf!"

"What in the world is going on here?"

Another knight’s gaze landed upon the blue insignia stitched across one of the black cloaks.

"That’s Marquis Ocean’s insignia, isn’t it?"

The question spread immediately through the gathered soldiers.

"Are these all Marquis Ocean’s people?"

"No wonder they appeared out of nowhere..."

"They’re monsters."

The figures responsible for the comments were already gone before anyone could receive an answer.

The Eldarf Team continued moving throughout the battlefield with frightening efficiency, evacuating the wounded and intercepting the advancing golems without slowing down for even a moment.

Davian and Rune watched them for only a few seconds before exchanging a glance.

The golems had already become the Eldarf Team’s responsibility.

Their target remained elsewhere.

"What the hell are these all doing here?!" Kiev snarled.

The dark mage’s expression twisted with frustration as he watched the battlefield slipping further and further beyond their control. The black spiderweb-like rashes spreading across his ghostly pale skin had already crawled past his neck and were slowly advancing toward his jaw. Every pulse of dead mana made them darken further, resembling cracks spreading across fragile porcelain.

Below them, the golems had succeeded in slowing the advance of the princes, but only temporarily. Everywhere Kiev looked, the Eldarf Team was dismantling the advantages they had worked so hard to create.

The mist was gone, the knights had been evacuated and the shifters were dead.

The battlefield that should have belonged to them was steadily turning against them.

Beside him, Gargi stood frozen.

Her hollow eyes stared toward the streets below where the corpses of the mutated beasts lay scattered amongst the rubble.

"All the animals are dead..." She muttered.

The words barely sounded human as her voice trembled.

Black tears began spilling from her eyes and running down her cheeks.

"They’re all dead..."

Kiev turned toward her sharply.

The grief and despair pouring from her had become so overwhelming that even he could feel it.

"Why..." Gargi whispered.

Her shoulders shook.

"Why won’t these humans die?"

The black tears continued falling.

"Why do they keep ruining everything every time?"

Kiev cursed under his breath. This was the last thing they needed. The only thing linking to the calamity now was its invocator, Gargi. If they lost her, they would lose the whole plan.

He immediately grabbed her wrist and shook her hard enough to force her attention away from the battlefield.

"Snap out of it, Gargi!" He barked.

The sudden movement startled her.

"We’re not done yet!"

Gargi flinched violently.

For a moment, her unfocused eyes regained a trace of clarity as she blinked and looked toward him.

Unfortunately, that brief distraction cost Kiev dearly.

His attention had shifted away from the battlefield for only a second. But that was enough.

Something entered the edge of his vision, a flash of white and pure instinct screamed at him.

Every muscle in his body reacted before conscious thought could catch up. He seized Gargi’s arm and threw himself backward, dragging her with him as he desperately tried to escape whatever had reached them.

He was fast, just not fast enough.

For a moment he failed to understand what had happened in that moment but then he saw it.

His severed arm spinning through the air, black blood sprayed across the rooftop in a violent arc before the limb crashed against the stone and rolled to a stop.

The realization struck a heartbeat later and pain exploded through his body.

A strangled gasp escaped him as he stumbled backward, clutching the ruined stump while dead mana surged instinctively through his body in an attempt to suppress the damage.

Gargi stared at the scene in shock.

Her eyes widened.

"Kiev!"

Before either of them could recover, another figure landed upon the rooftop.

The impact cracked the stone beneath his boots.

A cold gust swept across the rooftop.

The newcomer straightened slowly, his pink hair shifting lightly in the evening wind while faint traces of frost drifted from the blade resting in his hand. Thin layers of ice crept across the rooftop beneath his feet, spreading silently through the cracks in the stone.

His amber eyes glowed faintly as they settled upon the two dark mages.