Read Novel Full Chapter 151: Finishing What We Started
Chapter 151: Finishing What We Started
As strong as Vale was compared to each individual villager, he didn’t possess near the required strength to survive a continuous onslaught.
So, after slicing and dicing three more, Vale reinforced his legs and ran up the side of a half-charred building that bordered Awilix’s Eclipse.
Soon after, his warriors followed suit, jumping on neighboring buildings’ roofs and throwing whatever they could at the villagers below.
A few had even commandeered Ophelia’s stem bows and were shooting back at the villagers, who all seemed terrified, but also fearless...
’Like they possessed the fear of death, but don’t care if they die...’
Vale didn’t entirely know how to describe the people before him, but they were anything but sane.
Vale stowed his sword away in the Nexus of Beginnings, dragging out his whip and beginning to unleash attacks into the crowd below.
Lash after lash bit into the humans.
None of his strikes were particularly lethal, but each blow he landed caused severe damage.
The injured would slow, then fall and either be trampled by their comrades or skewered by Vale’s Legion.
However, with each enemy felled... their bodies became literal stepping stones for the villagers to pile onto in their attempt to reach Vale.
Not to mention, villagers had flooded each house and were trying to bring it down entirely or collapse the roof.
Vale kicked a boy in the face who was holding onto the edge of the roof, sending him down a slope of human corpses.
’These people are mad!’
At the same time, pitchforks and other weapons began assaulting the roofs they stood on.
Out of the corner of his eye, Vale watched as a Warrior atop the neighboring building had their foot impaled from below. Then, before they could react properly, another and another.
The Warrior tried her best to avoid more blows by jumping away, but due to the pain or another factor, she slipped and fell into the midst of the mob below.
[Your Warrior, Twenty-Four, has been slain by Nascent Unawakened, Ezekiel Mehnora.]
That was the first of Vale’s forces to fall in this battle... but the humans had bought that singular kill at the cost of a hundred, possibly more.
Yet, it was clear that Vale’s death toll would exponentially rise as they were forced off buildings and onto even ground.
Vale shot a cursory glance at the black cube as the golden film around it grew brighter and brighter.
’I almost feel bad...’
Vale looked back down at the bloodied mob.
Each with a determined look as they climbed the corpse pile.
Out of the corner of his eye, Vale spotted a plume of smoke rising into the air. Regular smoke — not Mias.
At the sight, Vale screamed his command:
"Awilix!"
A moment later, the Eclipse wobbled and folded in on itself before being slowly sucked back into Awilix.
Where the black space cleared, a mass of bloodied, disembodied corpses littered the ground, and a crimson-soaked feline stood atop them.
Then, the Eclipse finished its transition, and Awilix was shrouded in a brilliant golden light.
At that moment...
Vale feared his own personnel.
He felt an oppressive feeling grip his soul, nearly on the level of Wrath...
’It’s probably recency bias giving me that idea... right?’
Vale snapped out of his daze and screamed in his home language:
"Awilix, cover! Everyone else, fall back."
A second later, the golden cat descended into a mob and began a rampage.
Vale’s Legion, one after another, slid down the corpses and began their full retreat toward the forest, Toy and Vale lagging behind the rest.
A few minutes later, after exhausting her temporary power and killing a hundred, Awilix followed and joined them at the forest’s edge.
The wounded villagers dared not give chase...
By the time fighting completely ceased, Vale had lost four warriors, three Warriors and one Archer, while nearly six hundred villagers died and ten of their most important buildings burned...
***
Two days passed, and thankfully, no new threat appeared. Ophelia was still unconscious and being taken away by Mias.
The oracle seemed truly uncaring about the villagers’ fate. And very few creatures had wandered into the dungeon, all being swiftly slaughtered by Mias.
Meanwhile, Vale had barely expended any Aether.
He’d been roaming outside for a week and felt like he could stay for at least another month, but it would be best not to push his luck. He was going to take a backseat role in the final battle.
Besides... it was clear he wouldn’t be needed in the coming battle.
The villagers were starved and dehydrated, a few even dying of thirst.
Their forces had been whittled down to about 1,750... and of that number, only about 300 were in any condition to fight.
Add that to the fact that Awilix could farm Aether for Eclipse off weaklings, and Vale believed she could kill a thousand on her own merit.
With all of this in mind, Vale went over the battle strategy and then sent his Legion off at the crack of dawn.
After a rowdy march, his Legion engaged from all three directions and began the brutal slaughter.
He stayed on the outskirts during the battle, trying to save as many of his warriors’ lives as he could while listening to the cries and screams of the villagers.
Though during the fight, he heard not one plea for their lives...
When all was said and done, Vale had lost a total of eleven Warriors and two Archers...
His enemies?
Well, they lost 2,957...
2,970 dead bodies lay throughout the village and the field of roses.
The stench of burning flesh and rotting corpses stung Vale’s nose...
The sight around him was horrendous, and his stomach churned slightly, yet he regretted nothing.
***
Vale walked through the ghost town, his warriors having been sent on the same mission of finding any rugs and tools that they could carry down during their climb or throw over without damage.
The Legion went through each home, stealing all the quilts and rugs, taking them to the canyon’s edge, and tossing the mass over alongside their fallen brethren.