volume 2 - Chapter 119 (1/2)

Chapter 119 – The Final Battle (7)

The scouts quickly reported their information.

The holy grounds of Baern Shyrltaesi was comprised of the Elves’ G.o.ddess Temple and two outer courtyards with walls, and was in the center of the Elven ruins, with other buildings surrounding arranged like an axis around it.

The grand hall of the G.o.ddess Temple was where Hewjil had occupied previously. The back room led to an altar, while the front of hall’s entrance was a corridor that led to the rooms where the Elven Priests stayed at. It also had stairways leading to the top of the Temple.

Amandina chose this place the very moment she saw it.

The mercenaries pa.s.sed through the ruined walls of the buildings, accepting Amandina’s command to enter the temple. The courtyard within the temple was once filled with Silver Elves who came to pray to their G.o.ddess, but now that beautiful and tranquil place was in shambles. The elegant white tiles in the corridors were broken and stained with dirt, and the only thing left intact was the pillars.

The wind blew softly from time to time, pa.s.sing through the holes within the walls almost like whispers.

In this near silence, three of the Mercenaries of Lopes who set out early were the first to reach the place. They went up to the temple’s rooftop to deposit a hastily made flag made with a spear and grey cloth torn from Brendel’s robes, then went out to the second outer walls of the temple’s courtyards to observe the Lizardmen.

Two outer walls that surrounded the courtyard were built by the Silver Elves in order to make defensive lines for the Holy Temple and prevent intruders. Many centuries later, these walls suffered harsh rain and winds, and were nearly gone. There was almost no cover left to stand behind and defend the area properly, and the Lizardmen had not repaired the walls when they occupied it.

The Lizardmen did not do so because of two reasons. The first reason was simply because they did not have the ability to repair the walls because of its intricate designs. The walls were built to lure in enemies at certain junctions which allowed the Silver Elves to ambush them, and with Hewjil’s intelligence, he was never able to figure out how it was supposed to be done. The second reason was the Lizardmen had no need to do so because they had no enemies. In this forest, their worst enemies were themselves and wine, having a hundred deaths nearly every year because they killed each other.

The second batch of mercenaries set themselves up at another opening of the outer walls once they arrived.

‘The Lizardmen have pa.s.sed through the forest-‘

‘They are approaching the ruins.’

‘Their numbers are no less than a hundred.’

‘I spotted their commander.’

The mercenaries pa.s.sed information around through signs, before it went back to the Elementalists’ sisters who accompanied Amandina and informed her of the situation.

She lifted up her skirt as she crossed over the hall quickly, then climbed up the stairs to the rooftop where it was able to oversee the entire area of the temple.

The complex defense lines of the temple quickly became clear to her.

She looked down and compared the area to the map that was hurriedly drawn by Nalaethar. Her studies in the architecture knowledge was useful enough to recognize the important chokepoints, leading her to turn around and search the area.

She straightened the first flag vertically and placed it in the center.

As long as the flag was standing upright, it informed Nalaethar and the Nightsong Tiger that the backlines and defenses were not lost.

She then gave the orders to the Elementalist sisters, informing the Grey Wolves Mercenaries to defend the fourth chokepoint.

The Grey Wolves Mercenaries looked at each other with uncertainty, when they realized what the order was from a Mercenaries of Lopes’ member accompanying them.

Amandina’s location was quite prominent. If the Lizardmen broke through the chokepoints, they could easily enter the inner temple and climbed up the stairs to where Amandina was. Brendel had instructed them to protect her safety, but she had ordered them to move far away where she was.

“Miss Amandina?” One of the mercenaries yelled out in a loud voice.

“Follow my orders!” Her reply came back.

“But—“

Amandina flung her hand indignantly: “I’m your commander now. My orders are your utmost priorities, if there are any objections, you can bring it up to our lord after this is over!”

The mercenaries fell into silence.

Amandina suddenly spotted the Lizardmen rus.h.i.+ng out of the forest. Their formation was almost non-existent, moving out quickly across the ground for the sake of speed rather than safety. This meant that the leader of the Lizardmen had indeed deduced of their smaller numbers. She was definitely in a great disadvantage, because she only had a total of fifteen mercenaries under her

Even though the mercenaries were much more experienced than the Lizardmen, the latter outnumbered them many times.

[Delaying them is the best I can do.]

Amandina gripped the flag tightly subconsciously with gritted teeth.

============= Brendel’s POV =============

Brendel wiped the sweat of his head.

He had already lost count of how many times they escaped Ekman’s attacks by mere inches. He could hear his heart pounding loudly because of the constant tension. Scarlett’s rate of breathing was also beginning to increase, indicating that her stamina was going down.

“How long did you say…… that the warhorse can use charge again?” Scarlett asked with a panting voice.