Chapter 198: Thirty Minutes Until the Climax (1/2)

”Wh-” The man holding Edward's corpse noticed a projectile approaching him very quickly. He could dodge it, but only by hair's width. ”What are you trying to do old man?” He looked at the archer that shot towards him. Fury, rage, disbelief. All could be seen in his eyes as he couldn't make heads or tails out of the situation.

”RELEASE HIM NOW!” Bard screamed at the top of his lungs sending his voice traveling all over the battlefield. Before the man could speak back to him, he noticed a presence behind him. Audun flew up as fast as he could and attacked as soon as he reached the man. His halberd bent due to the strength he put behind it. The axe part cut through the air releasing a whistling sound.

”Oooh careful careful.” The man disappeared from the attack's trajectory and appeared far away, still holding Edward's body. His complexion looked pale due to the blood loss of his missing arm, but he looked ready to fight.

”I told you to RELEASE HIM!” Bard then appeared, charging a lightning arrow. As he released the arrow, the unthinkable happened. The man used Edward's body to block the arrow and change its direction.

”YOU BASTARD!” Bard bellowed and rushed at the man. Audun came to get him from behind as well.

”Don't get so angry. If you want the body, you can have it.” He said as he threw Ed's body into the air. The two old men rushed to catch the body, but before they could, a flame approached it first and incinerated it. The two of them looked at it in shock while they slowly turned their heads towards the man. He had escaped, and they couldn't even recover Edward's body.

The man fled towards his army and mingled with the soldiers. He then continued until he reached their headquarters.

With no way to channel their anger anymore, Bard and Audun switched back to attacking the army. Their ferocious assault claimed the lives of hundreds of people every second. However, their QI consumption rivaled their killing speed. If they continued in this way, they would be killed easily once their QI is completely gone. Realizing this, Hayato switched his target and started approaching them.

”Return to the back of the army and rest. We'll still need you two later.” Hayato told them, but they seemed shocked at his nonchalance after his friend had just died.

”What are you talking about? We'll just perish here after our savior” Audun said with a somber face. Bard seemed to agree with him as he kept charging arrows and firing them.

”JUST LISTEN TO ME! We will need you two later, and you will return to the back. Don't let his hard work go in vain. And don't forget, this is a war to win, not to perish in.” The two of them didn't seem to listen, but Hayato didn't leave until the two of them had retreated. Hayato did the same thing with the rampaging Charlie, as he wanted to get revenge. But, he was much easier to convince compared to the previous two.

Similar cases happened all over the armies with Emilia, Ellie, Leon, Liz, and others. Their respective commanders got all of them to retreat and wait for further orders. They couldn't keep them in the front lines, as they would have been killed with such a frenzied mind.

As expected, with the disappearance of such strong figures, the front lines started losing people much faster. The commanders of the armies had to work the hardest. Many of them fought multiple Immortal Establishment cultivators at once. They had no hope of winning in such a case, so they didn't stay in the fight for long.