417 Cost of Victory (1/2)
”Ha! At least, you are still better off than the rest of us, old fools. Our strengths have already declined to the mid-high ranks, while you are still at the Peak-rank Battle Master Realm!”
While the Venerable Shamans were getting frustrated over not being dealing enough damage, Chief Baskara recovered to his feet and shouted, ”The Undead Battle Kings are only moving due to the Liches' power and will! We don't need to destroy it! We just need to exhaust its power with our Soul Weapons, and it will become inanimate once more!”
”Easier said than done, Boya! This thing hits you once, and it's all over for you!” A Venerable Shaman said while dodging a claw attack from the single-armed Undead Battle King.
Due to it also missing a leg, the single-armed Battle King lost its balance and fell to the ground.
”F*ck it up!” Another Venerable Shaman roared, taking the opportunity dish in a few slashes on the single-armed Battle King's back.
Two more joined the fray before a Venerable Shaman with a pickaxe as his Soul Weapon warned, ”Watch out for the other one!”
Swoosh!
The other Undead Battle King swiped one of three Venerable Shamans with its claws. Thanks to the prior warning, everyone managed to evade the attack in time.
However, one of them barely dodged the attack with a Limbo-style retreat, bending backward in an arc while the Undead Battle King's nails lightly grazed his wrinkly left cheeks.
”Woo, that was a close one! It almost got me!” The Venerable Shaman exclaimed excitedly in retreat. Dancing on the thin line between life and death in battle was exhilarating!
Kacha!
However, the Venerable Shaman's expression suddenly stiffened after a sharp electrifying pain shot up his back!
”Aiyo! I pulled my back! I'm too old for this sh*t!” The person collapsed to the down cursed in pain.
The other Venerable Shamans had a change in exchange as one of them shouted, ”Quickly get back!”
”I got him!”
Chief Baskara's figure flashed next to the Venerable Shaman with the strained back and quickly dragged the elder to safety before one of the Undead Battle King could get to him.
The sudden movements sent another jolt of pain through the elder's back as the Venerable Shaman cried, ”Woah--! Easy there, Baskara Boya! This Old Man can't take it!”
At the same time, an Undead Battle King's attack landed on the elder's original spot, shattering the ground apart with a deafening explosion!
Dirt and gravel flew into the air as the elder looked back and gulped as they drew further away from the area.
”Do you prefer to be a meat patty under that thing's hit? I can toss you back if that is what you want, Venerable Shaman.” Chief Baskara said.
”Chief, the Tier 4 Demon-slaying Arrows are loaded and ready for firing!” A warrior shouted at the top of his lungs from the wall.
”I got it! Artillery Team, be ready to fire on my signal!” Chief Baskara shouted back to the walls before saying, ”Venerable Shamans, please retreat first! I will lure them away!”
”Alright, be careful!”
The Venerable Shamans were all old. They were no longer capable of fighting drawn-out battles; thus, they quickly agreed.
After passing the Venerable Shaman with the strained back to them, Chief Baskara went ahead to grab the two Undead Battle Kings' attention.
Meanwhile, the two Liches continued to watch everything from afar. Nevertheless, their expressions were terrible to behold.
The turn of events has been far from desirable. Before their Undead Battle Kings could get close to the human settlement and play with the humans, they were already severely damaged by the human's deadly weapon of mass destruction.
”Darn it, these humans are not easy to deal with! Why is there such a huge disparity in their tribes?!”
”This human tribe is, after all, the one guarding the Death Passage. They would naturally not be weak if they can keep other demons at bay. We have lost big on this one. Even if we manage to harvest some more negative here, the amount is insignificant to the price paid in the process.”
”...Right. Losing two Undead Battle Kings is a big loss! We can repair their bodies, but their quality will not be the same... We should consider retreating.” The Lich said.
They were Greater Demons, but their personal battle prowess was not high. They were not the Battle Masters' opponents on their own.
”Retreating is good. If we don't pull them out now, there will be nothing left to pull out.” The other Lich agreed.
The Undead Battle Kings were already missing a few limbs, and their undead flesh was scorched black. One of them even have their bones exposed at the waist and looked like they could snap in half, but that is still far from the case.
However, just as the Liches were about to issue the command to their Undead Battle Kings, a human's voice could be heard roaring powerfully, ”Fire now!”
Twang! Twang!