The Kingmaker System

Chapter 728 - 727. Eldarf Team Dispatch (2)

Davian’s sword tore through another mutated shifter.

The creature’s body split apart beneath the violet aura coating the blade before crashing lifelessly into the mud. Around him, knights surged forward to take advantage of the opening while Rune’s ice continued spreading through the battlefield, freezing entire sections of the street and trapping the beasts beneath jagged layers of frost.

For the first time since arriving, the tide seemed to be turning.

Gargi saw it too.

Standing amidst the distant rooftops, she lowered her gaze toward the battlefield below. Rainwater dripped from the ends of her dark hair while the corners of her lips slowly curved upward.

Then the rain stopped.

Davian frowned instinctively.

The steady drumming that had accompanied the battle for hours suddenly vanished. Above them, the storm clouds were breaking apart, revealing fragments of the bright blue sky hidden behind them.

But something felt wrong, it was then that the strange smell reached him just a few moments after the scent of the rain had disappeared or rather taken over.

It wasn’t the scent of blood or rot, it reminded him of the sensation of being trapped several feet underground with the thick scent of death choking the air.

Rune noticed it as well.

The young Prince’s grip tightened around his sword as wisps of black mist began curling across the streets.

At first it seemed harmless, as it snaked around the legs of the horses like thin ribbons and slowly more followed, spilling through the battlefield like inking pouring into the water. It winded around the broken parts, shattered buildings and fallen corpses until the entire sections of the town disappeared behind the dark haze.

"What the hell is this?!" One of the knights gasped.

Rune frowned as his horse staggered back.

"Prince Rune." Davian called out in caution.

"I’m right behind you." Rune shouted back.

The knights nearest to them slowed uncertainly, just a few minutes ago they were gaining momentum but now it was suddenly disrupted.

Several horses began stamping nervously against the ground. A loud whinny erupted from somewhere behind them, then another and then another, slowly it seemed as if all the horses were growing impatient.

Davian turned sharply.

Every horse on the battlefield had become agitated.

The animals jerked violently against their reins. Foam dripped from their mouths while their eyes rolled back unnaturally.

"What the hell-"

A scream cut through the battlefield.

One of the horses reared onto its hind legs before crashing down upon the knight beneath it.

The sickening crack of bones echoed through the street.

Another horse lunged sideways and bit directly into a soldier’s shoulder.

Blood sprayed through the air and panic erupted instantly.

"Get away from them!"

"Move!"

"The horses have gone mad!"

Knights scattered in every direction as the animals kicked and trampled anything within reach. Some tore free from their handlers entirely while others charged blindly through the battlefield like rabid beasts.

The black mist continued thickening and Davian’s expression darkened as the realisation set in. Whoever was controlling the mutated shifters was now also controlling the horses.

Far above the battlefield, Gargi smiled.

The beasts under her command had never been limited to shifters alone.

Another scream echoed through the mist and then another.

Davian immediately started moving toward the sound only to stop abruptly.

Something rushed past him, too fast, making his instincts scream and forcing his sword to move before his thoughts caught up.

He felt his blade pierce through the flesh and bone and a howl followed. He felt a brief flicker of relief that it wasn’t a knight, but the visibility being a problem was making things worse.

He could barely see ten meters ahead anymore.

Beside him, Rune released a wave of freezing mana that instantly spread across the street. Frost consumed the ground around them in an effort to keep the mist away, but even then, visibility remained poor.

The darkness swallowed everything and that amplified the sounds around them. Rune and Davian could hear the sound of metal striking against metal, knights cursing and panicking, shifters howling, horses screaming. The wet sound of flesh being torn apart, the unmistakable sound of something soft and solid hitting the ground and somewhere within the black mist, something was hunting.

Rune felt every hair on his body stand upright.

Another scream erupted somewhere within the darkness close to Rune, it was followed by the unmistakable sound of claws tearing through flesh.

Rune quickly brought up his sword covered in frost as he heard a grunt and he leapt off of his horse which had also started to jump around but in his panic he couldn’t do anything fearing that what if it was a panicked knight and not a shifter.

Davian immediately lunged toward the sound, his sword sweeping through the mist in a broad arc. A mutated wolf-like shifter emerged from the darkness at the exact same moment aiming right for Rune.

The blade cleaved through its neck and black blood splashed across the ground.

The creature’s body crashed heavily against the cobblestones before skidding to a stop.

Davian did not relax as he too was now on his feet his senses heightened and instincts charged. Rune was at his back and the two surveyed the places in the limited visibility.

The black mist now hung so thickly across the battlefield that even the nearest buildings appeared like vague shadows.

A loud whinny suddenly echoed through the streets.

One of them charged blindly through the darkness, nearly trampling a pair of knights before crashing through the remains of a wooden market stall. Another kicked wildly at anything that approached it, foam dripping from its mouth while its eyes rolled back in madness.

The charging horses did provide one advantage. Their frantic movements stirred powerful gusts of wind that tore temporary gaps through the black mist, creating brief pockets of visibility which allowed Davian and Rune to know where they were and where the knights were.

"Get away from the horses!"

"Fall back!"

"Where do we fall back to?!"

The knights’ voices carried panic,the formation had completely collapsed.

The muscle over Davian’s jaw popped up as he clenched his teeth, Rune’s cool air mana seeped into his back.

"The formation is broken, if we don’t retreat now, we’ll face more casualties." Rune spoke.

Davian was thinking of the same thing and that was what making him feel even more frustrated but he kept his feelings under control. He looked around the dark mist and then inhaled and exhaled deeply regaining his composure.

"Cover for me, Your Highness." Davian said and Rune looked at him.

"What?"

Davian stepped ahead and shouted, "Men, listen!"

The knights were panicked out of their wits but the loud and clear sound of Davian made their eyes focus.

"It’s Prince Davian!"

"Prince Davian!"

"Knights retreat!" Davian shouted, "I’ll make a path for you to get out of this mist. You will have only some time so, grab the injured and run!"

The knights didn’t have any time to resist as they knew at this point of they didn’t run they were dead.

The knights got to their feet, some of the other held onto their injured comrades.

Davian recalled his training with Sol, the countless hours spent learning how to let his aura flow beyond the confines of his blade like a raging river than just the force of his sword.

He had been using this same technique to clear the way for his knights when they reached this place but now he had to use it in hopes that it would cut through this black mist and allow the knights to escape.

Davian focused on his core, the glowing violet ball of energy pulsed as he tapped into it and the surge of aura flooded through his body till his arms.

He opened his eyes and then swung his sword with such force that the shockwave made the ground tremble and just as Davian had assumed, the black mist was blown away.

Having now a route to escape the knights started rushing away. Rune frozen anything and everything that came in the vicinity of him and Davian.

It seemed like they would be able to figure out on how to deal with it but then another problem struck.

The ground beneath a fleeing knight suddenly liquefied.

The man barely had enough time to shout before he sank to his knees.

"What-?!"

The mud swallowed him further.

Panic spread across his face as he struggled desperately to pull himself free.

Nearby knights rushed toward him but the moment they reached him, stone walls erupted from the earth. Four massive slabs of rock surged upward simultaneously.

The trapped soldiers barely managed to raise their shields before the stone prison sealed shut around them.

A thunderous impact followed as they began hammering against the walls from within.

Davian cursed under his breath and swung his sword again sending the slashing of pure violet glowing aura which cracked the stone walls, freeing the knights.

But it didn’t work as more stone slabs materialised and more knights found themselves sinking into quicksands.

Rune’s expression darkened as he saw that and he slammed his hand against the ground.

Frost exploded outward and the spreading swamp froze almost immediately.

The trapped soldiers stumbled free before the frozen ground could crack beneath them.

But the effort cost him as his breathing grew heavier.

The battlefield was too large and the mist continued spreading and the shifters continued attacking.

The four mages who accompanied Gargi were greatly satisfied, two of them were the ones who created the black mist and the other two were the earth mages that were currently hiding in the black mist targetting the knights and the two Princes.

Another stone wall erupted from the ground and Davian immediately charged.

Violet aura exploded around his sword and the blade descended, shattering the prison apart.

Chunks of stone flew through the darkness while the trapped soldiers stumbled out coughing.

Before Davian could even lower his sword, a second wall erupted directly beneath him.

His instincts screamed.

He leapt backward just as jagged pillars of rock burst from the ground where he had been standing.

The stone spikes narrowly missed impaling him.

"Found one," a distant voice laughed somewhere within the mist.

Davian immediately turned toward the sound but he saw nothing, only the darkness.

A loud crash echoed elsewhere.

Another prison.

Another group of trapped knights.

The shifters hunted within the darkness while the earth mages isolated anyone unfortunate enough to become separated.

For the first time since arriving, Rune felt a genuine knot forming in his stomach.

If this continued much longer, they would lose control completely.

The battlefield was beginning to fracture apart piece by piece and they still hadn’t found the one controlling the shifters, or the dark mages.

Rune could feel it happening.

Everywhere he looked, the enemy was controlling the pace, terrain and visibility.

He felt as if he was in a game of chess, his existence reduced to being a mere chess piece who couldn’t move on his own. He could almost feel as if he was now a part of the chess strategies that Reina would often explain during the meetings.

The rain stopping was a sign that she wasn’t in Sestia anymore and they had to eliminate the calamities soon, but with the way things were, how could they?

Just then a howl pierced through the most, for a moment, Rune thought Davian had impaled another shifter but when he turned he saw Davian looking at him with a shocked expression. It wasn’t him.

The sound was cut short and a moment later another howl followed, then another.

Davian and Rune stood back to back as they surveyed the darkness that surrounded them. The howls came one after another from every direction. It was as if some beast had descended into the darkness and was actively killing the shifters.

The shifters were no longer the only predators moving through the darkness.

Somewhere within the mist, unseen figures had entered the battlefield and unlike the knights, they seemed perfectly comfortable hunting inside it.