Under the Oak Tree

376 Chapter 137

Holding his shield, which was almost as tall as him, with one hand, Riftan knocked down four undead at once before turning to slice diagonally with his sword. After that, Maxi found she could not follow his blade. His movements were so fluid that it was like watching a hummingbird flapping its wings, frightening and beautiful at the same time.

His armored legs moved nimbly over the snow as he cut down monster after monster. To his left, Ruth was blasting away the undead with wind magic.

"Ruth!" Riftan cried out. "The necromancer controlling them should be nearby! Trace his magic!" 

"I already am! But the flow of mana is too bloody expansive!"

Finally pulling herself together, Maxi looked around. The mages' quick actions had kept most of the wagons and horses safe.

A few soldiers lay bleeding in the snow. When Maxi saw skeletons pounce on them, she dropped to the ground and began circulating her mana. An earth wall shot ten kevettes(Approximately 3 meters.) into the air between the monsters and the wounded men. 

"Q-Quick! Bring the wounded inside the barrier!" 

At her urgent cry, the men who had retreated in fear hastened to drag the wounded nearer to the wagons. Riftan rushed toward the skeletons with extraordinary speed, smashing them to pieces.

"Stay inside the barrier!" he called out.

He had bought them enough time to gain some distance between the rear unit and the monsters.

Maxi obediently retreated behind the soldiers. She tore down the earthen barrier and expanded her shield. Incorporeal shields and corporeal barriers were different magics, and maintaining both simultaneously required immense concentration.

Once things had calmed somewhat, she stored away her remaining mana and scanned the battlefield. Soldiers bravely fought against the undead at the front while those in the center protected the horses and wagons. At the rear, spearmen fiercely fended off the skeletons advancing around them by the hundreds. They were completely surrounded. 

Biting her lip, Maxi desperately looked around and caught the three Wedonian mages hurling fireballs at the undead. It was futile; the monsters reassembled themselves after each attack, the scattered bone pieces snapping together like iron to a magnet. As Riftan had said, there was a necromancer nearby reviving the fallen monsters. 

Maxi's face turned grave, and she turned to seek out Ruth. The sorcerer stood on top of a supply wagon, firing wind arrows at any undead that managed to break through their line of defense. At the same time, he maintained a tracing spell and an extensive shield around the wagon. Executing two spells at once was difficult enough, so Maxi doubted he was casting all three effectively. 

Infusing her shield with mana to ensure it would stay in place for the time being, Maxi used her remaining magic to start a tracing spell. It was a tall order, trying to concentrate amid the clashing steel, clattering bones, whinnying horses, and the gruff bellows of the soldiers. 

Breaking out in a cold sweat, she poured all her attention into the spell to prevent the flow of mana from cutting off. And there it was - the magic binding the monsters. She traced the web-like flow of mana before quickly realizing something was wrong. 

The necromancer's magic was not coming from outside the camp. It was coming from within. 

Immediately, she retreated from the front where the fierce battle still raged, winding her way to the center of the formation. Though the area around the wagons was relatively safe because of the wide shield, trying to weave through the panicked soldiers proved difficult.

She gave the frantically brandished weapons a wide berth and surveyed the area. Soon, she located the source of the necromancy spell. 

The dark magic was flowing from a wagon at the edge of the camp. Maxi leaped onto it and threw the haphazardly stacked containers out of the compartment, searching the interior. A complicated rune covered the floor. 

How on earth did they manage to draw this here?

Maxi pushed the thought aside. Now was not the time for speculation. She placed her hands on the rune and infused mana into it, trying to dismantle its power.

Suddenly, a shadow loomed over her. Her head whipped up to see a bearded man - likely one of the supply guards – blocking the wagon entrance and looking straight at her. She opened her mouth to explain when the man raised his ax, readying to attack. His dead eyes contracted like a snake's before glowing red. 

Maxi flung herself aside as the heavy ax struck the wooden floor. Her back slick with sweat, she stuck close to the wagon's edge, her heart pounding wildly as she scrambled to summon her mana. 3 The soldier raised his ax again. Before he could attack, there was a sound akin to ripping leather, and a blade appeared through his chest. Maxi's eyes widened. The soldier stared down in confusion, then slowly turned his head. He never got to see his attacker. The swordpoint sliced down, cleaving through bone and flesh.

It was such a surreal sight that Maxi hardly felt anything, let alone horror. Dark blood gushed from the soldier's hacked body.

She stifled a gasp as the bearded man's face began melting away like wax, revealing a reptilian face covered in crimson scales.

The monster hunched over. Its scaly hands fumbled at its stomach, trying to stop the blood gushing from its torso. In a blink, the monster's head rolled to the floor. 

Maxi screamed as hot blood spurt from the monster's severed neck, soaking her face. Its hulking, armor-clad body slowly tipped forward before crashing down in front of her. 

Her chest heaving, Maxi looked up at her savior. Standing at the wagon's opening was a man in a black hood, beneath which was a visor engraved with a cross. 

It was obvious from his attire that he was not a soldier of Wedon or Balto. Maxi's expression became wary. Wondering if he was another enemy infiltrating their camp, she was about to summon a barrier when a low voice came from behind the blackened visor.

"Were you not trying to destroy the rune?" 

Maxi's eyes widened at the familiar voice.

The man lightly flicked his sword, shaking off the excess blood, and said curtly, "Please hurry." 

He turned his back to her. Maxi stared blankly at him, taking a moment to return to her senses. She placed her hands on the soiled floor. The monster's blood still felt hot.

Fighting the urge to hurl, she began infusing her mana into the rune. The disruption of the quick-flowing mana within the rune sent sparks flying all around her. Soon, with its circulation completely distorted, the scrawls covering the wagon floor faded. 

After confirming the rune was completely destroyed, Maxi heaved a tired sigh and rose from the pool of blood. 

The man guarding the wagon turned his head toward her. "That appears to have worked. They seem to be moving slower."

He raised his hand to his face. Maxi furrowed her brow as he lifted his visor. The man's green, gold-flecked eyes gazed back at her.

It was the commander of the Temple Knights, Kuahel Leon. 21 "W-What are you doing here?"

"My quest to track down the dark mages has brought me here," Kuahel replied dryly. He glanced at the dead monster on the floor. "It would seem I arrived just in time."

It dawned on her then that she owed him her life.

"Th-Thank you for helping me," she said hastily. "I would have met a terrible fate had you not arrived when you did."

"You need not thank me. In truth, I am becoming rather used to coming to your rescue," Kuahel said tersely as he lowered his visor again. 

Maxi looked surprised. Had the heartless knight just made a jest? She was staring up at him, stunned, when he nodded to something behind her. 

"You should retreat to safety until the battle is over."

With that, he beckoned to a nearby knight. After instructing him to keep an eye on the decapitated carcass, Kuahel strode to the front, where the fight was still raging.

Maxi silently watched him go before turning her gaze to the dead monster. The creature was markedly different from the lizardmen she had read about. Though similar in size to a human, its head was disproportionately larger than its body. It appeared more like a drake or a wyvern than a serpent, with a lumpy comb above its eyes, a mouth bristling with sharp teeth, and a long, pointy-scaled nose. The sight made her stomach turn. 

She looked away, wondering if the monster was a mutant created by the dark mages through their crossbreeding experiment. Her face hardened into a grave expression. It was still hard to believe that the monster had used such advanced magic as polymorph to fool them. 

A crippling fear wound through Maxi. More monsters could be hiding among the soldiers disguised as humans. She gazed about warily before scurrying back to the Wedonian camp.

Thankfully, the situation seemed to be under control. With their mana supply cut off, the undead had been helplessly crushed under the soldiers' attacks, and the ghouls surrounding Darund were almost all exterminated. After observing the battlefield from atop a hill, Maxi went to find Riftan.