Chapter 118: Change Of Plans
( Rocky's POV )
Rocky noticed the loud noise coming from the tower entrance.
With all the bright attacks and strong shockwaves, it was hard to miss. But he couldn't let himself get too distracted as he had to mirror the God Ravan, which was his top priority.
"Quick revision boy, what was the second rule?" Ravan asked Rocky, as without missing a beat Rocky replied "Battlefield Awareness".
Grinning, Ravan threw him a thumbs up sign as he was happy with Rocky's response.
This was the first time that Ravan was interacting with Rocky and although he was only demonstrating and restricting his movements to a fighting style that Rocky could mirror, he also acknowledged the fact that Rocky was doing a good job keeping up with the pace he set for him.
9999999/10000000 warrior's would have failed to keep up with the pace War God Ravan set for them, however, Rocky was special.
Having spent a few minutes with him, Ravan began to feel as if choosing him as a champion wasn't all that bad of a choice either.
"Correct! And according to your current battlefield assessment, what do you think needs our most attention?" Ravan asked Rocky, who looked around for a bit before fixing his eyes towards the area where Karna and Cassius were fighting hordes of undead alone.
"Guildmaster Karna won't make it out alive without our help. I think he's the one who needs our help the most" Rocky said as Ravan smiled and gave him the double thumbs up sign.
"You're a quick learner…. That's a correct assessment! The one who needs our help the most right now is Karna" Ravan said, as he looked towards Karna and calculated a path through to him.
"Well Rocky, if you want to earn your name as the Champion Of Gemini, this is your chance.
Pope Cole is fighting to our left and the True Elites are not too far off either.
Holding the front lines will achieve nothing, this fight only ends when the Lich dies. However, breaking ranks now and pushing forward will be risky.
Do you have the charisma required to rally men to Karna's support?
Do you have what it takes to win this war for Earth?" Ravan asked in a teasing voice, as Rocky took his words as a challenge.
In Ravan's point of view, whoever made Earth's Defense strategy was clearly a fool as Earth's plan was seriously flawed when it came to ending the fight.
The victory or defeat of the undead army was solely dependent on the life and death of the commanding Lich, which was why according to Ravan, the main focus of Earth's forces once the Lich appeared should have been on taking him down.
In his infinite wisdom, Ravan could even recognise the Lich's weakness from a single glance.
The jewel on the top of his staff wasn't a normal necromantic accessory but his very own necromancy heart.
While neither Cassius nor anyone from Earth seemed to have recognised that the life of the Lich was not in his own body but inside the staff he carried, Ravan saw through it in one glance.
No matter how many times Cassius destroyed the Lich's body, the Lich was sure to regenerate and recover, however, should a single attack land on his staff, he could die forever.
Despite knowing this fact, Ravan said nothing to Rocky as he only smiled looking at Rocky rushing towards the area where Pope Cole was fighting.
"Pope Cole! Pope Cole!" Rocky shouted at the top of his lungs as he tried to catch the Pope's attention.
After mirroring Ravan's movements for so long, Rocky felt naturally attuned to what sort of movements he was supposed to make, as although he was no longer mirroring Ravan, he could continue slaughtering undead at the same pace.
"Pope Cole!" Rocky said, coming very close to him, as the Pope finally took notice of a desperate Rocky waving to him.
"My Lord?" Pope Cole asked in surprise as he saw a tired and winded Paladin Patrik chasing behind Rocky.
"Patrik! Why are you on the front lines, it's not safe here!" Pope Cole reprimanded his most trusted man, as he could not believe that Patrik brought Rocky to such a dangerous battlefield.
"It wasn't me Pope Cole, the Champion decided to take the lead from me. He is the unit leader now" Patrik Paladin confessed as Pope Cole felt frustrated by this development.
"How many times have i-"
Before the Pope could continue his sentence Rocky let out a sword slash that narrowly missed the Pope's hair to draw his attention towards him.
"Not now Pope Cole, the only question I have for you now is whether or not your trust in Gemini is absolute?" Rocky asked sincerely as Pope Cole was taken aback by this sudden question.
As the Pope looked into Rocky's eyes, he saw a burning passion that made his gut wrench.
The moment he saw that look, the Pope immediately understood that Rocky meant business as he knelt on the floor and said "My faith in Gemini is absolute, if the Champion demands it, I will give you my head now".
Pope Cole repeated the same words as Paladin Patrik before him, and this time Rocky knew exactly what to say.
Pointing towards him, Rocky spoke with the same passion and tone as Ravan taught him, as he said "Your life is too cheap for me Pope, what I want is your support".
The moment these words entered Pope Cole's ears, he felt a chill run down his spine as he immediately swore fealty to Rocky.
"My strength is yours to command-" Pope Cole said respectfully as Ravan clapped from a distance looking at this performance.
"Alright then, please be ready to charge at my signal" Rocky said, as he began cutting a new path forward towards the area where the True Elites Guild's main force was fighting.
***********
( Meanwhile Neatwit )
The moment Karna bit into the third sword and charged off on his own, Neatwit understood that he was now the acting guildmaster.
Usually, Karna was the only one involved in day to day guild operations as Neatwit rarely ever showed up to fulfill his duties.
Today however, Neatwit had to step in and fill Karna's shoes, and although he did a good job leading the guild, he simultaneously felt extremely suffocated on the inside.
If he had his way, he would have handed off the guild's responsibilities to someone else and rushed to join Karna in his battle against the Lich.
However, the guild needed him and he could not abandon his duties as the Vice Guildmaster when Karna was absent.
"Hey, Faizer fall back, you've pushed on too much.
Rex, cover him. That idiot will get himself killed.
Hey, Mohsin, if your sword is broken then throw it, pick a new one from the ground, there are plenty lying below" Neatwit screamed as he tried to coordinate the troops around him.
However, even though he was focused on leading the guild, his eyes darted towards what Karna was doing constantly, as the stuffy feeling in his chest kept growing larger and larger.
'Damn I wish I could help Karna, he looks completely surrounded by undead-' Neatwit thought, as he gulped a mouthful of saliva in his dry throat.
He wanted to go help Karna desperately, however, he lacked the courage to defy central orders and change attack strategy on his own.
'Ha- I am so useless…..' Neatwit thought, as he laughed a self-deprecating laugh, however, just as he was having these self doubts, a voice cut through the bustle of the battlefield and entered his ears.
" VICE GUILD MASTER NEATWIT….. VICE GUILDMASTER..." A kid seemed to be shouting, as looking behind, Neatwit was surprised to see Rocky approaching.