Novel Full Chapter 230 - A Risky Move
"In that case, we certainly need to confirm this as soon as possible. If they can actually spread this corruption wherever they set up a base, we will be in a great deal of trouble." Evale replied after some thought, adding a bit later on.
"We should attack this horde, killing it will likely both weaken the undead's forces and allow us all to experience what a revenant's aura feels like. I don't know about most of you, but I have never faced a revenant, only having been taught what to expect when facing them." Everyone, except for Katania, quickly expressed that they had also never fought one, having only learned of the undead through books and from their mentors.
In most cases they would face hordes of weaker undead, actually coming face to face against a higher undead was highly unlikely as long as one didn't go out into the frontlines. Only Katania and Thesolis had actually gone to the frontlines, and hence they were certainly the ones with the most experience. Kydone was a pure adventurer, normally doing solo missions, while Evale and Evules normally just protected their lands.
Having encountered so many higher undead already was unheard of and should already be a good enough motivation to no longer threat this as a small treat. It certainly is no longer something that can be ignored as it had been until now. Rather it should be treated as a national disaster.
Seeing Katania not agreeing, Evale quickly asked if she had faced one before, and if she had any tips for their attack. To which Katania replied, "Yes, but it was long ago when I was only Tier 4. I was more there for supportive healing and hence I didn't really fight it, but its aura is certainly terrible. I don't remember much, as the aura both clouded my memory and I was still much weaker in magic."
"Yet I clearly remember that its aura had basically caused my spells to only stop the wounded from dying outright, it lost nearly all its healing effect. Even stopping bleeding had become hard, something that was normally really simple. I had to resort to cauterizing their wounds without mercy, causing many lasting wounds to the wounded. Something that would take most of them years to get fixed."
"However even with not trying to outright combat the aura, it robbed my energy extremely quickly. I was even very far from where the revenant actually was fighting. All the undead under it had also fought as if they were at least a Tier, and a couple of levels, higher than they actually were."
"I have to say, I feel we should rather keep falling back. Kydone's instincts are right, while we can certainly contend with the revenant itself. Handling so many undead, boosted by its aura and outnumbering us by a few hundred. While we might be able to win, the battle will likely be long and hard. Reinforcements will likely arrive before we can finish the fight." Katania finished off, hoping that Evale would head this warning.
For the most part, she had come to know Evale as kind and smart, but it was highly possible that she didn't realize the situation she was placing those around her in. It was a common trait of geniuses, such as her, who reached so high a Tier without much effort and at such a young age. With her brother not being far behind in talent, Katania felt that they certainly might think everyone was, or must certainly be, as strong as them.
Luckily this was not the case, Evale had often commanded soldiers of her hometown. She knew that she was an exceptionally strong combatant, especially considering her age. It was just that she had for a moment forgotten that while all those -but Eldrian- were Tier 6, two of them weren't really suited for combat, three if one considered group combat.
Even though Katania excelled against undead as a divine magic-user. If the aura was so strong then she might just be able to combat its effects, possibly even failing to completely nullify it. If that happened the three hundred undead will quickly become a massive problem for all the others. Even Evules would have a hard time not being surrounded and killed then, not to mention stopping the undead from reaching the others.
Evale fell silent for some time as she thought of this. She didn't want to run when the enemy was actually weaker than her, but she understood that she couldn't just consider the strongest enemy. While this would be true in many cases, that only held if they weren't too massively outnumbered by the weaker ones. Numbers could to a degree combat quality.
She certainly didn't want to place the others in unnecessary danger; if they can avoid a fight then they should, she realized. I have been a bit rash. After discovering that stealth wasn't really possible I had just thought of fighting through. That isn't right, I need to be more careful.
"Alright, I don't like it. But let's fall back. I feel like we are going to have to bring more soldiers with us. There is just too many undead for us to sneak past." Evale sighed as she said this, really not liking the idea of actually making this a war movement. Yet if what they speculated was true, then they had to move fast.
"What if I try and go past alone?" Kydone suddenly asked, she could hide almost perfectly in nearly any terrain. The problem, and why she only acted as a scout, was that she couldn't hide others too. She felt she should certainly be able to go into the depth of the forest and discover what was actually going on.
"That's too dangerous." Evale quickly denied, yet Kydone countered even faster.
"It isn't more dangerous than mounting a full attack. Give me a few days, maybe a week."
"But what will that even help?" Thesolis suddenly asked, catching Kydone off guard. "Unless you can find an array, or building and prove it to be the cause, you doing this won't lead to anything. The entire point is we need to analyze the corruption itself. To confirm our speculation we need to make it into the actually corrupted area and compare it to the aura of a revenant."
"What if I just bring some of it with me then?" Kydone asked without much thought.
"How would you even do that, it isn't really something you can just pick up and take with you. It is like air, how are you going to bring air to us?" Thesolis replied, understanding that Kydone didn't know much of magic. A large part of her skillset was actually abilities, gained from her bloodline as a demi-human. Hence she was in fact even more clueless than Evules, who at least understood enough to learn his skills normally.
"I can try to describe it..." Kydone stopped as she realized she didn't know enough of magic to actually do this.
"I have a different plan. It is quite risky though," Evale said as soon as Kydone stopped herself. "I really don't like the idea of letting the revenant go, and I really want to experience its aura. If we must launch a crusade into the forest, then I want to know what to expect."
"You can't!" Evules shouted, realizing her plan already.
"I am certain that I will be able to run if things go wrong. You know how fast I am." Evale replied with a light smile, yet it seemed like a farewell smile to Evules.
"That isn't the problem! What if you get cornered. No! It is too dangerous!" Evules roared in denial, his shout certain to attract nearby monsters. But he didn't care, he really didn't want Evale to go with her plan.
"Sorry Evules, but you aren't the leader. As the leader, I have to know what to expect, take everyone back to the fort. Quickly before anything comes in search of the sound. I will catch up as soon as I can." With that Evale disappeared into the forest before Evules could say anything else.
He cursed and wanted to rush after her, yet he knew doing so would actually hamper her plan. Cursing a few more times he quickly pulled Eldrian onto his back and shouted, "Right let's get out of here as quickly as possible!"
With that everyone set out at their best speed. Katania and Thesolis soon joining Eldrian on Evules back as he found them too slow. Sounds of explosions soon came from behind them, the now dimming sky becoming bright for a few moments every few seconds.
"Dammit! Why the hell is she being so reckless!" Evules shouted as he realized that she was using her strongest arrows to probably try and deal with the horde first. Yet doing so will certainly lead more undead to her. Evules grit his teeth, nearly smashing them in frustration as he kept running.
Those on his back were not having a pleasant experience. Branch after branch wacked them nearly every second. Evules didn't bother to try and find a cleaner route, simply relying on his body's toughness to break most branches in his way.
Eldrien felt he might even die and pulled out his shield, his health quickly having been halved from the branches in just a minute of shock, where he had done nothing other than trying to not fall off. Evules was certainly much faster than Cephaphyr.