Chapter 321 It Will Take More Than Killing Me To Kill Me
Diablo’s sword swept the battlefield, killing those who were unlucky enough to stand in his path.
Ishtar, Pazuzu, and Orion, were also busy dealing with the remaining survivors, but they were visibly having a harder time compared to the Death Knight, whose might had reached staggering levels.
“Have you found him?” Diablo asked Ishtar who had appeared beside him.
“No,” Ishtar replied. “I will check the North West. I’ll notify you right away once I find them.”
Without another word, the Nightstalker melded with the shadows. She, along with Diablo, were the most mobile among Lux’s named creatures, so it was mostly up to them to find the commanding general of the Ammarian Army in order to end his life.
The explosions were starting to fade away because most of the people within the vicinity were dead.
Out of the four hundred thousand people that had climbed up the mountains, only around thirty thousand were left, and all of them were scattered all over the place, looking for a safe place to hide.
Malcolm and Moriarty still had around five thousand soldiers with them, making them a sizable force.
These soldiers had created temporary trenches using magical spells, allowing them to survive the explosions that were happening around them.
When everything started to quiet down, Moriarty stood up from his hiding place and scanned the surroundings.
“Everyone, prepare to descend the mountain.” Moriarty ordered. “No matter what happens, pay close attention to your surroundings. Do not go near any of the corpses at all costs. We don’t want a repeat of what just happened.”
His voice wasn’t too loud, but it was loud enough for everyone to hear. No one was talking because they were hoping that the explosions around them would start to die down, so they were able to hear their General’s orders clearly.
“Form Ranks.” Moriarty raised his hand, making the soldiers take a battle formation with him at its center.
Time was crucial, and he knew that he needed to return to their Main Camp as soon as possible before their enemy could regroup and launch a counterattack while they were still in the mountains.
His worries were on point because one of Lux’s Skeletons raised a red flag at the top of the mountain, telling the Yelan Army that all was clear.
“The flag is raised, what now?” Watson asked Sherlock who was mounted on top of a mountain goat.
“Elementary, my Dear Watson,” Sherlock said as he loaded a metallic ball into his flintlock. “Raise our banner and order the men to go for the kill!”
Watson immediately hoisted the banner while riding on his own Mountain Goat.
“You heard the Man, I mean, Gnome!” Watson roared. “Everyone, charge! Avenge our brothers!”
“”Kill!””
——
Moriarty and Malcolm heard the war cries that sounded in the distance and knew that they didn’t have much time to spare.
“Everyone, hasten your pace!” Moriarty ordered. “We mustn’t let them catch us!”
With their general urging them to hurry, the soldiers started to increase their pace. They had already been jogging down the mountain path, but now, they were almost running.
Moriarty, along with his officers and elite protectors were mounted on War Horses.
Malcolm and his comrades had also summoned their Forest Wolves, and were moving at the right side of the General.
They had two mission goals. One was to defeat the Yelan Army, and the other was to protect Moriarty’s life. Due to the heavy security that guarded the General, Malcolm and his comrades were able to focus their attention to finding ways to weaken the Yelan Army.
However, they, including their target of protection, were currently in a precarious situation. In order to succeed in their mission, they prioritized escorting the General back to the Main Camp and ensuring that he wouldn’t be killed along the way.
Suddenly, a loud whistle spread in the surroundings, making all the soldiers at the front of the formation take a defensive stance.
A moment later, everyone felt a powerful presence approaching their position from the right side, making everyone face in that direction.
A Death Knight, mounted on a Nightmare, was charging in their direction. Flying beside him was a chubby knight, whose whole body was covered in armor.
“Protect the General!” Malcolm shouted as he, as well as his comrades, positioned themselves in front of Moriarty, with their weapons drawn.
“Archers and Mages, fire at will!” Moriarty ordered.
Immediately, a rain of arrows and spells headed towards the charging Death Knight, but the latter didn’t slow its advance. Instead, it even increased, making the glowing embers in Diablo’s eyes grow brightly.
“Shield Wall!” Pazuzu flew in front of Diablo and activated his strongest defensive ability.
Immediately a six-meter-tall, blue Tower Shield appeared in front of him, deflecting the arrows and absorbing the spells that were aimed in his direction.
Pazuzu knew that his shield wouldn’t hold for long, so he once again activated his other skill, Madlad Rush, and bulldozed his way forward.
“Block him!” Moriarty ordered. “Phalanx Formation!”
Following their General’s orders, the soldiers in front of their formation all raised their shields, and pointed the tip of their spears forward to intercept the Fortress Defender whose blue tower shield was filled with cracks.
A moment later, the blue tower shield shattered, revealing the charging juggernaut, who was now relying on his own Silver Shield, as well as its armor, to block the attacks aimed in his direction.
When Pazuzu was only a dozen of meters away from the soldiers of the Ammarian Kingdom, he roared and activated one of his skills with the intention of smashing the defenders that were blocking his way.
“Shield Bash!”
Just like a bowling ball hitting a set of bowling pins, everyone in front of the formation was blown away by Pazuzu’s last hurrah.
Less than ten seconds later, Pazuzu’s health got depleted due to the combined attacks that were aimed in his direction, and he turned into particles of light.
However, as soon as the particles of light disappeared, the image of a Death Knight took its place.
“Whirlwind Slash!”
Right after Diablo entered the gap that Pazuzu had created for him, the bodies of the soldiers around him were split in half, sending blood flying in every direction.
This gruesome scene made Malcolm, who was right in front of Moriarty, subconsciously shudder. At that moment, he knew that the moment the Death Knight reached their location, there was nothing that could stop it from killing Moriarty.
“Turn Undead!”
The Oracle, who was part of Malcolm’s army, pointed the golden staff with a skull on its tip towards the Death Knight who was swinging its weapon like the God of Death, reaping the lives of the soldiers as if he was just cutting grass.
When the spell hit Diablo, the Death Knight was momentarily pushed back, but the spell wasn’t enough to instantly kill it.
“What are you waiting for?!” the Oracle shouted. “Kill the Wandering Field Boss! Kill him now!”
The Oracle’s shout broke the soldiers around Diablo out of their daze, and they once again swarmed the Undead with their weapons drawn high.
“Futile,” Diablo replied as he swung his sword, killing dozens of men in a single swing. “It will take more than killing me to kill me.”
The health that he had lost after he was hit by the Turn Undead skill was instantly restored due to the Life Steal ability of his weapon, Blood Moon.
The Oracle clicked his tongue in annoyance when he saw that his spell didn’t work the way he wanted. This skill had a small chance of instantly killing a High-Ranking Undead as long as they were not Boss Monsters.
Although the Oracle had labeled Diablo as the Wandering Field Boss they were looking for, he still decided to give it a try, just in case a miracle happened.
Little did the Oracle know that this one spell of his could’ve ended Diablo’s life, had he been lucky enough to trigger the spell’s One-Hit-KO probability against the Undead.
If he had only used this skill two to three more times, perhaps the Death Knight would have died due to that small probability.
Sadly, he didn’t use it again, which allowed Diablo to break their formation and continue to advance towards the Great General, whose death would spell the end of Malcolm’s mission.
“Kill it,” Moriarty ordered his elite guards who were all of the Initiate Rank. “Make it quick.”
Immediately, a dozen soldiers wearing red capes on their backs charged at the Death Knight, who created a trail of blood behind him.
When the Initiates neared him, Diablo did the unthinkable, making Moriarty and Malcolm open their eyes wide.
The Death Knight jumped on its mount’s back in order to gain a foothold and used its Leap Attack, aiming towards Moriarty’s location.
“Hellfire Annihilation Slash!”
That was the last thing that Malcolm and his comrades heard before the flames of hell descended upon them, and burned their bodies into particles of light.