The sacred fire at the entryway is still going, and while facing this enemy Champion, I take comfort in the fact that surely, no one else but the Champion could so easily cross the fire. At the very least, no one else had tried to cross it yet. In this courtyard, only the enemy Champion, myself, and the infantry with me is present. Even though my [Insight] tells me that his Level is a little higher than mine, our side should still hold the advantage in the current situation. Even with the lost of a number of our archers, if I just take this Champion out, then we should still be able to win this battle.

As I am about to order the troops standing by me to charge, letting them take the vanguard while I provide support, as I do in every other battles I've participated in so far, the Champion released a powerful shout. At first I have no idea what it was about, but after realizing that for some reason I just can't take my eyes off him, I quickly arrive to the realization of the situation. I should have noticed it sooner, his weapon, his skill setup, and his incredible offensive power. In a large scale battle such as this, it would not be an exaggeration to say that this Champion now possess the absolute advantage.

Without even waiting on my command, my troops go on ahead and charge at the Champion all on their own.

"Stop! Stop, I say!"

But they aren't listening. In fact, I doubt they could properly hear me. Without much of a choice, I cast [Greater Protection] upon my troops and [Bind Circle] on the enemy Champion. With the champion's movements sealed, my troops eagerly move in for the kill, but before the three seconds are even up, the Champion manages to shrug off the [Bind] status, and before anyone was able to put a dent in his armor, with but a single swing of the Champion's greatsword, my troops were easily cleaved in half. I was very much afraid that this would be the case.

Most likely, the Champion before me is a Warrior subclassing a Knight. The shout he released just now was likely [Warcry], a skill from the Knight's skilltree that increases the [Hate] of all enemies caught in its range. It is normally a skill used by Knights to draw enemy attention away from the rest of their party. However, this skill becomes much, much deadlier when combined with the Warrior's passive skill, [Gladiator], which increases the Warrior's offensive power according to the amount of [Hate] the enemy in the area has for him. With the addition of the Knight's skill [Force of Will], which reduces the effectiveness of enemy crowd control, and the specializing of two-handed swords, the most damaging of the Warrior's weapons of choice, this particular build is made to be as unstoppable as possible while being able to kill as many enemies in the shortest amount of time. There are many names for this build, but those around me like to call it, the Berserker Knight.

In Elysium Online, this build is useful for dungeon runs and for bosses that utilize minions, but most of all, it is the deadliest during guild wars, when entire guilds would battle it out on a large zone. With such an ability in this world, where better to utilize the raw power of this build than on a battlefield such as this, where the eyes of hundreds and thousands of soldiers can easily be drawn to you at once. At least in Elysium Online, there's a limit on how many characters can appear in a single zone, but here, graphical and computing limitation aren't an issue.

With each of his swing, a number of Hp bars would disappear instantly in my mind's eye, and all I could do was try to protect them in vain. The damage output is far too insane and the soldier's [Hate] is far too high for them to not attack. In the game, since players have control over their characters, even if they are forced to target a specific enemy, there's always choice to not attack. But here, [Hate] seems to literally mean just that, hate, and the soldiers affected by [Warcry] are likely made to feel that this Champion is an existence that must be taken out no matter the cost. The only thing fortunate about this situation is that I myself am not as affected, and though I simply can't take my eyes of this Champion, I do not feel an emotion strong enough to be called hate. In fact, if there's anything I'm feeling right now, it'll be fear.

In hardly any time at all, the courtyards had been painted red with bisected corpses strew about. The few soldiers that remained survived only because their [Hate] had been replaced by [Fear].

"You there!"

"M-m-me?"

"Find whoever's in command right now and have everyone retreat back to the third wall."

"B-but, why?"

"Just do as I say!"

With that, I send the frightened soldier closest to me off. He didn't seem to understand why I would want fewer men around, but I had no time to explain.

The enemy Champion, likely sensing that I am up to something, disengages from the soldier he was dealing with and immediately chases after the one that I had just sent.

"Peter!"

Of course, I'll be damned if I'm just going to let him do as he pleases. With Peter's [Sonic Charge], I momentarily stun the Champion, and though he is able to recover almost immediately, I quickly use [Bind Circle], preventing him from moving long enough for the soldier to escape.

Though I am not able see his face through his helmet, I can somewhat tell that the Champion is pissed off. After all, no one likes to be stun-locked. Immediately after the [Bind] wears off, he makes a beeline for me, his sword raised high and eager to cut me down. The remaining soldiers, in spite of their fears, throw themselves in his way to try and keep him away, but the Champion easily mows them down like weed and they soldiers were hardly able to do anything to slow the Champion down, not even enough to buy me time to draw any significant amount of distance. In hardly any time at all, I end up being caught in his range and the Champion did not hesitate to go for a swing, as if he knew all too well that I have no offensive capabilities, and with both [Sonic Charge] and [Bind Circle] on cooldown, there was nothing I can do to stop him.

I close my eyes, preparing for the cold embrace of death. I knew this moment was to come sooner or later. The moment I found out this world is on its last legs, I knew that this kingdom could never hold out for long and that I, as the summoned hero, would be the first on the chopping board.

If I were to be reincarnated after I die in yet another world, this time I would like all the god-tier powers I could ever use and be surrounded by cute girls who all like me for some inexplicable reason. That would be good. Actually, that would be the least of what I should receive for all the trouble I was put though here.

"[Bind Circle]!"

As soon as I heard that voice I open my eyes again, and before me I see the Champion frozen in his tracks, his mobility sealed, and as he stand there, frozen, right behind him, a figure suddenly appears. The figure is Merida, and the skill she's using is [Assassination], which teleports the user right behind the target to deliver a deathly blow.

Merida's blade cut into the Champion's back, and as soon as the blade makes contact, azure flames spark to life, [Holy Weapon] is still active, as Michaela has been refreshing the buff without me needing to do anything, which is rather convenient, the few convenient things that I have gained in this world. The sacred fire melts right through the dark armor, allowing Merida to cut right into the Champion's flesh.

The Champion cried horrendously upon being struck, and as soon as the [Bind] wears off on him, he quickly pulls away from us.

"I apologize, my strike appears to be far too shallow. I was hoping to at least cripple him with that blow."

"No need, Merida, we saved Sir Aurelius, that's the most important."

Running to my side is the princess, who quickly checks me for injuries and asks me if it hurts anywhere.

"I'm fine for the most part, but more importantly, why are you here? You should be behind the third wall."

"I heard, but I can't just leave you to fight on your own. I am the one who had you summoned into this world, and so I am responsible for you."

While I'm glad for her concern, I don't think it's wise for a princess of a kingdom to be on the battlefield herself. From what I've heard, the rest of her siblings have all passed away and her father is ill with sorrow. Rather soon perhaps, she will have to be the one to bear the burden of the crown. Still, I can't deny that she had saved me, and with another person casting crowd control spells, we should easily be able to stun-lock the enemy Champion to death.

I turn my gaze back towards the enemy Champion and clearly he seems to be hurt. He might be Level 200, but he's still flesh and blood it would seem, just like I am. Just one more, just one more blow and we'll be able to finish him.

Then, before I realize it, my surroundings became lit with crimson light and the temperature dramatically rises. From above us, a [Metoer] hurls right towards us. I hadn't noticed it, I was far too focused on dealing with the Champion, and by the time I saw it coming it was already too late. I cast [Mana Wall], but I knew all too well that this spell is not going to be enough to fully absorb all of the damage from the [Meteor]. If I wish to survive it, I need at least [Frost Ward] also. Sadly, there was no time for me to cast two spell, and of the two, I chose the one that would buy us time. From behind me, I can already hear Merida dragging the princess away. Unfortunately, since we only noticed the [Meteor] after it got so close, I'm afraid she won't have time to come back for me.

As the [Mana Wall] starts cracking, I too begin to accept my fate. I was quite lucky to have survived this long, but I guess it just wasn't quite enough. I suppose this is farewell. Goodbye, you ridiculously broken world, I hope you get patch out in tim-

"Peter?"

All of a sudden, I feel my chest being hit by a powerful force, knocking me back and probably stunning me too. In front of me I see Peter, gazing at me with his brave unwavering eyes, as if he's telling me that it's going to be all alright, just before the great ball of fire consumes him.

A shallow but wide crater formed where the [Meteor] landed. I lay by the edge of it, the heat scorching me but it won't kill. I had crawled away as soon as I could, and only once I was safely away did I look back.

"Peter... why?"

I didn't think being attacked by my own creature was possible, but Peter went ahead and did it, all to save me. I tried summoning him again, but of course, it didn't work. I could feel it, somehow, I could feel the option to summon him had just been grayed out.

"No... Peter..."

I rise back up to my feet and circle around the flaming crater, and there I see the Champion, his arms around the shoulder of another figure. With a staff in her hand and long black robes, I surmised that this person must be a Sorcerer. Atop her head, I see a "Level 200" on display. This must be the one, the one who casted the [Meteor].

With the Champion's arm around her shoulder, the Sorcerer attempts to retreat from the fortress, but of course, I'll have none of that. She killed Peter, and she will pay in blood. Targeting the two, I am to casr [Bind Circle] to stop them from escaping, but before I get to do so, a large round bellied [Demon] landed right in front of me, and in reflex, I cast the spell on it instead.

At that moment, I realize that the fire burning the outermost wall has already withered and so have the sacred fire by the entryway, and so now the [Demons] are invading en masse.

"Damn it!"

With the [Demons] breaking in, I there is nothing I can do but watch the object of my vengeance stumble away.

"Sir Aurelius, let us fall back to the others!"

"Forget it, I have enough forces here to deal with these bastards!"

"Sir Aurelius?"

The princess seems to be surprised at my tone, I don't blame her. I don't think I've ever spoken so harshly before in my life.

"Michaela!"

"As you wish, my liege."

With that, Michaela casts [Resurrection], raising those that had fallen just moments ago to fight one last time. I didn't want to use this, not so early on, since the corpses will rise only once more before turning into dust, I wanted to use it as a trump card instead of a desperate measure.

With the arisens holding the [Demons] at bay, the princess gained enough time to call for reinforcements from the third wall, and together, the combined forces of the living and arisens were able to push back the [Demon] horde. However, by the time the [Demons] have been routed, the Champion and the Sorcerer were already long gone.

***

End of Chapter 6