CH413 Fortress Climax II
***
"Princess, heads upâhostiles incoming." Alex announced cheerfully over comms.
"And why, exactly, are you happy about that? Shouldnât you be concerned for my safety?" Eleanor replied dryly.
"Youâll keep her safe, right, Fen?" Alex asked through their bond.
Bark! (Of course!)
"Well, Fen said heâll protect you. I trust him." Alex said. "Besides, youâre not a damsel in distress, are you? Iâd gladly rush over... if you admit you are."
Eleanor rolled her eyes beneath her veil.
"Donât worry. I already have a big, strong knight right here whoâll defend me." She murmured, rubbing Fenâs head affectionately.
The fortress troopsâwho earlier had nearly evacuated their bowels at the hellhoundâs mere presenceâstared in shock. The same monstrous beast that made men faint with terror was now wagging its tail like a pampered house dog because its âmistressâ gave it head pats.
Their fear of Fen did not diminish.
Instead, their fear of Eleanor skyrocketed.
After all, anyone who could tame such a dread creature... was clearly a monster themselves.
Jokes aside, Eleanor found herself surprisingly calm on the battlefield. She understood why Alex joked with her; he didnât want her nerves shaken before the clash. But he neednât have worried.
Like the not-so-creative pet name he gave her, she was an Imperial Princess of House Ludevicus. She would disgrace herself if she trembled before a group of opponents of equal rankâwarriors or notâespecially with all the protective measures Alex had placed around her.
"Fen, should we try that?" Eleanor suddenly asked, eyes glinting as she saw the hostile force approaching.
Bark! (Yes!)
Mana began gathering in Fenâs maw as he prepared to unleash a breath attack. As the energy peaked, Eleanor placed her palm against his back, infusing her Solar mana into the flow.
Fire and light mana surged, flocking eagerly toward Fenâs mouth.
And just as Sub-commanders Franklin and Rodan arrived with their menâ
Fen fired.
[Sunfire Flame Blast]!
Initially, when the two Sub-commanders saw the wolf preparing an attack from afarâand having already deduced Fen was still at the Intermediate (Silver) rankâneither Rodan nor Franklin took him seriously.
But when Fen fired his attack, both menâs eyes widened in horror.
A massive cannon-like blast of Sunfireâfar beyond anything they expectedâroared toward them.
âWe canât defend that!â they realised instantly.
Instinct overrode pride. Both men leapt aside, barely escaping the blazing torrent by a hairâs breadth.
Their accompanying unit of twenty men, howeverâincluding five Silver and seven Bronze-ranked officersâwere not so fortunate.
The Sunfire blast annihilated everything in its path. Soldiers, armour, buildings, stone roadsâall melted into glowing slag.
Rodan and Franklin stared at Fen and Eleanor, their faces pale with shock and fear. Just as they braced for Fen to unleash another devastating attack, they noticed something:
Fen looked... weak.
He wobbled unsteadily, struggling even to keep Eleanor seated on his back.
Eleanorâs eyes widened in confusion. She quickly checked on him, already gathering mana to cast a rejuvenation spell.
âOf course. He fired beyond his limit.â
âHe must be weakened!â
"Charge before he recovers!" the two Sub-commanders realised simultaneously.
They dashed toward Eleanor and Fen at full speed.
Rodan unleashed a sharp sword-energy attack, forcing Eleanor to abandon her spell and instead raise a radiant protective barrier before the strike landed.
At the same time, Franklin completely abandoned his defence. He poured every drop of his energy into his sword, determined to kill Fen in a single, decisive blow.
He leapt high, blade raised overhead, ready to cleave down upon the direwolf-sized beast.
But just as he descended, he caught the expression on Fenâs faceâ
A cunning smirk.
The âweaknessâ vanished like an illusion.
A chill shot down Franklinâs spine.
Then he saw dark silhouettes rising atop the buildings behind Fen and Eleanor, each holding a strange contraption pointed directly at him.
The shadows fired.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
Bolt after bolt slammed into Franklinâand even Rodan behind himâblasting both men backward violently.
They took the hits full on.
Rodan had just released an attack and had no stance to defend.
Franklin, having deliberately forsaken all defence for his killing strike, was in an even more vulnerable state.
Still, the two men survivedâthanks only to their armour. However, they were far from fine.
Rodan was half-kneeling beside Franklin, who had been blasted backward into him after taking the brunt of the shots. Rodan had two bolts lodged deep in his torso, while Franklin had three embedded in his chest and abdomen.
Rodan instinctively reached for the bolts embedded in his own flesh, but the moment he tugged, he realised the nefarious projectiles were twisted inward. Pulling them out carelessly would only make the bleeding worseâperhaps fatally so.
Worse still, Franklinâs condition was spiralling rapidly.
He had been struck at the exact moment he was gathering his energy to its peak. That power now rampaged uncontrollably inside his body, tearing apart his meridians and organs on top of the trauma from the bolts.
He needed treatment immediatelyâfrom a priest, or at the very least a trained doctor.
But how could a predatory beast like Fen possibly allow that?
The cunning wolf took the brief moment of their incapacitation to gather another surge of fire-mana in his maw.
[Flame Blast]!
Fen unleashed another jet of roaring flames.
Rodan could only watch helplessly as the inferno engulfed both himself and Franklin.
"Arghhhhh!!!"
Their screams echoed across the battlefield as they burned alive.
The reason Fen chose to operate in his fire-type black wolf formârather than his preferred white frost formâwas directly tied to Eleanorâs affinity.
One rare, highly sought-after ability of exceptionally talented Healers like Eleanor was their capability to enhance energy-type abilities and spells simply by introducing their mana into the attack. However, this amplification only worked on spells or abilities that shared the same elemental nature as the healer.
Most healers never possessed this trait. They didnât need to. But for someone like Eleanor, it made for a powerful trump card.
Since she would remain mounted on Fen throughout the siege, Alex instructed Fen beforehand to assume his black fire-wolf formâmatching one half of Eleanorâs Solar (fire-light) elemental natureâallowing them to take advantage of these enhancements as needed.
One of the reasons the Fortress troops mistook Fen for a âhellhoundâ was precisely because of the blistering heat of his flamesâthe result of Eleanorâs subtle amplification.
But even that paled compared to the devastating Sunfire blast he had unleashed earlier against Rodan and Franklin.
"Finish them off," Eleanor ordered calmly.
The Fury crossbowmen took aim and fired, ending the two menâs misery with clean shots.
"Two Gold ranks, eliminated," Eleanor reported over comms.
She patted Fenâs back lightly, and together they moved swiftly toward another section of the battlefieldâseeking comrades in need of healing.
***