Paul had to take a second look at the person in front of him because it wasn't the Leo he knew at the military base. It was the Leo he had seen a long time ago. He looked like the spitting image of the Blind hero who had fought in the war around thirty years ago, but that seemed impossible.
'How could he have gotten younger?'
At that moment, Paul had stopped his attacks trying to figure out whether or not, he was fighting against a friend or foe.
"Leo, it's you right? I don't know what happened, but maybe we can talk this out?" Paul said.
However, Leo wasn't listening to his words, instead he picked up his sword once again, and gripped the hilt even tighter than before. More than anything, right now he wanted to cut the special black rock.
"Continue!" Leo shouted.
Now, Paul was hesitant, just where were they? And what was going on, was it an ability? Someone playing tricks on him. It had to be! He couldn't think of anything else. It would also explain why he was seeing a younger version of Leo he had fought with in the past, rather than the old one that he had hired to work for his military base.
Plucking up the courage to fight against one of his own men, Paul picked up the black rocks and started his barrage once more.
The fight continued over all areas of the field, with neither side letting up. It wasn't clear who the winner would be. The soldiers were well equipped with beast gear armor, protecting their vitals, and the earth ability was good at defending and blocking against attacks.
Whatever was going to happen, Quinn was starting to worry that soon his side would tire, for they had fewer people and there was something else, a decision he had made beforehand that was making it harder for everyone to fight.
'Quinn, are you really planning to stick to what you said before?' Arthur thought, continuing to watch him fight. 'You are far more naive than I thought….' But Arthur wasn't upset, for a smile came on his face. 'You really are just like me, but you need to learn the truth.'
Over to his right, Quinn could see that Erin was beginning to tire out. She was sweating heavily and had been keeping up with his own pace. She had lasted longer than he thought. It looked like she was quick to adapt to her new body, but she had only just turned.
She wouldn't be at the level Quinn was at. A brief lapse in concentration for both of them and a beast axe came chopping down from the soldier. it was falling upon Erin's head. She tried to lift her hands, moving her sword to block the attack, but her hands felt like Led.
No matter how hard she tried, she had reached her limit and it looked like she would be hit. Then suddenly, a few sharp shooting pains were felt in her back and her hands started to move on their own, as if they were as light as a feather.
It raised and blocked the attack, and then her body moved on its own as well, spinning and kicking the soldier away.
"I know I didn't get your permission, but I hope you can forgive me this time," Fex said, giving a wink. Just like on the roof, Fex had attached his strings into Erin, controlling her like a puppet.
"Thank you…" She mumbled. It was quiet, but Fex could hear those words, making his inside feel a little warm.
"Let's do this!" He was now more energized then before.
Towards the back, some of the soldiers had broken their formation, and now they were heading for the annoyances in the back. The two girls Cia, and Layla. Often when they were fighting, just at the right time an arrow would come into their view blocking them from the perfect attack.
They wanted this to stop and now. Cia could see them coming towards them, but she no longer had any gadgets. She had used them all earlier. Right now she wished she had been turned into something else. Something that would have been able to help in the fight.
While Layla, she was too focused on trying to transform. If she was able to change into her second form, it would give her a chance. For her second evolution was better physically and good for close fighting.
But the panic had settled in, and she couldn't even absorb all of the emotions that were swirling around her.
Seeing there was nothing else to do, she tried to run, but her legs had been trapped. Surrounded by some type of earth. A rock was hurled towards her hand, hitting it causing her to drop her bow and now she was a sitting duck.
The soldier didn't hesitate. This was a battlefield. Creating a spear out of the ground, he thrusted it forward, aiming for her head.
Through no control of her own, an image appeared in Cia's head. One of Layla's head being impaled, and her dying. Seeing this, she had let out an almighty scream. One which was as loud as that at the castle.
It had stunned the man closest to the two of them, slowing down his attack.
"Nooo!" Quinn shouted. Hearing the scream, he had turned his head, and he could see the spear going towards Layla.
His shadow wouldn't be able to move fast enough to block the attack, so he did the only thing he could. Throwing a kick and putting his Qi in, letting out a blood crescent kick.
It didn't take long to reach the soldier, and the man had been sliced completely in half. His spear disintegrated and his two halves fell to the floor.
A few seconds later, Arthur appeared by the girls' side, hitting each of the other soldiers next to them, knocking them all out with a small hit.
The loud scream had startled most and had stopped the battlefield slightly. When looking at Quinn his face didn't look like he was happy, he had just saved a friend. Instead, it was one of sadness.
"This is another lesson for you, Quinn." Arthur said. "You have to remember, at the end of the day this is a battlefield. In a fight, the enemy is doing everything they can to kill you. If you didn't kill him, he would have killed your friends. Even in the past, when humans thought against humans, it was exactly the same. This is the most important lesson I wanted to give you."
Arthur knew Quinn had a soft heart, but he didn't know how to change it. No normal person would have sacrificed so much to save one person. This was why he knew what Quinn was like when he tried to save Fex.
He was struggling to think of a way to help change him, but then the next time they saw him, Arthur saw that he had slightly changed. It had only been a few days, but his character and confidence, it looked like he had become what he needed to become.
However, it all changed again before the fight. For Quinn had made a request to him and his friends, to try not to kill any of the humans, to try to subdue them all. It was the reason why many of them were struggling in the fight and were tiring far quicker.
Due to the scream, the battlefield had gotten quiet, and Paul had heard what Arthur had said, he started to look around and noticed it was true. Apart from those soldiers that had been killed by the strange creatures All the ones that had fought with these thirteen, they had been damaged badly but not killed.
On top of that, the man who hadn't fought until now, he had dealt with his elite soldiers so easily. It made Paul realize that if he was going to continue to push this fight further, then it might prove to be a greater loss. He was fighting a losing battle.
The black rocks fell to the ground, and Leo looked at Paul.
"Everyone halt!" Paul shouted. "We surrender."
[Quest complete]
[Rewards received]
[….]
[…]
Multiple notifications had gone off in Quinn's head for completing the quest and it also included all of those that he defeated. Right now though, he wanted to know if all his friends were okay, and they needed to round up their captors.
The soldiers immediately listened to Paul's words. Dropping their weapons to the ground and canceling their abilities.. it looked like both sides were thankful the fighting had stopped even though it had happened so suddenly.
Next, it was Fex's turn. Using the special rope, he was able to tie up the captives, and as for the remaining Wendigos. Well, Arthur had dealt with them in his own way. Trapping them in some type of strange shadow for them never to be seen again.
"Okay, let's head back to the king's castle," Quinn said with a smile.
At the same time, the king had heard of the news, how they had successfully managed to capture the humans, including the leader, with no casualties on their side apart from the wendigos. Quinn had done a better job than he thought.
If he could, he would have thrown a celebration for their success, but unfortunately moments before, he had received dreaded news from one of his royal knights. News that needed to be discussed immediately by everyone.
*****
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