Chapter 112 - Puppet Knights
The mages behind the lord came forward and raised their hands in front of them. Their dark green cloak had patterns of diamonds in their chest, glowing as they casted a spell.
A sphere formed in front of their palms, a thick string appeared on the sphere and slowly draped on the dead Grass Palace Knights.
"Grass Palace Revival!"
"Elliot, you didn't take them away?" Ed gulped. "Why?"
"We were in a hurry, I forgot to keep them," Elliot replied.
The knights started to twitch, shaking like they were having seizures and suddenly stood.
"What in the–" Connor stopped abruptly, seeing the knights pick their weapons up. "What in the hell is happening?!"
"You think you can trick me?!" Lord Caezar roared. "Mages, make the knights kill them. I have had enough of those darned monsters messing up my dreams."
"Yes, my lord." The mages responded and slammed their palms together, the sphere was now separated into 10 small orbs that was stuck to their fingertips. The string that was once connected to the back of the knights also split, attacking themselves to the knights' armored limbs.
"They're controlling the knights," Hope gasped. They brandished their swords and braced for the attack.
"Everyone, don't panic too much, the mages do not have the same level as the knights, this would be easier," Lance said.
"That's what you thought," Lord Caezar let out a toothy grin as the mages brought out flasks from their pockets. On the flasks were a blue concoction that had slight glitters on them.
The mages gulped the potions down in one go, their bodies glowing with the same color as the potion. The light from the orbs in their fingertips also glowed brighter, the strings that attaches to the knights grew thicker.
"Now they have equal strength with them," Lord Caezar chuckled. He momentarily paused after seeing Elliot. "Change of plans. Don't kill that boy in a ripped dress. I have unfinished business with him."
"Yes, my lord," the mages responded and started their attacks.
The knights moved as quick and as agile as they were originally were. Their movements were precise yet powerful, like they were calculated thoroughly.
"I think they are even stronger than before," Ed said with gritted teeth. He was blocking an attack from the spear knight, his full strength even seemed to have trouble keeping up with the force.
Elliot attampted to attack the knight with his speed. He leaped and turned, slashing his sword but was blocked by the end of the spear. He tried turning once more and even Ed who was below him, continued his parade of attacks, but they failed. The spear knight had increased its speed that it could take the both of them at the same time.
"Target the mages first," Lance said. "They are only puppets by those mages. Once we defeated them, the knights will instantly lose its power source.
Connor fired a flaming arrow at the scissor knight's mage, but the knight blocked the attack with its body. Even when its body burnt by the intense flames of Connor's attack, the knight did not flinch or groan in pain.
This would only mean that they had already lost their lives. That it would be pointless that they would be careful with hurting them.
"It seemed like the mages would use the knights as their shield whenever an attack would be targeted to them," Connor reported. "Lance, what do we do?"
Elliot stepped forward and made his sword glow. "Enhanced Lotus Blast!"
Slashing his sword eight times, directing the petals to the mages, he failed. When he thursted the flower as the final blow, another knight came and blocked the attack.
"That was weird," Elliot tilted his head. "I tried to see if their mana would deplete every time we damage their puppets but it seemed like that's not all."
"What do you mean, Mr. Moon?" Hope asked. "I don't think I was able to follow you with this."
"He meant that these puppets have their limits too," Lance started. "To win a battle with an unknown enemy, you must test the waters first. Try to analyze where they are good at and how they do it."
"And in this case, I thought that we could drain their mana when we attack the puppets," Elliot explained. "Like a condition, a condition to keep their puppets alive, they have to plunge their mana.".
"But that's not the only case, right?" Connor said. "It also seemed like they have limits to how much damage they can deal with too."
"What?" Hope tilted his head again. "How?"
"The knight who took the attack from Connor was the same knight who Elliot shot," Lance said. "After the eight petals, it must've reached its limits, its body might break or something that the other knight had to step in and block the attack with its own body instead."
"Now I get it," Hope nodded in understanding. "What's the plan now, father?"
Lance grinned, brandishing his swords and slashing them to fire his crescent attacks.
"Let's hunt the mages," Lance said and dashed foward. "Everyone, keep dealing damage and fire your attacks. Let's see how long these mages can keep up with our damage per second."
"Enhances Lotus Blast!"
"Infernal Ring of Fire!"
"Eternal Chaos Strike!"
"Dragon's Rage! Dragon's Free Hit!"
…
As their attacks poured on the knights like rain, Lord Caezar saw his defeat right before his very eyes. He couldn't believe that his nephew would do something like this to him.
He opened a door that led outside and was instantly seen by two patrolling officers.
Lord Caezar cried as he face the guards, only for all his hopes to go down the drain after seeing a familiar black skirt. He looked above more and saw Midnight and Luck looking at him.
"It seemed like our juniors asked for help," Midnight chuckled. "The man rarely asks for help but now that he did swallow his pride and called me, be must needed the help right away."
"You're the angel I saw in Alorde," Lord Caezar cried. "My angel."
Midnight leaned in and morphed his face into a half deer that has long sharp teeth. Lord Caezar paled after seeing the beautiful man turn into something so horrid. He could only gulp as Midnight patted his shoulder.
"Good night, Lord Caezar," Luck said and waved his hands, leaving the pale and lifeless lord by the doorway.
Meanwhile, the group had been having trouble with how much the magic reserve the mages had. Lance was considering to abandon their hypothesis but after seeing that the knights had slowed down, he reconsidered it.
If the mages did not need MP to revive their friend, the beasts should've moved by a quicker pace since the start. Now that the knights had slowed down, the group had started to get the Seductors into the exit.
Elliot watched the prisoners exit one by one, missing the part that the knight had dashed towards him.
When he turned to see what presence was behind him was, a large scissors was going straight towards him.
"Elliot!"