Chapter 398 Similar But Different (3)
"Kuhak!"
"W-What in the hell?!"
"Hey, watch out!"
"Ridiculous!"
Looking at the scene before them, the chosen Legion Commanders from Braxtein's neighbouring Kingdoms couldn't help blinking their eyes in bewilderment. All of them were fighting an army of six thousand, but they still hadn't gotten the upper hand yet.
Regardless of where they came from, the soldiers were swept off their feet by the attacks that Basil's Legion delivered. No fatal harm was done; however, it would be insulting to say they weren't hurt in the slightest.
"That Formation… it is not formidable because it is a High-Grade one. It is formidable because the Golden Apple is in the centre of it," one of the Legion Commanders from Vallienda observed. "What a nightmare to have that person on the other side."
Out of the fifty Golems Basil had created, only twenty-five had been destroyed so far. They could rebuild themselves after five times being destroyed, which made it hard to really destroy them.
Being hard to destroy wasn't the only good thing about them; they, too, could cast Spells. The Spells the people had received from the Golems were actually not that dangerous, but they slowed the people down due to their magnitude.
"Hm… I am slightly disappointed that even our army also doesn't realize the way to end the fight," Iliana sighed in disappointment. "They are too focused on the frame rather than the picture. It is honestly embarrassing."
"It is training," Basil said. "There is no fault for them to test their luck on beating the Golems."
"I know you can bury them in the ground right now if you want. You are just playing around, aren't you?" Iliana retorted dryly.
"You can leave the Formation and go on a rampage in the centre of the battlefield if you also want to have fun," Basil suggested.
"I will pass on that offer. Being known as a battle maniac is better than being known as a mad woman."
"Didn't expect you to care about how people view you."
Busy as they were sending out dealing blows, the soldiers could still listen to the banter of the Pacifer couple. They couldn't help sweating coldly at the two as they wondered just how they could stay calm at the amount of Mana and Qi they burned every second.
As the chosen Mages, they took pride in their talents. They thought that their Mana Reservoirs were the biggest amongst their peers, but the couple, who were at the same level of Mastery as them, proved them wrong.
Thinking about how big the couple's Mana Reservoirs were, they didn't feel like they were worthy to be called talented anymore.
The Knights were also having the same thought. Thinking about how pure and thick Basil's Qi Core was to be able to contain such a ridiculous amount of Qi, they couldn't help feeling less confident.
They knew they were nothing but a bunch of Peak Stage Blue Core Knights; however, they knew that Basil wasn't an ordinary Middle Stage Violet Core Knight. They had encountered more than one of them and they were sure none of the Knights was as strong as Basil.
"Very well, everyone. I reckon that your Reservoirs have already been emptied for 80% at this point. To make things more interesting, let us see how well you fare against an overwhelming number of enemies with a little amount of Mana or Qi."
Basil's sudden statement made the people break into sweats. No matter how they thought about it, having 6,000 people fight 187,500 people was ludicrous; the sheer imbalance made them want to cry.
"Be brave, soldiers. Wars will not always be in your favour; there are times when you have to excel despite the odds," Basil encouraged. "You will not die, so why do you hesitate? Jump forward and beat your enemies unconscious."
His encouragement instantly took effect. "Oorah! For the pride of Braxtein!" the soldiers cried as they shot forward in Centuries. [1]
The Formation broke, but the Golems were still maintained. Basil had created them with a Spell, so he didn't have to supply them with a huge amount of Mana unless he wanted to rebuild them after being destroyed, which he wouldn't do anymore.
"You have bad humour, don't you?" Iliana commented. "You are just sending them to their deaths."
"A cornered rat bites the strongest—haven't you heard it?" Basil said calmly.
"Are you talking about us?" Iliana gestured at the twenty Legion Commanders from their neighbouring Kingdoms who were coming at them.
"No, Iliana. Our situation is more of rats cornering lions." Basil shook his head faintly. "I am talking about our soldiers and the lesson everyone will learn today."
Basil took out Caliburn and Durendal at the same time Iliana took out Sinister Piercer. Their aura and pressure instantly changed, baffling and also slightly scaring the Legion Commanders coming at them.
"Let us split them in half," Iliana exclaimed as she stormed off.
Basil stayed in his place and watched as three Legion Commanders, all Knights, stopped Iliana in her tracks. He then materialized his Magic Circles and drew his Qi when the seventeen people were fifteen metres away from him.
'Bloody hell! This pressure—it's a joke, isn't it?' the seventeen people couldn't help cursing inwardly. Still, none of them stopped despite their pounding hearts.
"Sir Basil, please enlighten me!"
Cyane was the first one to reach Basil. Arching Joyeuse widely and powerfully, he covered it in a blinding light at Basil, which Basil could negate disperse easily, much to his dismay, the moment it made contact with Caliburn.
Clank!
"Keuk!"
Although Cyane had already expected the outcome of their clash, he still couldn't help gritting his teeth in disappointment upon blocking Caliburn. He had swung Joyeuse with hands whereas Basil swung Caliburn with one hand, but he was still the one being overwhelmed.
Swish!
His heart had almost jumped out of his chest the moment the Mana Blade that Durendal produced whizzed past him. He had only felt the wind split, but he could already tell that it was wise to not block it.
"Gahak! What in the hell?!"
Three Legion Commanders had been taken down with one Mana Blade—Cyane could tell by the amount of the footsteps. He took that as a cue to take distance, so he kicked the ground and let Basil throw him away with his power.
In the first second, he praised himself for his wise choice, but he instantly cursed his luck in the next second. Basil appeared before him in the blink of an eye and then destroyed his sternum with Durendal's pommel.
"Recover quick and come at me with a new resolve. Wanting to beat me alone is not enough," Basil whispered.
As Cyane flew away, Basil turned his attention to the Legion Commander from Vallienda who was ready to strike him with his spear. Basil jumped into the air, flipped his body in the air and then struck the spear with both of his swords, slamming it into the ground.
Bam!
The spear carved a trench on the ground. Everything had happened so quickly that the Legion Commander wondered what had just happened.
Using the stunned state of the Legion Commander to his advantage, Basil immediately ran his swords on the spear's staff and brought them to cut said Commander's head. Widening his eyes in shock, the Commander shouted.
"Are you going to—"
He was visibly indignant as he thought Basil was seriously going to kill him, which was against the policy. He, in the end, however, couldn't convey his indignation well since Durendal's pommel knocked him out first.
Boom!
"Oh my! I didn't expect that much power from a Battle Mage—a woman nonetheless."
"Your vision is impaired, eh? I have knocked out two of you and you have only realized that you are not my match now?"
On the other side of the battlefield, the three Legion Commanders from the Baillocke Kingdom were shocked by Iliana's prowess and raw strength. They had thought they would have an easy fight with her, but she turned out to be a nightmare for them.
? "Now, now. Why do you have to be so cold?" the remaining Legion Commander remarked playfully as he blocked Iliana's spear to hide his nervousness.
Clank!
"Cold women—especially, those who spit venomous words—will have a hard time finding men, you know?"
Thrusting her spear, Iliana retorted, "The best man in the entire realm has taken me—I don't care about other men."
Boom!
"Kahak!"
The Legion Commander coughed out a mouthful of blood after failing to block Iliana's powerful thrust. His expression darkened along with his vision and he couldn't help exclaiming in shock and astonishment.
"You know how Meridians work too?!"
"My man taught me that," Iliana smirked.
Using her Mana, she had managed to temporarily stop the air supply to the Legion Commander's brain when she thrust her spear at his chest. He lost consciousness soon after, prompting her to turn her attention to the other Legion Commanders.
Much to her dismay, as soon as she turned around, there were already ten bodies lying lifelessly on the ground. They looked so peaceful that one might mistake them for people on a picnic.
"Seven left—I have to hurry!"
Uncaring to the people lying on the ground, Iliana dashed straight to the farthest Legion Commander from Basil. A moment before she reached him, however, she noticed from her peripheral vision that someone had just woken up from their peaceful sleep.
Stopping in her tracks, she widened her eyes when she found the person was already before her, sword ready to swing. She instantly assumed her defensive stance, but she was dumbfounded by the next thing the person said.
"Move; I don't have any business with Sir Basil's future wife."
"O-Oh… yeah. You may through," Iliana said in confusion mixed with amusement. "Thank you for getting my status right!"
"Please invite me to the wedding later."
Watching Cyane's back as he dashed towards Basil, Iliana couldn't help shaking her head faintly as she remarked, "Well, that took a weird turn."
Clank!
Smiling, in the next moment, she dashed toward the four Legion Commanders who were too intimidated to join Basil's fight with Cyane and the other three Legion Commanders.
Like the first three Legion Commanders she faced, the two of them thought it would be an easy fight. They paid the price for thinking naively soon; they were defeated in less than a minute.
As Iliana turned around to join Basil's fight, she was greeted by the scene that literally blinded her. The fight between the soldiers also stopped as they turned around to look at the light Basil and Cyane's Technique produced.
"[Path of Glory]!"
"[Dashing Triumph]!"
As their technique clashed, the people wondered about two things: if the fight was to be taken seriously and if everyone from Braxtein was abnormal.
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[1] A military unit that consists of 100 personnels.