Chapter 808. The Fleeing Prince
Chapter 808. The Fleeing Prince
While Jack was stunned by the sight of Duke Alfredo in tattered clothes struggling to stand. A large object fell hard to the ground not far away, creating a heavy impact that caused a dust cloud at the point of impact.
As the dust cloud subsided, he saw the large object that fell was a pyramid made of light. Inside this pyramid was Garland, who was blasting his lightning at the pyramid walls that were imprisoning him.
"It's the Pyramid Prison spell!" Peniel explained. "It was similar to the Prism Prison spell that the duke used on the Grim Sand Drake, but much weaker. This spell similarly trapped a target within and allowed attacks from outside to hit the trapped target, but it didn't weaken the target though, and it can only trap a human-sized enemy."
Considering the Prism Prison was a mega spell, Jack didn't find it strange that the duke used a weaker spell against Garland. Garland won't allow the time needed for the duke to complete his mega spell.
However, though Garland was trapped, the duke was not in a good condition. He was having trouble even standing up. Jack hurriedly went over and gave him a Grace of Tranquility potion as well. After drinking the potion, the duke looked at Jack with a pleasant surprise. His wounds had all healed and he even received a boost. At this time, Garland had destroyed the duke's Pyramid Prison.
Garland was evidently stronger considering he was still largely fine while the duke was wounded a moment ago. But with the Grace of Tranquility potion's boost, the duke flew towards Garland again and delivered fierce attacks. Garland was startled by his opponent's sudden increase in power.
Jack didn't feel safe yet though, he turned to Arlcard who was now fighting alone against Claudius. Arlcard could only dodge, he was outclassed by his opponent who was ten levels higher.
Jack looked into his bag. Should he use this Ancient Blood Awakening Potion?
When he was hesitant, he received a message from John. "It's time!"
Everyone heard a horn sounding from the fort. The fort's gate soon started opening. Therribus' army watched with confusion as the heavy gates opened. Once it opened completely, a large number of troops rushed out.
'All right! We just have to endure a bit longer,' Jack thought. He decided to just use the Ancient Blood Awakening Potion. The potion was saved for an emergency. This was an emergency.
When he was about to head to where Arlcard was, he suddenly sensed danger. He quickly moved back when a lightning snake crashed on the ground where he was. The lightning snake exploded and the shockwave hit him and threw him away.
He fell a distance away with a paralyzed status. Jack had no doubt the lightning was from Garland. What he wondered was whether it was a stray attack or a deliberate one?
The paralyze was soon over since Jack had a high lightning resistance. But then, another two lightning attacks came again. Jack used Shooting Dash to dodge. He knew then that Garland was targeting him even when the lord commander was busy fighting the duke.
"He has a grudge against me or something?" Jack complained. Then he realized that he might have offended the guy a few times in the past. Now that Garland had seen Jack nearby, he probably couldn't help but throw Jack an attack when he had the chance.
Jack looked at Arlcard, the vampire was not in a good situation. But suddenly, a healing light fell on Arlcard. Laurent had appeared nearby. Jack was glad that the vampire in this world was not hurt by a holy healing spell, unlike in some other games systems.
With the army from the fort coming to provide support, Laurent must have been freed to come to help. With Laurent nearby, Arlcard should be able to last. Jack decided to just focus on Garland who had been targeting him. However, Peniel flew away to where Laurent was.
'Hey! Where are you going?' Jack asked Peniel.
'I think Laurent should have that spell. I will return soon,' Peniel replied.
Jack didn't have the chance to ask for more explanation because Garland's lightning had come again. Jack continued to dodge. Even with his acute mana sense, it was still very difficult to dodge these lightning attacks that practically came almost instantly. Jack could only jump around, fully focused on evasion.
While doing it, he suddenly heard a notification. His Beastmaster had reached level 50.
Therribus looked in bafflement as the force inside Fort Garadhor rushed out from the fort. The wall could still last one night, why did they come out? Had they given up because the reinforcement army was losing?
It didn't matter. Since the enemies had come out from their protective shell, it was time to strike. Therribus ordered a signal. Once it was relayed, the encirclement army started shrinking towards the fort, with a large portion headed to where the open gate was. It's time to end all this.
As they did, Duchess Isabelle suddenly took action. With a high-level AOE spell, she blasted a large portion of the encirclement army that was coming from the western side of the fort.
As soon as she did, Arther sprout his wings and dashed at her.
When the two clashed, everyone caught sight of a few soldiers with winged tools flying out from the western wall of the fort. They were carrying one person. A person that wore Prince Alonzo's royal armor.
"They are trying to get Prince Alonzo to escape!" Shouted one soldier who saw the scene.
Soon, Therribus caught wind of the news.
"Did anyone take a good look at that fleeing Prince Alonzo?" Therribus asked.
"No, your highness. We only saw someone wearing prince Alonzo's armor from a distance."
"It could be a ruse," An aide beside prince Therribus said.
"It might be real, we should focus on chasing him!" Another aide said.
Therribus pondered briefly, he then said, "Send a command to the encirclement army on the Western side to give chase!"
A command signal was soon relayed. Half of the encirclement army that was situated on the western side immediately gave chase to the flying figures using their steeds. Duchess Isabelle was still busy fighting Arther in the sky. All she could do was prevent Arther from giving chase, she couldn't do anything about the others.
"Fool! Without high-rarity winged tools, even an uncommon steed is faster," Therribus said. The army would catch up and then the officers with flying tools or spells would fly up and intercept the fleeing prince. It was just a matter of time. His little brother would have had a better chance if he had landed after escaping the encircling army and then used a steed.
Therribus sneered at his little brother's attempt. In the end, this brother of his was also someone who sacrificed his followers for his own safety. In that case, Therribus decided to just crush the rebels here to show them their mistake of supporting this nobody prince. He ordered the remainder of the encirclement army to help his main army destroy the reinforcement army. Perhaps once they saw that they had no chance to win then they would surrender.
When the troops from inside the fort came out led by commander Quintus, they and the reinforcement army managed to give Therribus' army some pressure. But not long after that, the encirclement army came. With prince Alonzo and the troops gone from the fort, there was no longer any need to keep the fort in lockdown. Half went to chase after Prince Alonzo while the rest come to finish off the reinforcement army. Facing a force much larger than theirs, the reinforcement army was starting to lose ground.
While the fighting continued to grow, the soldiers at the eastern-most side noticed something from the fort. Several people floated down the wall of the fort. These soldiers immediately called scouts with Zoom Vision ability.
"It's… It's Prince Alonzo!" A scout uttered.
"Prince Alonzo? Didn't he already escape to the west of here?" A soldier asked. However, all the scouts confirmed the same thing. These scouts quickly came to report to Therribus.
"Another prince Alonzo? So, the one before is truly a ruse?" Therribus' aide uttered.
At this time, another soldier came bearing different news, "Report, Your Highness. We just received a transmission from the troops that chased after Prince Alonzo to the west."
"What's in the transmission?" Therribus' aide asked.
"It… It says that the fleeing Prince Alonzo is a fake."
"What…?!" The aide yelled. He then turned to Prince Therribus, "Your Highness, what should we do."
Instead of answering his aide, Therribus turned to the scouts. "Are you sure this other one is Prince Alonzo?
"We saw his face, Your Highness. We are sure."
Therribus looked to the East. This other group used steeds to flee. They only used their flying spell to get down from the fortress' wall. A small squad from Therribus' army had taken the initiative to chase after them. They were going towards a forest far in the distance.
"The one that is running to the West must have been a distraction, this one running to the East is the real Prince Alonzo," Therribus said. He summoned his steed. "Let's go! We must give chase!"
"Your Highness. What about the enemy's reinforcement army?"
"Leave a portion just so that they can't bother us. Also, send a battalion into the fort to search around, just in case this is another distraction. The rest come with me!"
Leading almost half of his entire army, Therribus raced to the East chasing Prince Alonzo.