Chess Mage of Faerûn

Chapter 70 The Warrior's Fate

However, the difference in strength is undeniable. They were already holding their own by sheer numbers, and now they were down to one man. Despite their valiant and desperate fight, the enemy managed to find an opening after several rounds and stab another soldier, leaving him severely wounded.

This situation, which was gradually sliding towards failure, finally came to an end with the arrival of Ska.

Skar, having just finished off Gaisas, witnessed the murder of his subordinates on his way there, and his initial joy instantly turned into anger.

Just as the enemy wounded a soldier and was about to deliver a fatal blow, his greatsword was deflected by Skaar's furious strike.

"He's a tough opponent," Tao Gesi thought. "Even with the momentum from the surprise attack, he managed to deflect the greatsword with his longsword, which is no small feat."

Finally, a worthy opponent had arrived, and Tao Gesi became excited.

He swung his greatsword, but his upward slash was blocked by the opponent's longsword. Using the force of the blow, Ska leaped back and, upon landing, used the recoil to propel himself forward again, thrusting his sword toward Ska's throat with the momentum of a charge.

Quite clever, knowing how to use leverage to make up for the difference in strength, Tao Gesi thought to himself, but his hands were not slow. He deflected Ska's sword strike, causing it to brush past him, and then unleashed a sharp spinning slash.

Ska, who had lost his balance due to the opponent's parry, rolled on the spot, escaping the tragic fate of being cut in half at the waist. Wiping away his cold sweat, he shouted to the other soldiers, "Give me shields!"

Tao Gesi simply watched, not taking the opportunity to do anything to the enemy who was standing ready in front of him. He also wanted to see just how far the other side could go.

The Skaar who took the shield was a completely different person. His opponent's coordinated footwork and posture left him with very few openings to exploit, and Skaar displayed the composure and fundamental skills of a shield warrior to the fullest.
Even when one's strength is superior, the opponent's shield and unique shield-wielding techniques often render one's heavy blows ineffective.

However, the attacker had the upper hand. Although Taugs's attack was blocked by Ska, it forced him to make an effective counterattack and he could only defend passively.

Out of a soldier's pride, and because the outcome of the battle was already decided and wouldn't matter much, Ska gritted his teeth and persevered after his teammates retreated, like an anvil, letting the opponent temper and forge him.

Taugs, who gradually understood Ska's intentions, was not angry. Instead, he laughed. How enviable! But he sighed inwardly.

Taugs, who was growing to admire his opponent more and more, did not hold back. As Ska gradually adapted to his attacks, he also saw Ska's weakness.

He deliberately created an opening, swung his sword at Ska's shield again, but slowed down a moment when sheathing his sword.

Thinking that Taugs was exhausted and had a weakness in his attack, Ska decisively slashed at his opponent's arm. Unexpectedly, Taugs suddenly withdrew his sword to protect himself and slammed into his opponent's shield.

The force of his own body, combined with the kinetic energy from his full suit of armor, sent Ska staggering. A follow-up downward slash then knocked the shield out of Ska's hand.

With the central gate wide open, Ska, who had not yet found his footing, was powerless to defend against Taugs' next attack, and the Flame Fist soldiers who had been shocked by the turn of events were too late to come to his aid.

Seeing Ska's somewhat panicked expression, Taugs sighed inwardly, but he wouldn't hold back. Dying on the battlefield was a warrior's destiny, whether for Ska or for himself.

It's over. To die in a glorious battle is a kind of luck, and he even felt a little envious of his opponent.

However, he couldn't swing the sword in the end, because something fell from the sky... a butt? and knocked him to the ground.

The newcomer was none other than Zhang Yuan, who used his throwing skills to enter the battlefield!

After the Shadow Shaman turned the enemy mage into a cuckoo, someone with nothing better to do simply ordered the Tinker to fire missiles to finish off the enemy, while he, along with Tiny and the Shadow Shaman, charged forward to the battlefield, hoping to capitalize on the victory and gain some energy points.

They had only gone halfway when they saw Ska fighting one-on-one with a warrior who looked like the enemy leader. Zhang Yuan, who was under the protection of a small guard, watched with great interest as he walked. He was no longer the ignorant man he used to be, and he could still see some of the wonderful exchanges between the two sides in terms of moves and combat awareness.

However, he hadn't come all this way just to watch the show. He'd finally managed to cripple the enemy mage, only to have to painfully give the kill to Ska, which had left Zhang Yuan, the stingy fellow, quite unhappy. This was perfect timing; with the boss monster nearly defeated by Ska, he could go in and finish it off—wouldn't that be wonderful?

The person who was calculating so meticulously did not expect that the leader of a ragtag band of robbers could actually fight Ska to a standstill, or rather, had the upper hand.

However, since that's the case, he wasn't in a hurry to rush in and steal the kill. He would wait until Ska couldn't hold on any longer, then under the guise of helping, he would swarm in and finish him off, getting a cheap kill without looking bad.

Unexpectedly, the opposing leader made such a big mistake, and Ska, who seized the opportunity, was about to defeat his opponent, which made Zhang Yuan anxious.

And that's how the scene just now unfolded.

The guy who bumped into Taugs quickly got up and ran to his captain's side. He had just witnessed Ska's rapidly deteriorating situation in mid-air. While he was glad that he had saved his captain's life again, he decided that it would be safer to stick with his captain.

"Captain, you were too reckless. If I hadn't arrived in time, you would probably be in danger."

This guy immediately started boasting about his achievements, never mentioning his desire to steal kills.

Ska was truly an honest man; he thanked Zhang Yuan sincerely and insisted on continuing the fight.

“I won’t make that mistake again. I can handle him.”

I knew Ska was stubborn, but I didn't expect him to be this stubborn.

"I know, but this isn't just your battle, it's also Flame Fist's battle. Do you think we're not qualified to fight alongside you?"

As the saying goes, a gentleman can be deceived by his principles. This statement left Ska speechless. Given Ska's personality, he would never say anything like "you are not worthy".

Raising his longsword, he secretly directed Little and the Shadow Shaman, who were on their way, to a nearby hiding place to prepare for the rescue. Only then did he feel at ease standing side by side with Ska.

Taugs, who had been stunned by being sat on, recovered. Surprised by the way his opponent made his entrance, he assumed it was some kind of special spell, shook his head, planted his greatsword in the ground in front of him, and stared at Ska:

"What, you're too scared to continue? As a warrior, are you afraid of dying under swords?"

Provoked, Skamori wanted to step forward, but Zhang Yuan stopped him.

"Sir, may I ask how old you are?" someone asked.

Although it was strange, Tao Gesi answered truthfully: "Forty-five."

"Oh, so your age is about the same as mine and Ska's combined, so it's reasonable for the two of us to team up against you, right?" someone said matter-of-factly.

"I..." Tao Gesi was genuinely shocked. Even though he had led this bandit gang for more than three years and had seen all sorts of scoundrels, he had never encountered anyone so shameless.

Putting aside the fact that this guy in front of me looks to be at least in his twenties, and Ska probably isn't less than thirty, how come they're about the same age as me? What's even more infuriating is that, according to this logic, if I were seventy, wouldn't I need three people to team up against me?

However, he quickly came to terms with it, realizing that he was seeking a glorious death anyway, so what difference did it make whether his opponent was one or two?
He drew his sword and pointed it forward: "Alright, come on then."

(End of this chapter)