Chapter 80: Eleven

It was a slow, arduous affair.

By the time they pulled the next patrol, they had a feel for how the fight would go, and Ralph was more wary of an Acolyte spawning. With surprise and uncertainty taken out of the equation, the fight went much more smoothly than the first encounter.

Smoother didn’t mean without hardship or consequence.

They managed to kill all three and keep their heads, but this time, it was Volkar who’d taken a nasty blow to his forearm.

He tried to refuse the potion, but Ralph eventually wrangled him down and applied it.

As it turned out, Volkar wasn’t afraid of wasting a potion; he was afraid of the potion itself.

The young Giant dropped to the ground and rolled around, nearly sweeping their legs out from under them as he wept.

"Owie! Owie!"

Ralph fell to his knees and shoved a piece of jerky into Volkar’s mouth, then said:

"Quiet, you oaf."

After that, they took a two-minute break to properly assess their equipment.

’Twenty-three potions...’

All of which were bottom-of-the-barrel in effectiveness compared to other potions. A severe enough injury, or even a bone knocked out of alignment, could spell their doom.

’I also have four Spirit Stones on me.’

And the stimulants. Not that Peace needed them at the moment.

He was quite awake.

As for their equipment...

Ralph’s shield was on its last legs, and his breastplate was becoming a hazard in its own right — one more dent in the wrong place, and it might press into his chest or become impossible to remove.

Volkar’s and Maura’s axes were chipping, with Volkar’s nearly ready to shatter.

Yulis had about forty arrows left. The only problem was that his opportunities to fire would grow increasingly scarce.

A few more minutes passed, and their respite came to an end.

Whether they wanted to or not, they pulled another pack of three.

This time, two Acolytes spawned, with one appearing on their flank. Peace dealt with the one on their flank while Yulis handled the other, but the distraction once again allowed a Knight to land a blow on Ralph.

’Yikes...’

The blow caught his shoulder. His pauldron absorbed most of it, but it was clear he’d strained something.

After yet another short break, they pressed on.

Patrol after patrol fell. Most consisted of three, but a few had four.

Sadly, none of them dropped a Wisp or even a sword.

’RNG here sucks almost as bad as the game.’

At some point, they’d left the outskirts behind and ventured deep into the spawning zone. They’d even made it halfway through.

But by then, turning back was no longer an option.

The side corridors looped around and led straight back to the main corridor they were already in. None offered an escape.

And behind them...

The first patrols they had killed had begun to respawn.

Thankfully, there were only three patrols ahead of them.

However...

One was a group of six, another a group of five, and the last a regular group of three.

Considering how much trouble three had given them, to the point where a single misstep from Ralph could mean a party wipe, six seemed like a death sentence.

But this death sentence would have to be appealed in the court of combat.

Taking a longer break than before, they began to strategize. Eventually, they settled on the best plan they could come up with: take out the three, then the five, and bypass the six once it moved out of their way.

’Simple, easy, and surely nothing would or could go wrong!’

Getting into position, Yulis aligned himself with the wall and raised his bow.

’I mean, we’ve taken out twelve thus far.’

Standing behind him, Peace waited for the patrol of three to appear.

"They’ve entered."

Yulis began counting with small motions of his head, reaching nine.

Peace kept a focused eye on the patrol after confirming that no Acolytes were approaching from behind.

Finally, the patrol reached the end of the corridor, and Peace muttered:

"Shoot."

Yulis released the arrow, and Peace watched as it cut through the air toward the patrol...

Only to barely miss the head of the first one.

This wasn’t the first time Yulis had missed; he was firing into complete darkness, after all.

But...

Peace watched as another wandering patrol at the far end suddenly jerked to a halt.

The arrow had hit one of them in the thigh.

’Ah, fuck me.’

Swallowing hard, Peace said:

"Uh, guys... he hit the six."

Ralph spun, staring Peace in the eyes.

"What?"

"He hit... the six."

Ralph’s eyes widened as he pinned the elven archer with his glare.

"Yulis, you little shit!"

Yulis held up an open palm and waved it frantically, then pointed at Peace.

"Huh?! I can’t see anything! It was his fault!"

Ralph turned back to Peace.

"Pariah, you little shit!"

Watching the charging Temple Knights, Peace rasped:

"Dumbass, get back into position."

Ralph grumbled, but did as Peace said.

"Yer in for something after this, Pariah."

Peace himself took a deep breath.

’Phew... six is a lot, but manageable.’

Besides, Peace and Yulis had rarely joined the fighting thus far, but they were most definitely going to this time.

’Alright, let’s dance fre—! Oh...’

Just as the six were crossing the final few meters, they ran face-first into the patrol of five, knocking them clean on their asses.

’This shit again?’

Noticing Peace’s expression shift from determination to despair, Yulis asked:

"Something wrong?"

"Uh..." Peace watched as the five clambered to their feet, then joined the charge toward them. "Eleven..."

"What?"

"There’s eleven charging us now."

Yulis’s expression flattened as he lowered his bow.

"Excuse me...? Does now look like the time for joking?"

Peace’s paling expression and desperate eyes were the only response he gave to that.

"..."

"Oh shit. Guys... I don’t think he’s joking."

Before Ralph or Yulis could say anything more, Peace’s worst fears came to fruition. The spearhead of the eleven rushed into the torchlight, revealing their wretched forms in all their harrowing glory.

With a scream, Ralph activated Audacious Challenge:

"Bastards! Rubbish! Trash! Come at me!"

’Why does he always act opposite of what he shows?!’

But that was a question to contemplate at a different time...

All eleven heads tilted, their owners descending upon Ralph, who looked increasingly small before them.

The only silver lining was that they couldn’t all fight at once. Only the front four could actually attack; however, unlike the Skeleton Warriors, those at the back weren’t stupid enough to strike their own comrades.

Either way...

The four at the front slammed their swords down almost simultaneously at Ralph.

Unlike before, when he could absorb the blow and prepare a counter, Ralph had to dodge.

He jumped back until he was side-by-side with Volkar.

Peace took a half-step back of his own, then ordered Volkar:

"Stay behind him!"

Like regimented soldiers, the Temple Knights reset their stances and took a synchronized step forward, preparing to repeat their previous attack.

Ralph had to jump back again, and the rest of them did too.

’Tch...’

They couldn’t keep hopping away forever.

’How the hell do we turn the tables?’

Peace glanced to his side.

"Yulis, kill them."

"What...?"

"Kill them."

"I—"

"Just do it!"

Peace turned around, checking for Acolytes. There were none, so they were safe on that front. They also had a fair distance between themselves and the patrols’ spawning points, leaving them some room to retreat.

As for what Peace wanted Yulis to do...

Well, Peace didn’t know. But it was all he could think of.

He was giving him the same vague order Ralph had given him. An illusion of confidence that Yulis could actually kill one.

Not that Peace’s confidence in Yulis was entirely an illusion. He truly thought the kid could find a way to do it.

’Kill just one to get the ball rolling.’

Looking forward, Peace said:

"Maura, Volkar, stay on the defensive for a little longer."

At his words, Volkar pulled back the axe he was about to swing and nodded at Peace.

’Come on...’

At his side, Yulis’s bright blue eyes darted from left to right, searching for a weakness to exploit.

Then... he raised his bow and nocked an arrow, taking aim.

Peace felt it again. That strange rush of... something in the air — the activation of a Resonance.

Three seconds later, a faint whizzing sound came from the vibrating bowstring.

In the blink of an eye, one of the Temple Knights began to wobble, an arrow protruding from the slit in its visor.

’Yes!’

Although, the thing was still very much alive.

Glancing to his side, Peace saw four arrows gathered in Yulis’s hand. In rapid succession, the young archer fired them, each finding the same narrow slit as the first.

Yulis frowned as he watched the Temple Knight stagger and fall into its comrades.

"I’m sorry..."

It was incapacitated, but still alive. Clearly, it was blinded, stumbling into the wall and its fellow Temple Knights.

Peace smiled as he watched Ralph finally manage to stand his ground, throwing out a conservative blow of his own.

Peace cheered:

"You did great... now do it again!"