Kureous

  Kimmel and Sarde were the first to attack, rushing at him from both sides with their Mythril weapons, but the General sent them both, the table, and chairs flying with a powerful full-body swing

  "You have potential, but you'll need more practice," He remarked nonchantly as his massive sword cshed with Batti's greataxe. "Oh, that's some nice mettle, but why does your heart waver?" He easily repelled him after three strikes and shifted his attention to Phildina, who wasted no time in resuming her initial attack with everyone but Arnaud following after her. He's clearly toying with us, I thought to myself while resisting the urge to shiver uncontrolbly. Lucia, who was standing next to me, seemed to be paralyzed in shock, so I called out to her,

  "Snap out of it, Lucia!"

  "Oh, I-I—"

  "I get it. I'm feeling it, too, but we need to find a way to support them." It was a kind of instinctual fear, a gut feeling. One wrong step will get me killed. This caution is what guided our approach so far, but we needed to be more aggressive, as passivity would only get us killed.

  "You brought your healer along? Interesting..." I froze. Just as soon as those words left his mouth, his sword came down with incredible force, sending a powerful shockwave her way. It was as if time stopped at that moment as I haplessly watched it race towards her at unimaginable speeds. Not even Phildina can save her now, I thought to myself, cursing my inadequacies and loathing my carelessness. I should've told her to withdraw the second I realized we would be facing someone so strong, but Arnaud, who had stayed back for reasons unknown quickly pced himself in front of her and took the full brunt of the attack.

  "Arnaud!" I screamed.

  "Kuh!" He vomited a shocking amount of blood and stumbled to one knee, saying, "I-I always knew this day would come. The souls of the comrades I killed... have finally..."

  "Don't speak!" Matilda said, hurriedly applying healing magic to him with her Aura staff. Thank you, Matilda, I thought to myself as I heaved a sigh of relief.

  "Oh, you actually managed to withstand that? For a Mage General at level 52, that's some good defense," He remarked as he parried Phildina's nce with his sword while blocking Batti's axe with his left hand. "I don't truly need to block your attacks with my sword, seeing as few of you can actually harm me." As he was talking, Geiter found an opening and charged at him with a hammer in hand. Hammers and Rapiers were one of the few weapons that could deal serious damage against Armored csses like Generals. We brought them along just in case, but he didn't seem to be bothered in the slightest.

  "Hraaah!" Geiter attacked with everything he had, but...

  "[Great Shield]" A faint golden shimmer enveloped him and nullified the attack completely. I was shocked beyond words. H-how could he use it on command like that? [Great Shield] was a skill exclusive to Generals that allowed them to completely nullify physical attacks, but its activation depended on chance and the Dex stat of the user. He shouldn't be able to use it on command like that. But then, I remembered Hertz's words and how he had developed his skill. Surely, he wasn't the only one, and if Hertz's development was incomplete...

  "Continue the attack, Geiter! He only has a limited number of uses!" I said to Geiter, who was starting to back away. I couldn't be completely sure, but he seemed shaken for the first time since the battle began, and his next action would prove this. Raising his sword, he tried to bisect Geiter down the middle, but Kathryn pushed him out of the way and elegantly parried his greatsword with her rapier.

  "What incredible strength," He muttered, as she had momentarily sent him off bance. Phildina would not miss her chance and swiftly delivered a series of thrusts, all critical hits, intended to whittle away at his HP and distract him from Kathryn, the real star of the show. She lunged towards him at incredible speed, going for his heart with deadly accuracy. However...

  "[Great Shield]" He nullified her attack, but Geiter, who had been waiting for another opportunity, swooped in as soon as the shield lifted and delivered a powerful blow to his side with the full force of the hammer.

  He stumbled back, and I took advantage of the opening my comrades created to quickly shoot a poisoned arrow into his eye. Sometimes, a negative status can turn the tide of a battle, especially against superior opponents, I thought to myself as I watched him pull the arrow out of his eye. No sooner had he done that than had Geiter delivered a second and third blow to the same dent with his hammer.

  The effects of the poison coupled with the serious damage he received from the hammer would've spelled the end for another Commander, but not this monster. He sent another shockwave, but this time, it was directed at me and noticeably slower than the first. I dodged it with ease and countered by taking out his other eye with a poisoned arrow. That one's for Arnaud, bastard! Now, he was blind and had taken a second dose of poison directly into his system, but he still seemed fine, which was quite scary in and of itself.

  "HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA!" He pulled the arrow out of his eye and started swinging around wildly while cackling like a madman. Geiter and Kathryn teamed up to deliver coordinated, effective attacks. Kathryn would thrust with her rapier through the slight gaps in his armor while Geiter would deliver more blows to the same dent. This was repeated several times over, making me wonder, How much HP does he have? till finally... he stumbled to his knees before falling face-first on the ground with a loud ctter.

  "Is he... dead?" I asked and after observing his still, unmoving body for a few minutes, we rolled it over and started removing his armor. It was a slow and careful process that started from his boots and ended when we removed his helmet, revealing an old man with silvery-gray hair, probably in his te sixties. Matilda checked his pulse and gave out the final verdict,

  "He's dead." Everyone, please forgive me for what I'm about to do. I walked up to his corpse, drew my sword, and decapitated him. I turned to Lucia as they all stared at me in shock and asked,

  "Lucia, please can you amplify my voice with your wind magic?"

  "S-sure."

  "Thanks." From there, it was a long and silent walk, past my party members, past the Company, to the most visible area of the courtyard. I cleared my throat and said in as loud a voice as possible, "Soldiers of Fort Zaraban, your Commander is dead!" I showed his head for all to see and dropped it so the ones below could get a better look. I'm incredibly kind, aren't I?

  A great panic ensued immediately after this announcement. Some soldiers fled while many more id down their arms. Of course, some fiercely loyal ones may try to resist, but we'd simply make an example out of them. In all of this, I felt like the war was slowly changing me for the worse, and it terrified me. I'll do whatever it takes, no matter how twisted to protect my family, I told myself over and over again as I returned to the Keep, remembering Arnaud and how powerless I was to do anything.