C219 - Battlefield
Khan had to admit that he had underestimated the battlefield. He had been in messy battles between Istrone and Nitis, but he had never seen something so massive and chaotic.
The two armies had clashed in the area right in front of the castle, and Lieutenant Kintea's team had to join the main group since the situation didn't leave openings for ranged attacks. Almost two hundred Niqols and humans were fighting in a relatively small battlefield, creating a crowded and deadly environment that Khan didn't know how to approach.
Each path had a battle. Spells and attacks powered by mana flew everywhere and often traveled for a few meters before reaching a target. Khan even witnessed instances of friendly fire, which were inevitable considering how crowded the area was.
The rest of his group shared that hesitation. Their task was to remove troublesome targets, but they didn't know how to approach the battlefield. The weaker Niqols in the team had initially believed that their role would have made them safer than those in the frontlines. However, the reality of the situation soon became evident. That large battle had no safe areas..
Khan tried to inspect everything calmly, but the pressure he felt intensified with each second that he spent standing still. His eyes darted among the battlefield in a desperate attempt to find a safe path, but he only saw chaos in his vision.
Moreover, each area had his friends or acquaintances, and he often saw some of them falling under the enemy offensive. Death was the true ruler of the battlefield, and it could arrive randomly.
Khan eventually noticed a peculiar scene. A group of young Niqols had surrounded an adult alien who could withstand their blows due to the sheer thickness of his skin. It was clear that he was empowering his natural defenses with his mana, but that wasn't everything. The man was also relatively nimble and could use his fingers to tear a path among his enemies.
The young Niqols couldn't do anything in that situation. At times, their palms managed to land on their opponent, but those attacks didn't lead to any result. The man endured everything and used those openings to sever what his fingers could reach. He traced lines of blood in the air whenever he swung his hands.
That battle was relatively close to the edges of the battlefield. Khan only needed to cross a few Niqols entangled in other fights to reach that position. That would leave him among the mess, but he didn't care. Khan couldn't remain on the sidelines anymore. He preferred to be in danger rather than watch the aliens who had partied and fought with him dying while he didn't move a single step.
Khan shot ahead without warning his companions. The first battle on his path featured two young Niqols dodging each other's techniques, but one of them lost her head as soon as he crossed that position.
The second battle had three Niqols and a soldier. They appeared equally matched, but Khan planned to change that. One of the two enemy aliens seemed as strong as a second-level warrior, but the chaos of the battlefield didn't allow him to see the shadow approaching him from behind.
Khan prepared himself to slash the back of the man's knees, but the latter suddenly dodged to his right to jump away from the path of a fireball that was flying toward him. Khan ended up in the spell's trajectory during a slow phase of his sprint since he had started his attack, so he couldn't avoid the fast projectile.
The [Blood Shield] covered Khan's arms and torso as he used the instant before the impact to protect his head. The fireball hit his crossed forearms and filled him with a scorching sensation before flinging him away.
Khan flew until he hit an adult Niqols behind him. The latter didn't see him since she was busy dealing with another alien, and the impact disrupted her momentum, giving a chance to her opponent to inflict a deadly injury.
Khan's sleeves were on fire, but he tore the burning parts away as soon as he landed on the ground. Then, he rolled to his left and jumped to his feet before inspecting the scene. A woman was lying lifelessly on the uneven terrain. A puddle of pale-red blood expanded from her throat, and a slender male alien stood next to her.
The panic caused by the sudden situation made Khan raise his knife as soon as he saw the bloody dark sword wielded by the Niqols. His senses were deafening him. The mana in the area forced his mind to absorb countless pieces of information that only intensified his confusion and prevented him from realizing whether the swordsman was a foe.
The Niqols nodded before performing an abrupt dodge to his right that partially avoided the attack launched by a rebel behind him. Khan saw blood filling the air behind the alien's left shoulder. His ally had managed to avoid a deadly blow aimed at his neck.
Khan regained his concentration and prepared himself to help his ally, but his mind suddenly sensed a dangerous mass of mana approaching him from behind. He instinctively jumped to his left and saw an ethereal yellow spear crossing his previous position before ending at the center of his ally's chest.
The man had been too caught in his new opponent to notice the spell. His eyes widened when the attack pierced his chest and continued to fly forward, stabbing the raised right arm of the woman behind him.
Khan shot ahead and reached the woman in an instant. The latter had launched an attack to the ethereal spear to shatter it, so she could only jump back when she noticed the shadow approaching her at an insane speed. Yet, Khan leaped after her and lunged his weapon forward. Pale blood vessels started to appear on the Niqols' face, but the glowing knife managed to stab the upper part of her face before the technique could protect her.
Khan fell on the woman's corpse, but he promptly jumped back to avoid ending inside the battle in front of him. His ally and his opponent were lying lifelessly on puddles of pale-red blood. He didn't even have the time to understand their level, but that didn't matter anymore now that they were dead.
The scene tried to fill Khan's mind with thoughts, but the chaos of the battlefield suppressed them. His sensitivity to mana made him hear a concert played by the waves of energy flying around him.
Khan found it impossible to think among those deafening sensations. They almost made him unable to move due to the pressure that accompanied them. Still, his body acted as soon as one of them became too close to his position.
A Niqols had approached Khan when she saw that he was standing still among the battlefield. Her sharp fingers had descended as soon as she reached his position, but he stepped forward to avoid the attack.
The woman tried to wave her hands after Khan, but a foot suddenly landed on her nose and made her fly backward. Khan sprinted toward his opponent to finish her as soon as she landed on the ground. However, another ethereal spear flew in his direction and threatened to hit his chest.
Khan crouched and slid on the ground. He had reacted so quickly that the woman had ended up falling on him. The event interrupted his momentum and trapped him, but he quickly pushed his opponent away.
The woman began to roll at his side, but she immediately pointed her palm and knees on the ground to stop herself. Her back was facing Khan, but she didn't hesitate to wave her free hand blindly behind her.
Khan noticed the attack as soon as he tried to straighten his back. Sharp fingers were flying toward his face and forced him to bend to his left to dodge them. The woman's timing had been perfect, so her nails managed to dig two cuts that connected his right eye to his ear.
The woman tried to push herself toward Khan after her attack failed to inflict serious injuries, but the latter promptly grabbed her arm and pulled. Meanwhile, his right leg rose and prepared itself to discharge an attack as soon as the opponent arrived.
The Niqols covered her face with her free arm as soon as she saw Khan's foot flying toward her. That simple protection didn't prevent her vision from growing blurred, and her opponent didn't let her go either.
Khan pulled the woman and slammed his foot on her again. A cracking noise eventually reached his ears as her forearm broke and opened the path for a direct attack. The Niqols tried to free herself, but Khan's grip was firm, and his offensive relentless. He was basically sitting on the ground, so he couldn't muster much strength, but he compensated by kicking his opponent's face until it transformed into a gory mess.
Khan felt the instinct to lie down after letting go of the woman, but he felt utter fear when he inspected the battlefield from his position. He was sitting among attacks that flew through the air and Niqols struggling to kill each other. He would get stomped if he dared to remain there.
A familiar scene appeared in Khan's vision as soon as he stood up. He noticed his initial target behind two Niqols who were exchanging blows madly. The alien was still fighting against younger troops, but another friendly face had joined them. Doku was there, doing his best to take down the powerful opponent with his precise palm strikes.
Doku's attacks failed to do much, but he seemed able to slow down his opponent's offensive. Still, the latter continued to use his incredible defensive ability to injure the Niqols around him. It appeared that taking him down would require a steep price.
Khan wiped away the blood flowing from the cuts on the right side of his head before shooting ahead. His knife flashed as he jumped right in the middle of the two Niqols exchanging reckless blows, and his ally soon noticed that he was continuing to attack a headless corpse.
The Niqols with the enhanced skin managed to stab his fingers in a student's chest, but a shadow soon appeared in his vision. Khan came out from behind his injured companion and reached his target in an instant. His knife rose even faster and stabbed the lower part of the alien's mouth.
The knife pierced past the mouth and reached the brain. The Niqols continued to move and tried to close his arms on Khan's throat, but the latter pulled his weapon and opened his opponent's head in half.
It had taken a while and many deaths, but Khan had finally killed the target chosen when he was still outside that mess.
To be continued