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Chapter 225 - Surrounded

Elmo wasn't sure what he was supposed to do other than to continue using his sleep spell, however, he didn't see that as a lasting strategy at this point. Not with so many controlled soldiers in front of them.

While he might be able to get all of them, he wasn't confident that he'd have enough time. The soldiers that they'd saved looked like they were near the end of their strength and the soldiers they were trying to fight off without hurting, seemed like they were able to move without any hint of fatigue.

Either they were more rested than the ones they'd already saved, somehow, or whoever was controlling them was forcing them to move as if they were fully rested. Which meant that it would be putting a greater strain on their bodies.

A very clear sign that whoever was controlling them had little to no regard for their health. That if they essentially worked themselves to death, the enchanter wouldn't care. Which said to Elmo that the enchanter didn't care at all about any of those they controlled.

Elmo didn't feel like he had enough time to check his MP to see how much he had to work with, in addition to his stamina, as that would take time for him to do a few calculations. Time that he knew he really didn't have.

Looking around him, as others were struggling, mostly to keep a helmet or other small piece of armor from being put on them, Elmo suddenly remembered about his spell 'Terror.' He wasn't sure if it would work or how effective it would be, but he had a feeling that his enchantments might essentially override the enchantment that was on the armor. He only had the fact that his sleep spell as evidence, but he remembered that his Terror spell cost half as much as the Sleep spell. Although, it didn't have a stated expiration of its effect like the Sleep spell, Elmo considered that the Terror spell would at least have the same effect of removing those who were under the control of the enchanter while reducing the burden on himself.

In the moments that it took him to make that decision, he felt his stomach twist inside him as five people that they'd been able to get out from being under the enchanter's control had been put under the enchantment again. The only sounds of actual fighting was coming from Kim, who was clearly resisting a little more strenuously than the others had been.

Likely because they saw those under the enchantment as friends rather than just another opponent, Elmo thought to himself.

Elmo didn't hold it against them, but he did recognize that it gave the enchanter an advantage. Given how Elmo saw that the enchanter didn't care about them in the first place.

Taking a deep breath, Elmo pushed all those thoughts out of his mind and forced himself to focus on the controlled soldiers. As they were the primary threat and what he should be focusing on. Not his thoughts about the enchanter who was still controlling them and everything associated with that.

"Terror," Elmo said, quieter than he wanted. He had a feeling that it was more because he wasn't certain about this decision, but unable to do anything else.

The man that Elmo had been focusing on snapped his head up, his eyes wide, looking around him frantically before taking off into the distance, running away from the battle. While Elmo had only expected that it would affect the individual that he'd used the spell on, he was surprised to see that it seemed to cause all the others who were under the enchanter's control to hesitate, for lack of a better term.

Elmo allowed himself a brief moment to sigh with relief that the spell worked. That it didn't seem to have any problems. Although, he wasn't sure what the pause from the others under the enchanter's control was about, but he wasn't going to complain. Especially since that moment of hesitation didn't last anyway. That those how had paused were already moving again. Though, this time Elmo had a feeling they were coming straight for him rather than whoever was closest to them.

"Terror," Elmo called out, starting to feel a little scared as well, even though he tried assuring himself that it only seemed like they were focusing solely on him.

When the spell took effect, that person took off just like the others, and also had the effect of making the others pause as well. Which this time allowed those that were trying to liberate their opponents from the enchantment to rally and free two of them, as well as loosen the breastplate of a few others.

Elmo threw out another terror spell, not sure if he was going to have other problems that he hadn't expected before, but not willing to just give up at this moment. He felt good that they were starting to make some headway, although he couldn't be sure if this was having a detrimental effect on those who were ending up being directly affected by his spell. He hoped they weren't, but it wasn't like he had time to ensure that was the case.

Then while he wanted to use another right away, he took a moment to charge his MP at the cost of a little bit of the stamina he'd been able to replenish with the little amount of sleep he'd been able to get before this whole mess started.

While he hadn't been confident that he would have been able to keep going, he worried that he should have done that anyway as it seemed suddenly like the enchanter had those under their control to rally and push back harder.

To the point that when Elmo cast the Terror spell again, it only affected the one he'd cast it on. That the others didn't seem to have any effect on the side like they had the previous three times.

Elmo felt like it was starting to get harder to breathe and the camp was closing in on him, with the tents as well. Yet, he did his best to not let his emotions keep him from getting dragged under. He did his best to focus on the next person and called out loudly, "Terror!"

He felt his mind clear a little at that, but it quickly got engulfed in being surrounded again. The soldiers that had been trying to get others under the enchantment seemed to have made Elmo their focus and Elmo couldn't help but worry that he was about to fall under their control himself as panic started to set in.

He'd even forgotten what he had been doing. All that he could think of was trying to escape. Maybe it was the fatigue, but he couldn't think very clearly. All he was able to do was try to figure out a way t escape the trap that he seemed to have fallen into.

When Kim appeared behind one of the soldiers, Elmo didn't even register it as one of the soldiers fell down, having been knocked out by Kim. All he could register at first was the fact that another soldier had appeared.

Elmo couldn't help but feel like he was getting close to hyperventilating as his breath started to come in short ragged bursts. Which in turn made him start to feel a little light headed.

However, when Kim helped clear those that were bearing down on Elmo, making quick work of the soldiers who seemed to have ignored all others and centered their attention on Elmo himself, to the point where they were pushing past those who were on his side in order to get to him, Elmo couldn't help but feel stunned as he fell to in knees, weak with relief. His mind was still feeling the effects of his panic, so he still hadn't registered that it was Kim who had saved him. All he could see was the fact that the fully armored soldier wasn't bearing down on him like the others.

Vaguely he was aware of someone kneeling at his side when a wave of comforting warmth suddenly flowed through him, helping settle his fraying nerves. A warmth that seemed to help him regain his senses, to where he recognized that Elin was the one kneeling next to him and Kim was the one who had temporarily stemmed the flow of the enemy soldiers that had broken through their front ranks.

"You okay?" Kim asked, not looking at Elmo, although he was confident the question was meant for him.

"I guess," he replied, unsure how steady his legs would be if he tried to stand at that particular moment.

"Remove the armor of those I knocked out and Elin can heal them after that," Kim said, already starting to move away. "Once you have that done, start doing what you had been doing that made them pause. That was very helpful."

Elmo couldn't find any words to say in response, so he only nodded. He took a deep breath and let it out before he started to do what Kim had instructed him to do. Mostly so he'd have something to do that would occupy his mind, even just a little.

Yet, he couldn't help but feel a little surprise to see that one of the men that Kim had knocked out had been the man that Jonas had saved earlier. The helmet on his head apparently not coving the back of his neck where Kim had hit him to knock him out.

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