153 Blood and Sand

I braced myself for the shockwave that rushed out at us from the explosion caused by the collision of two opposite elemental magic attacks.

As the wind pressure passed through us, a spray of heated water splashed over the skin of my face like I'd stepped into a hot spring.

A cloud of vapor covered the battlefield, obstructing everyone's view of the combatants. And yet, we could hear the sound of shadowblades clashing against each other within that cloud.

\"Oh, great fool, turn all truths into one of color that all their secrets I might uncover,\" I whispered.

Intense heat flared out of my eyes, but once this feeling passed the world that I could see had been drained of color, changed into shades of gray.

The people were glowing white outlines which is how insight viewed my allies. The hostile soldiers of the other two armies glowed a fierce red. These were the basic colors that came about when the Eagle's Eye was active.

I focused my sight on the swirl of gray cloud at the center of the battlefield, and within its depths, I found three figures bathed in an eerie golden light.

From what I understood of this new power Fool's Insight granted me, the ghostly golden glow symbolized a truth or fact I wanted to know about. In this case, I wanted to know how the fight was going on within the obstructive cloud.

Three figures danced a dance of death inside the cloud, their weapons clashing against each other over and over. It was no longer two against one but a free for all. Each one of them tried to take each other out while their visions were impaired.

I knew Chris Pint had a similar gift to mine and this was probably how he was accurately pinpointing his opponents' locations. However, the other two were able to keep up with him, managing to block his attacks while launching attacks of their own at each other. I was curious to know how they managed that.

One of the three glowing figures, the dude with the long stick, started glowing brighter and brighter to the point that his golden light had turned into a fierce red.

I translated that as trouble for me too, so I said, \"Brace yourselves!\"

With a mighty swing of his spear, Lord Rah swept away the steam cloud surrounding him, and the force of that swing spread out and reached even us, spectators, a short distance away.

Wind pressure past through us once more, and it was strong enough to cause my hair to get blown back.

After the wind had gone, I quickly deactivated Fool's Insight so that my vision would return back to normal. Luckily, the strain from using Eagle Eye hadn't come as I barely used it.

\"Geez, he's a monster that one,\" Luca noted.

\"Aren't they all?\" I asked wryly.

At the sight of their commanders on the ground, the red lights of soldiers from both armies began to stir.

I think they might have even charged at each other if it weren't for that third imposing presence who was still riding on his swifthart. Mounted, he clearly had the advantage over the other two were now on their feet.

\"Hey, hey, hey!\" Chris Pint called. \"Why're you two having fun without me?\"

He jumped off his swifthart so that he too could join them at ground level, but seeing him giveaway his advantage made me want to facepalm myself.

\"Why would you do that?\" I asked him, though as far as he was, I didn't expect an answer.

\"Our lord likes to have his fun,\" the red-headed she-elf answered.

The other two combatants looked over to him, both of them eyeing him warily.

Chris Pint thrust one of his swords onto the ground and used his free hand to pull out another vial from his belt pockets.

I couldn't see the contents of the vial from where I was but I did notice the red vapor the came out of its opening after Chris Pint popped its cork.

Chris breathed in these red fumes like a junkie inhaling the smoke from a bong. And after this long breath, red veins began to appear across his face. They disappeared a moment later, leaving behind a reddish hue to the pale man's skin tone.

The Lord of Stars grinned, and then he picked up his other sword and leaped forward like a lion pouncing on its prey.

Both of his opponents dodged his first strikes, but the space they'd left behind exploded with the weight of his attacks.

Sand rose up to the air like a mine had just detonated.

Ardeen Spellweaver flung himself headfirst into a counterattack, but as his saber came arcing forward it was easily stopped by the broadsword on Chris Pint's right hand.

In the same breath, the broadsword on Chris pint's left hand was already slashing down toward Ardeen Spellweaver's head. He managed to dodge it by veering off to the right at the last second.

Sand exploded into the air once more as his shadowblade connected with the ground.

Ardeen Spellweaver managed to get out of harm's way in the nick of time, or so we all thought. But the Lord of Stars was relentless in his pursuit. He'd already stepped into his next attack immediately after his last one, and an elbow came straight at Ardeen Spellweaver's head, smashing into his face and knocking him back.

Chris Pint's lead foot continued to step forward, and following the momentum of his elbow, the rest of his arm continued to sweep forward in a backward slash that might have been a mighty blow on Ardeen if Lord Rah had not intervened with a spear thrust to Chris Pint's left flank.

The spearhead missed Chris Pint by a hair as he managed to rotate his body just in time to dodge it.

Ardeen, on the other hand, was driven back by the impact of Chris Pint's elbow. He placed a hand on his bloody nose to staunch the bleeding.

Like a starving beast, Chris Pint turned his glare onto Lord Rah next. He leaped the short distance between them with both his broadswords raised high.

Lord Rah moved to repel him with a sweep of his spear but the force of Chris Pint's attack knocked it away.

He used one blade to parry the spear's sweeping arc, and after successfully knocking it out of his way, the Lord of Stars sent his other sword slashing downward on the now unprotected body of Lord Rah.

It would have been a fatal attack if a shield of flame hadn't sprung to life between them in that exact moment that his sword came crashing down on Lord Rah's form.

Lord Rah himself hadn't cast the spell. He couldn't have as he was in no position to have cast a spell, even a chantless one.

No, I knew it hadn't been him, and I was proven right a second later as Chris Pint roared in the direction of Lord Rah's troops, \"Don't get in the way of our duel!\"

An enraged Chris Pint swung his sword forward and threw it with blinding speed. It flew off like a rocket in flight and impaled itself onto the chest of a salamander magician from Lord Rah's army who had his arms raised in spell casting fashion.

The salamander coughed up blood right before he toppled over.

Lord Rah screamed the name of his subordinate, \"No, Rafah!\"

But he could do little else as Chris Pint renewed his assault on Lord Rah. All Rah could manage was block one attack after another.

Seeing their comrade fall in front of them, I saw the murderous rage overwhelm Lord Rah's troops, and like a dam bursting at the seams, they spilled forth into the battleground.  

From around me, the soldiers under Chris Pint's command charged too as if they were waiting for this exact moment to occur. They at least seemed ready for the upcoming fight.

\"What about us, Dean?\" Luca asked.

\"Muddamit, we're going to join in, aren't we?\" Qwipps added.

\"What do you think, Qwipps?\" Varda asked. \"Commander's not the type to shy away from a fight.\"

\"Dean,\" Aura whispered urgently.

I ignored their questions. My focus was glued onto Ardeen Spellweaver who, despite the bloody face, seemed pleased with what was happening. In fact, he looked like he was disinterested in joining this free for all.

It was definitely the smart play. Keep his troops at bay and wait for the battle to resolve itself and then take on the weakened winner afterward.

However, I wasn't about to let Ardeen Spellweaver of all people have his way. I required more chaos to set my plan into action.

I turned my gaze on Collin McCord who was also gazing back at me in that exact moment. The dude really was reliable.

\"Incite your guys to fight,\" I mouthed.

To my relief, he nodded despite knowing he was about to willingly put himself in danger to help us.

I didn't hear what he said to his fellow soldiers, but I did hear the cheer rise out of them afterward.

Ardeen Spellweaver turned around too late. His men were already charging forward. As he realized that they would not head his command to stop, the smile on his face faltered.

Of course, he couldn't ask them to stop. He himself told me earlier that he hadn't trained these men in his tactics yet so I was certain he didn't have a secure enough hold on them to dampen the bloodlust that grew in them as they watched the fight from the sidelines.

Nope, Ardeen Spellweaver wasn't smiling anymore. That smile belonged to me now. Only, my smile didn't last long either. For as I turned to tell my comrades that we wouldn't be joining the fight but instead escape south amidst this chaos, the sound of war horns filled the air.