CH253 Fair Odds

***

Josiah Kellerman, flanked by a small guard platoon, fled the battlefield after giving the order to consume the Berserk Potion.

Unlike what most Kellerman troops believed, the Berserk Potion was no miracle concoction. Far from it. This was not like the common version that merely dulled awareness and heightened bloodlust for a temporary surge of strength. No—this was something far more sinister.

This iteration was an experimental concoction, crafted by an unknown Alchemist with whom the Kellermans had secretly made contact.

Rather than blurring the user's mind, this potion pushed their combat prowess to terrifying heights for an indefinite duration—but at a crippling price. Each second of its use drained years from the user's lifespan and shattered their cultivation potential.

The longer the potion remained in effect, the greater the toll—crippling, irreversible damage that could never be undone.

In Kellerman's smaller-scale trials, even a single heartbeat under its influence stripped away at least five years of life. The price to one's future potential, however, was immeasurable.

Josiah Kellerman was well aware that once his soldiers began to feel those consequences, their morale and formation would collapse entirely. But if he timed it right, the momentary chaos and surge of power would allow him the perfect cover to slip away unnoticed.

As long as he reached Kellerman territory, the Fury family could do little to him directly. At most, the Kellermans might be forced to pay reparations and compensation for the failed war effort. The Fury Family, particularly the house of Earl Drake, was overextended as it was. They had no spare strength to dismantle the Kellerman fief in the short term.

But if he were captured alive… things would be very different. The ransom alone would bleed the Kellermans dry, not to mention the humiliation. Their already tarnished reputation would sink even lower, worsening the backlash they had barely prepared themselves to endure when they started this disastrous war.

And that was on the assumption that the Mad Earl wouldn't disregard noble etiquette and kill him outright.

Josiah would rather not put his future on the whims of the infamous madman of the Northwest.

Alas, as brilliant as Josiah's plan sounded in his head, reality was far less forgiving.

Alex's Grand Spell, channelled through the Great Formation, had turned the tide. The 'juiced-up' Kellerman soldiers fell before they could stir up enough chaos to cover his retreat.

And so Josiah Kellerman now had the honour of being hunted down like prey—chased relentlessly by a combined squad of Fury Fangs and Dark Hounds, Earl Drake's elite, premier units.

Woof!

Udara had been so focused on carrying out Alex's orders that she failed to notice a diminutive figure darting behind her horse through the battlefield.

Only when the squad finally drew far enough away from the chaos did she hear Fen's bark. Turning in surprise, she spotted the wolf, who had deliberately remained in his cub form to avoid attention—an act of cunning on a battlefield where nearly every combatant could kill him without effort.

The moment they cleared the worst of the fighting and Udara's eyes landed on him, Fen shed the disguise. Mid-stride, his body morphed, fur rippling as he transformed into his adolescent Ice form.

His speed surged instantly. With a blur of pale frost trailing his paws, he caught up with ease and ran beside Udara at the front of the squad. The thirteen mounted soldiers rode behind them in tight formation, while Senu circled above, keeping an eagle's eye view on the fleeing Kellerman platoon.

The Kellermans were making for the Dankrot Forest, clearly intending to exploit its jagged terrain and the dangerous beasts lurking within to slow down their pursuers.

But just as the forest came into the fugitives' sight… the pursuers' sights locked firmly onto them.

"Colonel!" Major Jaeger called out.

Colonel Hoist gave a curt nod.

[Magic Bow Manipulation]!

The weapon in his hands shimmered, shifting form. Instead of his usual Recurve Bow, it elongated, stretching unnaturally until a massive longbow materialised.

So large was the weapon that, in the Colonel's grip, it resembled a ballista more than a bow.

And yet, defying all reason, Hoist drew it back—not through muscle, but through Aura. Channelling power into the bow, he willed the string taut. The more Aura he fed, the farther back the string pulled, thrumming with explosive force.

Then—

Bang!

The colossal bow released.

The energy bolt that shot forth was no arrow; it was a blazing projectile the size of a ballista bolt. It screamed across the distance, striking between the fleeing Kellermans.

Boom!

The ground erupted, a violent blast ripping through the formation and scattering them in chaos.

Rather than the colossal bolt itself, it was the shrapnel from the shattered earth that wreaked the most havoc on the Kellerman platoon.

A Veteran-ranked knight by Josiah Kellerman's side barely managed to react in time, projecting his Aura Coating outward into a shield to protect the young heir.

Josiah survived—his adjutant, however, was not so fortunate, cut down by the storm of stone fragments.

"Enemies!" the other Class 4 in the group—a Great Mage—roared.

[Sandstorm]!

He conjured a swirling veil of dust, trying to obstruct the magic archer's deadly aim.

But Colonel Hoist had never intended to strike Josiah directly. His goal was to stall the fleeing platoon, and in that, he had already succeeded.

The Fury squad of thirteen immediately seized the opening, spurring their mounts harder to close the distance.

"We have more men!" Josiah barked. "Break off and bring me their heads!"

The Knight and the Mage exchanged a quick look. Both understood—they would have to shoulder the responsibility of halting the Fury elites.

"I'll take the archer," the Veteran Knight growled.

"Understood," the Great Mage replied tersely.

"Move out!" the Knight rallied, gathering the bulk of the platoon.

The Kellerman force wheeled around to meet the pursuers head-on, leaving only four soldiers to guard Josiah as he continued his escape.

"Triangle formation!" Colonel Hoist barked.

At once, the Dark Hounds surged forward, spurring their warhorses into a sharp arrowhead formation that overtook Udara's position.

Boom!

They smashed through the Kellerman line like a living spear, blasting open a gap for Udara and Fen to slip through while they held the enemy.

The Veteran knight and Great Mage let the pair go. Udara and Fen were mere Class 2s. Four guards plus Josiah himself should have been more than enough to deal with them.

Instead, the Veteran duo turned their full attention on Colonel Hoist and Major Jaeger, while the ten Dark Hounds threw themselves against a Kellerman platoon nearly three times their number.

Fair odds all around.

***

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