224 – Master Ranks

Caius exchanged glances with his team, and they all knew what he meant. They didn't hesitate and used their full strength with their peak Tier 1 weapons to charge at the remaining two necromancers in front of them.

After killing those two necromancers, whatever skeletons they had summoned crumbled and vanished into the wind.

All the Rank 3 necromancers across the battlefield were furious and panicking at the arrival of this mysterious archer. Originally, both sides had been equally matched, yet now, due to this sole archer, the entire battlefield had shifted.

Necromancers of all ranks were extremely worried, knowing that the mysterious archer could kill anyone on the battlefield before they even realized they were being targeted. That archer was just that terrifying.

Brunhild let out another sigh of relief, deeply grateful for Caius's quick response. Otherwise, fleeing would have been impossible if so many Rank 3s had charged at her position at once.

Seeing that Caius and the others didn't call her out and instead pressed on toward another necromancer group, she knew exactly what to do.

Brunhild masked her presence as much as possible and relocated.

She stuck close to Caius and his group, helping them occasionally. While she stopped using her Tier arrows—still hoping to recover the previous one later—she relied on the basic power of her high-grade Tier 1 bow to support the team from the shadows.

Because of Brunhild’s existence, the tide of the entire battle drastically turned. Previously, the necromancers had been calm, confident they would win a long, drawn-out battle. Now, however, they were agitated and terrified of being targeted by the phantom sniper. Because of this fear, they began making critical mistakes, leading to their own demise or the deaths of their teammates.

On the other hand, the morale of Batley City’s forces soared sky-high with the arrival of such a powerful hidden supporter, even though she didn't fire another shot of that caliber.

The Eclipse team remained cautious. They always ensured they kept at least half of their mana and stamina in reserve. The moment they felt their reserves running low, they would slow their pace and toy with the skeletons while recovering. Throughout the chaos, they managed to liberate multiple pinned-down teams. This triggered a domino effect among the enemy lines, and eventually, the necromancers were completely overwhelmed.

"Retreat!" one necromancer leader yelled out to her squad, causing a chain reaction as other enemy teams gave the same command.

"Like hell we'll let you bastards escape!" the Batley City teams barked, giving chase. They cut down as many fleeing enemies as they could.

Brunhild joined up with Caius, firing from within the safety of her team's formation. She activated her bow's rune, imbueing her arrows with a powerful fire property. Though the effect was dampened since she was using normal arrows, she was still racking up a higher kill count against the lower-rank necromancers than multiple teams combined.

Many of Batley City’s squads watched Brunhild with deep jealousy.

Archers were rare, often considered weaker than mages, but given the right moment, they could shine the brightest—just like Brunhild was doing now.

After thinning out the lower ranks, Brunhild targeted the higher-ranking enemies. Even if her shots didn't kill them outright, the sheer damage and distraction she caused allowed the other teams to easily finish off the compromised opponents.

The other teams with archers couldn’t recreate what Brunhild was doing. They didn't even possess low-grade Tier 1 bows, let alone a high-grade one engraved with a rune. Because of this, the impact she made was greater than what a standard peak-grade Tier 1 bow could achieve without a rune.

Ninety percent of the necromancers were wiped out. As they were mostly mages, they lacked the physical capability to outrun the warriors of Batley City, and Brunhild's constant pressure thoroughly sabotaged most of their escape attempts.

The few who managed to escape had to rely on powerful trump cards or were Rank 3 necromancer warriors with exceptional speed.

After the battle concluded, Garrick caught his breath and smiled, "Thanks to Brunhild, we managed to secure victory with the absolute minimum number of casualties."

The others nodded, smiles breaking out across their faces.

Thorne, wiping the blood from his new twin swords, muttered, "I can finally understand why Brother Eric suggested we recruit a mage for the team. Just us warriors would have been hard-pressed without Brunhild's long-range support."

The others agreed with thoughtful nods; even Brunhild conceded the point.

Mages and archers were fundamentally different.

Archers were excellent for sneak attacks, but they were ultimately still warriors and yet struggled at close quarters, whereas a mage possessed massive versatility. The only catch was that a mage's maintenance costs were astronomically high. Their spellbooks were expensive, rare, and incredibly difficult to master. The same applied to scrolls, which were costly, single-use items. Mages were also few and far between; whenever one appeared, they were instantly snatched up by other teams. Because of this, they often acted incredibly haughty despite being weak.

Caius smiled ruefully, "I'm starting to regret not asking Brother Eric if he had any armor for sale. With new armor and a solid shield, we could even shrug off weaker spells and projectiles. And, I definitely want a new armor!"

Brunhild snorted, "And after getting that new armor, you're just going to sleep in it again, aren't you?"

Everyone burst out laughing at this.

"I think it’s fine. We can just ask Brother Eric about it later," Eilif said, pulling some refreshments out of his space pouch.

Brunhild snorted again, "You buy your own gear with your own money. Don't think about borrowing from any of us!"

"Haha..." Eilif laughed awkwardly, scratching his head.

While they were celebrating, a few Adventurers' Guild teams approached to congratulate them. After all, the Eclipse team had carried the heaviest weight in this battle.

A beautiful woman in a red-and-black combat outfit spoke with obvious jealousy, "You all have improved drastically. I don't even know where you guys found those Tier weapons. They don't just look absolutely stunning, their power is ridiculous." She then turned toward Brunhild, purring seductively, "Sister Brunhild, how about leaving this all-macho squad and joining my team instead?"

Caius and the others frowned, heavily displeased by how openly this woman, Alishondra, was trying to poach their teammate.

Brunhild smiled and shook her head, "Thank you for the offer, Alishondra, but I have my own team, and I have no interest in leaving them for another."

Alishondra smiled with regret, "It's..." She suddenly froze, the words dying in her throat as her face drained of all color.

She wasn't the only one. Every single person on that battlefield—in fact, almost every single Mana Wielder in the entirety of Batley City—turned ghastly pale at the exact same moment.

They collectively turned their heads toward the western sky.

Though no one could see that far, they could palpably feel it: four ‘suns’ had suddenly risen in the western skies of the city.

Four Master Ranks!

Everyone's expression twisted into absolute dread.

Caius and everyone present at the southern gate stumbled back a few steps, trembling.

All four Master Ranks were unleashing their presences wildly, not to suppress anyone in particular, but to declare their utter dominance over the region.

"This... one of them is definitely Lord Gideon! B-but h-how can this be...?!" one of the nearby Mana Wielders cried out in sheer terror.

"I-I think it's over... Batley City is finished..."

"Wait... weren't there only two necromancer Master Ranks?"

The three other overwhelming auras were distinctly different from Gideon's. Their presence carried the foul, corrupted taint that all necromancers shared. Without a shadow of a doubt, they all knew: those three were all necromancer Master Ranks.

"I-I'm out. The entire city is doomed! I'm leaving!" After shouting his declaration, the man turned and bolted straight through the destroyed gate.

Triggered by his flight, anyone who shared the same terrifying realization began fleeing the city, including Alishondra and her team.

Soon, nearly eighty percent of the forces abandoned their posts, while the remaining few stood frozen in place—some clutching their heads in despair, others collapsing to the ground with tears streaming down their faces.

Caius and his team remained silent for a long time. They couldn't bring themselves to blame the people who abandoned the city; this truly spelled the end for Batley City. One versus two was already a losing battle, but one versus three? That was an execution written in cold blood.

Caius swallowed hard. He tried to steady his voice, but his words still quivered, "Y-you g-guys should leave too. There is no hope left in this..."

They all kept quiet, none of them answering immediately.

After a long pause, Eilif smiled bitterly, "You guys go ahead. My wife is pregnant; I can't just abandon her. Brunhild, did she make it to your estate?"

Brunhild nodded, a profound sadness in her eyes.

She turned to look at the other remaining teams who chose to stay but were clearly broken in spirit. Most of them were in similar situations, possessing reasons that kept them from abandoning the city.

She took a deep breath, gripping her bow with fierce, iron-clad determination, "You guys leave. I will stay and keep killing every single necromancer within Batley City until my last breath!"

The surrounding Mana Wielders were startled by Brunhild's declaration.

Wasn't it better to just grab your family and escape together? Why throw your life away? The city was lost. Unless Sildargrade deployed at least two more Master Ranks, staying was suicide—and with the Space Gateway destroyed, reinforcements were physically impossible!

Now that they thought about it, the entire situation must have been an elaborate trap. The necromancers had waited until they were absolutely certain no backup could reach Batley City before striking with their full force.

Thorne also tightened his grip on his twin swords, speaking with equal resolve, "If you're staying, then I'm staying too. I have nothing to lose or worry about anyway. No relatives, only friends."

"Yeah, and friends aren't enough to save our skins. Might as well drag them into the abyss right along with us. Count me in."

Hearing Garrick’s dry, sarcastic retort to Thorne, the bleak tension broke, and the team couldn't help but burst into weary laughter.

Caius shrugged, a bittersweet smile on his face, "Then I guess I'm staying too. If we wipe out all the other apprentice-rank necromancers at the other gates before we kick the bucket, their Master Ranks are going to feel awfully lonely. At least we'll have our revenge."

The rest of the team nodded, smiles returning to their faces despite their shaking hands. They knew they were marching toward their deaths, and that their loved ones would likely follow.

Taking one last collective breath to steady their nerves, they turned and charged toward the Eastern Gate, slaughtering every single necromancer they crossed paths with along the way.