Realm Lord-Chapter 185: A Desperate Plan

The battle raged on with increasing intensity, the four warriors forming a tight circle as they fought back-to-back against the seemingly endless tide of undead. The ground around them was littered with the remnants of their enemies, but still more kept coming, emerging from the forest, from the underground tunnels, from shadows that seemed to spawn them from nothingness itself.

Arthur’s world narrowed to the immediate threats around him—the reach of his blade, the positioning of his feet, the rhythm of strike and parry that kept him alive for one more second, one more heartbeat. His shadow powers were beginning to flicker more frequently now, the constant drain of energy starting to overwhelm even his enhanced reserves.

A creature wearing the tattered remains of a wedding dress lunged at him from his blind spot, its bouquet of dead flowers still clutched in one skeletal hand. Arthur spun just in time to catch it with his blade, but the impact sent him stumbling backward. His foot caught on the corpse of a previously defeated creature, and he went down hard, his back hitting the muddy ground with a wet thud.

The bride-creature loomed over him, its veil trailing behind it like a shroud as it prepared to deliver the killing blow. Arthur raised his odachi desperately, but he was off-balance and couldn’t generate enough force to penetrate the creature’s skull.

Just as the thing’s claws descended toward his face, a massive arrow whistled through the air and struck the creature center mass, the impact so powerful that it literally tore the thing in half. The upper portion of its body flew backward in a spray of dark fluid, while its legs remained standing for a moment before toppling over.

"Thanks, Myah!" Arthur gasped as he scrambled back to his feet, his muscles protesting every movement.

"Don’t mention it!" came the reply, followed immediately by the sound of another arrow being nocked and drawn.

the tide of creatures seemed to be growing stronger rather than weaker. Fresh hordes were emerging from the distance with each passing minute, and the underground tunnels continued to disgorge more of the shambling dead. Arthur could feel his strength waning, his movements becoming slower and less precise with each passing moment.

Cara’s light was beginning to flicker more frequently, her usual perfect control starting to slip as exhaustion took its toll. "We need to find a way out of here," she said, her voice strained with effort. "We can’t keep this up much longer." freewebnσvel.cøm

But even as she spoke, Arthur could see that escape was becoming increasingly impossible. The creatures had completely surrounded them now, forming multiple rings of shambling death that pressed in from all sides. The circle of clear ground they had fought so hard to maintain was shrinking with each passing second.

"Any ideas?" Aziel asked, his spear work becoming more desperate as three creatures pressed their attack simultaneously. Sweat was pouring down his face, and his breathing was becoming labored.

Arthur’s mind raced as he searched for a solution, but the relentless pressure of combat made it difficult to think clearly. His odachi felt like it weighed a thousand pounds, and his shadow powers were flickering in and out of existence like a dying flame.

The battle continued to rage around them, showing no signs of ending. If anything, it was intensifying, the creatures pressing their advantage as they sensed the warriors’ growing exhaustion. The night air was thick with the stench of decay and the acrid smell of electrical discharge, while the ground beneath their feet had become a muddy quagmire of dark fluid and churned earth.

Arthur gritted his teeth and raised his blade once more, forcing his protesting muscles to respond to his will. The fight was far from over, and surrender was not an option. Whatever these creatures were, whatever had created them, he would continue to fight until his last breath.

The endless tide of undead pressed forward with inexorable hunger, and the four warriors stood their ground, their weapons flashing in the darkness as they fought against impossible odds. The battle raged on, with no end in sight.

Arthur’s lungs burned with each ragged breath as he ducked under the swinging arm of a creature that had once been a postal worker, its blue uniform now a tattered mess of fabric and congealed blood. His odachi came up in a desperate counter-attack, the blade slicing through the creature’s neck with a wet, sickening sound. The head rolled away into the darkness, but Arthur barely had time to register the kill before another shambling figure took its place.

"We’re going to die here," Aziel panted, his spear work becoming increasingly sloppy as exhaustion clouded his judgment. A creature wearing the remnants of a chef’s apron lunged at him from the side, and he barely managed to redirect his weapon in time to catch it through the eye socket. The electrical discharge that followed lit up the immediate area, revealing the true horror of their situation.

They were completely surrounded now, the creatures pressing in from all sides in a tightening circle of death. The ground beneath their feet was slick with dark fluid and littered with the remains of their enemies, making every step treacherous. Arthur’s shadow powers flickered weakly around him, the dark energy that had once felt inexhaustible now reduced to sporadic bursts that required immense concentration to maintain.

"No, we’re not," Cara’s voice cut through the despair like a blade of pure determination. Her luminous sword flared brighter than ever before, the light so intense that several of the nearest creatures actually staggered backward, their decaying flesh smoking where the radiance touched them. "I have an idea, but you’re not going to like it."

Arthur’s blade found another target, piercing through the skull of a creature that had been a schoolteacher, its cardigan now hanging in bloody tatters. "At this point, I’m open to suggestions," he gasped, his voice strained with effort.

"We need to break through their lines and make a run for the car," Cara said, her words coming in short bursts as she fought off three attackers simultaneously. "But we’ll need to move together, and we’ll need to move fast."

Myah’s voice carried across the battlefield from her distant position, punctuated by the whistle of another massive arrow. "That’s easier said than done! There are hundreds of them between you and the vehicle!"

"Then we’ll have to carve a path through them," Cara replied grimly. "Arthur, I need you to channel everything you have left into your shadow powers. Create as much darkness as you can and use it to blind them."

Arthur nodded, though the effort of speaking was becoming increasingly difficult. His entire body felt like it was made of lead, and his shadow cloak was little more than wisps of dark energy that clung to his form like dying smoke. "What about you and Aziel?"

"Leave that to us," Cara said, her light beginning to pulse in a strange rhythm. "Aziel, I need you to prepare the biggest electrical discharge you can manage. We’re going to create a distraction that will hopefully confuse them long enough for us to break through."

Aziel’s eyes widened with understanding, and despite his exhaustion, a grim smile played across his lips. "You want to blind them with light and electricity while Arthur creates a corridor of darkness. It’s crazy enough that it might actually work."

The plan was desperate, risky, and would require perfect timing, but it was their only chance. Arthur could feel his strength ebbing away with each passing second, and he knew that they had maybe one good push left in them before they would be overwhelmed completely.

"Myah!" Cara called out. "We need covering fire! Lay down everything you’ve got!"

"Copy that!" came the immediate response, followed by a rapid succession of arrows that whistled through the air like missiles. Each impact created an explosion of dark matter and decaying flesh, temporarily clearing small sections of the creature horde.

Arthur closed his eyes and reached deep within himself, searching for the last reserves of shadow energy that remained. The power felt sluggish and reluctant, like trying to squeeze water from a stone, but he forced it to respond to his will. Darkness began to pool around him, spreading outward in tendrils that seemed to devour the very light itself.

"Now!" Cara shouted, her voice cutting through the chaos like a clarion call.

She raised her luminous blade high above her head, and for a moment, Arthur thought she might be preparing to strike. Instead, she drove the weapon point-first into the ground, and the result was nothing short of spectacular. Light exploded outward from the point of impact, creating a brilliant flash that turned night into day for a brief, blazing moment.

The creatures shrieked and recoiled, their light-sensitive eyes overwhelmed by the sudden radiance. Many of them stumbled backward, their coordination disrupted by the unexpected assault on their senses. But the flash was only the beginning.

Aziel’s spear crackled with electrical energy as he channeled every ounce of power he had left into the weapon. Lightning arced between the metal tip and the ground, creating a web of electrical discharge that spread outward in all directions. The air itself seemed to vibrate with the intensity of the energy, and Arthur could feel his hair standing on end from the electrical field.

When the lightning made contact with the creatures, the results were devastating. Their bodies convulsed and jerked as thousands of volts coursed through their decaying nervous systems. While the electrical attack couldn’t kill them outright, it disrupted their motor functions enough to create gaps in their defensive formation.

At the same moment, Arthur released his accumulated shadow energy in a directed blast, creating a corridor of absolute darkness that cut through the creature horde like a blade. The shadows seemed to have physical weight, pushing the creatures aside and creating a temporary path toward their distant vehicle.

"Move! Move! Move!" Cara shouted, her voice hoarse with strain.

The sourc𝗲 of this content is fre(e)novelkiss