Chapter 183: Battle for the Docks Part 1: Arriving

I leaped roof to roof, carrying the soft Kara in my arms as I moved. Her large innocent eyes looked up at me with a worshipful gaze as the clash of steel against bone sounded in the world around us. The burning city's flames slowly reignited as the war of undead clashed against the might of the Empire's military.

Moving, Kara tried to remain as still as possible with her hands holding her measly possessions. I heard the sound of steel against bone get louder, and I was coming into the range of the docks. That was when I started to notice a little in the distance men covered in armor on the rooftops—some with bows and various weapons shooting down into the streets.

I paused and looked from a distance as men clashed against the dead from a bad angle—the men and women of the military clashing against the dead and many standing together. I frowned as I realized that this was a standing army of this world. I was from the Kingdom of Arlin, which called to arms in a different style. They brought forth both the individual and the group when it came to war. Against the beasts, that turned the war into a quagmire but against the beasts, it worked much better.

The Empire seemed to work together, facing the dead that was coming at them in a mass. This, in practice, would work better, not on the terrain that the Kingdom of Arlin was fighting on. The Empire's tactics should rule as a dominant force in this world or continent, and that's what it was doing. Only the Demon Lands boasted more or around the same as the Empire.

Steel swords and mana swirled in the first use of military mana usage I had ever seen in this world. My angle sucked, and I could see that someone was also casting spells like a wizard against the dead. Then I remembered that the docks were my territory for the night, and the Necromancers here clashing against the military meant that we were losing ground if they won.

I looked down into my arms and saw Kara's innocent eyes looking at me. I was tempted to abandon her here temporarily so I could turn the tide of the battle for a short time to buy more time. My eyes narrowed, and I saw green orbs of mana shoot and hit steel, making men scream before I shook my head.

Putting Kara on the ship and preparing the backlines before I did more was the best solution. The boats would be ready, and there would be fighting to do, and I could do it with my whips instead of hamstrung with only my knife. I leaped past and felt my spine straighten as I felt new colder fiercer eyes watching me now as I ran towards the docks.

Putting energy into my movements, I was quickly crossing a defense line where a bunch of more weary weaker people saw me cross. They knew I was a part of them according to their leader's orders. I crossed the barrier, quickly leaped back to the streets, and started to run to the ship we were going to debark on.

The clash continued as I reached the boats, and I saw Freya watching out in the crow's nest, looking towards the fighting. Finally arriving, I used my energy and leaped onto the boat and put Kara down lightly on her feet. "Kara," I said, my voice soft as men worked around us preparing. "Go get yourself situated and find a place in the main cabin where I will stay. I have other things to look into." I told her bluntly, and she nodded.

Kara looked lost, and I leaped onto the rope climbing to the crow's nest at the top. Seconds later, I was sitting on the edge looking down and noticed the fight to the south a little. "How are the preparations?" I asked.

"Mistress," Freya replied quickly, "The ships are almost ready to move with the sun. Things are moving faster than intended, and the Military attacked the docks sooner than thought. The Necromancers have held the line but are losing at an increasing pace to the Military, it seems here. Although we have spread our forces a little in case they try to flank us, which they haven't done as of yet," Freya said.

"Then why haven't we flanked them!" I demanded.

"We are trying to delay, not fight offensively?" Freya replied, unsure, and I rolled my eyes.

I leaped back down and moved to the cabin to retrieve my Sadist's bladed whip. I wanted to fight properly tonight and smiled as I equipped myself. Kara had found her way here, and I found her cleaning the cabin, looking frightened.

I watched her for a moment before departing, as I knew she was looking to be useful, it seemed. Better letting her do something than do nothing and become a liability or lost in something that I would have wasted my time gathering her from the City Lords estate.

I turned and walked out instead of continuing my current line of thinking. The innocent girl was in the room with my cute tigers, which I needed to help train after this whole fiasco. For now, I had to confront the military of the Empire. We needed at least some sunlight to navigate the large river as we departed this city. Otherwise, we could end up on the sandbanks or other navigational issues that come with being on a river.

Moments later, I was already running out into the streets towards the fighting when I heard something I didn't want to hear. "SOLDIERS FIGHT! FIGHT! PRESS THE DEAD AND KILL THEM ALL! KILL THE NECROMANCER TRASH!" A Woman roared, and I saw the dead getting pressed back as I leaped up onto a roof.

I had to move and change the circumstances as the D and C-ranked soldiers were pressing the dead back. This was a trained military; I instantly understood as they kept their formation even as they pressed the dead back into the streets. Behind them, Archers shot at the Necromancers, and Wizards shot into the crowd of dead. They were losing even faster than I thought, and the Wizards and the Archers were thinning the ranks.

"DIE DIE DIE!" One of the Necromancers started to laugh, sending a black haze into the ranks of soldiers. A couple was coughing blood, but it wasn't fatal. A Necromancer of power started to cast, and my head whipped to look at them as I realized their rank was at Least B rank now. It seemed that the Necromancer had been hiding their power and now started to cast faster and stronger green orbs tossing them into the ranks of the soldiers.

I had seen them before, but now I was closer, these green orbs would hit a soldier, and that soldier would scream and fall back, being taken by another of the rank and file. They would scream as the Steel and their body seemed to rot away under that spell. My spine shivered as I realized how deadly that Necromancer was, killing the soldiers, pushing them onto the defensive, and borderline retreating. A moment later, I suddenly saw the commander jump onto a rooftop.

It was a woman appearing from the ranks with long brown hair, and her anger was obvious. "I WILL GET THAT NECROMANCER!" She announced and pulled out a long bastard sword, and I felt the strength swirl around this woman. Her mana gathered into a rage, and I felt a similar power to the Necromancer. Two B ranks were about to clash, and for the first time, it wasn't me in the fight. I was curious to watch but had something better to do now.

I realized why she hadn't shown herself to now, and neither did the Necromancer. No one wanted to show where their trump card was, and it seemed each rank and file had a B ranker protecting the lower soldiers. That meant as this woman leaped to take care of that Necromancer, there was a bunch of defenseless small fry in front of me to clean up.

A smile broke my lips, and my smile was one that would send shivers down the spines of my enemies. A moment later, I launched myself into the archers from a flanking position, bypassing the scouts looking out for being flanked. I could kill them at my leisure, and my whip licked out, killing the first archer in an instant as I approached.

"WE ARE BEING FLANKED!" A Soldier yelled instantly as that man died, but I was already killing the next archer before any of them could react.

"MEN RETREAT!" That commander shouted a moment later, reacting perfectly as I started to unleash hell in their backline. My whip cut through the archers even as they turned and ran to the edges of the roof. There were not that many that made it, and all of the ones that did were several houses down on the far side of the current battle.

That Necromancer wasn't making their lives easy either as she cast bolt after bolt around their staff at the commander, making her dodge all around. The Commander of their detachment was dodging and retreating with an angered expression, as she knew she couldn't take on two B rankers simultaneously.

I wasn't done with this detachment and neither was our detachment of the Necromancer guild. The undead growled, and the dead rose as they cast undead rising spells giving us a new collection of steel-armored undead that ran into the group of soldiers.

Mayhem broke out in their ranks, and I made my presence known on their flank closest to the middle of the docks. I cut into their wizards and support personnel as they retreated, and the Commander continued to dodge those Green orbs, which seemed to be growing in numbers.

The commander remained stone-faced, but my instincts were screaming. They always were because of these undead, but her expression made me worry even more. Then she turned, "MEN! TIME GATHERING FORMATION!" She yelled out as she narrowly dodged yet another orb that the Necromancer sent at her.

Then something odd happened. The soldiers continued to retreat, but the wizards cast something at the same time, and suddenly, up in the air, magical fireworks went off in a bright white in the sky. I shivered, and I realized we might have pushed them too far. "RETREAT AND WAIT FOR THE REENFORCEMENTS SOLDIERS!" She screamed before she cut one of those orbs in half.

The orb broke, but the mana continued and fell onto the room of the building, which started to rot, unlike her sword. "TO WAR!" She hollered, and the men roared beneath her as she cut another orb in half.

I realized something too. In a short time, I was cutting through over a hundred soldiers in their backline we went a block forward. We were a little out of position. They could regroup in the area and fight back. That was what they were doing, even as they whipped three more wizards into death while dodging a fireball.

I knew this fight wasn't over even as the dead now ate into the ranks of the soldiers while the Necromancer occupied the Commander. That spell was a signal for help, and I wasn't sure what it conveyed.

But I knew I wouldn't like it.

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