Chapter 296 - Castle Under Seige

In the heat of battle, Rynold dodged to the side.

'This is getting ridiculous.'

Rynold had no accurate count of the time, but it felt as though he had been on the defensive for a good thirty minutes now. Although, in reality, Rynold was only doing so for about three minutes. Rynold couldn't gain an inch during that time. The intensity of the spells was on a different level than before. There wasn't any room for Rynold to get closer to the Soul Dolls.

Fortunately, though, Rynold had other options.

As much as he wanted to bash the Soul Dolls' skulls, Rynold didn't have to. He knew he could take them down one by one using [True Caliber]. Hell, it would've barely broken a sweat. However, at this moment, Rynold decided to hold back. Even with the firearm in hand, Rynold didn't fire a bullet. He wouldn't do so until he got a clear read of his opponents.

'Okay,' Rynold thought to himself as a Wind Blade grazed him. 'Even though their spells, well, hit harder, they're still low-tiered spells. It doesn't seem like they're capable of anything else. Robots, these things are. I'm treating these things as people. Although, they're anything but that. Really, I'm overthinking things.'

A smile formed on Rynold's face, realizing how poorly he approached the situation. The Soul Dolls had coordination and the power to back it up. That was the reason why they appeared as unstoppable as they did. Take one of those two factors away; Rynold would have the room to fight.

Calming his adrenaline-pumping heart, Rynold dodged another projectile fired his way with a slight tilt of his body. From there, he aimed [True Caliber] and fired. A flash of red appeared from the firearm's barrel and crossed the distance in barely a second. And, as soon as the bullet made contact, the Soul Doll combusted in an all-consuming flame.

Rynold's eyes widened in surprise, taken aback by what just happened. However, Rynold almost immediately refocused his attention on the battle. The burning bullet broke the coordination in a way Rynold predicted it would. He didn't waste the opportunity and followed up by getting closer to the remaining Soul Dolls. Shooting his grapple and embedding it to the nearest Soul Doll, Rynold retracted the line. He closed the distance, aimed [True Caliber] at the bottom of the chin of the Soul Doll he had reeled in, and fired.

Bang!

The Soul Doll staggered as Rynold let go. Following this, Rynold didn't stay to see what would happen. Instead, Rynold took the initiative and ran up to the next closest Soul Doll. He didn't wait for the one he had shot because the bullet soon exploded, taking the Soul Doll's head along with it.

That said, Rynold took down two Soul Dolls, leaving four left. Rynold didn't waste any time, and as soon as he made it to the next one, Rynold extended his Mana Gauntlets. Without any hesitation, Rynold activated Charging Fist and augmented the left fist. He then slammed his left gauntlet into the Soul Doll's chest cavity, blowing a hole in the creature's abdomen.

The Soul Doll standing before Rynold fell down like a corpse that it was. Rynold, at that moment, stood still for a second, triumphant over his third kill. However, the other Soul Dolls didn't sit idly by anymore, and one of them fired a rock spear at him. Rynold, noticing this, transformed his left Mana Gauntlet into Defense-form. And, in a split second, a shield formed.

Blocking the rock spear with the shield, Rynold raised his right hand, [True Caliber] with it. With a breath, Rynold fired two bullets in quick succession. The bullets made their way to the rock spear's caster, embedding themselves onto the Soul Doll's chest. It barely did anything to the Soul Doll, but it was enough to slow it down. And that way, Rynold could keep his pace up.

Throwing [True Caliber] back in his Inventory, Rynold promptly ran up to the shot Soul Doll. Engaging with his drill whirring, Rynold took care of another creature with ease and haste. Following which, Rynold kept going, taking care of the remaining two without any problems.

By the end of it all, Rynold aggressively caught his breath. He gave the fight his all, much more than necessary to take care of the Soul Dolls. He didn't mind it, though, as he knew he needed to take them down fast. Because, from the way Rynold saw it, keeping the wall at 100% took precedence.

"Hey," Rynold called out to the man using his communication rune, "I'm looking at the wall from the outside. I took care of the things assaulting this part of the wall. Thankfully, they barely did any damage to the defensive runes. I'm not sure if there are other parties, though, but I get the feeling that this is just the advanced party. Now that they know where the castle is, I'm sure they're on their way."

"I concur," the man answered, a strained tone to his voice. "Taking care of these problems as they arrive might put us into a precarious situation. However, I fear there is no other way to correct the situation."

"I'll see what I can do," Rynold replied, "But, before that. What're you doing over there? You seem like you're doing something that's, well, dangerous."

"What I am doing is prevention," the man answered, his voice stern, "With the threat on my doorstep, I do not have the time to explain everything to you. Please, leave me to my business. And, I will leave you to yours. Good luck."

"Hey!"

"One last thing. When the walls crumble, I urge you to leave this place at once. There will be little that you could do when that point arrives. Therefore, for your safety, leave."

As soon as the man finished his warning, he cut all forms of communication. No matter how much Rynold called out, there was only radio silence. He clicked his tongue in frustration, realizing that the man was betting on letting the intruders in the walls. Whatever the guy was doing, though, Rynold didn't know. But, for whatever reason, Rynold felt a chill run down his spine.

'Gah, he's right. There's little I could do except helping out right now. He's expecting the walls to break. So, I better buy him all the time he can get.'

Throwing out the four octahedron drones and the two remaining Accord Spheres he had, Rynold didn't dare hold back now. With his Mana at a little over half capacity, he would need all the help he could get. Unfortunately, he couldn't summon X to his side either. He didn't even have the Summoning Orb for Prominence Alpha here with him. Rynold wasn't at his best, all things considered. Even so, he would have to make do.

Pressing his hand against the bone necklace, Rynold activated the ability. A silhouette of a hellhound appeared right in front of him, with its orders already known. So, almost as soon as it arrived, it ran out on its own. Rynold, knowing where the hound was going, chased after it.

'This won't be easy,' Rynold sighed as he circled the wall, psyching himself up for the battle ahead. Now was arguably the first time Rynold had to fight alone. And, the worst part about it was the inevitability of it all. Whatever Rynold did, the walls were going to break. Rynold could only take down a small part of the army wherein might not even make a difference in the end.

Nonetheless, Rynold had to at least fight. He had bad blood with Skeem. While Rynold wasn't the vengeful type, he could still remember the dread he felt having fought against the Duke not too long ago. Rynold couldn't forget the pain in the man's eyes as his Soul faded from his body.

With gritted teeth, Rynold soon arrived at the next party of Soul Dolls. This time around, though, there were only three of them. From a glance, Rynold didn't think they were any different than the ones Rynold fought before. But, what the Soul Dolls did to the wall dashed whatever impression Rynold had.

'The hell are they doing?!'

The Soul Dolls kept approaching the wall, getting dangerously close. Rynold knew that making contact with the wall would trigger a series of defensive runes. Rynold thought as though the Soul Dolls knew that, making what he saw all the more confusing. However, the Soul Dolls stopped an inch before contact and suddenly expanded in size. Their bodies stretched unnaturally, like inflating balloons. Then, out of nowhere, they exploded.

Rynold, thrown aback by the explosion, only came to a few seconds later. He infused Mana into his eyes and looked at the spot where the Soul Dolls blew up. From there, Rynold could immediately notice the damage the runes sustained.

The break-in was going to be sooner than Rynold had thought.