Strategic Retreat

"Give the order to abandon the fort," Crown Prince Lukas said regretfully.

"Yes, your highness," saluted Allied Infantry Commander von Vogel.

The 60,000-strong army that was bolstered by waves of recruits was reduced to 10,000 or less. They weren't sure until the census was complete.

Slowly, goods and troops were packed and in a single file line marched to Francroft City.

"Highness, it's time to leave," General von Vogel and the other commander advised.

"I'll stay here watching over my master and grandmaster. You take the army and head back to Francroft. We'll try to retake the fort when more recruits arrive," the prince said disappointedly.

"Your majesty, I cannot allow that!" the general advised.

"It's fine my manservant and my masters are here. I'm sure every comfort shall be afforded," the crown prince replied.

"If his highness wishes to stay then it is my duty to as well. If need be, I'll gladly sacrifice my life for yours," the general replied.

"Very well, your life is yours to do so as you please. Let us watch our heroes battle."

Meanwhile, on the battlefield, Elder Thaddeus could feel his mana pool slowly exhausting. The gap between him and his opponent was slowly widening. He knew if this continued, he'd experience his second death.

And with the shrew of a goddess after his soul, he feared the worse. He had to find an opening to end her or escape.

On the other hand, Will and Limos fought on par. Both their eyes had changed to gold. Neither were willing to concede an advantage to the other. But what neither expect was for Nisha's eyes to glow gold as well.

Slowly the one-on-one battles morphed into two on four. Will defend and attack both demigods while Elder Thaddeus focuses more on attacking. At the same time, Archimedes and Nisha attacked Aite and Limos respectively.

By working together, Will and Elder Thaddeus were able to maximize their spells.

Will parried Limo's spear while casting [Arrowhead] toward Aite.

Will and Elder Thaddeus cycle through their spells, doing their best to put the siblings on defense.

But the brother and sister were a more experienced fighting duo, than Will and Elder Thaddeus.

As they continued to battle Will realized Aite was the more dangerous of the two. Her dark power was two strong and deadly.

If he could get rid of Aite then they may have a chance to kill Limos.

With Aite able to counter his most powerful spells, Will decided to risk it all. Will quickly recast [Domain] and then cast [Entomb] a spell he'd only used once.

The last time Will cast [Entomb] was against another dark mage, the lich. The master-rank spell came from Sage Yang's diary that Elder Thaddeus gave him as a student.

The sage created the spell [Entomb], to kill mythical monsters, dark mages, and high-level undead.

Sage Yang described [Entomb] as a forbidden spell. The spell was his ultimate killing spell, and the dairy detailed his uncertainly even passing on the spell.

The sage urged the caster to use great caution and urged the reader to cast the spell as infrequently as possible. If the spell ever fell into the wrong hang, it could create great disaster.

After casting [Entomb], an Iron Maiden made from fey silver appeared in the sky.

"What did you cast?" Aite asked worriedly.

She looked up and saw the sarcophagus' double doors open, revealing the protruding spikes.

Slowly sarcophagus made its way to her body and began to pull her inside.

"Brother help me!" Aite screamed in fear. "Limos save me, I don't want to die."

"Let go!" Limos yelled piercing Will through his side.

Quickly, Elder Thaddeus, Archimedes, and Nisha killed the already injured and exhausted demigod.

"No Limos!" Aite yelled watching her brother being ripped to shreds by Archimedes and Nisha.

When the doors closed, Aite let out a blood-curdling deathly scream as the Iron Maiden enter a spatial door and disappeared.

Once trapped in the coffin the demigod would be trapped in a pocket dimension, for all eternity. Accordingly, to the diary, there was no way back from the pocket dimension.

"Will are you okay?" Nisha telepathically asked.

"I don't know," Will replied falling asleep from the exhausting battle and blood loss.

"Let's head back," Elder Thaddeus said picking up his disciple and teleporting to the fort.

"Master!" Prince Lukas said running up to check on his injured teacher.

"He's just asleep. It was a tiring battle. He'll be fine once his mana recovers," Elder Thaddeus explained taking him to noble rooms in the fort.

"Your highness, thanks to them our army's safe retreat is ensured. As soon as they wake, we can head back to Francroft City with the army.," Allied Infantry Commander said excitedly.

"We'll hold this fort until reinforcements arrive!" Crown Prince Lukas said.

"But your majesty, we cannot hold this fort with less than 100 men," the general's happy gone.

"General von Vogel, I command thee to return to Francroft City and return here with my army!" the prince decreed.

"At once your highness," the general left.

"Hawkeye, you are acting fort commander until General von Vogel returns," Prince Lukas ordered.

"Yes, your imperial highness," saluted the Allied Intelligence Commander and Acting Fort Commander.

For the next three days, the prince, Marcus, and Micheal checked on Will and Elder Thaddeus. Without knowing each other strengths both armies did not engage, rather they both entrenched their positions.

"Your highness the orcs have started building a fort across the river and are preparing to cast an array," Marshall von Pierce said worriedly.

"Thank you, Allied Intelligence Commander, but there's nothing we can do until the army returns.

Hawkeye nodded, seemingly having put some thought into the matter. If the orcas decide to cross the river then he tests their new trebuchets.

Just then Micheal ran up and greeted the prince, "Master Will and Sage Ming have woken up," he said bowing to the prince.

In a flash, the prince quickly ran to get them, "thank the gods you're awake."

"Quit your blabbering! I still have a headache," Elder Thaddeus complained

"It's good to see you, disciple. What happened to Limos?" Will asked.

"We killed him," Nisha replied.

"Good, his mana felt opposed to me, like we were opposite sides of a magnet" Will explained telepathically to her.

Just then Will noticed his divine panel was flashing in his eyes and he took a quick peek. For the first time since the war began, his stats finally rose.

Name: William (Plutus)

Race: Divine

Divine Rank: 9 (Demi-God)

Human Rank: 5 (Grand Marquis)

Divine Title: God of Wealth

Human Title: Lord of Commerce/ Gaia's Champion

Class: Merchant

Sub Class: Spellsword Knight

Attributes:

Constitution—91+2 (+100)*

Strength—96+ 3 (+100)*

Dexterity—84+ 2 (+100)*

Intellect—103+1 (+100)*

Charisma—19 (+10)*

Ranks Skills: Management (93), Diplomacy (80), Accounting (95)

Class Skills: Appraisal (100, 100) [Radar]

Racial Abilities: Holy Aura (100, 1000), Divine Plant Affinity (1000, 1000)

Abilities: Grandmaster Swordsmanship (3+2, 100), Grandmaster Terramancer (5+2, 100), Gaia's Blessing (multiplies your spell strength x2), Journeyman Blacksmith (37, 50), Immunity to [Dragon Fear]

After closing his divine panel, he felt his wound. The wound had not healed, and worse yet Will could feel the dark mana invading his body from where he was cut. Will cast [Holy Aura] to burn away the dark mana, but the mana inside his body suddenly felt like he set himself on fire.

…

Will and Micheal arrived in Gadreel to see his family and honor his agreement with Elizabeth to see her first before Diego.

As Micheal left to check on the staff, Will wandered off to his office. This time of year was his favorite, as the weather warmed so too did people's spending habits.

"Happy belated birthday," Elizabeth said running up to hug him.

"Thank you," Will said hugging her back.

"We miss you so much. Do you think, you can ask for some time away?" Elizabeth asked gently resting her head against Will's chest.

"I'm afraid now is not the time. The Allied Army lost its first battle. We suffered innumerable losses and were pushed back to our fort," Will said showing Elizabeth his injury.

Elizabeth stretched out her arm to heal his injuries, but nothing happened.

"I was afraid of this," Will said.

"Why aren't my healing powers working," Elizabeth said in surprise.

"I was attacked by two demigods. They called themselves Aite and Limos.

They knew my true identity. Limos, he felt…it was almost as if…he was my opposite, my antithesis," Will explained.

Elizabeth's face was horror-struck. Her husband was one of the strongest men she knew. He was a 33-year-old grandmaster Spellsword and demigod.

She never considered the possibility other demigods may exist other than Mother Tiamat. Now, her husband told her his antithesis was dead but had injured him.

"Don't go back. Stay here with me. You've proven your abilities enough in this war. There's no longer a need to fight on the front lines," Elizabeth begged Will.

"Are you scared I can't beat them?" Will asked disappointedly.

"No, I'm worried a stronger opponent exists! One you may not be able to beat," Elizabeth broke down crying on the floor.

"Mother, what's wrong?" Camille and Edward rushed into their father's office, where they saw their father's bleeding wound.

"Everything is fine," Will explained trying to comfort his children.

"Your wound, why hasn't mother healed you?" Camille asked.

"It can't be healed by light mages, it was a wounded created by strong dark magic," Will described the problem.

"Are you going to die?" Edward asked nervously.

"No, I'll be fine in time. But it might leave a scar," Will laughed trying to diffuse the situation.

"This is not a laughing matter. I'm sure there are others just as strong still out there. Who knows what might happen next time you see meet them?" Elizabeth said angrily.

"I'll be fine!" Will said encouragingly.

"Tell me how can you be so sure?" Elizabeth asked.

"I can't," Will finally admitted. "But I won't back down from a challenge!"

"You fool, you'll risk your life without a thought to your family's wellbeing? You missed Camille's school graduation and Edward held his first business meeting!"

Elizabeth's hysteria was too much for Will. Instead of arguing endlessly, he decided to give in, until she calmed down.

"Huh, I apologize. Please tell me about graduation and the business meeting," Will sighed.

Will listened as Camille talked about her graduation. In his absence, his parents and in-laws came. His father-in-law gave the commencement speech, reminding everyone that their peace was due to the bravery of others.

Then Edward spoke about the accounts, the kingdom's loan request, and Duke Zhao of Ding's arrival. Upon Duke Zhao's arrival in Gadreel, he gifted Edward a sizable amount of gold in exchange for security.

Will complimented his children's accomplishments.

"Father, can you travel with me to the Mage Academy in three months? Camille asked hopefully.

"I certainly do my best," Will promised.

"And don't forget my magic capacity test next year!" Edward interjected.

"I promise, I'll do my best," said Will.

"All right, we've troubled your father enough. Let's leave your father to his business. Let's visit the Citadel of Gaia. I wish to pray to Demeter," Elizabeth said, eyeing Will.

Will quickly wrote his article before visiting Diego.

The next morning's headline read, 'Allied Army Suffered First Defeat. Will's article detailing the army's loss outside Francroft City, shattered the Allied Army's indestructible image and caused panic across Fermion and the Great Eastern Empire.