Skirmish (2)

Ice Countess Sheila heard the scream of agony of her comrade, and bit her lips to the point that blood came out.

The Blue Wolf Mercenary Group was her faction, and the subordinates under her were like family. In a matter of seconds, her mentor and her youngest pupil had died. Joe Bode was an orphan she had found on a battlefield, and after finding his magical affinity, she groomed him to become a ranged acolyte. His strong accuracy and affinity with crossbows led him to become a core member of the team, despite being the youngest, only 17 years of age at this point.

Yet, after failing his ambush, the enemy youngster 'Lewis Steelguard' who had gained quite a bit of fame on a battlefield against druids in the North of the Dalian Empire, he managed to pinpoint Joe's location and deal him a deathly blow.

"Shit...", she muttered, but before she could grieve, a monstrous lizardman charged at her, to which her strongest body refinement acolyte answered by casting the spell [Earth Strength] and barely blocking the charge, the sound of the impact reverberating throughout the cave.

Meanwhile, Sheila eyed the [Acidic Breath] spell cast by her opponent. Not having knowledge of her opponents, she mistook the green cloud to the more common spell [Poisonous Cloud] along with her closest aide, a middle-aged woman who specialized in nature magic and possessed strong fist martial arts.

This was a terrifying mistake, as they dived straight into one of the most fearsome rank 0 spells, one that was unique to the Longlost bloodline heirs.

Fortunately, she was quick enough to realise the danger as her right arm screamed in pain. retracting her arm and dropping the ice dagger in her hand, she rolled on the floor and narrowly dodged a sure death.

Her aide was not so lucky, and realized her mistake too late, the momentum of her charge being the end of her.

*ARGH*

In a matter of seconds, her skin melted and her screams died out. She had died.

However, Orianna did not stop here and charged with daggers. 

As she lost her balance and her right arm crippled in pain, Sheila could only block with her left arm. Years of experience on the battlefield, however, allowed her to deflect Orianna's assault, and kick her in the chest, creating some distance. Without pause, she immediately cast her strongest spell : [Icicle].

[Icicle]

Unfortunately, the spell missed the mark, and only hit Orianna's shoulder. Sheila grinned and cast a second spell.

[Icicle]

Before she could finish the incantation, however, Orianna had thrown her two daggers, forcing Sheila to cancel her incantation and attempt to dodge. One dagger still hit Sheila's thigh, crippling her movements. Without pause, Sheila attempted a third spell.

[Icicle]

However, a huge mass intercepted the deadly spell.

*BOOM*

The ice enchanted shield of Jorg saved Orianna from a sure death.

"What?", Sheila muttered as she looked at Arthur, her strongest body refinement acolyte. However, instead of the tall and bulky subordinate defeating Jorg, all that remained was a headless corpse. Seeing blood on the massive hammer wielded by the lizardman, it did not take long for Sheila to understand that a third of her subordinate had died.