53. Vice Commander
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A giant made of orange lightning came out of the ground while holding Ladros between its palms.
'Woah, his magic is really incredible. As long as he can paint it truly, he could manifest anything, though I bet there are some constraints; otherwise, he would have been invincible,' Akeru thought while closing the distance.
Due to his immobility, Ladros wasn't able to escape the barrage of spatial spheres hitting him.
However, at the last second, he released a lot of mana neutralizing all those spatial spells.
Ladros started sucking mana from the electric giant as he got electrocuted.
'I need to es—' "Aahhhh" Ladros groaned in pain as he found himself unable to move his fingers.
It was due to one familiar appendage cut from his body.
"You really whine a lot. You should learn from your senior; even when I took out his heart, he didn't moan like a kid," Akeru said while cutting off both of his legs.
He promptly cut all three appendages.
In the next instant, a lot of lasers came out of his body, but those were all useless as Langris put a spatial claw covering most of Ladros' form.
The claw shielded the trio from the lasers, who were currently standing near his restrained form on the ground with an orange giant holding him with both of his hands.
'He will run out of mana first. We have to find a way to stop him before that happens,' Akeru noted as he thought about what to do.
"Should we just kill him? It's too troublesome to restrain him as he could absorb any mana we send at him," Akeru said out loud.
"I second that," Langris said in the next instant.
"You guys..." Rill was speechless at the nonchalance of their tone.
Like they were not discussing whether to sacrifice the life of a person but instead discussing what to eat for dinner.
"Let's call an expert on runes. They would be able to seal him probably."
"I do know a bit of Rune Arrays, though I am not sure how I will be able to seal a person who can absorb mana," Akeru said.
He had considered using that, but due to not having a concrete option, he had discarded that possibility.
"Cover me," Akeru said while in the next instant, his eyes went unfocused.
'Still Spectator'
The world disappeared for him, and he was fully focused on thinking about solutions to seal Ladros.
Normally, this state for a prolonged period is dangerous, and Akeru generally uses it for short periods multiple times throughout the battle while changing his focus between his target and surroundings in just one session.
He had taken that encounter with John as his life lesson about how fickle his life was.
Then again, it was idiotic for him to use Still Spectator directly without using Seraph's shell at that time.
Anyway, even if somebody could break his current Seraph's shell, he had belief in Rill that he wouldn't let him die.
It took Akeru nearly 5 minutes to devise a solution.
"I am done," Akeru said while creating a magic circle, which in the next instant directly got engraved on Ladros' face.
It took a few minutes as Ladros' body was releasing a lot of mana lasers, which he had to account for while engraving.
Ladros was also trying to resist, but due to the pain and two of Akeru's allies, he was finally able to seal his reserves.
"This spell should drain him of his magic while using that magic to restrain him," Akeru said out loud.
"Won't that kill him when he runs out of mana?" Rill asked, concerned.
They required him as a live prisoner for possible future negotiations.
"No, at that time, whatever extra mana this array had gotten from him would be used to keep him trapped for a certain period, which I think would be at least nearly a week, though regular observation would still be required."
"Good job," Rill nodded and sighed in relief.
Being the youngest captain came with its own problems and expectations.
"They escaped... Should I chase those guys?" Akeru asked, pointing towards the Diamond Kingdom's army which had covered a huge distance due to the 5-minute time gap it took to seal Ladros.
"No, it would take too much time as they would have dispersed in many directions. It's not even worth the effort; just having this guy is enough," Rill said while heading towards the army.
Akeru and Langris followed him while the orange giant carried the immobile body of Ladros.
Due to engraving that array on his body, he had lost consciousness.
"It's really surprising that a talent like you is in Black Bulls," Langris initiated the conversation.
"Well, I couldn't be bothered to create my own magic squad, and Captain Yami did guide me a bit a few years ago, so here we are," Akeru shrugged.
"Though, should I feel honoured that the Vice-Captain of the current best squad is trying to recruit me?" Akeru asked with a playful smile.
"Aren't you putting yourself in high regard by thinking that I will actually ask you to join?" Langris replied in a similar tone.
Their conversation was interrupted as Rill started speaking in an amplified voice.
'That lady, she had some form of Voice-related magic,' Akeru thought while looking at the Golden Dawn member standing beside Rill.
"I applaud all of your contributions to fight off those invaders who tried to think they could pass through our kingdom," Rill started in a loud voice.
'I hope I am saying the right words,' Rill hoped in his heart.
It was his first time being appointed commander of an army since he was appointed as a captain, so it was naturally nerve-wracking for him.
"Young master has really grown up."
Akeru saw a man in a butler outfit wiping away his tears with a handkerchief.
'...'
"I would like you to declare to everyone that with the help of our Vice-Commander Langris and our newly arrived Vice-Commander Akeru, we not only killed one of the enemy commanders, Ragus but also captured the other enemy commander, Ladros."
Though some people had already guessed that one of the commanders had fallen, most were unaware, so they were shocked by this news.
They were also not aware that they now had one more vice-commander.
'I am a vice-commander? That does make sense, but I didn't think that things would be logical when the egos of nobles are involved,' Akeru was also baffled at his position.
'Though, I don't know all the positions in the army. This should be the highest position next to Rill,' Akeru internally hummed as he thought about the pros and cons of this position.
Rill had actually made this decision in a split second. He initially had a plan to appoint Akeru as a general, as his direct appointment to vice-commander would have been problematic.
However, Akeru's performance in the battle and his contributions would help Rill justify his actions later when somebody protests his decision.
"Those who are able, start transporting the leftover prisoners to their cells. The rest could go get themselves healed and wait for the next orders." With that, Rill finished his speech.
It was brief and pointed.
'I think I did a good job.'
"Commander, do you want me to heal everyone? I have an area-of-effect spell that could heal mostly everyone, though they would still have to get checked by doctors for infections and all. It would reduce the burden," Akeru said suddenly.
"Call me Rill. No need for formalities, and yes, please. That would be really helpful at this moment."
Akeru nodded and in the next instant appeared at the centre of the battlefield.
It startled the knights nearby; one even stumbled back and fell on his bottom.
'Though I haven't used this spell with so many people, I should be able to do it. Time to break my limits,' Akeru showed a glint in his eyes while ignoring the fallen knight.
'Bystander's Magic: Still Spectator'
In Akeru's eyes, all the information about everyone—specifically their injuries—started getting filled in his head.
He started grouping all the individuals according to their distance from him and the extent of their injuries, both collectively and separately.
Like a computer that would have solved this problem with some algorithms, Akeru started finding the most optimal path to heal people in the most efficient manner.
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