New Eden: Live to Play, Play to Live

Chapter 1000: Messy Backline, A Battle Ending

Giving one last glance at the withering kobold, Shegror pulled back into Alexander's mind, relinquishing control and becoming just a power source, and sighed loudly, sounding tired.

'There. I've done my part. Now, you do what you want with what's left of my power here; I'm going to take a nap,' she said, pulling further back.

Alex looked at the kobold with a pity-filled gaze.

"You poor bastard. At least, I would have given you a battle-worthy death..." he murmured.

But he had no time to stick around and waste time on an already dying foe. Turning his head toward the cavern's entrance, he could see the glow of Kary's flame getting deeper into the tunnels.

"They're getting pushed back. I guess it's time to help them out before they exhaust themselves."

Getting tired of seeing nothing in this darkness-filled cavern, Alex thought he could meld with a companion he hadn't used in a while.

'Morpheus. Care to join this battle?' he asked inside his mind.

A jovial screech responded to his words, and he felt Morpheus' presence well inside his soul, ready to meld at any time.

Reaching out to it, Alex felt his power spike again.

His sight completely darkened, making him virtually blind, but short-range pulses of mana started blasting off him continuously, lighting up his mind with imagery echoes.

"Man, I'll never truly get used to seeing like this..." Alex muttered to himself as the cave lit up in his head like a white scenery of contours and stop-motion shapes.

But he was used to it enough to fight, and so he got to it.

Rushing to the army's already thinned back line; Alexander started wreaking havoc in the ranged units that remained, who spun their attention to the new threat as they growled and screeched in rage, turning their bows at him.

Seeing this change from their perches, Jin-Sil, Aapo, and Killian immediately turned their heads to the main unit, their help best used to relieve the pressure off Winston. He had maintained an admirable defence up on the front like this, but enemies were quickly pushing him back.

It would have been a question of time before they bypassed his defence and the undead and made their way into the backline.

Jin-Sil looked down at Kary in between two shots, shouting, "The cavalry has arrived! Switching ranged focus on the enemy frontline!"

Kary, whose focus had been on tracking every spell fired from her allies, to ensure she knew who would have the lowest mana reserves before the end of combat, felt relief wash over her at the news.

Alex had rarely taken this long to kill an enemy outside New Eden, where the boss monsters' hp level was much higher, and it had worried her.

But with him now inside the enemy backline, she could relax.

She spun her head toward David and Violette, who she knew had mana lobes, and barked an order.

"You two switch gears! Full offensive!"

Then she turned to the others, looking at them with knowing eyes. She could see heavy beads of sweat on the casters' foreheads, and she knew they were already getting tired.

"Lower your casting rate. Only fire at enemies that push against Winston. Tighten his defensive line for him. You've done enough for now; take a breather," she told them, taking that advice herself.

She still didn't have a mana lobe, and even with the higher density of mana in this cavern, her mana reserves were taking a hit from all the spells she had already cast.

If she didn't slow down, she could tell she would suffer mana exhaustion far before reaching the end of this damned dungeon, wherever that may be.

The barrage of spells flying over Winston's head suddenly lost most of its diversity as arrows and bullets whizzed past his ears, taking out enemies trying to pincer him. He could tell a change had happened, but was too preoccupied to turn and ask what or see for himself. But the change of pace allowed him to catch his breath, finally, and Winston welcomed it. Minutes flowed by fast, the tide of this battle reversing like the recession of the ocean come high noon, and before they knew it, it was over, the last kobold falling to Alexander's sword through its back, the kobold gurgling on its own blood before the light vanished from its eyes. Winston fell to his ass, panting heavily as heavy beads of sweat dribbled down his temples and onto the ground between his legs.

"Whooo! About time you made it, Leader. I thought for sure we were going to exhaust ourselves to death here," Winston joked, feeling like he had held the weight of the world on his shoulders like Atlas.

"Sorry it took so long for me to help, kiddo. That warrior was no joke," Alex replied, chuckling lightly.

Undoing the meld with Morpheus, Alex glanced over the party as the leathery wings on his back folded back into his form and his skin took back its usual tanned colour instead of the pitch black it was right now.

Apart from David, Violette, and the three ranged attackers who used almost no mana, the rest of them looked like they had just run a marathon, their bodies covered in sweat and their faces showing clear signs of exhaustion.

They hadn't yet crossed the cusp of mana exhaustion, but he could tell they were mostly teetering on it, including Kary.

Sighing loudly, he opened his mouth to speak.

"Before we push further into this dungeon, even if it is a risk, we must do something about your mana reserves. David, what do you think? Is the mana in here dense enough to have them form their mana cores if I help with Aether?" he asked, turning to the necromancer.

David took a second to think, feeling the mana density with his senses, and shrugged.

"I don't see why it wouldn't work. But I have to say. It's not just risky. We'll have no one ready to defend us for a while during that time, aside from me and Violette. Do you think it's wise to use that time here?"

Alex looked at Killian, Jin-Sil, and Aapo before looking back at David.

"If I finish with those three, they can defend in the meantime if something happens. We really need to mana capacity. Fighting like this is no way to proceed into a true dungeon. Someone will end up collapsing mid-fight, and we'll take casualties," he replied.

"Is that okay with you three?" he asked, looking back at them again.

The three of them nodded, and Alex smiled.

"Then, let's get to it!" he exclaimed, clapping his hands.

They needed to do this as fast as possible to ensure their safety.

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