Endless Horde: Through the Eyes of a Godking

Chapter 188: Sacrifice and Rescue

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It started off small and weak.

Before the marching army of the undead and the dark corruption within the surroundings, it wasn't much. It even gave off the impression that it would be snuffed out soon.

However, despite how small and weak it was, the darkness around it flinched in fear.

When Archlich saw this, it tried to stop Cedric because its instincts were greatly alarmed. It could feel a severe threat upon looking at the growing orb of fire.

It pointed its bony fingers to Cedric. A large, pitch-black orb of compressed death energy appeared out of nowhere. The Archlich compressed this energy even more into the size of a tennis ball that hovered before its fingers.

Pieces of rubble rose due to the sheer power emanating from the orb. Then, the Archlich fired it as a focused beam of death heading towards Cedric.

The target didn't move an inch from his spot. His eyes remained closed in concentration and his entire being was focused on his task. Some would even say that he didn't notice the incoming attack. Whether that's true or not, doesn't matter because Cedric wasn't fighting alone.

Pshew!

As the beam streaked through the air and closed in on Cedric, a figure appeared in between with a raised shield.

"RAAAAGHHH!!"

Clang!

With a mighty roar and a swing of his shield, this person used his entire strength to deflect the beam away from Cedric, keeping all of them safe.

Boom!

The beam landed somewhere far away, causing massive destruction. The aftershocks were immediately felt but none of that mattered.

As for the person who defended Cedric, his arms shook fiercely due to the sheer weight of the blow. His face paled and his heart thumped fiercely on his chest.

For a moment there, when his shield made contact with the beam of death energy, this person felt like he would actually die. However, through sheer grit and resolve, he managed to deflect that attack. That's the most dangerous attack he ever received, and he lived through it.

He didn't particularly understand why he placed himself in that position. His body just moved on its own. He probably couldn't do that again soon but right now, he sure as hell feels like he could.

After this momentary distraction, this person's eyes hardened with resolve. Despite having a brief meeting with death, he didn't move from his spot. He stationed himself in between the praying Cedric and the Archlich.

No words were uttered, everyone could tell just what he's resolved to do.

It wasn't just him either, this goes for the entire squad.

They surrounded Cedric, placing themselves between him and the dangers trying to get him. Their safety wasn't the priority anymore, it was to allow Cedric to do whatever he was doing.

While Cedric was focused on his task and didn't see this with his eyes, he could feel it. Their presence protectively was around him. He couldn't help but grin a little at the sensation.

Cedric's Ki rolled off in waves, feeding into the glowing orb of fire above him.

Within just a minute after its appearance, it already doubled in size and the more time passed, the bigger it got.

It truly was akin to a miniature sun. Not only did it provide comfortable warmth to his teammates, but it also illuminated the surroundings, relieving the darkness that had steeped deeply into this environment.

Whatever the heat and light touches, corruption screeched as if meeting its deadly counterpart.

This growing ball of fire contained Cedric's Ki - vigorous, pure, and unyielding. It also contained his insights into Sword Laws and just now...insights into Fire Laws.

The ?Aspect of Sun? slumbering deep within Cedric's soul was stirred awake. I siphoned some of Cedric's ki and converted it into Sun and Yang-attribute energy that has been fed to the growing ball of fire.

If Cedric was using his ?Sage Arts? here, this ball of fire would've turned into a true golden sun - not as large as the real one but just as deadly to demons. However, even though they're facing a crisis, Cedric knows that he can't use this just yet.

Still, what little help his aspect did was more than enough.

The Undead Phalanxes were practically unable to move. Since they're on the frontlines, they face the full brunt of Cedric's sun.

Its heat and light were deadly to them, yet it also brought salvation. The thing about the Undead Phalanxes is that, even though all of them were undead, a few of them used to be human.

They met an unfortunate end out here in the Black Lands and their remains were desecrated by the Archlich and their souls enslaved. They never wanted to be a part of this.

Because of their origins, the light of Cedric's sun; though still harmful to them since they turned into undead creatures, was also their saving grace. It burned their rotting flesh into nothingness and released them from the Archlich's enslavement. It also sent them to the afterlife in peace, where the malevolent grip of the Archlich couldn't reach.

Just from the light and heat alone, a few of the Undead Phalanx already collapsed. Even after they exploded into groaning and miserable undead, the sun just incinerated them to nothingness.

The Archlich snarled in anger seeing this. It tried numerous ways to stop and kill Cedric because that would solve the main problem, but the man was surrounded by fearsome protectors who were willing to lay down their lives if it meant Cedric remained safe.

Cedric's sun grew bigger and bigger. It also started rising to the skies. The temperature it released climbed up rapidly and its light burned with more intensity.

At this point, it could be seen from a mile away. Even its warmth could be felt from that distance.

The sheer intensity of the sun caused the Archlich to recoil in fear. At this point, the Archlich has sent all of its minions in an attempt to stop Cedric but he still remains safe behind his protectors.

It was frustrating how helpless the situation seemed. Moreover, the heat and light of the sun had been eroding at the Archlich too. It released multiple layers of protection to keep it at bay. However, the longer this fight went, the stronger the sun got.

The Archlich could feel the hear scalding its body despite the layers of protection it raised. This meant that his spells were starting to lose their effect. Soon, they will be melted by the sheer heat of the sun, and at that point, the Archlich will undoubtedly die.

When its thoughts reached this point, the Archlich finally showed some semblance of fear.

If there's anything that the Archlich feared the most, it would be the idea of dying. No 'Archlich' will reach their current state if they want to die. Their ultimate goal was immortality by hook or by crook. They wielded the power of death in hopes of putting it under their heel so that they wouldn't be affected by it.

Seeing as this was a hopeless case and realizing that it might die here, the Archlich immediately started retreating.

"Shit! It's retreating!" One of Cedric's squadmates exclaimed.

"Don't let it! It's gonna call for backup!"

"I'm sorry, I can't! I'm all out of juice!"

"Shit, me too! Anyone?"

"Sorry, I barely have the energy to stand. I'm just faking it now."

Unwilling. Cedric's squad mates were unwilling to let this son of bitch goes. How was this okay? This thing came here and threatened their lives, it exhausted them to near death and when it couldn't find any avenue of winning it would just escape? Just like that? How is that okay?

Sadly, Cedric's team were far too exhausted. Even if their wills burned bright their bodies could hardly remain standing. They endured the relentless assault of the Archlich's undead minions and were severely spent.

"Cheers, loves! The cavalry's 'ere!"

That's when they heard someone cheerfully announcing their presence nearby. They looked over and saw a man with raven black hair holding a pair of silver daggers.

He threw it in the air and weaved a string of hand seals. As soon as the silver dagger landed on the ground, a few more people appeared.

One of them was a bald guy who was about 7 feet tall. He had a poleaxe and shield, clad in heavy silver armor.

"Relax, boys and girls. My name is Elric and this is my team. We're from the Outer World Expedition Team but more importantly, we are also Senior Students of the Starlight Royal Academy."

"You all have suffered enough. It's okay, you can rest now. We'll take it from here." Elric gently told them.

Then, his countenance changed when he peered at the fleeing Archlich. He clenched his jaws and barked:

"Francis, Floyd, Darwin, Erica. Deal with that thing. Make it painful."

"Yes, Captain!" The four people he called out immediately moved to execute his order. As for Elric, he stationed himself protectively in front of Squad #1, who all collapsed in relief after knowing who they were.

As for Erica, she released a brilliant white light that cured the squad's fatigue and healed their injuries. She then fearlessly knelt down in front of Cedric who was still maintaining the sun and whispered:

"Hey." She whispered tenderly as she caressed his face, feeling hurt upon seeing the visible exhaustion on Cedric's face.

"It's okay, we're here, you can let go now. You did very well, you're all safe now. Leave it to us, yeah?"

Cedric opened his eyes and raised his head. He gave Erica a charming smile and uttered:

"Hi."

Before fainting due to severe exhaustion.