Faust galloped a little closer to have a better look at the battlefield. Everyone, including his father and Lord Saltray, was fighting the weird fishmen horde.
The Overlord had sent its minions, but it was still in the water. The Duke and other lords were keeping a close eye on it while cleaving through the green monstrosities.
Infusers, like his father, brother, Jonos, and Lord Velentine, had their swords glowing with various colors reflecting their essence. Their bodies were also enhanced, but unless it surpassed a certain threshold, it wouldn’t show outward like their glowing swords.
Beginner infusers trained for years to strengthen their weapons as if they were part of their body. Making something part of themselves by infusing essence made the weapon far deadlier than it initially was. The books said it also gave a level of control over a weapon that ordinary humans could never achieve, no matter how much they trained in the ways of swordsmanship.
Channelers like Lord Godfrey and several others instead relied on concoctions made by themselves. A potion for strength, a potion for enhanced senses, etc. They were the most versatile of fighters. They used essence tools and spells to set up traps or attack head-on, used potions to enhance themselves on the level of infusers, and fought with weapons if that was their style.
Most channelers preferred not to sully their own hands and just launch supportive and aggressive spells from backlines. But essence was a huge limitation for them; also, each spell left lasting damage to the channelers even if it was well within their limits.
Lord Godfrey was the type to fight on the frontline with a sword in hand. He did not miss the chance to incinerate a large group of fishmen if they were grouped together or were too much to handle for normal soldiers.
The most amusing was Lord Saltray himself. The man had enough strength to cleave the green creatures in half or send them stumbling back with a single kick; the kick was so damaging that the creatures never got up afterward.
When the horde of creatures only had half the numbers still fighting with barely a couple of casualties, the Overlord finally stirred. It released a loud cry. The creatures immediately tried to return to the sea, but Augustine had followed the Duke’s plan perfectly and circled the enemy, trapping them inside where attacks flew from all sides.
The Overlord released an annoying roar and finally came ashore. It was a terrifying sight.
Almost ten feet high, with deep purple skin, a head like a human’s, but six bright yellow eyes and monstrously large and sharp teeth, six massive arms, and a large, hard shell below which released four enormous crab-like feet. Two of his arms were giant crab-like as well, and a massive scorpion tail, the tip of which was deadly sharp and reflected in sunlight, dripping with dangerous purple liquid.
Needless to say, it wasn’t something you would find in a children’s book.
Advancing near its minions with terrifying speed, the beast unleashed a powerful shockwave. Meters from crashing into the battlefield, his father pushed the group of fishmen aside and turned back. Jonos and other knights guarded his back as the Duke’s whole body burned brightly with azure flames. His eyes turned milky white, pupil-less.
The Duke’s figure moved so fast Faust could not follow with his eyes. A moment later, five massive, blinding blue-white horizontal arcs flew towards the Overlord. They cut through the invisible shockwave as if it were tangible and were about to slam into the beast. But the Overlord pushed his crab-arms and giant tail forward, tanking the attack like it was merely a strong gust of wind.
"Augustine! Keep them busy!"
The Duke shouted and started running towards the beast. Jonos was on his left, Lord Velentine on the right. Lord Godfrey and Saltray were just a step behind the three.
Faust galloped forward as well but pulled the reins of his horse around two hundred meters away from the Overlord to the side. The Duke spared him a glance but said nothing. The beast also turned its head slightly and stared at Faust as if sensing him for the first time, but then it ignored him, probably looking down on him due to his rank.
The bodies of two frontrunners beside his father burned bright with hues of gold and red. Lord Godfray, behind them, started chanting loudly as he ran. Lord Saltray made the most decisive move and jumped high in the air, using his terrifying super-strength, and blocked the beast’s retreating path by standing between the sea and the Overlord with sword in hand.
His father, Jonos, and Velentine engaged the beast, Godfray still chanting.
The swordsmen sent several bright arcs targeting the joints of its crab-arms, but the Overlord simply tanked them with its hard shell and massive crab arms. When it started swinging at the tiny humans, Jonos barely dodged to the side. The Duke recovered fast and started hacking away at the crab arm buried in the sand that the beast used to attack, but even with an enhanced Tyrant body and an essence-infused weapon, the Duke could only leave behind shallow cuts and nothing more.
Then he jumped back several times, maintaining distance from the beast’s reach, and shouted,
"Arms are infused with essence! It’s an Infuser type!"
Faust’s ears perked up. Infuser type Overlord. That was both good news and bad news. It meant there wouldn’t be any strange abilities other than that shockwave. But it also meant its body was infused with powerful essence, damaging which was a tall task.
Suddenly, Lord Saltray jumped high and landed on the beast’s wide shoulder. Before the terrifying muscular arms came for him, the man left several cuts on the flesh of the beast and jumped away. When the enraged beast turned towards Lord Saltray, the Duke, Jonos, and Velentine attacked together, hacking away the enormous tail of the Overlord.
It wasn’t fully severed, but the cut was deep enough that the tail began bleeding deep green blood, and the beast had visible difficulty maneuvering it. The point where the tail connected to the beast’s flesh under the shell was its weakest part.
All attackers backed away suddenly as a shivering cold enveloped the dark shore. A moment later, Lord Godfray released a superfast white wind that started enveloping the beast in hard ice from the point of impact.
"Faust!" His father shouted.
Faust was already riding at full speed towards them since Godfray stopped chanting.