Ajax was easily a couple of miles away from Aurexion and could do nothing but watch as his bond was knocked out of the sky, he wasn’t all that worried about his landing since he was barely a few hundred feet above the ground and Aurexion was more than durable that it wouldn’t cause more than a few bruises.
The reason Ajax was worried however was that he felt nothing through the bond. So far in the war nothing had done more than scratched Aurexion a few times but in the dungeon he’d had a front row seat to what Aurexion actually getting hurt felt like, especially when he faced the ifrit and got scorched he could feel the agony through their bond. But now there was nothing, Ajax could tell Aurexion wasn’t dead since the bond would have severed in that case but that one blow was enough to knock Aurexion unconscious.
The time for holding back was over and Ajax now had a real score to settle. He knew that this was a war and that people were dying. His time living in this world however had made death a more regular part of life, he saw it as more common for people he didn’t know to die. Aurexion being injured like that however flipped a switch for Ajax, there was no reason to hold back anymore.
Despite the fury coursing through his veins he took a final glance around himself to make sure he wasn’t leaving Aranor exposed and vulnerable after casting such a powerful spell. Once he saw that Aranor was only breathing a little heavily but could still cast in case someone made a move on him he started dashing straight towards Aurexion.
Ajax’s eyes were locked on the king and the falling body of Aurexion. He didn’t have a perfect view of what was going on but from how it looked Ajax could guess that using Space took a lot more out of the wielder than using Wind and the king was regaining his own breath. This meant that Ajax had time to close the distance before he used [Absolute Body Enhancement], as soon as he activated the boost he would be on a short timer.
Despite the pressure casting such a powerful spell had exerted on his body Aranor was quick to react, since he hadn’t been distracted by his own spell after it was finished like everyone else on the battlefield he had also gotten a clear view of what happened to Aurexion and instantly cast a follow up frozen mist spell around himself. His body and Mana channels protested being used moments after such a huge load but Aranor pushed through it in hopes of obscuring Ajax’s departure.
Even with Aranor’s efforts to obscure Ajax’s movements two people made a clear note of his charge towards the dragon. The high general of the beastkin and the prince of Gryndor who were locked in battle. The high general instantly made a move to disengage and regroup but he was quickly cut off.
“Looking to leave so soon.” The prince mocked with a smile. Aranor’s spell and now the added pressure of Ajax targeting the king put a lot of pressure on the high general, so much so that he took another deep cut, this one on the back of his thigh. The prince also electrified the blow and destroyed a few more runes on the high general’s armor. “Seems like I won’t get a chance to settle the score with the furry cyclops.”
The prince looked to push his advantage but was forced back as vines broke out from the ground around the high general giving him a moment to recover from the strike.
“I can handle myself, go protect the king.” The high general instantly growled his orders at the two aides, the same ones that had been with him when he extracted their own prince from facing Ajax.
Despite sending his support to help the king, the high general could only clench his teeth and continue his job. He couldn’t go back and help the king himself, if left unchecked Gryndor’s prince together with Aranor would clear the entire battlefield with another spell similar to the one that killed five champions moments before.
There were still plenty of champions there to help with his assault but now that he lost the two strongest of them his job just got a lot harder. This wasn’t helped by the fact that Aranor’s spell also had a devastating effect on the morale of their entire army.
“You should just surrender.” The prince said with a smile as he attacked once more. With the high general wounded and a number of his runes ineffective he finally had the upper hand in the one on one fight. Unfortunately he also knew that killing the high general wasn’t the ideal outcome for the war. “I doubt you have a way to win this war anymore, even if you do manage to retreat from this battle with most of your forces intact.”
“You think I would betray my king?” The high general spat back, he was happy enough to keep the conversation going as long as the rest of his forces were pressuring the elven mage and not letting him prepare another devastating spell.
“There is a difference between betrayal and blind loyalty.” The prince argued back as he moved on the offensive once more, while killing his opponent wouldn’t be ideal, capturing him was the best case scenario so he pushed on while keeping the conversation going. “After all this there is no way ‘your king’ survives, he is just a walking dead man at this point. You have to see this war is over.”
“This war didn’t go the way I would have wanted it to go, that much is true.” The high general growled as he spit some blood to the side after another quick exchange of blows and spells. ‘But I wouldn’t count us out just yet.”
“You still think you have a chance?” The prince could feel the truth of the words as he heard them. “You can still say that after seeing Ajax and Aurexion fight? I know you probably haven’t been able to get a proper Inspect on Ajax but you should be able to tell Aurexion is only in the low eighties. What if Shadow is also here right now?”
The prince knew the peak champion wasn’t a part of this battle having moved to ensure the last battlefield also went their way but considering how stealthy Shadow was his presence could always be a threat in the early stages of a battle.
“That sneaky bastard would’ve joined the fight already, he cares too much about his fellow champions to let three of them be so badly injured, you almost lost two of them before they got extracted and taken back to the healers.” The high general spoke with confidence that showed the prince there was no point in bluffing about Shadow’s presence any more. “As for your new Duke and his bond I do have to admit we were truly caught by surprise. They’re already responsible for the deaths and capture of more than five champions during this war alone. But such strength also invites envy, more than that it also causes fear. Though I have to admit the cowards who do fear him aren’t the most reliable."
That was when everything clicked for the prince. The reason the beastkin were still fighting, why the high general didn’t see the war as a lost cause just yet. The reason he felt comfortable sending his aides to help the king fight Ajax. He bit back a curse and started fighting much harder knowing it was them that were on a timer to end this fight now.
Even without [Absolute Body Enhancement] Ajax was more than fast enough to cover the relatively small distance of a couple of miles in less than twenty seconds. In fact Aurexion hadn’t even landed before Ajax got close enough to use an Earth spell to soften the landing spot for his bond.
Aurexion’s landing in the soft dirt sent dust flying in every direction but Ajax couldn’t care less, on the up side the landing had managed to knock Aurexion awake though Ajax wasn’t sure how coherent his bond was right now.
“I got you buddy.” Ajax said as he used Life Mana to heal his bond, he wanted to make sure Aurexion’s head was fine since despite the thick skull the attack had been powered by Space Mana and that could bypass such defenses. “You just rest.”
Ajax let out a sigh of relief after a few moments, there had been a bit of damage, a few burst blood vessels and some swelling but all of that didn’t take much for him to heal. “So you’re finally showing yourself.”
The king with his hammer over his shoulder was slowly gliding to the ground, an enchantment on his cloak to help him be more manoeuvrable in the air Ajax guessed looking at it.
“You’ve got my attention now.” Ajax said as he finally activated [Absolute Body Enhancement]. “If you’re as strong as you think you are, you might even live long enough to regret it for a few moments.”