NOVEL SIMPLE Chapter-136 Control
Orange protected him and Ewan took the support role, away from the vanguards.
Phantasm!
He used the ‘Moonkeeper’ and cast the spell, failed, then cast again, sapping almost all of the stored Mystic-Anima in it. The spell circuit glimmered, the Anima brought it to life with a throb, and its effect rippled around Ewan. As Frost came out of Dekoth, his figure twisted and flickered, and he became an ivory-furred monkey of the same size as Orange, keeping his howl smothered. Ewan was familiar with the species, so he chose an Ice Monkey’s image for Frost. This was his way of exerting all his prowess while also confirming the limits of <Phantasm>.
His extended Ryvia picked no unusual actions, no surprise, and not a hint of curiosity towards Frost. He was just an Ice Monkey on the field, a common Astylind that many Severynths had, and everyone around him accepted that. And so, he acted his role and began his support.
Ice Wall!
Ewan cast it again and again and created defensive walls for the Ashevas on the frontline as a barrage of fireballs slammed against them. The walls stood tall against the salvo for a few rounds, the reverberating explosions shaking the earth, then shattered into wet shards, giving the Ashevas enough time to evade or defend. Ewan blocked the heatwave with his Ryvia and his Varos and readied another spell.
Frost joined Orange and stood guard—he was responsible for any ground attacks while Orange watched the skies.
Rekindle!
Ewan targeted the weary and sapped militia, one by one, and cast his blood-element spell. The slouched shoulders straightened, the trembling legs toughened, their broken breaths came back, and they regained the color on their faces. The spell invigorated their spine. And with a war cry, they joined the fight again.
Guns and rifles rained fire, yet a powerful Ryvia stood in its way, it’s might beyond what Ewan could achieve—it was from a Step-1 Asheva. Ewan glanced around but found no source. Even so, the stray bullets and the indiscriminate attacks reaped many lives, the primitive militia helpless against them, even with the makeshift cover.
The Kyrons fought their own fight, the Ashevas had their own.
Fireballs, icicles, thunderbolts, earth bullets, all sorts of spells hailed upon them. The mayhem was deafening, the ground quaked. Each scream, each wail, represented another life lost. The smell of iron became the sign of death, and the chaos muddled the rationality.
The deaths painted the plaza bloody, its image overlapped with all the carnage he’d seen before. Even when he experienced it a few times, the brutality of war was still overwhelming him, and the hypocrisy of his thoughts made it worse—he’d just taken ten helpless lives for the sacrifice….
“Ewan!!” Kiev yelled and broke his reflection. His Earth Fox had a gash running down his back as it lay withered, its flaxen-colored fur stained with its own blood.
Iris!
She strutted out of Dekoth, the faint blood halo lingering around her as drops of blood played on her petals, and she raised her root to use Mend. The Blood-Anima danced on the fox and with a flickering magic circle beneath it; its gash closed at a visible rate. Its eyes regained life and a weak growl escaped him, blowing the dust away.
“Take it back and let it rest, it should be fine,” Ewan said to Kiev through Ryvia.
Kiev heaved a sigh of relief and nodded, moving back to Ewan’s line, commanding the Ashevas’ formation from there.
“Kiev!!!” A man yelled from outside the plaza, his voice breaking towards the later part of his long shout. Ewan and Kiev both looked over—it was Avis. “The docks!!” He yelled again.
Ewan raised his brows. Were they attacking from the ocean too? This incursion gave him a bad smell, the smell of something cooking beneath it.
“Shit!” Kiev uttered. “Ewan, I’ll go to the docks. Can you handle here?” he asked.
Ewan frowned and glanced at the militia and the Ashevas on their side. Some were familiar to him, but most were strangers. How could he command them like that? They wouldn’t even listen.
“I’ll leave Lance here, he’ll help you,” Kiev said and bolted towards the pier with Avis.
I didn’t even reply yet…
“Sir!” Lance, the burly guard who came to Ewan’s villa often to pass messages, marched over, and saluted him with a fist at his heart, a chunk of his babyface stained red. Dripping blood left traces on his chromed breastplate and pieces of muscles and organs slid down his sword. He wasn’t an Asheva, so melee was his only option.
“You handle their formation, I’ll handle the support,” Ewan said. “Can you do it?”
“Yes, sir. But they….” He glanced at the foreign Ashevas.
They had a strong sense of individuality and wouldn’t fight in a formation easily—Ewan was the same so he could relate. Not to mention they never trained for it either….
“You handle your own people and the militia, leave the others to me,” Ewan said. He couldn’t command them, they wouldn’t listen even if he tried, so he could only control them through his actions.
Stigma: Negative!
He used the ‘Moonkeeper’ and cast a mystic-element spell, targeting all the foreign Ashevas and their Astylinds. It was a marking spell, so the cost of Anima was low, enough to cast dozens of times without emptying the now restocked ‘Moonkeeper’. When the spell marked the last one with a negative stigma, Ewan moved on to the next part.
Blood Stasis!
It was an area-of-effect spell yet didn’t affect the field, it picked its target in the range instead. So, with the Blood-Anima permeating the traced spell circuit, Ewan targeted an area around the Ashevas and cast it. Blood-red threads swam around, and the ground adopted a crimson tint. Soon the unmarked in the area slowed down, their eyes muddled, and they ignored the attacks. The stronger Ashevas and Astylinds resisted the spell’s effect and defended against the attacks while the weakest ones died from heart failure.
Some of the foreign Ashevas looked back at the source of the spell—Ewan—when the battles became easy while the others used the chance to kill as many they could.
“Fight to your heart’s content,” Ewan murmured. “I’ll support you as much as I can.”
In return, let me control you.
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