Yarra’s Adventure Notes
Chapter 1198 - 310: Melee

Chapter 1198: Chapter 310: Melee

If Catherine had been in control of the crystal energy cannon, then when unexpected personnel entered the battlefield, unless they were too close to control, she would have demanded that the other party maintain a safe distance until it was confirmed that they had hostile intentions before opening fire to avoid mistakenly injuring innocents. However, Freya was different; although she and Catherine seemed very similar in many ways, at their core, they were completely different. It could even be said that, often, her heart was fundamentally different from that of other girls. She had a side to herself that was uniquely her own, a side that veered toward darkness.

For the princess, any non-friendly creatures appearing on the battlefield were considered enemies, no matter what their intentions were. Since they dared to suddenly intrude into the battlefield, they should be prepared to be attacked by both sides. Whether or not the other party genuinely had hostile intentions was utterly irrelevant; after all, dead people no longer hold any hostility.

Thus, when several creatures exuding a strong aura of the Power of Death suddenly burst through the temple’s door, the princess’s crystal energy cannon immediately turned its barrel and blasted at the intruders. Catherine had not even managed to stop it before the intruders were engulfed under the cannon’s fire, with a broad explosion sweeping over all the unfamiliar beings near the entrance, missing none of the intruders. When the dispersing inflammation cleared, the girls saw that those who had burst in through the door were six Undead, specifically six skeletons.

The strength of the six skeletons was very formidable, with the leaders being two Demigod Rank Undead, followed by four Legendary Rank ones. In the current situation, this composition was the strongest force.

The moment the girls saw these six skeletons, the first thing they remembered was the skeleton in the previous expedition camp that reminded them by launching a sneak attack; although it was hard to discern these skeletons’ appearances and identities, they couldn’t rule out the possibility that that skeleton was among these six. The second memory that came to them was the complaint of the Thunder Element, who had to leave their homeland due to the disruption by the six skeletons. Numerically, the two parties coincided, and if this were a coincidence, it seemed far too contrived.

However, in these two associations, neither seemed to truly denote a hostile relationship. If their previous assumptions were correct, the other party could even be considered allies. But now, it was meaningless to consider these things, because although they could not clearly see the state of their Soul Fire from several hundred meters away, the suddenly swelling Power of Death emanating from them seemed to be provoked by the unexpected cannon fire. They emitted a silent roar in the direction of the girls, and one of the Skeleton Mages immediately retaliated using magic against the girls.

The Divine Servant’s ghouls and Skeleton Mages were clearly also bewildered by the appearance of the six skeletons, seemingly completely unprepared. However, seeing the girls and skeletons exchanging long-range attacks from a distance, the Divine Servant’s commander was very pleased. He even commanded his troops to clear a path for the advancing skeletons. In his mind, if he could use this group of inexplicably appearing skeletons to eliminate these troublesome girls, that would be the best outcome.

However, to his disappointment, even though the skeletons were enraged, they did not only target the girls, his troops were also in the skeletons’ line of attack. At least the last Skeleton Mage, casting spells, did not only attack the girls but also covered his troops as well.

As for the girls, realizing they might have made a mistake, it was too late for regrets. Facing the enemy’s long-range attacks, Catherine managed to block some with her shield, but obviously, this defense could not last long. Thus, Vivian could only retaliate with magic, leading to more magical attacks, and under this vicious cycle, the four still conscious girls had no choice but to fully engage in this bizarre melee combat.

Thus, the situation became very interesting, with every faction attacking each other, and each cooperating with one to attack another. One moment, the girls and the Divine Servant’s troops collectively forced back the skeletons. The next moment, the girls turned to sandwich the Divine Servant’s troops with the skeletons, causing their numbers to reduce again. Shortly after, the Divine Servant’s troops, cooperating with the skeletons, launched a counter-charge in the direction of the girls. No one knew when alliances would switch, or rather, besides one’s own members, everyone else was an enemy.

"Tsk, tsk, your experience really is exciting," Pannis smacked his lips and said, "Are you sure those Undead were led by two Demigod skeletons along with four Legendary Rank skeletons?"

"We are certain," Catherine nodded vigorously and said, "Moreover, I noticed that the two Demigod skeletons do indeed vary greatly in size, which matches what Ava mentioned about the attack forty years ago."

"Well, it seems you really have fallen into a needless fight," Pannis sighed and said, "But this is just a guess after all, no one can be sure that our conjecture is definitely correct. When it is difficult to distinguish friends from foes, indeed, the worst must be prepared for."

"Yes, that’s why I said, Freya, you actually didn’t do anything wrong," Catherine said, "It’s just that if the expression of vigilance could be a bit more... um, subtle, that would be better."

"But did you just keep fighting like that?" Pannis said with a bitter smile, "When they attacked the Divine Servant troops, didn’t you try to stop and show friendliness?"

"We simply couldn’t stop," Catherine said helplessly. "Not only were they advancing on us, but the Divine Servants were also entangled with them while pushing towards us. We had exchanged most of our tricks for the advantageous situation and couldn’t let the Divine Servants easily even things out, so we had to keep attacking to stop the Divine Servants from advancing. However, the six Skeleton Mages were entangled with the Divine Servants, and our attacks were bound to affect them as well."

"It’s not just that," Lina added. "At that time, those six Skeleton Mages were also very strong in their long-range strikes against us, and showed no signs of friendliness whatsoever. In fact, from the very beginning, they showed no signs of friendliness. Therefore, we definitely suspected that we might have guessed wrong, that they were an antagonistic third party. With that thought, we dared not stop, and later on, we increasingly focused our attention on them."

The girls were right; the scene was chaotic then, with no one trusting the other factions and no one daring to stop first. Stopping first would likely result in being eliminated by a coalition of the other two factions. Thus, Vivian’s Magical World once again demonstrated its power with a wide range of magic attacks furiously targeting the enemy.

This showed the strength of the Mage girls’ latest Array; the enemies were not only of Legendary Rank but also included Demigods, though they were Demigod Undeads. Even so, faced with the girls’ Magical World, they could only occasionally advance and then retreat, dodging the brunt of the magic.

However, even so, with the addition of the Demigods among the enemies, the Demigods’ strength was fundamentally different from that of ordinary Legendary Rank. Most non-area magic was casually blocked by them. After they joined the melee, the Divine Servants’ team, although still gradually losing members, could advance more easily than before, and soon they were once again at a dangerously close distance.

By then, the girls couldn’t just sit back and let them advance. Catherine in the front and Lina behind, both charged out from the barricaded position and truly joined the melee. Upon joining the battle, the two girls felt immense pressure. Although they tried to face the enemies only from the front, avoiding exposing their backs, even so, the 180-degree range of enemy attacks around them, especially those involving Demigods, led to increasing wounds on both girls. It could be said that the gruesome scenes that made Pannis frown were mostly caused during this phase.

However, while the girls’ efforts indeed effectively curbed the speed of the enemy’s approach, their involvement also made Freya’s firepower take caution, unable to bombard at full strength. Vivian was unaffected, having marked the girls’ will in advance. The two girls were meant to avoid being hurt by her wide-range offensive magic, which instead served as their cover, allowing them often to escape enemy attacks with the help of the range of the magic. It was also because of the protection of the magic that they didn’t perish in the melee; otherwise, given the injuries they sustained, their chances of survival would indeed have been slim.

"Okay, I understand," Pannis said after listening to Catherine’s recount, frowning and asking, "So how did you ultimately win? With the situation developing like that, you didn’t stand much chance, outnumbered by the Divine Servants, outpowered by the Skeletons, seemingly the weakest among the three factions."

"Well, the reason is hard to say," Catherine sighed and said, "As we pressed forward, fewer and fewer Divine Servants were left, until only seven ghouls remained. They gathered together, preparing to break through our defenses in one go, when they suddenly all died at once."

"Died all at once?" Pannis raised an eyebrow, about to say something, but then it dawned on him. He lowered his head, calculated for a moment, and nodded, "I see. The timing does match, it seems they indeed die with their master. It’s just a pity for Matilda and the other three victims who hadn’t participated in the battle."

"Their sudden collective death brought the site to a standstill," Lina explained. "Taking advantage of that moment, my sister and I desperately fled back to our position, adopting a full defensive stance, hoping to resolve the issue through negotiation."

"Did they agree to negotiate?" Pannis asked.

"Unfortunately," she shook her head, "no."