The Foolhardies 95 The Recrui

The iron scent of blood permeated the surrounding air. It a.s.saulted my sense of smell and forced my nose to cringe. I never liked the smell of blood. That might be another reason why I wasn't entirely suited to the battlefield.

The noise was deafening. The onlookers were screaming now. Mostly curses directed at me. Words like, "Mud-b.a.s.t.a.r.d"! and "Kill the pipsqueak!"

That last one made my brows furrow. Unfortunately, I couldn't react to any of it. Not even from Xanthor's, "Save the boss man," although I appreciated that my guys were looking out for me. I certainly couldn't.

All I could see was a pitch blackness that sent a chill creeping slowly up my spine. I'd never gone blind after using Fool's Insight before, but it seemed like I overdid it.

The sound of clas.h.i.+ng steel and enraged voices reached my ears. They were much closer now than the thirty-foot distance everyone had maintained during the duel.

I raised my falchion in front of me, not knowing when the strike would come but believing that even blind I'd manage somehow. This wasn't c.o.c.kiness, but winning a deathmatch really made a guy more confident in himself.

Only a few seconds had ticked by when I felt someone close the distance to me. I swung my sword, but then I heard a familiar voice scream, "Dean! Stop, it's me!"

"Luca?" I asked for confirmation.

"Yeah, it's me… so put down the sword nice and slowly," he answered.

I dropped my sword arm to my side and let out a relieved sigh.

A long-fingered hand grasped each of my shoulders. "What's wrong with your eyes… why are they all gla.s.sy?"

Instead of explaining to Luca that I'd been de-buffed with blindness—not really knowing if the condition was permanent—I asked him if he still had a healing potion left.

"Y-yeah… hold on," he said.

I heard my little brother rummage through his clothes, heard a bottle being uncorked, then felt the smooth exterior of something gla.s.sy in my palm as Luca dropped the minor potion of healing into it.

"Thanks," I said gratefully. Then I raised the vial in my hand and tipped its liquid content into my mouth.

Healing potions had the strange property of tasting vaguely like one's favorite drink. Most of the time, its flavor was a bit like c.o.ke Zero to me. Tonight, however, the taste in my mouth was undoubtedly that of freshwater. It had that same tasteless yet cool to the touch and refres.h.i.+ng on the lips kind of relish.

Seconds after I drank the potion, my sight came back to me. Although still hazy at the edges like I was looking through an unfocused camera lens.

I blinked. Then I blinked some more until my eyes could adjust to this new sight.

"At least I can see again," I sighed.

Although it was a relief that my vision returned, the scene happening around me almost made me wish everything was still black. At least then, I wouldn't feel like I'd just survived my fight with Azuma only to die at the hands of some random mob unit.

It was madness, mayhem, pandemonium, and every other word used to describe chaos.

The onlookers had devolved into a frenzied skirmish of hobgoblin, elf, visere, centaur, dwarf, and one very surly half-ogre who'd made it his duty to prevent anyone from getting within ten feet of me, Luca, and the exquisite-looking golden-haired elf who was kneeling on the ground a foot away from me. She had a hand resting on the bloodied, black-clad chest of the man lying on the gra.s.s.

Azuma's face was pale as death. He wasn't moving.

"Is he alive, Aura?" I asked.

It took her another second or two to nod her head. "It's faint but there's certainly a heartbeat, Dean…"

Relief flooded into my system. It wouldn't do to kill the guy I made a bet I'd save. Otherwise, how was I going to cash in on my winnings? And I had huge plans for Azuma.

"Can you wake him up?" I asked Aura.

"I can give him a potion…" Aura glanced uncertainly at me. "Are you sure that's what you want?"

I closed my eyes as they already felt strained just from those few seconds they were open. I took this time to really think about what I wanted. Nevermind that the battle continued around us. This was an important decision and a rather risky one to boot.

After half a minute of arguing the pros and cons in my head, I opened my eyes and gave Aura my consent.

She shrugged. Then she did what I asked and poured a small vial of healing potion into Azuma's pale lips.

"Are you sure about this?" Luca asked worriedly. "This might bite us back in the b.u.t.t…"

"Yeah… well, I'm glad you're here to pick up the slack." I patted his shoulder. "Took you long enough."

"You serious?" Luca gave me an incredulous look. "I was up to my knees in enemies! You only had to deal with one."

I sent him back his incredulous look. "Excuse me? Are you actually comparing your mobs to my guy?"

Our argument over who had it rougher lasted until we heard Aura suddenly clear her throat. What followed was a series of coughing fits coming from the man who, until a second ago, was on his way to the river Styx.

"Dean…" Luca began, but I cut him off with, "It'll be fine. Say what you like about the guy, but we both know he's a warrior of honor. Right, Azuma?"

Aura stepped back and allowed Azuma to sit up. As close as she was to him, seeing her looking less tense than my brother beside me only increased my respect for Aura. She really was something.

Shut up, hormones! My rational brain screamed in my head. Focus!

Azuma continued his coughing fit for a few more seconds before his breathing finally calmed and he was able to look up at me.

"Why didn't you kill me?" he asked in a raspy voice.

"Because we," I pointed my right thumb on myself then pointed my index finger at Aura, "promised to free you."

Azuma glanced at me and then at Aura. Luckily, it didn't seem like there was any malice in his eyes. Just confusion.

"The only way to free me from my contract is death… Mine or my contractor's…" Azuma insisted. "Tell him, she-elf."

"Actually," Aura glanced at me before continuing. "Dean figured out a way to bypa.s.s that."

Azuma's eyes widened at her words. He coughed a few more times. Then he said, "Impossible… how?"

Noticing the interest in his tone, my eyes glinted with delight. In fact, I found it difficult not to rub my hands together like a supervillain.

"The same way we broke through the Curse of the Morrigan," I answered. "Well, it's a little more complicated than that but—"

"—Look out!" Luca yelled.

He drew Shaqs' battle-ax and swung it down on an incoming hobgoblin. The creature had rushed us after it noticed its commander was awake. Sadly, this meant Luca relieved it of its head.

I waited for the severed head to flop on the floor before I pointed my falchion at Azuma's chest.

"As I said, it's complicated, but we can do it. We can free you from your chains…" I glanced around me. More and more of Azuma's immortals noticed their boss was alive. They would begin their suicidal a.s.sault to save him soon. This was going to turn bad if I didn't convince Azuma sooner. "You don't have to die. Your men don't have to die. But I need you to surrender now."

"A true warrior doesn't surrender," Azuma coughed.

His breathing turned ragged again. It seemed like Aura's healing potion wasn't enough to bring him to good health. Lucky for us.

"A true warrior doesn't get his men killed when he knows the battle's lost…" I reasoned. "Azuma, I know you care about your soldiers especially since they're mostly viseres. That's why I want you on my side."

But it wasn't Azuma who responded to my crazy idea.

"W-what?!" Luca asked in surprise.

I raised my hand to silence him before focusing my gaze on Azuma, hoping to will him into submission.

Azuma scrutinized my face. "That could never work…" He jerked a thumb back at the surrounding chaos. "You've killed many of my soldiers already."

"And you've killed some of mine… Maybe even more than we've killed yours," I reminded him.

"So how will that work?" Azuma asked. "We could never trust each other."

"Actually," Aura interrupted. "We have precedent… those drow who were giving you so much trouble… well, we tried to murder each other too before they joined us."

I nodded my head. "Now we're all just one big happy family…"

"Why would you do that? Risk yourselves with an alliance without certainty?"

I raised an eyebrow at him. "Because just like the drow who've made my Foolhardies stronger, I'm certain you and maybe your viseres will be of use to us too." Find authorized novels in Webnovel，faster updates, better experience，Please click for visiting.

I know, I know. This plan was crazy. Sure, got your big rival to join your cause. Good luck with that, Dean! But, just based on our previous conversations I could tell there was no deep-rooted loyalty between Azuma and his fairy masters. My offer just might be the push he needed to finally rebel.

"At the very least, we wouldn't impose a cruel cage like the Curse of the Morrigan on you," Aura added.

"Plus, we're foolhardy… It's in the name," Luca sighed.

I wasn't entirely sure if my brother was on board with the plan, but at least he was helping. I think.

"So, what do you say?" I asked.

It was very hard to keep my eyes trained on Azuma while his soldiers were trying really hard to get to him. I could hear them screaming insults at me while promising to save their commander.

Azuma spent another few seconds in contemplation. As if we weren't on a time limit. The battle would spill over our patch of quiet soon enough.

"You're sure you can break the chains that bind me and my viseres?" he asked again.

I nodded. Aura nodded. Luca sighed.

"Hurry up with your negotiations, guys…" Luca insisted.

I ignored him and answered Azuma's question. "Yes… but it'll get rough. Might even kill you."

This actually made Azuma laugh. Another fitting cough ensued.

Luca left my side so he could support Edo and Ashley who were busy keeping our enemies at bay to scold me about my reckless plan to recruit Magesong viseres while on a battlefield.

Luckily for all of us, Azuma finished his coughing fit and yelled in a voice that barely had any strength in it but was crystal clear nonetheless, "Lee~~eroy!"

There was a response from the young blonde-haired soldier who only a second ago had desperately dodged a swipe of Azuma's glaive.

"Yes, sir?" the soldier said.

"Enough fighting… we're quitting this battle," Azuma said.

Uncertain soldiers looked among themselves before lowering their weapons. It was as if hearing their master tell them to stop battling made them lose all their will to fight. It wasn't just the viseres either. Even the elves and hobgoblins under Azuma's command followed his order.

And just like that, with only a few sickly words from a half-dead man, the conflict between the Foolhardies and Azuma's Immortals ended suddenly.

At the back of my mind, I wondered if I could ever get my own forces to be that unquestionably loyal to me. I thought about it, then I shrugged. Probably not.