The Gamer's POV-Chapter 270: Battle of the Lords: Ambush

What was the plan by the way?

—

From what Cedric remembered, the plan was to begin the war the moment they got to the White Shore of Ophidia.

Yes. That was the plan.

However, things disintegrated into a bloodbath before they even touched the sand, because the cadets were all ambushed while still on the bridge!

***

The procession of the battle was in this manner:

Argentos and his kind led the charge as the vanguard with his statues following behind. Directly behind the statues were the cadets, all armed and ready.

Argentos was given a whisper-script that had a silver string, which he hung around his neck to communicate with Aurora.

If he needed to speak with Cedric, there was a raven flying not too far away from him.

It was through the eyes of that raven that Cedric could see the thousands of Nagas who were waiting for them not too far from the shore.

Now, it was important to note that the shore of Ophidia was a vast, bleached expanse of white sand that seemed to stretch for miles under the pale sun, and the jagged limestone cliffs did not begin until the very edge of the inner ring. The Nagas were stretched out in a suffocating line that mirrored the curve of the coast, their scales glistening like oil on the white sand.

The moment the shore, along with the sea of Nagas, came into view, Argentos yelled the order to his army, who were already breaking into a thunderous collective sprint.

"Vanguards! Prepare the path for the citizens of the Cradle!"

All the Hollow Ones lowered their spears and picked up speed. And that immediately signaled the beginning of the war.

However, as they advanced, Argentos suddenly said something that sent a chill through Cedric’s spine:

"Cedric. I smell Nagas everywhere around us. Watch out for the lake."

Cedric frowned.

’The lake?’

Using the eyes of his ravens above, he studied the lake, and then... his eyes slowly widened in horror. All of a sudden, thousands of eyes began to appear on the crystal clear lake. And since one couldn’t really see past its surface, seeing the eyes alone made it look as if the lake itself were awakening with a living carpet of emerald pupils staring up from the depths.

It looked utterly horrifying and trypophobic at the same time.

Suddenly, the raven that was studying the lake suddenly stiffened and began to turn to stone, then it plunged out of the sky into the lake without a splash.

Seeing that, Cedric yelled at the top of his voice, "Do not look at the lake!"

The people around him began murmuring, but Aurora turned to look behind her to Cedric. She didn’t need to ask anything because just the look in his eyes said everything.

Quickly, she reached for her whisper-script hanging around her neck and yelled into it.

"Do not look at the lake!"

Unfortunately, people do have the tendency to do something when you ask them not to.

It’s just human nature. And so, many cadets who were at the edges of the bridge involuntarily looked at the lake.

When their eyes met with the horrific eyes in the water, their skin began to calcify instantly, turning a dull, chalky gray as the petrification spell traveled from their retinas to their very souls.

It wasn’t a slow transition but a violent, jagged hardening. And by the time their lungs could draw one last breath, their screams were cut short as their throats turned to stone, leaving them completely frozen in postures of absolute terror.

...That was the beginning of the chaos.

"Shit, shit, shit." Leon cursed multiple times as he veered his horse closer to Cedric. "How are we supposed to even defend ourselves from them if we cannot look in the water."

Cedric didn’t reply because his thoughts were racing like a wildfire in a gale.

After barely a few seconds, his eyes widened. He spurred his horse toward Aurora, lunging for the whisperscript at her throat to yell into the device.

"Shift away from the edges! Stay as far from the water as possible! Everyone, form a thin line down the center of the bridge!"

By now, the bridge was large enough, and so, the panicked cadets quickly began clustering into a frantic, suffocating mass at the center.

However, a few cadets were unlucky because not even a few seconds after that order was given, dozens of what looked like long, barbed tongues shot out of the water toward those who were closest to the edge of the bridge.

The cadets who were lashed by the wet, muscular appendages suddenly began to have green veins snake across their skin, pulsing with an unnatural, bioluminescent light.

They panicked as they kept moving to their colleagues, only to have their bodies bulge and distort with agonizing speed, before finally exploding into a spray of volatile green goo. Those who had the misfortune of being splattered by the remains of their comrades found their own armor sizzling, and before long, even their skin and bones were corroded.

Amidst the chaos that was currently ensuing, Cedric was not done speaking and was still yelling an order:

"Those with long range skills, begin laying down a curtain of attacks on the lake!"

The cadets didn’t even wait for the order to be concluded as they already began unleashing their magic upon the lake, while trying their best to avoid looking at it.

But trust that it was not easy.

Casting a spell at a target you cannot look at was like taking a shot in the dark. It would have been better if they were fighting on the shore. At least there, they would be able to see the creature’s body and as long as they avoided its eyes, they were fine. However, here on this bridge, it was an open sea of eyes around them.

Still, those who could manage, even with the limitations, kept firing blindly, their magic crashing into the water in a desperate, unguided spray.

That aside, after giving the order, Cedric quickly steered his mount away from Aurora and called:

"Athena!"

The high elf immediately descended close to Cedric. Her eyes were closed, and she seemed to be using her daffodils to sense or see, seeing as they were spread out, floating across the chaotic bridge like golden embers caught in a gale.

Quickly, Cedric reached out and with his index finger, he touched her forehead. Suddenly, a light traveled from his palm into her head. Then he asked, "Can you feel them?"

She quickly replied, "Yes, my lord."

Cedric then said with a cold, pragmatic intensity, "Those are my subjects of influence and your priority among the cadets."

The high elf nodded, flapped her wings, and took off back into the air. Of course, Cedric knew that it was inevitable that he would lose many of his subjects of influence, but if he could, he would like to protect as many as possible. They were his source of essence, after all.

...With the elf gone, Cedric turned toward Leon and said, "Leon, we need to do something about these eyes!"

Leon’s eyes were closed, but he was currently seeing the entirety of the lake due to the golden eye of his bonded ability which was up in the sky.

His hands were joined together and he was muttering something to himself.

When Cedric spoke, he halted, turned towards Cedric and said, "I’m working on it."