<h4>Chapter 1138: Scorched Battlefield</h4>


    We shielded everyone from the giant fireball for another ten or so seconds.


    The heat finally dissipated, revealing a radically differentndscape.


    The battlefield had be a scorched in, with smoke and mes covering everything in view. Countless burnt masses of what used to be people were scattered across the ground. The inferno wasn’t hot enough topletely incinerate them, but that only made the scene more gruesome.


    I can think of no better phrase to describe this than “hell itself”.


    The adventurers stood stunned and speechless in front of it all.


    Everyone in the noble division who missed their chance to escape had beenpletely wiped out. From random foot soldiers to the nobles themselves, they were all equal in death.


    The single spell ended 5,000 lives.


    On the other hand, the adventurers and those who retreated alongside us were mostly alive. Well, many of them were only half-alive due to heavy burns from the unexpected heat wave. Even if our barriers prevented the mes from reaching us directly, the immense heat could still pass through. That was enough to inflict a life-threatening amount of burns.


    「Mrgh…」


    「Donad?」


    「I’m trying to extend my skill to them, but it’s not working!」


    It seems Donad failed to apply Protective Shimmer to the surviving soldiers and knights. The glow on them was incredibly faint inparison to the strong light surrounding the adventurers.


    That apparently reduces the amount of healing they receive, so he would only be capable of slightly dying their deaths.


    I see, so it’s not that Donad was purposely applying the skill to adventurers. It only <i>worked well</i> with the adventurers.


    But why? Is there really such a thing as a skill which only affects those registered with the Adventurers Guild?


    Besides, I saw a few knights and noble soldiers who were also enveloped in the strong white light.


    Come to think of it, I don’t think that light was on us when we first arrived here. It was only after we joined up with the adventurers and fought for a bit, then we had the effects of Protective Shimmer before we knew it.


    There must be a reason.


    『Hmm…?』


    （Master?）


    『About Donad’s aura thing, what do you think the difference is between those it works on and those it doesn’t?』


    （That’s simple.）


    『Huh? You know the difference?』


    （Nn. It’s whether or not they view Donad as their boss.）


    『Ah, I see!』


    Now that you mention it, it may be an ability simr to Fran’s March of the Valkyrie. Donadrond needs to view the targets as subordinates, and they need to ept him as a leader.


    Even if Donad has the authority tomand those knights and soldiers, his skill won’t affect anyone who doesn’t ept him on the inside.


    That said, it seems prolonging their deaths was enough. The masked adventurer Maleficent made full use of that time toplete the magic he was preparing: a healing spell with massive range.


    「Wide Range Maximum Heal!」


    A wave of gentle light enveloped the battlefield, as life was breathed back into those about to perish. His spell was basically Maximum Heal applied to everyone within range.


    Maleficent is even capable of healing?! He really can do anything! I wonder if he has some sort of special skill for collecting other skills, like me.


    With such a variety of spells, that’s pretty much the only exnation I can think of.


    As I observed Maleficent’s healing efforts, Avenger and his ghouls suddenly came running toward us. They deployed a barrier in the direction of the fort.


    「Nrrgh!」


    「Protect the priestess!」


    I didn’t understand their actions for a moment, but soon Fran and I put up our barriers as well.


    A sh of red light.


    Immediately after, two ghouls were vaporized alongside their barriers. Avenger, who was standing behind them, had a circr hole gouged out of his stomach, and our barrier shook from a heavy impact.


    Someone had sniped us from the fort with aser-shaped st of mes. It happened so fast that we might have been in trouble without Avenger’s assistance.


    「More attacks from the fort! Everyone, keep running!」


    「Do as Fran says! Fall back!」


    Damn, the Red Knights are such a pain in the ass!


    The Kranzel army continued retreating from the fort, chased by snipingsers the entire time. While thesesers were weaker than the one targeted at Fran, they packed enough of a punch to easily kill ordinary soldiers and nobles. Many have already fallen victim.


    Donadrond and I managed to deflect a few of thesesers, but we were toote a majority of the time.


    Moreover, the undead popped up again to chase us. I had thought they got wiped out by the huge fireball earlier, but we found ourselves under attack by a new horde, this time of skeletons.


    The soldiers who died in that inferno must have been resurrected by necromancy and turned into skeletons. Though their flesh was charred beyond repair, it seems their bones survived.


    And to make matters worse, undead also appeared right on top of our escape route. Headless knights d in red armor, powerful enough to make up for theirck of numbers.


    That’s right. The Red Knights defeated by Forrund had returned as undead.


    I managed to store Ih’s corpse earlier, but not any of the other knights. Resurrected as the high-tier undead known as Duhans, they must have circled around to block our retreat.


    In other words, we were caught in a pincer attack from the front and back. Thesers from the fort continued raining down on us too.


    Retreat may be too difficult in this situation. Anyone falling in battle will turn on us as a new member of the undead horde. Things only get worse for us as time goes on.


    No wonder Jean’s abilities were so feared on the battlefield.


    『Eradicating all these undead is going to take an eternity…』


    （Fine, then we get rid of the source!）


    『Hmm. That might be our only way out.』