The Spirit Snake fired a [Healing Splash] at the man. It looked exactly like she had spit on his face, but the black streaks began to recede, and the blood-red eye stopped leaking as it slowly returned to normal.
[By Trial Of Champions, The Darklight Host Alliance has won the Guild War.]
[Final Damage:]
Demon Guild Alliance ⇒ 31 dead
Darklight Host Alliance ⇒ 11 dead
The Champion rolled to his knees and used his blade to help him to his feet as the pain of the lingering poison wracked his body, along with the lingering effects of [Shatter], which had applied with the bite to the face.
[Everyone to the space. Let’s not give them a chance to get revenge on you.] Karl insisted.
“No wonder you’re a Champion. That Class of yours is absolutely broken. It’s like fighting an entire raid team at once.” He commended as the majority of Karl’s beasts vanished back to their spaces to plan an advancement party for Thor.
Remi was pretty sure that they could get the Elves to polish his scales, and there weren’t many better rewards for Thor than that.
Karl wasn’t sure what to do now, but Hawk was relaying the scene to them.
[There are clerics pouring out of the buildings now, gathering bodies. I think they’ll revive them.] Hawk informed them.
Then he paused, and Karl sensed his confusion.
They hadn’t been dead long, so it should be possible to revive them, but they were starting the resurrection ritual.
That would put them all in new bodies, which didn’t seem like what you wanted for powerful people like these.
“Thirty one to eleven. What a slaughter. Now, I’ll have to see what is left of the Alliance as we pack.” The Champion sighed before tilting his head back and pouring another potion over his face.
“The snake bite to the eyeball was unexpected, but damn does this hurt. Even after healing, the pain still isn’t fading.” He complained.
“I don’t have anything for strong healing, so you’ll likely need a cleric. Should we go inside and check on them?” Karl suggested, just in case someone was planning to cause trouble.
“You might as well, but I’ll be leaving. It’s not like I can shamelessly show my face in the city again while my Alliance is packing up to leave their homes. If any of them ask, I’m on my way to Hoiringa, and I will wait for them at the Alliance House there.”
Karl nodded, and the warrior walked away as the door to the armoury opened and the guard supervisor stuck his head outside.
“We’re alright? It’s over?” He asked hesitantly.
“Yeah, it’s over. Decision by duel in favour of the Darklight Host.” Karl explained.
The Elves came pouring out and began to swarm Thor, cooing and praising his much more golden scales.
Rae made them a bunch of polishing cloths, and the Elves giggled as they got to work, scrubbing him down and climbing all over the happy Cerro. The rags didn’t seem to be getting damaged, and the kids were sliding down Thor, which made Karl think that his scales were becoming smooth again.
“Are you sure you only knew them for one night?” The Guard Captain asked as he left the building to resume his station.
“Yep. But he did keep them safe twice now. Both in battle against bandits and by protecting the guard building during the fight. Elves are quite in tune with animals, it seems.”
The Captain nodded. “They’re an odd bunch, but the Elves are good people. They seem to have really taken to your Cerro, though. I don’t think that I’ve seen a group of kids that happy in a long time.
Now tell me, how were the casualties?”
“Thirty one to eleven in our favour. They’re working on the resurrection ritual now.” Karl replied, hoping to get some sort of response that would help him make sense of it.
“Well, assuming that the Guild House is still standing, they should appear there in whatever new form they got. Guild Wars are such a waste.
The number of skilled craftsmen who are forced to move after a Guild is forced out of the city really messes with the economy, and the winners never bring in anyone to replace them.
But that’s not really your concern, I suppose. You were just passing through when they started the fight and ran into a brick wall of a War Champion.
I might not have been able to see the fight, but it was pretty obvious that you won it on pure skill, and not raw power.”
Karl nodded. “That is true. The number of skills that I have available to me is somewhat more than the average warrior. Plus, I have stronger defensive skills, though that constant guard skill he used was a tricky one.”
“Bulwark is what it’s called. A constantly refreshing Guard skill that coats his armour and shield. It made him nearly impenetrable to previous challengers. What did you use to get him to surrender?”
Karl shrugged. “He might have been mostly immune to damage, but his skill didn’t prevent poison or properly protect his face. He forfeited from the pain of being poisoned.”
A small group of teenagers approached the gates, and Karl nodded politely while they glared at him.
“Your Champion was headed to the Guild House at Hoiringa.” He informed them.
“He’s alive?” The young woman leading the group asked, clearly shocked.
Karl nodded. “Yes. I forced him to submit to end the duel, so there was no need to kill him. The resurrected members should appear at the Guild House here as well, if you want to leave as a group.”
They looked confused. “You haven’t claimed the Guild House yet?”
Karl looked at the messages in the corner of his vision, wondering if he was supposed to do something.
[Challenge successful. Reward Granted.]
[Claim City for Darklight Host Alliance?] Y/N
[11 Members Resurrected at Guild House.]
[City will automatically transfer ownership in 24 hours.]
Karl shook his head. “There are twenty-four hours to finish the process. So, I let them resurrect. They can gather their belongings and leave in peace. I will have the guard force inform the Darklight Host forces to let them go without trouble.”
The Guard Supervisor focused on something for a moment, his eyes going vacant as he paid more attention to what Karl assumed was his Status screen.
“Done. They were letting them leave anyhow.”
The small group waited at the gate, trying not to laugh at the happy noises Thor was making as an army of tiny Elves polished his scales with scented oils that the Guards had provided for them.
They clearly wanted to know what was going on, but Karl couldn’t be bothered to inform them, and the Guards were too busy heading to the outlying areas to inform the civilians who had fled the city that the Guild War had been won by Champion Challenge, and that the city was intact.
That seemed to be the shocking part to everyone. The Guild War had ended with almost no property damage. Even if there was a challenge, at this level, it was normal that at least a few city blocks would be levelled by missed attacks.
Karl could see that. If Thor had used an Earthquake or Rae had been firing boulders at the enemy, they would have destroyed everything in the surrounding area with dodged or deflected attacks.
