Book 2 Ch 54: Cleansing

Michael divined the group of remaining soldiers and knights in front of them and it became very obvious why they were radiating such power all of a sudden. Even as he watched, new titles were writing themselves on their souls. They were noble titles, those tied to land. Further confirming what he thought he was seeing he felt the boost from his Baron Breaker deed kick in as the golden letters settled onto them.

Trina and Lys were with the rest of the group falling back, but as Michael moved to intercept the approaching soldiers Pyotr and Suraj took their place at his side and arrows from Alvarez and gunshots from Marcus started to whizz by them and hit the enemy.

“Be careful, they’ve just been empowered with titles! They’re stronger than they were a moment ago.”

The soldiers in front of them charged and Michael met the first one with his mace, but the man quickly dodged the blow before stabbing at him with his spear. The soldier’s spear thrust was incredibly strong, and would have skewered him, unfortunately for him, it needed to hit to work. Michael dodged the blow before slamming his fiery mace into the soldier’s face, killing him. He deflected another soldier’s thrust with his shield, nearly losing his footing from the force of the strike. He attempted a mace-strike, but on his back foot it didn’t have the power to finish his opponent off.

Luckily, a bullet hit the soldier through the eye and he collapsed forward causing Michael to catch his body on his shield before pushing him off of it toward the others. Bullets were still a great equalizer even with that many titles.

Pyotr dodged around attacks from a knight, the force of which Michael could feel even from where he was standing. He made it look easy. The knight was definitely much stronger than he was a moment before. He was faster and reacted more quickly as well, but he wasn’t yet used to it, and until he was Pyotr would have the advantage.

Suraj was struggling with a soldier and a knight, fresh holes in his armor and Michael moved to support and heal him, sealing his wounds even as he blocked a swordstroke from the knight who deviated from Suraj to attack him. It dented his shield, but he managed to keep his footing this time. He aimed, not at the man himself, but instead decided to aim at his sword as he swung. When Michael’s mace met the man’s sword, it shattered from their combined strength. His thicker mace stayed intact, and he slammed it into the knight’s chestplate, causing it to cave in even as it lit him on fire.

Michael was starting to tire from healing, smiting, and fighting all at once, and after Pyotr finished off his opponent they all began to fall back. Another group of Burndan soldiers went to keep them from rejoining the rest of the column, but Marcus and Alvarez let off a few bullets and arrows respectively and were joined by several more blowgun Cantalians, dropping nearly all of them.

As Pyotr was weaving his way through the collapsing enemies, one of them tore the blowdart needle from his throat and tried to stab at him. He managed to bat it to the side as the man fell into the mud to die and they all reached the main column. The rest of the fight was them falling back, being covered by their mages, dragoons, archers, and the Cantalian poisoners. When they reached the woods the Burndan soldiers tried to follow, but in the thick swamp their heavier armor and lack of familiarity with the terrain kept them from being able to maneuver. They pulled back to regroup and Michael was gratified to see that their numbers were much reduced. He moved to fall back further with the rest of the group when he saw Pyotr fall.

Michael rushed to his friend’s side along with a number of others. He had fallen, but he wasn’t still, his body writhing and smashing against the wet mud of the ground. Michael grabbed his arm along with a couple other mercenaries and as he did so he noticed a small thin needle sticking out of his gauntlets, between the knuckle plates. He yanked it out quickly and placed a glowing gold hand on his chest.

His insides were a mess as even this small drop of diluted poison sought to liquefy his organs and melt his brain. Michael immediately began to try and put everything back together, channeling his divine energy through the heat of his hand. He was able to put things back in order, but almost immediately Pyotr began to deteriorate again. Michael healed him again, but the same thing happened. Still, he kept it up even as his reserves began to deplete. Each heal was the equivalent of restoring someone near death, taking far more energy than a normal injury would have.

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“There is no healing the swamp’s sting,” said a Cantalian with a blowgun slung at his side. “Even those whose healing allows them to cleanse illness and poisons usually cannot compete with its strength. The only reason he is not already dead is because he must’ve had a much reduced dose. If you move I will grant him mercy for you.”

“No,” managed Pyotr somehow through the haze of pain as his body disassembled from the inside out. He managed to grasp Michael’s hand “He can do it. I have faith, brother.”

Michael began to call to the gods as he healed Pyotr again, barely keeping him from death. “Please. You let me take Ollie’s pain away. You’ve helped me to heal so many. Please help me save my brother.”

~You already can~

The voice was strong and feminine, Seras. He could feel a bit of guidance from her, just the smallest touch of additional heat in his hand, heat that reminded him of smite. He focused the divine energy again, feeling the heat in his hand build and build until it felt like it was burning his skin. The golden glow on his hand grew until it suddenly burst into flames. He pushed those flames into Pyotr, feeling them suffuse his body inside and out. He found the remains of the Swamp’s Sting and burned them away even as he brought Pyotr back from near-death once again. When he was done the fire faded and Pyotr was still, but breathing.

Michael panted heavily. He was drenched in sweat and his arms and legs felt like lead.