Things are rather hectic at the moment. The soldiers who are all boosted by the [Stout Black Root] were strong, strong enough to even overpower one of my orcs who are almost as strong as Mordred themselves!

  This was no time to go at it easy, even if we risk unintended consequences! With Paimoth’s help, I pulled myself up while clutching my head. Even with the help of the [Mana Lotus] speeding up my Mana recovery, it wasn’t enough to keep up with the strain I had put my body through.

  Trying to ignore the pain I asked for a status report from V. “V, how is it looking down there?”

  My young goblin concentrated as they tried to pinpoint the soldier’s location underground. “Mmmmm the bad guy is still there, bouncing around. He seems to be slowing down a little.”

  Good, compared to the other soldiers there was a difference in strength between them. Though I hate to say it wasn’t too much….

  “Master Vladimir….” My shadow moth called out to me. “I maybe overstepping here but maybe it is time we stopped holding back….”

  Holding back….

  Seeing the battlefield, things were getting worse off. Mordred had suffered a few cuts over his body while still trying to keep them in bay. He’s strong but there’s only so many of them he could handle on his own. Me and Paimoth were already drained just trying to deal with one of them. Seemed my careless use of my skill was more taxing to my butler than I anticipated, even if he had a much larger Mana pool than me.

  Not only that but I still haven’t heard back from Zeph and his group. Just how long was it going to take for them to infiltrate their secrets?! I don’t even know how long these [Stout Black Root] were going to last?

  Should we really go all out? .... If we did, I doubt that there wouldn’t be any casualty. But if all else we could always fall ba….no not an option!

  I forced myself forward, after all I’ve fought through worse conditions than this. Hate to say this but I must have slowly started to become complacent in letting my henchmen do the brunt of the work.

  Paimoth’s right, at the very least I need to stop holding back. Activating my [Material Forge] I used my old favorite tactic of launching myself from the ground and right at the thick of battle.

  Time to show everyone here how a ruler should actually fight!!

  “Mordred, stand back!”

  Hearing my simple command, Mordred jumped back before the next wave of jacked up soldiers went for their offensive assault. As I travelled closer to them, I could see a creeping wild madness starting to build in their eyes. Making me wonder what the aftereffects will be once their temporary boost expires. Before they could see me coming, I point my sword forward as it extends, quickly stabbing the closest soldier at the thigh, their extra strength keeping it from piercing straight through.

  No matter, if I simply use the technique I discovered and removed the impurities within to sharpen the extra material, I had used to extend the blade before I forcibly increase the length of the blade until it finally cut clean through. It managed to work and was enough to force the soldier to fall to his knees in pain.

  Unfortunately, I could sense my headache spreading. I feel like I could use it maybe one or two more times before I passed out. With no choice left I gave another command to my henchmen, trusting that the soldier’s boosted [Health] would be able to help them endure.

  “Cut loose, my henchmen!”

  Mordred looked at me for a moment before smirking. “Got it boss!”

  My minotaur gripped his axe tightly as he took a huge swing in front of him, the force of it was enough to cause a tremor to the ground, making many of them to lose their footing. “Don’t worry, I still plan to avoid killing you if I can. But I make no promises!!”

  “Understood my master. I shall endeavor to secure you victory.” The shadow butler responded, raising one hand before the crackles of electricity started to gather. Pointing his hand towards a group of soldiers he releases the gathered lightning, blasting them at their armors before their bodies violently shook from the effects before falling to the ground.

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  “With my Mana depleted this is as much as I could provide.”

  His shadowy form bowed before stepping to the side to let the rest of us handle it. Looking back on the battlefield, Mordred had managed to knock a few enemies himself. Many of them were clutching at their wounds to keep it from bleeding further. Seems he was rather eager to cut loose.

  Then there was Jordan. I honestly had forgotten him for a minute, but I was surprised to see that he was handling his own as well. His claws and fangs were still sharpened and seemed like he was able to gnaw through any metal.

  Even though they were getting a few hits on him, that has done nothing to stop my Gnoll’s momentum. While the black root was making the humans as wild as ferocious beasts Jordan was more like a true monstrous hunter on the prowl against his preys. It’s honestly a bit jarring to see the normally timid gnoll acting like this even if it’s what I expect from his species.

  I then remembered about his skill [Gnoll Feast]. While it did help with his strength, there was the problem of increasing hunger. And for Gnolls specifically, that would be bad news for everyone!

  I had previously instructed him to keep some spare [Red Meat Mushroom] to prevent this kind of predicament. Unfortunately, I can see an empty bag currently on the ground that is not too far off from Jordan with several half-eaten mushrooms scattered about.

  The only thing indicating him having enough sanity left with him was the fact he could still form full sentences. Mostly spouting stuff that would treat his enemies like ingredients.

  One such statement like. “Your hardened skin would make for great ingredients on my next meal! Why don’t I take a little nibble off of you and find out!?”

  This means that we’re in a race against time, before his hunger completely overtakes him. Then we’d have an additional problem to deal with!

  Trusting on the others to handle things I hopped to Jordan’s side to help him finish his fight before the worse comes to pass. Only I was met with a pair of fangs nearly shredding me in half!

  The hungry madness momentarily ceased. “Ch-chieftain you surprised me!”

  Not wanting to waste any more time I cut straight to the point. “How long can you hold out like this?”

  His awareness started to come back as he thought on it for a moment, I covered his back with a few [Iron Needle] towards the enemy. Even if they would be ineffective against their increased strengths, they provided good distractions.

  “Two minutes I think!” He finally declared, holding two fingers up to further point it out.

  “Then let’s finish it before then!” I declared.

  Taking another [Mana Lotus] to further increase my Mana recovery rate, I conjured a circle water around us before chilling it and sending out a blast of Air forward to cause a wave of cold air to our enemies and forcing them back.

  Before they had time to recover, I directed Jordan forward who proceeded to bite down on the nearest one. The recently cooled metal proved to have weakened which let my cook to more easily break their armor.

  And before he could break through more their thick skin he pounced for the next soldier. Then the next, then the next until finally there were only a few more left around him. They were out of breath, and the wild expressions they had were dying down. Finally, it seemed like the effects from the roots were expiring.

  Looking around, it seems we were finally at the tail end of this fight. Mordred had sustained some heavy injuries but otherwise was fine. Though I wouldn’t say the same for his enemies, there were splatters of blood indicating the lack of restraint from both sides. While the [Stout Black Root] helped keep them from bearing critical injuries, they still looked worse for wear with many of them suffering from fractures and dislocation.

  He really didn’t hold back, I’m just glad there weren’t any permanent injuries. I don’t like the idea of my future minions being disabled. As for Paimoth and V, my faithful butler was focused on keeping V safe since his own Mana was drained. V themselves was still keeping track of the soldier that was stuck underground.

  “Alright I think we’re do-”

  A maddening roar fell on my ears as I saw that Jordan was hunching back and trying to keep himself in bay. He must be reaching the limits of his hunger with a flowing drool from his mouth being an indicator. His speech was even becoming more uncoherent, even giving out laughter that reminds me of the hyena his species are based on.

  “Ehahahaha …. Food…. Such tasty ingredients to……eat!! Hahahaha!!”

  Not wasting a second, I grabbed the discarded pieces of [Red Meat Mushroom] and sprinted towards the voraciously hungry Gnoll!

  With the effects of the [Stout Black Root] vanished, the soldiers had started to regain their senses. Seeing the crazed monster baring his fangs while they were wounded sent them to a panic. Many of them were trying to run for their lives while the ones that couldn’t closed their eyes while bracing for the inevitable.

  Like I was going to let that happen! I quickly forged the platform before me to spring me forward as I held the pieces of mushrooms tightly in my claw while I used the other to grab hold and pin down my chef with all my strength before he could go after his meal. I struggled against his strength as he had his fangs in my arm, and I had to do all I could just to keep him from ripping it off entirely!

  With all my might I shoved the discarded mushroom pieces down his mouth and forcibly tore my arms off of his fangs. My red Kobold scales helped to lessen the damage, but I was still bleeding from my other arm.

  Finally, Jordan swallowed as his senses returned to normal. The maddening expression morphing back to his more timid one. Before he could try to explain himself, I quietly motioned to the forest. Signaling for him to go gather some food to satisfy the rest of his hunger.

  He vigorously bobbed his head and ran off to eat. I sighed as I sat on the ground while clutching my bloodied arm. I sure do have some interesting henchmen don’t I….

  I turned my head at the defeated soldiers, with everything settling down it was finally time to finish what we came here to do.