The Innkeeper-Novel

737  Retreat

Despite Lex's hesitation towards the doctor's… treatment, he continued to observe him for he was still working. The treatment method continued to remain highly unorthodox for he had a seeming aversion to any processed medication, and instead preferred to use ingredients in their most natural form.

Unexpectedly, the treatment did not take long nor was it too overly complex. In a few minutes, the leeches fell off the man's chest and took on a green tinge, while the soldier's condition improved almost immediately.

Given his current situation, Lex of course could not make an accurate judgment as to the extent of the treatment, but he was satisfied enough with what he had seen. Lex summoned Fenrir, and quickly disappeared from where he lay. As much as he hated to interfere with his healing process, but he had work to do.

He changed into his suit, which automatically cleaned the… lather which Lex had on his chest.

"Find Alexander," he told Fenrir, and described him to the pup. Lex obviously had nothing on him which had Alexander's scent, so he would have to rely on scouring the battlefield instead.

The duo quickly returned to the battlefield, and Lex immediately understood why the situation was getting worse rather than better. Although the original insect army had been diminished drastically by the angel-like immortal, more and more tears were opening up and flooring the ground with even more insects. It was only a matter of time before more immortals also showed up.

Although he expected that the Jotun army should have had the resources to combat this situation, perhaps he was not aware of the whole picture.

It did not take long for them to find Alexander, partly because it was quite easy to spot his six flying blades, and partly because of how openly they were scouring the battlefield with their spirit sense.

Moreover, they found him just in the nick of time, as he too seemed to be suffering greatly from the poison's effects. He was bleeding from his eyes and nose, and was kneeling on a single knee while his swords killed any insect that neared him. He was breathing heavily, and considering if he would be accused of desertion if he escaped to the Inn right at that moment.

"Need a hand?" asked an oddly familiar voice, though in his current state he could not exactly recall who it belonged to. He felt a force yanking him up, and before he knew it, he was atop Fenrir, and all the insects began ignoring him. He saw the face, and instantly a part of his drowsy mind clicked.

"I left a message for you to avoid Polebitvy," he said hoarsely. "I'm glad you ignored it."

"I never got your message, I was here to begin with. I need your help. The situation here is bad, and it's getting worse by the second. There's little hope for evacuation under such a heavy assault, and I don't see reinforcements coming fast enough to change the situation. Everyone needs to escape to the Inn, that's the only hope you have for avoiding a complete wipe out."

Alexander's thoughts were slow, though it was unknown if it was due to the poison or if he had suffered a concussion during the battle. But even so, eventually he caught on to what Lex was saying.

"That decision can only be made by the current commander," he said. "If it was my own squad head, I could have convinced her. But, as you probably saw, Valkyrie left after delivering a devastating attack. She probably has some other mission."

"Do you know who the current commander is?"

"Yes, it's the immortal fighting off the other immortal insects with the formation."

They both paused the conversation and looked up in the sky, where the fight between the remaining immortals was still ongoing, albeit not as intensely as before.

"How about anyone we can actually talk to?"

Alexander tried to think of a solution, but he was not in the best state of mind.

"I can only think of someone else in my squad. Maybe they'll know."

"Lead on, we don't have time to waste."

Due to the fact that they were once again on a manhunt, Alexander described the appearance of his superiors so that they could look. It did not take long before they found the first member of Alexander's squad, but he was already dead.

Finding a second took some time, but fortunately, this one was alive, and even in better condition than Alexander. Though with his cultivation at the Nascent realm, it only made sense that he had fared better.

"Captain Radamei," Alexander yelled, as he tried to get the man's attention. Lex did not want everyone to know about Fenrir's ability so they got off, and the two wounded men fought their way to the Captain.

"We can't go on like this, the situation is not improving! We have to retreat to the Midnight Inn!"

"Music to my ears boy," the captain yelled back, "but the Valkyrie will have our hides if we retreat from battle!"

"Better her than these insects. We have to convince command to retreat, there's no other choice."

"Even if we get them to agree, how can we actually get away?" the burly man asked, dissecting another insect as he did.

Before Alexander could answer, Lex summoned forth a bag full of hundreds of keys.

"You can use this," Lex said, handing the bag to Alexander.

"Will you be alright with him, or do you want to come with me? I have another task to take care of."

"I'll be fine with the captain. Don't worry, desertion or not, I have no intentions of dying here today. I'll go to the Inn if the situation gets worse."

Lex nodded, and separated from the two. He could only hope that whoever was in charge would agree, as the premonition of danger was growing genuinely worrisome now.

Without wasting a second, he quickly got on Fenrir and hurried towards the good doctor, or rather… Doctor Best.