Chapter 228: Worn Out
While things had been chaotic at first, Elmo was surprised at how much of a stalemate things had gotten so quickly. After the tents had gone down on the side where they'd been retreating from, the line had been formed and neither side seemed to be gaining ground.
It wasn't that surprising that they weren't making much progress, but what Elmo found surprising was the fact that their side wasn't losing ground like they had been at first. In a way, it almost felt like a dance. Where each side went through motions that didn't really have much, if any, effect on the others.
Elmo still was able to use his terror spell that would reduce their opponents numbers by one at a time. Though, Elmo was already starting to run out of stamina to charge his MP. If he continued, he was certain that he'd quickly become more of a liability than an asset. Not that he could think of what else he could do.
However, Elin seemed to be doing well at healing the few that they were able to knock out and removed the enchanted armor. A few on their side were caught with having a helmet forced on them, but in most cases others were able to remove the helmet just as quickly, as there didn't seem to be any straps to hold it in place.
While it seemed like they weren't able to gain any ground in this fight, Elmo was confident that they were. Just very slowly. Though, he wouldn't be surprised if they still failed, simply because the enchanter clearly didn't care about the health of those that it controlled. Which meant that as their side started to tire, those who were enchanted would be able to start to gain ground themselves.
Elmo was starting to think that they should try to retreat. If they could rest, then they'd be able to come back later, but even though they were gaining ground now, unless something changed that allowed them to press an advantage, it was only a matter of time before they started to lose ground.
However, Kim was one of those in the thick of the fighting, so he couldn't really talk to her about it. Out of everyone, she seemed to be the only one that their opponents were using their weapons on. Even though Kim was clearly trying to merely subdue them rather than kill, they were swinging their swords intending to kill her.
Elin was more or less running back and forth, trying to keep up with those who were knocked out and having their armor stripped. While they were getting a person here and there along the line, Elin wasn't moving as quickly as she had when they'd first started. Either she had already been struggling and Elmo just hadn't seen it or she was running rather low on stamina.
Either way, it was clear to Elmo that they weren't going to be able to count on her help for much longer. In addition to the fact that they were probably going to have her become a liability herself, just as Elmo knew he was close to being.