Lich for Hire

The Lyon army retreated, and not in good order.

They had managed to maintain their formation even through Ambrose's Meteor Shower. Their morale hadn't taken much of a hit. But once the Silvermoon Knight coughed blood and collapsed, panic spread through the ranks. Their withdrawal quickly turned into something closer to a rout.

If Ambrose had been in command, he would have called for immediate pursuit. This was a golden opportunity to teach Lyon a painful lesson.

But Hoffmann merely let out a long breath of relief. He had no intention of chasing after them.

In fact, throughout the entire battle, Hoffmann had never even appeared on the front lines. Only after Lyon's forces withdrew did he step in to direct the cleanup.

Compensation for the fallen was distributed casually, almost perfunctorily.

Then Hoffmann got busy collecting what Lyon had left behind. This might have been the first true defeat Lyon had suffered since the war began. They left behind only a small number of corpses, but a large quantity of damaged equipment.

To others, it looked like useless junk, but to Hoffmann, it represented merit. Real, tangible merit.

This wasn't trash. This was his ticket to a bright future. He had already begun imagining the future. By leveraging this victory, he could climb higher and higher… perhaps to the point where he could leave the battlefield entirely.