This is war...

Chapter 39

The First Strike

The roars became clearer as the chaos settled. The stomping of feet and the cries of conquerors echoed throughout the air. It shook everyone's soul, the worry starting to spread, hearing the thousands of killers rushing at them. Even though I had faced hundreds of monsters before, this was something else.

Deusolbert remained calm and composed next to me however, which allowed me to keep my breathing steady. It was kind of amazing that how contagious his stoicism was, as it seemed to spread throughout the swordsmen behind us. Behind us, I could hear the chants of a hundred Sacred Arts being cast and a thousand swords being drawn. But even then, the cries that were hungry for blood consumed the air. In front of me were a goblin tribe, running towards us with curved blades and focused eyes. It was kind of worrying seeing their eyes… It reminded me that they were essentially human.

I looked to my left to see Kirito stepping away from the crowd, his sword glowing with an all consuming darkness. As I looked at it, I could almost see the Void of Infinity. He stabbed his blade into the ground and the rock beneath my feet began to vibrate. For a moment, the enemy hesitated, but their bloodlust took hold over their fear.

Their mistake…

Huge black tendrils ripped through the ground, sending rock and dust as they burst towards their prey. The giants were the first to get the caught, the tendrils wrapping around them or stabbing straight through them. I could see the blood spraying from here… The tendrils spread wide, looking for more Life to claim, heading towards the two goblin tribes on either side. The cries for blood turned to yells of panic as all the Dark Territory attackers were scattered, unable to keep any sort of formation in fear they would be the next that were claimed by the attack.

My hand shook as I watched. I…didn't know if I could kill them… The way they acted, the fear that was now hanging in the air…it was so human. In that moment, I didn't think of them as goblins or giants. I thought of them as living souls. It was just like Kirito said. The only difference is they lived in the Dark Territory, raised to be killers and monsters.

"Why don't you let me take over?"

I looked to my right, seeing a ghost of Crystal stood there. She wore an innocent smile, but her eyes gave away her desire to kill. Of course she was here. She was the second memory trapped inside the Night Shadow Blade.

"You can't kill them, but I can." She looked at the incoming army. "And if you can't kill them, then you can't protect the Human Empire. That's your duty, right? That's the promise you made to him."

I looked away from her to the battle in front of us. "I might've considered it if you hadn't used another one of my friends." I muttered, not wanting everyone to think I was crazy for talking to myself.

Crystal just giggled. "No, you would've never considered it. You'd still blame yourself even if I was in the driver's seat." I didn't respond, just looking ahead. But she walked around my front, forcing my attention to her. "I'll be right here in case you need me. You know you need me." Her memory faded back into the Night Shadow Blade.

I looked back to the chaos in front of me. It seemed that the Dark Territory had recovered from the attack, now regrouping. The black tendrils had stopped, almost forming a barrier between us and the invaders. Now they were stopped, I could see they resemble a tree root.

My mouth fell slightly agape. It struck me that this was the first time I had seen such carnage from a Perfect Weapon Control. The times I had seen them used before, they were focused on one target, controlled. This…was just an utter massacre…

"Focus boy!" Deusolbert's yell snapped me out of my thoughts as the first group of Flatland Goblins began to regroup. I took a moment to regather myself and raised my sword, getting into an attack stance. "Enhance Armament!" Deusolbert said calmly. His whole body was suddenly engulfed in flames. I…had to applaud him on his calm demeanour. His arrow was set alight and he let it loose, sending it hurtling towards the incoming goblins. The arrow seemed to draw in all the air around it, sucking it in tight before igniting it and creating a massive fireball. Burning corpses flew through the air, screams of agony as the flames turned their green flesh to blackened ash.

I can't do this…I can't…

My hands trembled and my stance wavered. I couldn't stand watching this pain being inflicted on these…people. No monster I knew would scream like that… Everything I thought I knew about the Dark Territory was just being torn apart…

Honestly, if I didn't know about the Ogres and their crossbows, I might've jumped on Jocund and gone straight towards the Emperor, pleading him to stop. But thanks to that knowledge, something in the back of my head told me that if he was the kind of man to send his people to their deaths, he was either desperate, or just evil. And the fact he wasn't on the front lines made me lean towards the latter.

The goblins began a pincer movement, approaching from both sides meaning Deusolbert couldn't attack them as effectively. I pulled my sword from the ground and stepped forward. I didn't want to kill them…so I'll do it as I used to.

I ran forwards, heading towards the left group. The first goblin bore down on me, leaping into the air and letting out a war cry. I slid to a halt and raised my blade. Our swords clashed and screamed against each other. There wasn't much strength behind the strike, so I let go of my blade with one hand, gripping the goblin's arm and throwing him into his comrades. They stopped to catch him, a few of them dropping their swords to do so, and I ran towards them, my sword aimed for the armed enemies. The tip of my blade cut across their wrists, making them drop their weapons but not enough to do any lethal damage. My blade cut across the group, small fountains of blood spraying into the air, but never enough to take a life.

This was the curse I carried…to never be able to take a life, even when trying to protect another.

Soldiers of the Human Empire Army ran forwards, engaging with the goblins. They didn't care the curse I did, charging forwards without care for the enemy's life. Similarly, the goblins didn't care for the lives of the humans either. Both sides began to shed blood, making the ground slick with it, bodies piling up. All the while, fire raged as Deusolbert kept up his hailstorm of arrows, tearing the goblins apart. I just kept disarming the goblins, trying my best to spare as many lives as possible. But I began to worry I was doing the opposite. The soldiers saw these disarmed goblins and took their lives with ease. One soldier came in behind me, ready to kill a goblin I disarmed. I quickly grabbed him and pushed him away. Both him and the goblin gave me confused looks but I didn't care.

A larger goblin set his sights on me and began to lumber towards me. His massive scimitar came down towards me and I dived out of the way, quickly getting into a stance. "Weak human! You spare your enemy when he tries to kill you!?"

"Yeah, I do…" I ran towards him and locked swords with him. He growled as he raised his scimitar and slammed it down onto my blade over and over again. I gripped my blade with my other hand, my glove protecting my palm from being cut.

"A true warrior bathes in the blood of his enemies!" The goblin yelled at me. He went for a massive two handed strike, leaving his stomach completely unprotected. I dashed forwards, my blade cutting the side of his stomach slightly. He fell to his knees, gripping his side and growling in pain.

"A true knight protects people, no matter what side of the conflict they're on." I countered his earlier statement, resting my sword on his shoulder. He looked at me, his amber, snake-like eyes wide in confusion. Unfortunately, I didn't get to elaborate as another group of goblins came charging at me to protect their brethren. I turned my attention to them, but then the battle seemed to slow.

The storm of fiery death finally begun to subside, and almost immediately, the immediate battle seemed to quieten. Everyone, human and goblin, looked towards Deusolbert and a larger goblin, a crown of feathers on his head. He was flanked by other goblins, using the burnt bodies of their comrades as shields.

"You finally ran out of arrows, huh?" The goblin chieftain walked forwards towards Deusolbert, a confident smirk on his face. In his hands were two scimitars with thick blades, almost like meat cleavers.

Deusolbert didn't seem phased by his appearance, his stoic expression remaining. "Are you one of the dark empire's Council of Ten? The Goblin Chief?"

"That's right." The chieftain seemed pleased at being recognised. "I'm the chief of the Flatland Goblins, Lord Shibori!"

Deusolbert slung his sword over his shoulder, drawing a blade that had remained at his side the whole time. "I am Integrity Knight Deusolbert Synthesis-"

"Whoa! Like I care about some Ium's name!" Shibori yelled, trying to assert himself as the one in control. "You're just meat to me! The annoying piece of meat attached to the head I'm about to take! Alright everyone, get him!"

Two goblins charged forward. I made a move towards them, but Deusolbert flashed a glare that seemed to freeze my muscles. "How absurd!" He raised his blade in a High Norkian Style stance, bringing it down and perfectly cutting through the first goblin. The goblin's throat let out a gargled scream as the two halves of his body fell apart. Deusolbert dashed through the two halves as they fell and cut the next one down.

I could see the next two approaching, a sly grin on one of their faces. They had something planned, and it was hard to believe they were still comfortable with charging forward when they had watched their brethren get cut down so easily. I wanted to go and help Deusolbert, but my legs wouldn't move. His glare had completely paralysed me somehow.

Come on…move!

Deusolbert cut down the next goblin, but the other goblin didn't wait for his friend's body to drop, instead pushing his blade through his chest and using the body to obscure his attack. It worked, sending Deusolbert stumbling backwards and shattering a piece of his armour, and two more goblins charged forwards, grabbing his legs and pushing him to the ground.

Move!

Shibori charged forward, ready to claim the killing blow. However, two men charged out of the crowd, Lord Grant and Golgorosso. They both went for Shibori's exposed back. The goblin chieftain quickly back aware of their attack, swinging both his blades towards them and sending them flying backwards.

MOVE!

Shibori walked towards Golgorosso, but Lord Grant was back on his feet, slashing at the goblin. Shibori looked amused, swinging back with one blade and then punching Lord Grant across the face with his other hand. Lord Grant fell to the ground, spitting out blood. "You're dying first Ium!" Shibori cackled.

Whatever invisible force was paralysing my body broke. The world seemed to distort for a moment as I ran forwards. There were about fifty mel between me and Lord Grant. It should've been impossible, but in the second it took for Shibori to raise his blade, I was behind him, my blade slicing his armpit. His arm dropped, the muscle keeping his scimitar raised unable to function. I breathed heavily for a few moments, trying to comprehend what I had just done.

Shibori turned to me, rage and pain in his eyes. "You little-" A sword entered his head, killing him instantly. I looked at the design, recognising it as Deusolbert's. I looked to him, standing there with his bow drawn. He was panting slightly, his expression pained, yet furious.

The other Flatland Goblins looked at him and began to run away in panic. A few of them were cut down, but most managed to escape back the way they came. I looked to Lord Grant who was holding his jaw, blood still coming from his mouth, but he had a smile on his face. I could imagine him saying something like "Nothing a drink won't solve" or something akin to that.

Deusolbert walked up to me and grabbed my collar, pulling me close. The anger in his eyes was raging hotter and more furious than any flame that came from his bow. "What are you thinking!? You spared their lives despite them trying to kill you!"

"And?" I felt some anger rising inside me.

"Our enemies don't share your sense of honour. They will stab you in the back should they get the opportunity."

"Let them. I'm not going to kill anyone."

Deusolbert pushed me away, his anger burning bright in his eyes. "Those are the words of a child. We're at war. If you wish to try diplomacy, then you should've attempted that before stepping on the battlefield." He walked past me, seeing to the wounded.

I sighed, crouching down by Lord Grant and checking his mouth. He appeared to have a missing tooth. "System Call: Generate Luminous Element." The tiny balls formed in my hand before flickering and dying.

"Looks like that kid absorbed all the Spatial Resources after all…" Lord Grant muttered, smiling a little. "Don't worry about it boy."

I frowned, looking to the chaos around us. "No…he stopped before the battle started. And the bodies should be producing them…" I looked back towards the healer unit, but they seemed to be having the same problem as me.

Where are they going…?

I took the moment of peace to look at the rest of the battlefield. Some smoke seemed to be coming from the other side of the battlefield. The giants seemed to be in retreat, what few of them remained. There was nothing to suggest a large amount of Sacred Arts had been cast…

…by us.

The War has officially begun. I really enjoyed writing this. Having Light react to all this death was so satisfying to write, then having him break free of the Incarnation Paralysis that Deusolbert inflicted on him. And I loved adding the little bit of Deusolbert in there. While he might seem unreasonably angry, it's because he cares about everyone and wants as few casualties as possible, and Light's preventing him from ensuring that in his eyes.

Reviews:

blackbutterfly1313: I'm glad you enjoyed the suspense, and I hope the start of the War satisfied that build up :) I guessed there had to be some sort of drawing or description, as Kirito, Eugeo and Alice can conjure up an image of him. Or I'm dumb and I messed up a detail XD

Up next...well those Spatial Resources had to go somewhere right? And Alice isn't exactly planning on nuking the Dark Territory. I'm sure you can guess where they went to.

As always, thank you all so much for the reviews, favourites and follows. I'm so happy that so many people are enjoying it. I'll see you in the next chapter, and as always, Stay Cool.