Chapter 27
The Kingdom of Avalon, Noah City. Around the same time as the battle on the shoreline.
During the construction of Noah City, the Demon King Rogan had a large wall built around the city to prevent enemy attacks. This great wall had three great gates. One to the east, one to the west and one to the north.
The guard of these doors fell on the army of Noah City, specifically, the branch of the army in charge of internal surveillance of the city, the Noah City Police. This organization was overseen by Noah City Police Commander, Browen.
Commander Browen was making a routine tour of the city's east gate when one of his soldiers came running up to him, out of breath.
"Commander Browen, sir! We are under attack!" - The soldier yelled, barely in front of Browen.
"Calm down, soldier!" - The commander urged. Once the soldier seemed to calm down a bit, Browen proceeded to question him. "Now, explain what attack you're talking about."
"Yes, sir. A messenger from the navy arrived a few minutes ago. Apparently a large army of humanoid sea creatures launched a surprise attack on the navy ships. The battle must be going on right now." - The exhausted soldier explained.
"A surprise attack? Just when Lord Rogan left the island on a trip? It can't be a coincidence…" - Browen murmured "Sound the alarm immediately. All soldiers of the Noah City Army must prepare for combat. We're going to help…"
"Commander Browen! Commander Browen!" - another of his soldiers called.
"What now?!" - Browen exclaimed.
"Sir! We are under attack! A large army suddenly appeared on the plain in front of the north gate of the city! They are preparing to storm the wall!" - answered the other soldier.
"Another army!? They want to divide our forces by attacking from two different points. Damn it! We won't be able to help the navy. You, inform all the captains of the situation and tell them to gather all the forces of the Noah City Army and direct them towards the north gate." - He instructed the first of the soldiers. "And you tell me everything you can about that army, while we head there."
Browen, the soldier, and a group of twenty other Dark Elves began to run towards the north gate of Noah City, while the soldier explained the situation.
It appears that this army had emerged from the forests to the north of the grasslands surrounding the city. It was a huge army that easily numbered more than fifty thousand soldiers, all human, and bearing the banner of the Kingdom of Sybilla.
When Browen reached the wall, the army captains were already waiting, their soldiers ready for battle.
The armed forces of Noah City were divided into five main units, under the control of General Okimura.
The ground army, commanded by Commander Browen, consisted of eight thousand Dark Elves, of which five thousand were armed cavalry with Trihorns as mounts, and the other three thousand were foot soldiers. They were also part of the land army, one hundred Fire Spirits Ifrit, specialized in spiritual magic and sword fighting, which were normally led by Captain Ignis but given his absence, they would be led directly by Browen; hundred Earth Spirits War Gnome, specialized in close-quarters battles using spirit magic, oversized swords and shields, led by Captain Petro; one hundred Light Spirits Gleams, specializing in archery and spirit magic, led by Captain Solis; and finally five thousand Undead Warriors, normally led by Commander Arthur, but due to his absence, they would be led by Captain Lancelot.
The Noah City Navy was commanded by Commander Triton and Captain Aqua, with two thousand Merfolk and two hundred Undines.
The Noah City Air Force, commanded by Commander Ventis and Captain Marco, numbered one hundred Sylphide and two hundred Thunderbirds.
The Noah City Shadow Squad, which was commanded by Commander Hiroka and Captain Nox, and numbered twenty Dark Elf assassins, and one hundred Shades. They were in charge of gathering information and carrying out assassinations, but could join the main army at any time.
And finally, the Noah City Rescue Team, which was led by Captain Stella, and had a hundred Nebulas. This team was responsible for saving lives in accidents or natural disasters in peacetime thanks to their skills to control space, but in wartime they had the essential role of maintaining the supply line and transporting the wounded for treatment.
Since the navy and air force seemed to be fighting elsewhere, and the rescue team would not be fighting, Noah City's army numbered only a little over thirteen thousand soldiers.
This army was already on the outskirts of the city, prepared to do battle against the enemy army. All thanks to the mock attacks that King Rogan had forced them to do, in preparation for this type of situation.
In a tent in the rear of the Noah City army, Browen called an urgent meeting with all the captains and commanders of the army. Normally it would have been General Okimura's responsibility to preside over such a meeting, but since he had traveled along with King Rogan, this burden fell on Browen's shoulders.
"Lady Hiroka, I imagine your agents must have already investigated the strength of the enemy army. Please tell us your results." - Browen began, once everyone was present.
"Understood. My spies have infiltrated the enemy army and managed to gather information. Apparently, the ship that brought the envoy from the Kingdom of Sybilla was not the only one that arrived at our shores. More than a hundred ships surrounded the island while the envoy entertained us, and docked in the north of the island, waiting for King Rogan to leave for Sybilla, to land a large army and traverse the island to the northern plain. My spies inform me that the army has a magnitude of a million soldiers, all humans." - Hiroka reported.
"A million soldiers!" - Browen exclaimed. "The situation is worse than we imagined. They outnumber us a hundred to one."
"The army carries the banner of the Kingdom of Sybilla, but there is something very strange about them." - Hiroka continued.
"What do you mean, strange? - Captain Petro asked.
"Based on the data we've gathered, only seven soldiers in the entire army present a real threat to the city. The others are so weak that they could be mistaken for common farmers. Although it is true that we are outnumbered, the quality of each of our soldiers is such that we should be able to win."
"I know that our soldiers are strong, but how is it possible that the enemy is so weak." - Browen asked, frowning.
"I think I might have an idea." - Commented Captain Nox, Hiroka's subordinate. "Since the visit of the dignitary of the Kingdom of Sybilla, I have been gathering information about this kingdom. What my Shades have been able to verify is that Sybilla is a small kingdom, and that its army is barely twenty-five thousand soldiers. If we take this into account, it is possible that the King of Sybilla has forced all citizens capable of fighting to join the army, in order to outnumber us."
"It's a dangerous play. The new soldiers are undisciplined and lack combat training and experience. Sending so many rookies to a fight of this caliber is the same as sacrificing them." - Captain Lancelot commented.
"I imagine they are an acceptable loss to the enemy army." - Hiroka commented.
"Anything else to report, Hiroka?" - Browen asked.
"There's something else... but I'm not sure if it's relevant." - She answered.
"It doesn't matter if it's relevant or not. What is it about?"
"My spies have detected some rather strange behavior in the enemy army. Their movements seem mechanical, and their eyes seem empty. These are symptoms consistent with mind control. The only ones who don't seem to be affected are the seven soldiers leading the army. Also, these seven soldiers seem to be defending a hooded figure in the middle of the army. We have not been able to identify the figure, but its magicule capacity seems to rival that of King Rogan."
"This pretty much confirms that most of those soldiers are here against their will. Probably under some kind of mind magic." - Browen said, sighing. "But it doesn't matter if that's the case. I don't think they can stop and we must defend the city by any means. We must keep an eye out for those seven soldiers and the hooded figure. Very well. This will be the battle plan…"
The Undead Warriors would take the lead, as unlike the other races, the undead couldn't feel pain and were much harder to kill. After the Undead Warriors, the War Gnomes would charge. Their great shields and armor, in addition to their powerful spiritual magic, would serve as a shield for archers and cavalry. Hiroka and her assassins would attempt sporadic, long-range attacks. Only the Captains and Commanders would face the seven leaders and the hooded figure.
A few hours later, the enemy army finally came within about five hundred meters of the Noah City army, and without further delay, they began their attack.
The first counterattack came from the hundred Gleam archers in the rear of the army, over the wall that protected Noah City.
"It's time to show our enemies the power of light! Archers, prepare! Point! Fire!" - exclaimed Captain Solis.
Synchronized as one, the Gleams loaded their bows with arrows and fired towards the enemy army. But that was not all.
"Now! Arrows of Light!"
Again as one, the Gleams began to chant a spell.
"O Queen of Spirits, grant us the light of victory and turn it into an arrow to pierce the darkness. Spirit Magic: Arrow of Light!"
When the chant ended, the hundred arrows that flew towards the enemy began to rapidly multiply, turning into arrows made of pure light. Where before only a hundred arrows flew, now more than a thousand did.
Arrows rained down on Sybilla's army, annihilating soldier after soldier; ignoring armor and piercing through flesh and bone.
With this attack, the quality of Avalon's soldiers was demonstrated. Just a hundred archers had managed to kill almost a thousand enemy soldiers.
Without resting for a moment, the Gleams reloaded, fired, chanted the same spell, and repeated. Over and over again.
By the time the enemy army was within a hundred meters of Noah City's army, more than fifty thousand enemy soldiers had fallen to the Gleams' arrows.
Once the enemy army was too close, to prevent the arrows from hitting the allies, it was the turn of the War Gnomes.
"It's our turn to show our power! Let us make our Lord proud to have chosen us! - Petro shouted, and all the War Gnomes started their own spell.
"Eternal Lord of the Rock, we offer you our prayers. May the earth rise up and form a wall that defends the ideals of our Lord. Spirit Magic: Rock Wall!"
With the chanting of the spell, an immense wall of rock, as tall as the wall that surrounded the city, rose from one point of the battlefield to the other, separating the two armies. Only three large holes in the form of doors allowed the interaction of both sides.
The enemy army began to penetrate through the holes, but only a few hundred could pass through at a time, allowing the Undead Warriors, Ifrits, War Gnomes and Dark Elves deal with them effectively.
As the enemy army, which only had foot soldiers, swords and low-quality armor, was torn apart by the combined efforts of the Noah City Army, the leaders of the enemy army decided to launch their own attack.
The first enemy leader to charge was a human with long black hair tied in a ponytail. He was clad in black leather armor, and moved across the battlefield like a blur, until he reached Noah City's army, where a one-sided slaughter began.
By the time Hiroka reached the human, more than fifty soldiers had lost their lives at the hands of the human and his mysterious black daggers.
But just when he was going to kill a Dark Elf, he was attacked by three silent metal needles, forcing him to defend himself using his daggers.
"I will be your opponent." - Hiroka said quietly.
"Hmm. Finally, a real challenge." - The human answered, with a wicked smile.
The next second, he was gone, quickly reappearing behind Hiroka, his daggers poised to pierce her. But Hiroka had predicted his moves from the start, and dodged the attack easily, while launching three more metal needles in his direction. But again, the human blocked the needles using his daggers.
"Ha, ha, ha! You really know how to dance! Not like those losers I just killed. I'm Marc, the best dagger user in Sybilla's army. What's your name?" - the human asked, as he attacked again with his daggers.
"My name is Hiroka, Commander of the Noah City Shadow Squad, and faithful servant of King Rogan." - Hiroka replied, while avoiding the attack.
"You know, you're really good with those needles. And you are quite beautiful. Why don't you give up, and become my sex slave? - Marc said, his perverted smile growing.
"I have no intention of giving up. And I doubt you are man enough to be by my side, much less believe yourself superior to me in any way." - Hiroka replied coldly.
"How dare you talk to me like that, you fucking monster?! If you don't come to me by your own will, I will have to force you! Ultimate Armament "Dagger King Marbas"
Suddenly a dark aura began to surround the human's daggers. With a flick of his wrist, the human hurled one of his daggers at Hiroka, so fast that not even she, with her supernatural speed, could completely dodge it.
The dagger left a cut on one of Hiroka's forearms. An injury that apparently, not even the Extra Skill "Ultraspeed Regeneration" could heal.
"Ha, ha, ha! I got you! I told you it was going to be the hard way! Come on, give up at once! Don't you see that I am superior to you? - Marc taunted, as he made fresh cuts appear on Hiroka's skin with his daggers.
It must be that his daggers contain the power of an Ultimate Skill. Lord Rogan once told us that "Ultimate Skills" couldn't be beaten with regular skills, or even Unique Skills, unless they were very powerful skills. So Hiroka thought, while trying to dodge, without much success, the daggers of her enemy.
It seemed that every time Marc threw one of his daggers at Hiroka, it would disappear and reappear shortly after in his hand, ready to throw again. This led Hiroka to conclude that the power of his Ultimate Armament "Dagger King Marbas" was:
Extremely increase the throwing speed of daggers.
The ability to retrieve daggers once thrown.
Make wounds caused by daggers unable to be healed by skills lower than ultimate skills.
The only way to defeat Marc was with a single attack he didn't see coming, an attack that was powerful enough to kill him before he even realized what was happening.
Knowing this, Hiroka braced herself for a counterattack.
Instead of trying to dodge the daggers, Hiroka started running straight at his opponent, taking Marc by surprise. While the human was wondering what Hiroka was planning, Hiroka concentrated magical energy in her hand, drawing all the blood from her wounds into a ball of blood, and then launching it towards Marc.
The human, surprised, could not react in time, and the sphere of blood crashed into his face, blinding him for a moment.
"But what the… haaaa!" - The human began to ask what the hell Hiroka was thinking, when a terrible pain ran through his face.
To those who could only see the surface of his face, it would appear as if his face was crumbling little by little, but what was happening under his skin was much more interesting.
It was Hiroka's new Extra Skill: Million Bloody Needles.
This was a much more advanced version of his previous Extra Skill: Bloody Needles. Its power lay in using the magicules and iron in Hiroka's blood to create millions of microscopic needles that destroyed the body on a cellular level, causing it to appear as if it were turning to dust.
While Hiroka was fighting Marc, another of the enemy leaders decided to join the battle. In this case, he was a bald, wiry man with an impressive, muscular physique. A large axe rested on his shoulders.
His opponent this time was Nox, Hiroka's subordinate. The two met on the battlefield, not far from where Hiroka and Marc were facing each other.
"My name is Renfield. I wouldn't want to do this, but the boss ordered it, so don't blame me if you die." - Said the human in a bored tone, and slashed with his axe, intending to end the fight quickly, but when his axe slashed through Nox, he turned into black smoke and disappeared.
Seconds later, Nox reappeared. But not only him, because in his place a dozen Noxs had appeared. This was one of Nox's Extra Skills, Shadow Copy, which allowed him to create multiple fake copies of himself to deceive his opponent.
While Renfield was busy dealing with the copies, Nox began his spell.
"I deliver my prayers to my dark lord! I want a world where only darkness reigns and my enemies, trapped in it, understand the true meaning of calamity! Spirit Magic: Land of Dark Sword Spirits!"
From where Nox was standing, the ground suddenly turned black. The darkness continued to spread across the ground until it covered both fighters. Thick black smoke rose from the ground and began to form a black mist.
"Now, rise!" - Nox exclaimed.
The black smoke rising from the ground suddenly began to congregate to become a hundred black swords.
The swords hung in the air, their tips pointed at the human. With a gesture of Nox's hands, the swords began to fall on Renfield one after another, without letting the human rest for a second.
But Renfield was an Ultimate Armament user; in this case, "Axe King Barbatos" and he wouldn't be defeated that easily. Using the power of his weapon, he managed to block most of the blades, escaping with only a few slashes.
However, he had forgotten that his enemy was not the swords, but Nox. He took advantage of how busy Renfield was defending against the swords to create a shadow sword for him to use and attack Renfield from a blind spot.
By the time Renfield realized the trap, it was too late. The world began to spin, as his head flew from his shoulders.
"Looks like those two idiots lost. I guess it's up to me to buy some time." - Said one of the remaining human leaders, and began his attack.
But, unlike the other two, his attacks were on another level. With a swing of his sword, flames almost as intense as the sun itself swept across the battlefield, engulfing a good portion of Noah City's army.
Seeing how dangerous this new enemy was, Browen decided to go into battle.
"My name is Browen. Commander of Noah City Army. You will pay for having even thought of invading our city! - Browen yelled, approaching the human.
"I am Aiden, Commander of Sybilla Army. Make me pay, if you think you can! - The human replied, a fierce smile on his face.
Immediately both Commanders began a fierce sword battle.
"Ha!" - Browen let out a battle cry and charged at full speed. He came within a few feet of the human and made a quick swipe. But Aiden caught the tip of Browen's sword and parried it cleanly.
However, Browen expected that of him. He kept his stance and pushed his abilities to the limits of his body to make another attack. However, Aiden's combat experience far surpassed Browen's. He parried all of Browen's attacks with sword skill.
Browen raised his sword once more, but before he could lower it, Aiden used his left leg to kick Browen's right leg, causing him to lose his valance.
Browen managed to recover, slashing with his sword, but Aiden managed to turn his body at just the right moment, evading the attack.
The difference in technique and experience was clear. Aiden made no unnecessary moves, effectively fending off Browen's attacks, and attacking with the ease of someone who has fought many enemies.
With a few more moves, Aiden slashed at Browen's left thigh, causing him to stumble.
"Looks like it's over…" - Aiden muttered, stabbing Browen as he fell, straight through the heart, pinning him to the ground.
The last thing Browen felt as his consciousness faded was a huge vibration caused by a gigantic explosion that seemed to come from the city.
Sister! He thought… And his consciousness vanished completely.
Meanwhile, seeing that his plan had worked, Aiden returned to his allies.
"Lord Israfil seems to have fulfilled his part of the plan. It is time to retreat." - He told his companions.
"What about the rest of the humans? - The hooded figure asked.
"Avalon's army is very powerful. We brought a million soldiers, but only about ten thousand remain. Let's use them as a shield to escape without being followed. Order them to fight to the death." - Aiden replied.
And as the few remaining human soldiers fought to the death, the five humans and the cloaked figure disappeared from the battlefield.
The battle ended in a resounding victory for the Avalon army, but there were no shouts of joy or celebration that night.