BXBX NOVEL Chapter 254 253: First Skirmish
As for us, we all entered our tent and began to strap on our armor, all whilst Nirinia waited outside.
Moving with a practiced ease, we all stared at one another for a brief moment, our eyes locking together as we took a collective deep breath before going to join the other soldiers.
Nirinia looked each of us over, her serious face letting us know that she wasn\'t taking chances with this first engagement of ours.
As we jogged towards the gathering spot, Nirinia spoke to us, her voice cutting over the cacophony of preparing soldiers and other shouts.
"This is most likely another prodding attack, something the Western Kingdoms need to do to get a feel for what our military power is like. The skirmish should be brief, but remember, all it takes is just a second to lose your life, so even if this fight lasts naught but a few minutes, that\'s enough to kill you a dozen times over.
I know each of you has witnessed death before, and you\'ve each killed before, but the brawls and fights between Adventurers simply cannot compare to what is about to happen. Hundreds upon hundreds of people are about to collide, and each is aiming to maim or kill their enemy.
This is no training exercise, no one on one fight to the death. It\'s war. Fight as a group, stick together, and you should make it out alive. Fight to your strengths, just like you hunted down in Zhu\'Rong Caverns. Leone, Katherine, both of you focus on utilizing your magics, while Jahi and Anput protect you from the front.
I\'ll be watching over you all, and should you slip up, I\'ll save you. Just... don\'t get used to it. You won\'t always have a safety net like me around."
Exchanging another glance, we all nodded towards the Djinn, who brought us towards the middle of the large, long line of soldiers being formed.
In the center was Adelina, the golden woman standing on a raised platform as she looked around her assembled army.
The sun shone down onto her green armor and golden cloak, while her unsheathed blade gleamed brilliantly under the suns rays.
Her serious expression as she looked down over the hundreds, if not thousands of soldiers made everyone shiver slightly.
"The enemy marches today. They march towards our vast Empire in hopes of claiming and conquering our land, our home."
Adelina Leonisa\'s voice was heavy and booming as she shouted, her mana infused words reaching the ears of all her soldiers.
"The Western Kingdoms face threats from the inside and levy their blades towards outwards foes, raining curses and slights on us for their own failings, their own incompetence. The various countries further west fuel these idiots misplaced hatreds with more and more soldiers and weapons, all in the hopes of weakening our glorious Empire."
Hushed murmurs spread amongst the troops, murmurs that Adelina ignored as she raised her longsword, the flawless gold blade catching everyones attention immediately, shushing them.
"Will you let them bring harm to your home? Will you let down you families, your friends, your lovers?"
Many shook their heads, whilst some shouted angrily towards the marching army.
"No? Will you fight for this Empire, for your comrades, your livelihoods?"
Everyone nodded, and more and more began to make noise, slamming their weapons against other pieces of metal on their body.
"Then let us show these Westerners the might of our indomitable Empire. Let us display to them where their misguided anger led them. Show them what it means to be amongst the Ashen Legion! Tell them what it means!"
Pointing her blade at the approaching army, Adelina smirked as she shouted "Who are we?"
Everyone else raised their blades, and one booming shout echoed across the plains.
"The Ashen Legion!"
At that, a woman behind Adelina hefted the pole she was holding, letting the Legion\'s banner unfurl, displaying the Empire\'s symbol.
"What are we?"
Slamming their weapons together, the soldiers shouted "The Empress\' wrath incarnate!"
"What do we leave behind?"
I glanced around, my ears twitching slightly as the shout grew even louder.
The soldiers around us were grinning like crazed animals, each one leaning forwards like dogs straining against their leashes as they screamed "Nothing but ash!"
"Then go! Show this lowly army what it means to stand against the Empire!"
Twisting her blade, Adelina gave the signal for the various captains of the Legion, who raised their own weapons and started the charge.
With thunderous steps, the Legion flew forwards like a bat out of hell, the various soldiers keeping pace behind their squad captains as they ran forwards.
Adelina nodded to her small squad, each member wearing an ornate set of armor as she jumped from her platform.
Striding forwards, the woman looked towards us, or more specifically Nirinia, and smirked, before gesturing towards the furthering Legion.
"Aren\'t you going to move?"
Nirinia looked towards us, before smirking as she saw the green glow radiating from my hands.
"Oh, I was going to let them all get riled up first~! Wouldn\'t want to steal your thunder, now would I~? Come on girls~!"
Activating the speed spell around us, I nodded to the others as we sprinted forwards, swiftly catching up to the rest of the Legion.
Behind us, Adelina clicked her tongue before she led her squad forwards, each member using their mana to enhance their bodies past normal standards.
Even in their large, clunky sets of armor, each managed to keep up with us as we sped through the Legion, reaching the ever shirking space between the two armies.
The soldiers across from us were more of a ragtag mob of people then soldiers; they wore ragged surcoats over damaged or rusted chainmail shirts, and each held a battered sword in one hand while a wooden shield was strapped to their other arm.
However, they were also roaring as they charged at us, very few of them noticing that the quality of equipment between them was vastly different.
Giving one another a nod, we stopped a dozen feet from the charging wave and hunkered down, keeping ourselves tightly knit.
Anput swiftly created a platform of a foot or two for Leone to stand on, giving her a wider field of view over the battlefield, whilst the Vampire began to weave together spells to fortify her position.
Jahi wielded her sword with both hands, but a shimmering sphere encompassed our immediate vicinity, and I could feel her Light seep into my bones.
Standing with Leone\'s platform to my back, I held my First Fang in my left and my Protective Fang in my right, using my pointer fingers to draw out the runes for my spells.
With Jahi and Anput acting as a breakwater wall for the wave of enemies to crash against, I was able to begin layering support enchantments on them, enhancing their speeds, piercing power, healing them, and more.
When I had gotten the complex cloaks casted on them, I turned my attention to the fighting around us, deciding to utilize precision spells to pick off problematic enemies.
Soldiers around us screamed at one another, hurling vitriolic curses at their enemy as they attempted to kill each other.
Blades rose and fell, each one finding purchase in someones flesh, eliciting a scream as steel tore into them.
Blood splattered across the softened ground, joined swiftly by limbs or weapons, then bodies.
The clashing of weapons, shouts of valor or anger, and cries of pain joined together to create the cacophony of war around us.
However, whilst many here flinched as they listened to their enemy sob as they fell to the ground, their chest sliced open, I had to hold back a grin.
As the metallic scent of blood overpowered the air, I could feel my head begin to grow numb as I witnessed the war around me.
I wanted to jump into it, to submerge myself into the carnal pleasure of rending limb from limb, slicing through the enemy as I slowly bled them out, to rip their organs from their bodies....
The desire to do so was eating away at me, but I had to hold back, to remain where I was.
Gulping, I bit the inside of my cheek to steady my thinking, turning my thoughts to the formulae required to cast each spells.
Rune after rune appeared before me, and I began to utilize lances of pressurized water, willing them to fly forwards into the rear of the enemy army, each one tearing through a persons body with frightening ease.
Leone mirrored me, her spells washing down over the further enemies as she allowed Jahi and Anput to butcher the ones that closed in on us, all while our sides were bolstered by the soldiers of the Legion.
My water and her fire rained down on the enemy, and the screams grew to a crescendo as they were torn apart or burnt alive, the booming of Leone\'s explosive spells resounding over the battlefield.
The enemy before us was little more then normal citizens, but for the moment, none of us cared.
They were \'the enemy\', and as such, they needed to be killed.
For our home to continue to stand, these pitiful peasants needed to be put down, and I had to do so with a restrained smile.
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Not terribly good with speeches it seems lol~
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