InLeveling the ground in their wake, the East's invasion group advanced towards the West. An army filled with three different races in small amounts, all combat ready. In normal circumstances, one would assume they were coming to fight one another, seeing as they were all violent races, but they were all being directed by a very powerful being, so they wouldn't dare.

"OOOHAAA!"

"OOOHAAA!"

Tearing up the once peaceful environment with their war cries, the trolls, numbering in the fifties shook the ground with their powerful steps, led by the troll king Zod. He was a red troll smaller than the others. A mutation of sorts that compressed his muscles, forcing his muscles to pack more punch than the average troll. With a little bit of work, he easily became the top of his species. Some say with more work and he would have been strong enough to fight the ogre tyrant. That was just their opinions though, he himself didn't believe in such nonsense. Lord Krull was in a league of his own and this was literally going to be a waste of time.

All their members were D+ in rank and their king was C+ in rank.

CLANK! KINK! CLANK!

The sounds of their heavy armors hitting the ground resounded powerfully. The orc army numbering two hundred and seventy heavily marched onwards, led by the orc king Dulk. They were most likely the weakest out of the gathered trio, but that was why they possessed the most numbers, a race that was normally D- rank, with their leader being a C+ rank. He was bigger than the rest and carried a black battle axe twice his size with a red orb fixed into its head. He wore practically no armor due to the fact that his armor was actually out of commission after his last fight and the resources needed to build that armor were not easy to recover. He let out a smoke as he marched ahead of his men with a lazy expression.

With flags waving and spears piercing the sky, the ogre army with one hundred and fifty heavily armed soldiers, led by the Ogre Tyrant, Krull charged like cold machines. Their race was C rank alone, meaning they were strong enough to give kings trouble and were feared by a lot of creatures. Their leader, the War Monger Krull, was B+ in rank, approaching the realms of an imperial beast. Truly a being worthy of respect.

The trolls were hand chosen by the troll king as his strongest soldiers. They were all running mightily right after their king while letting out war cries.

"Death to the Weak! Victory for the Strong!"

They kept on chanting and the troll king was pleased at the sight. He looked above and saw a wyvern with mid-night black scales fly ahead. On it, his master sat and observed the lands before him. He was trying to impress his master to show how much the trolls were better than the orcs. It was him just being petty, but no one thought too much of it. Whatever he asked them to do, the trolls would do for none were strong enough to defy him or his master. Trolls definitely weren't social creatures. Before this abnormal, they simply roamed their territories, not interfering with the other. If they met, it would instantly turn to a fight to the death. If a female and male met, it would turn into a fight to determine the rapist and victim were to bear offspring.

Meanwhile, the orc king who was marching in front of all of his soldiers let out a smoke and glanced at his master.

'Sorry master, but I'm stealing that kill from you.'

He silently vowed to himself. An unwise decision as most would call it, but one driven by true passion. Was there any better reason than "true love" for one to defy the being they swore loyalty to? That was the ideology his mother had drilled into them before she died. Dulk would simply follow that, especially since his siblings told him to. Still, he was a bit torn up about that.

From the sky, the ogre tyrant watched as his miniature forces advanced.

They were all summoned by their tyrant and as they would have it, a call to battle was something they had all been itching to hear. They marched happily towards this battlefield they saw as easy pickings. The west wasn't well known for its military might. In fact, it was well known as the most care free of all the sides in Larm. That was why the Tyrant of the East hadn't brought about a serious army. He could barely even call the collection before him an army.

He just didn't want to gain the attention of the Sleeping Emperor. Something as little as the army he had brought would be enough to demolish the West's denizens. He also wanted to hurry up and kill the chicken that had boldly declared that it was fighting against him.

He let out a war cry and his forces sped up.

"To the West! Kill all races you come across! Show them the East's power!"

He waved his huge butcher's knife in the air to rile up his soldiers. They all yelled in response to his orders and he could only smile. That was until he remembered what his daughter told him.

'Stupid. As if I will die at the hands of a chicken.'

Remembering the night's events filled him with even more hate towards the chicken who had dared to come against him. He was preparing to show the West terror, but also in a mild way. He couldn't afford to destroy all those precious resources he was planning on exporting, now could he?

It took about four days for them to arrive at the borders and another four to get close to where the Mad Witch lived. When they got there, the ogre tyrant ordered for them to cease all movement. He felt that it was odd that the creatures had not shown up yet.

He landed his wyvern and the two kings approached him. They currently stood on a hill overlooking the forest.

"What are we waiting for, Lord Krull?"

Dulk asked

"Ya fool, don't go askin' boss man what he is doin'! Just do whatever' darn thin' he tells ya!"

Zod yelled,

"But if you don't ask questions something bad could happen."

"Somethin' bad? Ah! Askin' questions is for the weak!"

"Oh yeah?-"

"Silence! You two are annoying!"

Both of them shut their mouths and straightened up. Krull let out a sigh. Every time those two were together, they ended up complaining. Zod was a muscle-headed moron who believed that the only way out of every situation was by brute forcing his way out of it, whereas Dulk, despite his looks, was a somewhat inquisitive individual who always preferred to think out every situation fully. Both of them didn't agree on almost everything. What they did agree on though was the undeniable fact.

Strong rules, Weak serves.

They had both seen the overbearing might of the ogre tyrant and as such, they were ready to put aside their differences since he ordered it.

The ogre then turned his attention to the forest. What were they getting at? He could feel presences, scattered in weird positions. They looked like they were attempting to ambush them, but Krull had seen through it. Was this actually how they were going to fight back? How laughable.

He then looked at the two beautiful full moons in the night sky.

_______________________________________________________________

"Gorm! The East's forces have stopped in front of the wolf hills!"

A rat man who had been posted to inform them of any sign of the East said.

"What? They aren't moving in?"

"No!"

"What about their numbers?"

"I couldn't get a proper number, but I estimate over two hundred trolls, orcs and ogres alongside their kings and the ogre tyrant!"

'Hmm, this is just what Hinotori-sama said might happen. Looks like we are going with Plan B then.'

He thought to himself, putting his hand to his chin. How great was Hinotori who had managed to foresee this situation? Hinotori had gone with the assumption that Krull possessed the skill [Overlord] just like Minerva did and wondered why he simply didn't use that to control the creatures. He came to the conclusion that Krull couldn't do that because Minerva was around. But given the function of the skill to instantly scout the entire West, he assumed Krull could do that as well. So he needed to trick him.

That wouldn't be easy so Hinotori took a while and this formation only came up on the last day. So some of the members might have messed it up. It was due to the fact that their positions weren't so well practiced that their imperfectness made them a perfect decoy for the ogre tyrant who simply assumed that they weren't properly formed for an ambush. Now was the best time to confuse his opponents.

Gorm looked at the soldiers he had trained over the past four days.

They didn't have any good armor or actual weapons, however they were well-built and although the time was short, he had drilled in all sorts of survival techniques into their heads. He knew they weren't really going to be a match for the East's forces, but that was what the ambushes and traps were for.

"Look alive men! The East is here, but they have stopped at the wolf hills! Everything is going just as Hinotori-sama had predicted. We are proceeding with the original plan! Remember to be quick and try your utmost best to not be killed. We need as many of you as we get alive to win."

All they needed to do was to lure the enemy into their mine field and they would definitely acquire an advantage over their enemies. That single advantage was all they needed according to Hinotori.

"General Gorm, the rat men are ready!"

General Gorm was on official title Hinotori had assigned to him and all the creatures referred to him by that. The rat man who he had put in charge of the other rat men reported the details of his ward with a salute.

"General Gorm, the goblins are ready!"

Oda, the other hob-goblin from his tribe, who was the representative as well as one of the hob-goblin captains reported.

"General Gorm, the insect ground troops are ready!"

A beetle monster, who was one of the three subordinates the insect king personally selected, reported.

"Very well then! Let's start with the self-defense plan!"

"Yes sir!"

They all ran to their various teams. It didn't take long for all the West's assault force to move out.

Six hundred and ninety goblins, each normally an E rank monster moved forward, led by their 5 hob-goblin captains who were D- ranks. They were the weakest out of all the races in the West's forces.

Five hundred rat men, each an E rank monster, led by one the most trusted subordinates of the leader of rat men.

Four hundred insects with varying strengths of E ranks and D- ranked monsters, led by two of the insect king's most trusted subordinates. The most powerful fighting force the self-defense army could provide.

All of these soldiers were led by Gorm the hob-goblin and leader of all the goblin tribes. However, Gorm had ordered that only a third of the army go with him.

"Falter not men! This is a battle to defend our lands! CHARGE!"

The ground shook mightily under the force of over three hundred creatures running fearlessly towards the battlefield. They let out war cries as they tore up the ground. This alerted the East to their movements!

In no time, the West's forces had emerged from the forest and were facing the East's army. Gorm looked at his opponent and although he had already been informed of their numbers, he was surprised. They were running towards their deaths and he knew this. Still, he did not falter.

"HALT!"

He sent his orders and all the creatures stopped running. Gorm then stepped forward with a yell at the top of his lungs.

"Turn back now and you will not suffer a humiliating defeat!"

He did not know for which reason Hinotori had told him to say such a thing, however, for some reason he completely trusted Hinotori. The actual reason was due to Hinotori's [Charisma] skill taking effect involuntarily. He himself wasn't aware of it. For that reason, every single monster from the West had complete faith in him and his strategies.

"Ok then, men! RETREAT!"

After delivering his message, Gorm ordered for a complete withdrawal. And the army fled back into the forest, leaving the East confused.

___________________________________________________________

It didn't take long for the West's forces to appear at the borders of the West. The ogre Tyrant who had been flying overhead with his wyvern looked at the West's forces.

There were well over two hundred enemies on the West's side. However, it was a collection of E rank and D- rank creatures.

He was infuriated. Was this some sort of insult? When he had heard that the West was fighting back, he expected a grander army.

300 E rank and D- rank monsters vs 500 D and C rank creatures couldn't even be called a war. Saying it was a fight would even be too much. Worse of all, he couldn't even sense a king rank monster in the mix.

What the hell was this? Did his enemy underestimate him to this extent? If he had known the West would do only this he would have brought less creatures for the massacre he was about to cause. Even worse, a hob-goblin came forward and told him to retreat in order to avoid a humiliating defeat.

The ogre tyrant at that moment was about to jump to the battleground and kill the hob-goblin who would dare to say something like that. Suddenly, the West's forces pulled back into the forest. Were they running away? Did they get scared after realizing the sheer difference in forces? Surely their leader wasn't so easy. They must have done that to confuse him. But anyone would know a simple confusion like this wouldn't work on him. So… his opponent definitely had something else in mind, but what? At the moment, he could think of only a few things to do.

It was so funny he couldn't help but laugh.

"Boss man! Want me ta crush em?"

The one who asked this was none other than the troll king, Zod.

"Ah? Do you even need me to say it? Go-"

He was about to order that the trolls run straight into the forest, but realized how strange it was that he had been made to think this much at only the beginning. He knew he couldn't underestimate this being at this moment. His warrior pride was screaming for him to just send out a full force assault, but his logical side was begging for him to be cautious.

"Zod. Send your forces first. Dulk you will send yours if the trolls need help. Both of you kings should remain here."

His logical side won.

"B-Boss man? I'll miss out on all the glory!"

Zod complained.

"Glory? What glory can be earned from a battlefield like this one? This is just going to be a slaughter. I feel embarrassed for bringing this many soldiers."

The orc king who wanted to get the chicken for himself stood in deep thought. The ogre tyrant noticed how strange it was that the orc had not even asked any questions about his strategy.

"Dulk, do you have something on your mind?"

"Uh… N-no, Lord Krull! I shall inform my forces now!"

The orc king lifted his axe and he ran off towards the orc army. Krull glared at the running orc. Just as Zod was about to go, the ogre tyrant called him back.

"What is it boss man?"

"I don't like how that orc is behaving. If you notice him doing anything suspicious, don't hesitate to kill him."

The troll king, who despised the orc for how cowardly it was, was elated to hear his master tell him that. He had been given an opportunity to kill the coward.

"Yes sir, Krull-sama!"

The troll then ran off to give the troll army orders.

***

The trolls charged towards the battlefield like they had been ordered to. They felt no fear for they had seen their opponents. In fact they almost laughed when they saw the forces. This would be an easy battle, not even one worth remembering. They alone could handle this entire situation.

They had gone deep into the forest with all that vim and vigor, then all of a sudden,

CRASH!

A loud crashing sound could be heard when the trolls fell into deep pit holes. Over five trolls had already fallen prey to the traps set up by the rat men.

"Ya guys alright?"

One of the trolls asked his friends. The trolls at the bottom of the trap stood up with no injuries.

"YeaAAARRRGGGGHHH!!!"

Suddenly the trolls that had fallen began to scream in pain. This was because they had been bitten by the night vipers who produced a very potent poison. Poison strong enough to cause pain to even trolls, who boasted of high defenses.

"Oi! You guys!? Oi!"

It was too late. They had already died. The troll who was looking at the bottom of the pit hole was hit with a rock to the head. It didn't do much to him, however, when he lifted his head to see the source of the rock, another one came flying and hit his eye.

"AAAGGH!"

The troll stumbled back, but then he tripped over a thread woven by a spider and fell on his back. Too confused to even know what was happening, the last things he remembered seeing were two dark shadows descending on him. No, they were two rat men, holding stone daggers. One of the rat men stabbed his other eye, then the other slashed his throat, killing the troll.

The rat men immediately retreated back into the trees.

The trolls that witnessed this sight were confused. Six of their brethren had fallen in an instant. This was the handiwork of the ambush squad.

CRASH!

CRASH!

More and more, the trolls fell prey to the ambushes and traps that had been set up.

What was happening? How were they being wiped out like this? Worse of all, it was by measly E rank monsters.

"How we gon' face Zod after this!?"

A troll who couldn't take it angrily charged forward. There was one single thing the trolls knew and that was to brute force their way out of such situations. They began to start punching down the trees and stomping the ground while letting out loud yells like the barbarians that they were.

"OOOOOOHHHHH!"

The trolls began to mow down the trees, forgetting that they were supposed to leave them unharmed. They had destroyed the ambush squad's hiding spots which forced them into retreating. The trolls pushed forward fearlessly, tearing up the ground in their rage. That is, till they met a tree that moved.

The tree grabbed the troll that tried to mow it down then flipped the troll backwards. The other trolls were confused at the sight, but then another tree's branches came, wrapping themselves around a troll and elongating itself into the troll's mouth, suffocating it till it died. The other trolls just looked on, horrified at the easy sight. Sure, the trolls had tough defenses and it would be hard for weaker monsters to break through those, but weaker monsters simply needed to injure them from the inside. The treant Ichi had figured this out and his brother Ni was going to learn from him.

From their branches, several Larm Mushroo spawns hang with malicious grins, making all sorts of noises and snickering amongst themselves.

This was one of the rare moments that a troll would ever admit that they felt fear. Some stumbled back, the stupid plunged face deep and the bold just crushed down anything and everything in their way. Krull was not stupid. He sent in those with the toughest defense and made them take all the initial damage so he could ascertain the enemy's strength.

Now Trolls were losing in the most pathetic way imaginable, although only twenty had fallen so far. 

"Get ready! Here they come!"

Gorm sent his orders to all his men and they were already for the attack. He himself held his short sword tightly and stood in a battle ready stance.

Thirty trolls came out in full force, led by one exceptionally big troll with dark grey hair. He let out a roar that spread fear through the West's forces. Gorm however, feared not. He trusted Hinotori with his life at this moment. Or more like, he trusted Minerva to intervene and prevent his death.

"Insect squad! CHARGE!!"

Gorm yelled valiantly and the army charged at the trolls.

Bee, firefly and beetle monsters from the insect squad approached the trolls from the sky, whereas centipedes and spiders came from the ground. The trolls who had charged in early were surprised by the sheer number. Hundreds of beetles and bees flew at them, their wings violently buzzing.

The bees used their stingers to stab some of the trolls and the beetles were able to ram into some of the trolls. The fireflies created powerful sparks and explosions that blinded or sent trolls flying.

"OOH!"

A troll fell on his knees after receiving a stinger to the chest. He tore apart the bee that stung him, however, another bee stung him from behind. He couldn't reach the bee and the paralyzing poison in the bees' stingers had already begun to take effect. The troll fell face flat on the hard ground.

"What is this!? How are there so many!?"

Another troll fell.

A troll punched one of the bees, sending it flying into another two bees. However, a centipede spat acid on the troll's leg, causing it to stumble. Then a beetle rammed into the troll, tripping it. A bee finished it off by piercing through the trolls head with its hard and poisonous stinger.

One by one, the trolls were dying. Soon, there were only ten trolls remaining. It even went so far that some of the trolls began to retreat

"R-Run back! We all gon' die!"

"Zod'll understand!"

BAAM!

The troll who began to suggest that they retreat received a powerful blow to the head, knocking him to the ground. When he looked up he saw the second-in-command of the trolls glaring at him.

"None of y'all are runnin'! If ya do, I swear that after this, Imma cut off ya damned heads!"

The troll threatened the other trolls.

"They're just bugs! We're bigger than all o' them! We can crush em! Now FIGHT!!!"

The troll who ordered them charged into the seemingly hopeless battle. The other trolls weren't motivated in anyway by what he said. Rather, as soon as he charged into the fight, the other trolls ran away, leaving him alone.

He cursed the bastards who had abandoned him then faced the battle field. He was going to win this by himself. He believed that much. Taking down a hundred of these creatures would be his limit, but he was going to surpass that or he wouldn't be worthy of using to possess the title of 'King of the Trolls'.

***

It was silent. Too silent for the ogre tyrants liking.

Then he spotted some creatures coming from the West. They were fourteen trolls. Krull wore a curious expression as he looked at them.

"Hahaha! Just as Boss man predicted. There was no need for this many soldiers. My trolls all up went and finished the job."

Krull looked at his cocky subordinate then back at the trolls. He had expected it to be an easy battle, but he did not think it would take such a short time for them to be done. Was it really that easy? He tried to sense further and was surprised to see that the West's numbers had barely reduced. Was there something wrong? What was happening?

He squeezed his eyes and he could see the trolls running. They were covered in the blood of their opponents. No, he could see open wounds on the trolls. Some of them even had stingers popping out of their bodies. Did they run away?

"Help! Help!"

One of the trolls fell before the ogre tyrant while begging for help.

"What happened?"

Zod went to the troll's side.

"The… enemy… they smart an' fast. I am poisoned. Please help."

"The enemy had more soldiers, huh? An' you kill em all? Haha! You see Boss man? Even with an em large numbers, my men killed em all!"

"Humph. I don't remember hearing that they defeated the enemy."

Krull said then closed his eyes, focusing on expanding his range. There were several, easily over a thousand opponents still there and waiting for battle.

"What? Oi, lad. You guys managed to kill em all, right?"

The ogre tyrant looked at the troll that was shaking from the effects of the poison. It wouldn't be long till all feel in his body turned numb and he would slowly die. The bees poison was a very dangerous one that made them untouched problems no one messed with. And given their habit of working together and swarming even the weakest of enemies, they managed to remain at the top as some of the most fearful creatures. Individually, they were E ranks, but as a swarm, they were approaching the likes of B rank.

"Did you kill the enemy?"

Krull asked the troll with an emotionless tone.

"No… we ran-"

"What?"

The one who asked this was Zod.

"We ran. T-the enemy's forces are just too gre-"

Zod kicked the trolls face in, not even allowing him to explain himself, then bowed to the War monger.

"I am sorry Lord Krull. My subordinate has shown you something unsightly."

Zod's demeanor suddenly changed. As he faced down, he was sweating buckets and his eyes kept dancing in their socket, fear of being killed in that moment overwhelming him. Krull looked at him for only a second then switched targets to the other trolls. Zod took notice of this and did the same, glaring at the others. They all looked at him with eyes and mouth wide open in aghast. They thought they could find safety here, but instead, they would meet something scarier than fighting the west. The troll king's wrath.

"I shall clear the remaining scum now."

The red troll moved at speeds that should have been impossible for someone of his size. His body glowed with a violent red, buffing him up. This was his [King's Aura] taking effect. It directed a feeling of dread towards weaker monsters around him.

With one punch, he had blown off one of the trolls' head. When the others saw this, they began to run back towards the West. Where else could they go? If they moved forward they would die at the hands of the Troll king or ogre tyrant, however if they went back, there was a slight possibility of surviving. They were willing to take that slight chance

"Where are you cowards going? I never gave you permission to run."

Unfortunately for them, the troll king wasn't going to let them live. In a matter of seconds, the troll wiped out all the deserters.

The ogre was pleased with the current state of events. Not about the troll army getting wiped out. No, the mere fact that he had made the right decision. When the trolls came running out of the forest, he had received all he needed to confirm his suspicions. He now felt that his decision to hold back all his forces was the right one. They would have ended up being ambushed had they gone straight ahead.

"Orcs! Ogres! Charge forward! Annihilate the West!"

The soldiers heard their master's orders and they followed it to the letter.

***

"Gorm-san! Don't you think that troll is strong?"

This was the leader of the Krav tribe in the West. Wielding his giant mallet and heavy rusty armor, he grinned and scratched his cheek.

"He alone has taken down fifty of those bees."

Gorm agreed with him.

"Then shall we engage in battle?"

Dressed in mere filthy rags and holding a rusty sword, the leader of the Zamp tribe suggested to them.

"Hehehe… Sure, depends on what I get from it."

The skinny hobgoblin said. He held two rusty daggers laced with poison. He was a shrewd fellow, but still one of the hob-goblin captains and the leader of the Stamp tribe.

"Please, do not suggest something so suicidal."

This time, the voice belonged to that of an elderly female hob-goblins. She also wore rags and leaned on her crooked staff for aid. She was the leader of the Tak tribe and also one of the hob-goblin captains.

"Don't you think so, Oda dearie?"

She was referencing to the young hob-goblina who was once her disciple.

"I will follow Gorm to wherever he wishes, so if he says we should charge, I will charge."

For most of the time, this hob-goblin was always next to Gorm, so her response wasn't so surprising to the other hob-goblins.

"And here I was thinking that you were the only sensible one other than me in this collection. I demand payment for the magic lessons I gave you!"

"Ah? Magic lessons? You old witch! You just beat the crap out of me with that stick of yours until I was able to create a magic circle. It was more like torture."

Oda complained.

"Hehehe. Magic doesn't come at a free price you know."

The crooked hob-goblina mused and Oda restrained herself from smacking the old lady on the head.

"I'm sorry to cut your conversation short ladies, but I have to impress Hinotori-sama so I'm going to fight that troll. He is clearly the strongest one. Imagine me telling Hinotori-sama that I defeated the strongest troll. How impressed would he be?"

"Ah, Gorm. I never knew you could take such a liking to creature other than Dorm. Makes me feel a bit sad."

The hob-goblin couldn't help but grin when that reference was made.

"I don't know why, but he just has that air of a reliable leader and one that I would want to follow to the ends of the world."

"Indeed. Very well then, shall we charge?"

"My instincts are telling me that I will get something good if I'm able to complete this successfully."

"Huzzah! Let's show that troll the hob-goblins might!"

"Like I said. I will follow Gorm to the ends of the world."

"Ah! You young ones are giving this elder a headache…. Fine! I will assist you the best I can with my support and fire magic."

Gorm couldn't help but be filled with gratitude as he listened to each and every one of their responses.

"Hahaha! Very well then! Let's GO!"

The five hob-goblins charged at the troll, while the elder stayed behind.

The battered up troll continuously fought against bees and beetles even with several piercings in his body and poisons slowly killing him from the inside. It was relentlessly clinging on to life after beating dozens of monsters coming his way in the past hour.

A beetle rammed into him, but he caught it with both hands and lifted it to his eye level. He felt insatiable rage. He was angry at the kind of situation they had ended up in. Angry that his brethren abandoned him. Angry that he would not be able to keep his promise to his sworn friend. In truth, were he not angry, he would have long died.

"DIE YA VERMIN!"

He ripped apart the beetle with his bare hands then punched the bee that was buzzing in front of him. But he noticed a shadow looming over him and instinctively blocked with his left arm.

BAM!

The sound of metal hitting something solid resounded as the copper mallet hit the troll. The troll easily threw away the one who used the weapon against him and scowled at the blond owner.

"HAHAHA! He's got a bad temper, Gorm!"

The leader of the Krav tribe warned.

"You think dropping in from above with a hammer would make him calm!?"

The leader of Zamp slashed at the troll's chest, but the troll knew nothing would happen so it planned on bringing down its hand to kill the hob-goblin. However, the hob-goblin glowed with a yellow light then moved faster than the troll had expected, and the slash left a new wound in his abdomen. This was still not enough to cause any serious damage to him. And the hob-goblins sword had broken in half, half-way through the slash.

"What the…?"

The troll brought down his mighty fist without a second thought, but then his head was hit with a very powerful blast of water which caused him to stumble. The hob-goblin looked at the direction of the water shot and it was Oda, with her arms pointing in his direction. She shot another one that caused the troll to stumble back yet again. Each and every single shot, strong enough to snap a tree in half.

The old hob-goblina was impressed with this development and wanted to comment on her pupil's improvement, but instead she teased her.

"What are you waiting for? Move!"

"Oh- Ah yes!"

The hob goblin moved. Then the laughter came booming.

"I cannot believe ya, kiddo."

Oda turned her ears to the senior.

"What is it? Finally going to give me the praise I deserve for being a genius?"

"Do not ever call yourself a genius. That is laughable."

Oda clicked her tongue at the remark.

"Hahaha! You had this much power and almost died to a damned deer? You are weak as shit! Hahaha!"

After hearing this, Oda couldn't help but try to hide the smile on her face. For the first time in a long time, the old woman praised her again. This was definitely a memorable moment, one she would keep forever and tease the old woman with. Suddenly, she had gotten more vim and put more power into her spells, using [Water Magic: Aqua] to heal her team mates who'd get punched away so they don't slow down. With [Water Magic: Water's Blessing], she had raised her own physical stats, enabling her to actively participate in the fight, while giving support to others.

In all senses, she truly was a talented mage, being able to support not only herself, but all team mates, healing them, providing long range attacks while simultaneously fighting in close combats. Not even combat mages of high levels could perform this tedious task. Oda really was nothing short of a genius. This was so impressive the old hob-goblina could only wonder if Oda was just naturally gifted, or if there were forces at play in the background.

When the enraged troll came to, he realized that Oda was the source of the water balls flying at him. He tried to grab her when she hit his head with a spear, but she instantly realized this and distanced herself, the others coming into move the troll's hand away from her.

Oda then fired a water spear at him, merely pushing him back. The Stamp leader jumped so high, he reached the troll's eye level, then swiped at his eyes, cutting them out.

"Keke-"

In the middle of his laughter, the troll caught the hob-goblin and flew him towards the old hob-goblina as if he could still. The old hob-goblina couldn't react, but luckily Gorm jumped in time to move her out of the way.

At that moment, she lost concentration and her assistance disappeared, meaning the hob-goblins were back to their regular stats.

"Oda! Reinforcement! Now!"

Gorm ordered, but there was nothing. Frustrated, he looked back at her to see why she hadn't activated it, but all he saw was a blade in Oda's chest. Her eyes were wide open with shock and blood trailed down her mouth.

The other hob-goblins weren't aware of this and charged on fearlessly, expecting the buff to come out. Sound drowned out from Gorm's ears as an annoying ringing intensified in his ears. As if the battlefield mattered not, he rushed to her side.

"Ah?"

The troll was confused, but before he could figure it out, he fell to the ground. A powerful kick came flying at his face. It was the leader of Stamp. He managed to cut the trolls tendons before it even noticed. Still, this wasn't enough to knock the troll out for good.

"Kekeke… Stupid Troll. You can't even figure out that I cut your tendons."

The troll stretched out its beat up arm to punch the shrewd hob-goblin, but the Krav leader stepped in the way, stopping the punch with his body, before proceeding to yell at the Zamp leader. He came in from the top with a stinger in hand and stabbed into the forehead of the troll.

Still, the troll's body kept on moving.

"W-Woah boy!"

The Zamp leader let out a cry as he was being juggled about on the troll's shoulders. He flipped off and landed on the ground, his right fist now aching like hell. Using his own strength to try to penetrate the monster's skull was painful. Still, that wasn't the worst of it. How was it still moving with a poisoned stinger literally in its head? Did it have no brain working up there? The captains were starting to feel dread. That is, till the sound of the troll's hand falling lifelessly to the ground sounded in their ears.

When they looked, Gorm stood next to troll, glowing with a yellow aura and holding a sword that was on fire. His eyes contained rage that managed to scare the Krav leader.

This angered Gorm cut off the head of the troll in one swoop, mercilessly ending its movement completely.

"Hahaha! That was one heck of a fight, Gorm!"

The leader of Krav patted Gorm on the back.

"Hehe, still embarrassing that it took all six of us hob-goblins to take down one beat up troll."

The Zamp leader said.

"What are you talking about? Even beat up trolls are dangerous opponents, you know?"

The Krav leader defended.

"Oi, why are you covered in Blood? You didn't take any damage, did you?"

The Zamp leader asked when he saw Gorm's hands. Gorm didn't respond, but his eyes trailed somewhere. All the hob-goblins picked up on this and saw Oda lying on the ground. They all suddenly felt all sorts of emotions. But one thing was for sure, they would get revenge.

BOOM!

BAM!

The ground shook mightily and there was an explosion.

_____________________________________________________

The rat men underground cave

The underground cave was unusually busy today. Normally one would see hundreds of rat men moving in and out spreading any information they heard like the biggest gossip hub. This time however, though the rat men were fewer, the information exchange was way faster. It was due to the fact that they were currently in battle and everyone was on edge. The one with the most trouble was the leader of the rat men who had to listen to every single one of the reports and respond with quick solutions.

"Leader! The trolls have entered the forest!"

"Let the trappers handle the ones that they can!"

"Leader! The trolls fell for five of the traps!"

"Only five? How many of them died?"

"Seven!"

"Send out the ambush squad. Minimize their numbers as much as possible!"

"Yes sir!"

"Sir the trolls are plowing down the trees!"

"Ah? Do you need me to tell you what to do? Tell the ambush squad to leave! Let the treants do their thing!"

"Leader, thirty trolls pushed past the forest!"

"The frontal assault squad can deal with them if they are only thirty, no?"

"Leader! The frontal assault unit managed to fend off the trolls. Most of them ran away. There is only one troll alive!"

"Ha! What'd I say? What about casualties?"

"We have over fifty bees and thirty beetles down. The injured are currently being carried through the tunnels to the medic stations for healing!"

"Good. Everything is going smoothly. Just as Lady Hinotori planned."

'Th-This is genius! To have foreseen this far. After this I will have to pledge my loyalty to you.'

He internally swore to become Hinotori's subordinate after the war. That is if they survived.

"Leader! The ogres and orcs are moving in together!"

"We'll use the traps to slow them down. Tell the spiders in the ambush squad to set up webs to slow down the enemy. They should also create poison muddles to hurt them. Those who possess magic should attempt to cause as much damage as possible to the opponents to lessen the burden on the assault force."

"Yes sir!"

"Do we have any information on the movements of the ogre tyrant?"

"As of now, he and the kings are still standing at the borders."

"Good. The moment he makes a move, tell me!"

"Sir! The enemy has entered the forest! The ambush squad is engaging now!"

The leader then got up from where he sat.

"Wait, leader! Where are you going?"

"Ah? I must earn myself a name, you know? I cannot disappoint Lady Hinotori, you know? Keep me updated on everything."

"Very well then, sir!"

"Also, what is the status on the guppies and nymphs that were going to be ambushing? I haven't heard anything about them."

"Well, the thing is, sir… The nymphs are going to-"

BOOM!

BAM!

The whole cave shook heavily and the rat man leader's heart started to sink. However, if he let something like this faze him, he would never become strong.

"What's happening out there?"

"Sir, I believe you should take a look for yourself."

The rat man nodded and ran for the surface as quickly as he could.