Chapter 46: Fight or Flight

 

After several days of reorganization and planning, the Ak'hims decided on their two large armies and their location. It was decided that the Second Third and Seventh army will join up while the others will join up with Leida. This included the armies of the other races and the mercenaries. The others will remain in the village turned fort Dragonsmourne. The one in charge will be Klauna and Leida respectively.

The decision was met with opposition by the two generals, Aberanis and Parash, who proposed that they go together with the First army instead and that the Seventh army can join up the other force. The two generals finally decided to let go of the matter when Leida convinced them that it was the best course of action.

She had asked them for a favour and they reluctantly agreed to the matter.

Thus, the three generals and their soldiers had no other choice but to get along as they made their way towards Klauna's choice of location— a very large mine to the east, closest to the frontlines.

Once arrived, they quickly secured the mining town and forced any civilians who have yet to leave to depart the place. The choice to come here was proven to be correct as the Ak’him scouts found out that there was a small army of elves making their way towards the said mines. Their intention probably to take over the mines to use for their future operations or even claim the place as their sovereign right once the war is over.

Their numbers were only about three thousand— much less than the eight thousands of the Ak'hims. It was a sure victory as far as everyone was concerned. It looked like the idea of grouping up to engage the enemy's split up numbers was the right choice. 

"Of all the places to go first, you prioritise a mine?" Aberanis berated Klauna. He and the other generals and officers were in a small abandoned house, having just finished being briefed about the situation and plan.

"We've been through this before. The metals and magic crystals from this mine make it a valuable area to claim. Besides, once we escort the people here, we can move to the next and the next. The mines facilitate our decision due to its strategic location and well-maintained roads leading out of it," Klauna gave a long drawn out explanation on her decision to pick the mines as her first spot of evacuation.

"... I get where you are coming from, but to protect a mine just feels so backwards when we should be protecting civilians," Parash commented.

Klauna peeked out of the window of the building she was in. "We are protecting civilians. Just selectively," Klauna said to the other two generals in the same roof as her. The tone in her voice was like she didn't care at all.

"You are quite a cold person, do you know that?" Aberanis said to her. 

"...believe it or not. I'm not happy about the matter as well. But things must be done."

The two best friends, Parash and Aberanis, let out a sigh. They gave their word to Leida that they will try their best to cooperate. Not really damning as a promise, but pretty close enough in nature. It wasn't something they wanted to backtrack out of. Besides, it was as she says, things need to be done.

"The enemies are approaching. I estimate that they will arrive in position within twenty minutes," Kazakiel's voice came out of a small notebook within Klauna's pocket.

"That's the cue. Everyone, get into position and prepare," Klauna said as she checked the map in the middle of the room one last time.

Everyone in the room replied to her orders with a roger.

"Lina. You and the Succours are up first. I'll leave the judgement on when to strike on you," Klauna said to Lina.

"...got it," Lina replied nervously. 

Satisfied with their answer, Klauna crumpled the map in front of her before facing the other two generals. "We need to get into position as well. The tall tower overseeing the enemies is a good place to start. I'll be there."

"I'll be underground then," Parash replied.

"I'll probably stick in this house," Aberanis replied.

Seeing that everyone had their position picked and ready to go, everyone soon dispersed from the house to reach their pre-planned positions. This included Lina who briskly walked towards her destination.

When the news of an Elven army reached their ears, Aberanis had wanted to execute a rush down the assault on the elves. Take them down quick and fast with blitzing speed. It wasn't a bad plan all things considered. Catch them off guard while also taking advantage of their greater numbers.

But it was Parash's idea that went through in the end. Considering that the Elves have yet to figure out their presence, he proposed hiding their true numbers and set a number of soldiers to disguise themselves as civilians. His aim was to lure them into the mining town where they will ambush them using the cover of the buildings and the urban environment. An environment that the elves will not be used to. 

When asked about the possibility of the elves figuring out their plot due to their innate intimacy with the natural spirits and invisible creatures warning them, Parash merely mentioned that such creatures are very scarcely found in the area and that even if warned, the elves were too prideful of a race to heed the warning.

Klauna agreed with Parash's plan and added that the invisible creatures still live in Ak'him lands. That they are friends to the Ak’hims and will not help the elves so willingly. A small briefing was then held and the soldiers went into hiding, waiting for the signal to come so that they may ambush the elves.

Lina's role in this plan was to lead the Succours and bomb the enemy from the air before proceeding to engage the elves in a ground battle from the rear, preventing their total escape. She was without a doubt an important part of the plan to get rid of the elves that were invading this mine. 

Her part in the plan was something that came as a surprise to her and some others. She had requested that she participate in the next battle, but she didn't expect her chance to come so quick, nor did she expect Klauna to put her to work so fast, much less in an important position. She thought there would be some sort of resistance from her due to their past. Nope, she immediately accepted it and quickly put her to work. All while considering her capabilities and what she can and cannot do.

Well, as far as Lina was concerned, this was a good thing for her. 

A few minutes of walking later and Lina arrived at her destination— a mansion near in a secluded part of the town. She entered the place and soon found that it was filled to the brim with Succours, her underlings— all of them in standby and getting ready to fly up into the skies. 

She walked deeper into the mansion and soon arrived in a big room with a window that allows one to have an overview of the main road and pretty much a large entirety of the east part of town. Medica was hidden behind the window, occasionally peeking out before hiding her presence again.

"Are we ready, Medica?" Lina asked her most loyal subordinate.

She only replied with a confident nod. Seeing that everything is prepared, she clenched her fist tight before stretching her muscles. She won’t be joining the Succours in the first strike, but she will be right with them when the ground-based battle begins. She then moved to the window and peeked out of it. In her breast pocket was a small notebook, Yuupiecca’s and Harbin’s new revolution in communication magic, the Grimoire of the Analyst now pocket-sized.

"The enemies have arrived. I'm going to move into position as well," Balestra's voice came out of the notebook.

Hearing that, everyone got tenser as everything came to a complete silence.

Soon after that, another voice came out of the notebook. It was Klauna's.  "I can see them. Things are going according to plan, they are unaware. Proceed to phase two."

As soon as she said that, multiple alarm bells rang out all over the city. It was an alarm to signal a disaster event and to signal all the Ak'hims in the area to find shelter or evacuate. Hearing the sound of the bells, Lina could see the 'civilians' making their way to a large building in the middle of town.

The sight of elves soon entered Lina’s eyes. The elves that just entered the town were alarmed as they didn't expect there to still be people within the town. They drew out their weapons, formed themselves into tight columns and started to chase the 'civilians' further into the city. They were out for blood. Their hatred for the Ak'hims ran so deep that they were willing to kill even innocents just to satisfy themselves.

"I think I've spotted their leader. Blondy with long hair and very expensive looking clothes. You will not miss him. He's at the very front," Klauna mentioned.

Squinting her eyes, Lina could see the group of people that Klauna was referring to: a long blonde hair male elf that wore an extravagant battle dress. He was surrounded by twelve other elves wearing a black battle armour that was just as extravagant. As Klauna said, he was at the forefront of the chase. Seeing and confirming his presence, Lina let out a word of acknowledgement. The others gave their word of acknowledgement as well.

*Thump

Suddenly Lina could feel her heart racing for some reason. Her breath ragged and it was getting hard for her to concentrate all of a sudden.

"Lina, they are closing in on the town centre. Engagement is on your term, everyone else get ready," Klauna gave her orders.

"...got-got it," Lina responded. Her tone was a little bit off, due to the ragged breath.

*Thump!

Her heart started to beat harder and harder. Taking deep breaths to calm herself down, she looked out the window. Her job was simple, she was to pick the right timing which will cause the most disturbance in the enemy. 

The second, third and seventh army waited for Lina to launch the first strike on the prideful elves.

One minute passed. Not yet.
Two minutes passed. Not yet.
Three minutes passed. Not yet.

It was then that she saw the right opportunity to strike. Her mouth opened up in order to give the order but suddenly an arrow came and hit the window, breaking it into pieces. Everyone was shocked for a while but soon calmed down when they realised that it was just a stray arrow and that they haven’t been found out yet.

The same thing can’t be said for Lina, however. She was on the floor hugging her knees. Her body shivered and her eyes dilated, staring at something.

“Lord Lina..?” Medica came closer to her. “What’s wrong?”

It was then at this moment that the elves started to launch their bows and arrows towards the disguised soldiers posing as civilians. The sound of arrows running through the air caused Lina to freak out even further.

A loud hysterical scream came out of her mouth as she covered her ears.

 

* * * * *

 

Several minutes passed in silence before Klauna sensed that something was wrong. The big window to strike was slowly slipping away. The elves have started to strike down on the soldiers that were taking cover in the town hall. It was only a matter of time before they realised that they weren't civilians.

"Lina? Launch your first strike. That's an order," Klauna said to the book, her voice a little bit impatient.

“...”  However, no response came from the Succour.

"What's going on over there, Scuttlelinaria? Those soldiers are going to die," Klauna asked again in a stern voice

This time, there was an answer coming out of the book but it wasn't Lina's. It was Medica’s.
"General Klauna! Lord Lina… Lord Lina has!" she yelled out in panic.

Klauna clicked her tongue at the matter. "Change of plans. Cera, I need you to charge straight towards the town centre. I'll launch the first strike!" 

"Affirmative. Move out! We strike now!" Cera replied before giving orders to the men.

Klauna immediately stood up before charging mana onto her legs. A few seconds later she launched herself into the air, soaring up as high as she could. In the air, she picked her target before speeding back downwards towards her destination on the ground.

Like a meteor, she crashed down below on the elven army, surprising the enemy while also giving the signal for the other Ak'hims to strike. It took her a short while to regain her bearings before realising that she missed her target slightly. Without wasting any time, Klauna charged right at the said target, the enemy leader, in order to deal a fatal wound to him. 

*Clang!

Unfortunately, her strike was stopped by one of his elite guards. Klauna did a mighty swing which blew the guard away before sprinting towards the elven leader. By then it was too late. The other guards had already mobilized to cover for the elven leader, some of them immediately went after Klauna in order to intercept her. 

They weren't like the weaklings that Klauna killed in Prashyufa. The very short time that Klauna had to kill the elven leader was met with a solid defence. Her mighty blows were dealt with rather well by the elite elves.

Eventually, Klauna was forced to retreat when the other elven soldiers woke up from their stupor in order to strike down Klauna. Arrows after arrows flew in incredible precision towards her and waves and waves of elven warriors swung their swords agilely at her.

As strong as Klauna was, she cannot deal with this many numbers alone. Although she did hold up rather well despite being forced to be on the defensive. The arrows bounced off her special hexagonal forcefield while the warriors who assaulted her were blown away by her swift and mighty strikes. Her defence was perfect; to the enemies, at least. She could do this for quite a while before having to pull back.

Fortunately, she didn't have to hold for that long. Cera soon arrived with her battalion and crashed right into the elven army. As if following up Cera's assault, Saboteurs burst out of the ground and started to impale the elves with their tails. Bolts and magical projectiles flew towards the elves from the buildings as well, killing more of them. Succours then came from the air to drop specially crafted bombs, before retreating into the cover of the buildings to avoid getting sniped by elves. They then proceeded to launch magical projectiles together with the Cunnings and Analysts.

The final nail in the coffin was when the Second and Third army came to surround the elves from behind. Now outnumbered and with no other way to retreat, the elves started to lose hope and morale. Some even surrendered and lay down their weapons.

Nonetheless, every single elf was being slaughtered. They showed no mercy, it was only fair that the Ak'hims showed none as well. Seeing that the others have come, Klauna went from a defensive stance and back into an offensive one, charging right at the elven leader and his group of elites. Cera who was near her saw this and joined in on the fight as well.

Klauna was the first to strike as she leapt right into the fray, blowing away a bunch of the elite guards away. The remaining ones tried to strike down Klauna, but it was easily dodged. As per usual, for each of her dodge came a strike that flowed beautifully into it, killing one of the elves immediately. The attack then flowed into another and she killed another elf. 

Those that managed to survive the initial blows were finished off by Cera who charged right at the elven leader. They exchanged blows for a short while. The elven leader was a good fighter, but Cera was a great one. The exchange was easily won as Cera stabbed her sword right through the man’s heart.

Once the leader was taken out, the other soon crumbled. It didn’t take long for them to get routed. The elves that somehow managed to survive that day spoke of a demon that was untouchable. The rumours of a demon with a mighty banner containing the number seven spread wide among the alliance.

 

* * * * *

 

“Where is she?” Klauna said as she moved through the room which was filled with Succours. Her voice was cold and with no emotion. It was rare to see her in such a state. She was without a doubt angry at Lina’s actions. Harbin and Cera followed from behind her in silence. 

None of the Succours answered her, but they did not go out of their way to block her path. Klauna only moved forward without saying anything back. Slowly reaching towards Lina’s assumed location, behind a door.

Klauna slammed open the door before yelling out. “What was that bullshit, Scuttelinaria?! You wish to take part in the battle and yet you deserted as soon as y—”

Klauna’s shout was cut short when she witnessed Lina’s state. She was on her knees and her whole body was shaking. In her eyes was a look of extreme fear as her teeth rattled. Her hands covering her ears shut as if she didn’t want to hear anything. Medica was embracing her in a hug in order to calm her down.

Klauna only looked at Lina with sympathetic eyes. In front of her was a captain who’s frozen in fear at the sight of battle.