Chapter 29: Awakening

The Prince swung his sword towards Klauna who avoided it with ease. Using the opening from his strike, Klauna launched her own attack onto the human. It bore no fruit as the attack was blocked by the Prince’s companion, a soldier who carried a large shield into battle.

“...Oh holy spirits, smite the evil in front of me! Holy Bolt!” the Prince’s lover and aide yelled out her spell and tossed it towards Klauna, a big ball of white light.

The spell came right as Klauna’s attack was blocked. The humans thought that they might have landed a good hit on Klauna for once but that thought was soon thrown away as Klauna deflected the ball and charged her spear for a huge counterattack. 

However, instead of aiming for the Prince and his shield companion who were wide open, she aimed the attack at a group of elves that were trying to make their way to the iron box that Yuupiecca and his small division of soldiers were in. They were actively keeping up the force field and throwing out spells to prevent the Alliance soldiers from getting to them.

Klauna’s attack destroyed a bunch of elves and gave them some breather but the attack left Klauna open to attacks. An attack that the Prince and his companions did not hesitate to launch.

Once again, Klauna proved to be one slippery demon to hit as she dodged away from their attacks. As she retreated backwards to make space, she dragged her spear on the ground to scoop up a large amount of dirt and threw it at the enemy. The blazing heat of the spear infused with magic formed a huge scorched line to appear on the ground.

The Prince and his companion had no other choice but to dodge the attack, giving her the space she sought to manoeuvre around the battlefield. Klauna’s first action after that was to kill as many soldiers as she could— soldiers going after Yuupiecca’s division. She scooped up more dirt, extending the line on the ground. She then threw large chunks of flaming rocks at the enemy. Squishing and burying them under a pile of soil. By doing this, Klauna, of course, left herself open to attacks from the heroes of the Alliance.

But it didn’t matter. Her safety was of no concern to her. In the first place, Klauna could easily escape from this situation by jumping high into the air and landing back with the rest of the Seventh Army. The only reason she was here fighting was because her soldiers were stuck here. 

Klauna didn’t want to lose more people important to her.

Once again, she beautifully dodged an attack before dragging her spear through the ground, forming another huge line on it. She then threw the dirt that she scooped up onto the enemies. The main goal in her mind was to make sure her subordinates were safe. Nothing else mattered

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At the far end of the surround was a large chunk of the Seventh Army who stayed behind, hacking away at the Alliance, trying to reach Klauna and Yuupiecca. Cera herself was leading the assault. A large part of the army that stayed behind were Analysts who were relentlessly fighting to make a path.

“Get out of my way!” Yelled Poi as she danced on the battlefield, using her short sword to stab as many enemies she could. “Yuupie! Lord Klauna! Hang in there!”

She was in a berserk state; her only goal was to reach Klauna and the others that were surrounded. It wasn’t just her either; everyone in the Seventh Army that was currently on the Plains of Fate were in a berserk state. Cera and her Warriors who were pushing their way through, Cunnings who were slicing as many targets as they could, Saboteurs who were drilling their way through the ground to assist them, Succours who bombed away from above and Analysts within the iron boxes who were crushing their way through.

Even Harbin was launching bombardments at the enemies to support the frontlines, despite the explicit orders not to do so. Her actions could ruin the entirety of Phase Four. But it didn’t matter to them.

What they saw in front of their eyes was a repeat of what happened in Fort Kron. With their general in a bad spot and was actively losing against the enemies. Even if Klauna could dodge forever, it was only a matter of time that Yuupiecca and his soldiers would run out of mana to maintain the force field. Even worse, if Klauna was the one who ran out of mana. 

The Seventh Army didn’t want to lose another general. Not after all the pain they went through to get used to this one. At first, it was out of sheer respect for her power, her tactical mind and the fact that most of them wouldn’t be alive if it weren't for her. But after a while, they soon got to know what kind of person she truly is. Despite how she acts, despite her antics…

...she really did care for her soldiers. 

She was the type who would rather die first before letting someone she cared about die. This whole plan that valued safety over results and the fact that she was out there fighting without caring for her life was proof. And so, the Seventh Army pushed as hard as they could to open another hole in the surround. 

“Oblivion Blade!” Cera yelled out the name of her skill as she swung her sword downwards to the ground. Large cracks of magical energy formed on the ground before bursting out, cutting any enemies who were unlucky enough to stand on the cracks. 

Out of everyone, Cera was the closest to reach Klauna and Yuupiecca. She was far ahead from the rest of her battalion and was fighting the sea of humans that was blocking her way. Klauna and the others were just within her reach, but one of the heroes and his group of elite soldiers were standing in the way.

No matter what kind of skill Cera used, no matter how much she tried to push in, the enemy would just push her away. No matter how many bombardments cleared the area, more enemies will just come in and cover the place. Even the Analysts and their impenetrable iron boxes were unable to get near. The enemies had caught on the flaws of the construct and started to summon stone walls to prevent them from moving any closer.

Cera bit her lip in frustration. Various negative thoughts started to appear in her mind as she started to despair. ‘Am I going to fail here again? Like with Lord Lionel?’ 

She swung her sword again at the humans blocking her away, but they easily deflect the attack. Cera could feel herself losing steam as she started to rapidly breathe in and out— gasping for air. 

‘Is this my limit? Is this as far as I go?’ She thought to herself as she started to lose hope. Suddenly, an artillery shell landed near them. It was a shell that came from Harbin’s location. How unfortunate that it didn’t hit the humans that were blocking Cera’s way. 

Cera then brought her mind to her recently acquired friend, Harbinelikel Analyst. It wouldn’t even be that far of a stretch to say that Harbin was her best friend right now. A scary thought came into her mind about how heartbroken Harbin would be if Klauna were to die on this day. Just like how Lionel was a family to Cera, Klauna was a family to Harbin. Harbin herself had said that she thought of Klauna as her older sister. She would probably be devastated. Just like how Cera was devastated when she lost the person that she considered her father.

She clicked her tongue in anger as she thought to herself. ‘Not yet! This isn’t over yet!’

She swung her sword again. This time the strike was stronger and the humans could be seen struggling a little bit to block her strike.

‘I can not afford to fail here. Lord Lionel’s death would have been for nothing if I fail here.’

Once again, she swung her sword at the enemies— a mighty swing that almost broke the human ranks.

‘If only I had more power! If only I was stronger!’

It was then that Cera’s vision turned red and she could feel a large burst of energy surged within her. She could feel water dripping off her face as if coming out from her eyes. Her skin was bursting with some sort of aura, it felt like she was swimming in water. She couldn’t tell what colour it was as her eyesight was all red.

She didn’t care though. It didn’t matter what happened to her. She needed power and she has it now. She swung her sword again, the mightiest swing she’s ever done in her whole life. The attack easily tore apart the humans who were blocking her way, their bodies twisting as they flew in the air.

The humans who survived to tell the tale would recount a demon who cried tears of blood as she tore apart the humans in a literal torrent of magic.

Battle of Fate, Status so far
Ak'hims            : 365 Dead.   10922 Soldiers remaining.
Seventh Army : 10 Dead.      1537 Soldiers remaining. 
Alliance            : 1934 Dead.  46578 Soldiers remaining. 

Kotohood

Thanks for reading! Next chapter will be out on the 24th February.