BXBX NOVEL Chapter 192 The Fall...
[N/A: Chapter divided in two, title to be continued in the next chapter].
-- POV General --
In the great Dark Forest the sun was shining somewhat hidden by clouds that were slowly beginning to form beside it. Among the trees, no animals could be seen, too scared and lurking in the shadows, while the ground was shaking. The ground vibrated with power, shock waves shook the earth making the stones jump and the dark green leaves rustle.
The first Great War of Elysium was about to begin, and in this usually quiet forest full of life, thousands of soldiers from all over were marching bravely. The ground shook as hundreds and hundreds of soldiers marched in unison, as one, making their way through the trees. The human army was marching from the south, led by the King, Myles and Leto.
Every root, every plantation was uprooted or burned, trees were cut down and as always in this world, wherever humans passed, they sowed only desolation. Behind them was a land where the greenery was no longer present, where the grass was trampled, behind them was a land without life. The Knights and Paladins advanced with a smile on their faces, far too happy to be able to destroy.
In addition to the deafening footsteps that were gradually gaining ground in the forest, the sounds of sword strikes and explosions echoed and rose into the sunny sky. The King stood before the others on his white horse, head held high and eyes condescending, enjoying every sound and every action. Behind him, two camps were quite distinct, on one side the Knights led by Myles and on the other the Paladins led by Leto.
"Still no sign of any living creatures, of my daughter, of this little girl, let alone a civilization of monsters ! Are we going to have to go through the whole forest to find my daughter ?? This is weird."
It had been an hour since the march began and Theophylactus, at first excited about fighting, was becoming more and more impatient and began to complain. Although he looked stupid, stubborn and incompetent, the King was still the ruler of an entire Kingdom and a very good warrior. In spite of his impatience, the absence of any sign of life or of any of the other opposing groups seemed suspicious to him.
Of course, he knew that moving 3,000 warriors took time, especially if destroying the forest in their path was also one of their goals. However, his senses were still not detecting anything, which made him more and more nervous. Suddenly, as if someone had heard him, several kilometers in front of them a powerful aura was activated causing a light blast across the forest.
"Y-Your Majesty... you... you felt ?"
"Yes Myles... all of our guests have decided to come out of their dingy hiding places and confront us haha~ finally we are approaching our enemies."
A startling aura of hundreds of different auras seemed to draw the human army forward only a few miles from their position. The men and women had been frightened for a moment by this sudden power, but the King's voice had rekindled the flame within them. Raising their swords once more silently to the sky, the army resumed their destructive march towards the source of this combined aura.
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Several miles from the position of the King and his army, in the huge clearing created during the last confrontation and located in the center of the forest, Freya was waiting. An army of hundreds of soldiers of different races, all dressed in black and armed with weapons each more deadly than the last, stood behind her. The army of Elysium stood there and although some sections and Commanders seemed to be missing, the Empress, the Queen and the Princess were there.
Freya rode her trusty stallion with a fiery mane and golden eyes and watched from afar as she handled the ice-cold eyes. She wore her helmet representing her scary face as Lucifer but from some angles looked more like a skull. Also dressed in black, the silent Empress waited while caressing Inferno who wore a similar helmet representing the skull of a horse.
To Freya's right stood Gaya riding her mare Pearl wearing no helmet and looking in the same direction with terrifying seriousness. To her left, Kira was also there but not riding any horse and was instead sitting on her weapon. Indeed, the solid handle of her scythe was deeply planted in the ground and the Fox Princess was sitting cross-legged on the blade, elbow on her knee and hand under her chin.
Behind them were not the ten Chaos Commanders, for Luna, Ynir and Persea and their sections were missing. However, the other seven Commanders were present and waiting calmly behind the Empress, the Queen and the Princess. All of them had released some of their aura as ordered by Freya to draw the invading humans in their direction.
"Your Highness !"
Suddenly, out of nowhere and without any soldier seeing her coming, Luna appeared in front of the Empress, kneeling with respect. Like a shadow even more undetectable than before and elusive, the young half-human panther had become a master of concealment and quick as lightning. As a result, she could appear anywhere and give the impression that she was teleporting, just as the Empress herself did.
"What's going on Commander Luna ? Are there any problems with the plan we have prepared ?"
"N-No...but we are running out of time, the human army will be here any minute but the preparations are far from complete. We...we need time your Highness..."
Luna sat up with a serious face while nodding respectfully to the Queen and Princess who were silently listening to the conversation. Freya frowned softly but, more than a little annoyed, seemed to be thinking about how to proceed. Behind them were about a thousand soldiers, seven Commanders, and even though this arrangement was planned, the sections working in the shadows seemed to need time.
"Alright then we'll buy as much time as we can, after al our entire strategy is based on information. Commander Luna stay here, I'll take care of what's going on over there, if you need time, get Alayna over here and get the Human King talking."
"Yes, Ally wished to face her father anyway, your Highness. May I, however, ask your permission to stay by her side ? My section is hidden in the forest ready to receive your orders, if you leave... may I stay near her ?"
Nodding to Luna and understanding her desire to be near the one she loved, Freya turned to her wife and then her little sister before giving them a smile. Though hidden by the mask, they knew what they had to do and as they returned her smile, the Empress launched her stallion to ride into the forest away from the human army.
As the silhouette of Inferno and Freya disappeared through the trees and Alayna appeared among the soldiers, Gaya spoke. For the first time since the creation of the Empire, the warriors of Elysium were not led by the Empress, but by the Queen and the Princess, who had never fought alongside them before. With a firm and reassuring voice, Gaya began to speak while Luna went to stand next to her lover.
"Don't worry, we will save time and my wife knows what she is doing. Soldiers ! Prepare to fight now, don't let your vigilance go down and prepare for any eventuality ! We are few in number that's why we have to buy time but whatever happens, the Princess and I will protect you and fight before you have to !"
"YES QUEEN GAYA !!!"
As the thousand soldiers and the now eight Commanders responded, Kira, who so far had said nothing, raised her head. The three tails swinging behind her stopped as she jumped to the ground almost soundlessly. Snatching the handle of her scythe from the ground, the Fox Princess twirled it in the air with ease before planting it on the ground saying at the same time three words.
"They're here..."
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- POV Random Human Soldier -
The forest we were going through was huge, the smells were horrible, the trees were ugly and the deeper we went the more I felt the urge to vomit. We had been going for more than an hour behind his Majesty, Sir Myles and Saint Leto and I was lucky to be in the front line behind the most powerful warriors of all Zal. I was proud and my mind couldn't help but think of the moment when I could shine on the battlefield.
"Soldiers ! Here we go !!"
The King's voice woke me from my thoughts of heroism as a little further on the sun's rays seemed to shine on a very large clearing. There were many figures waiting for us and as only a quarter of our army entered the place, his Majesty stopped. In front of us stood what appeared to be a terrifying army but whose soldiers were actually few in number.
*The subraces...*
An army of subraces stood there like idiots waiting for us to come with less than half our numbers. The scene was hilarious and the front lines of our soldiers in the clearing could not help but giggle. However, after a few seconds, the silence returned because for some unknown reason, the urge to laugh was replaced by uncertainty.
The longer we stayed in the clearing, the more auras that were not to be taken lightly made us shiver as we finally took the time to observe. The subraces were not numerous, but there were a few that caught my attention and were at the front. Eight masked monsters, a young woman with tails with her head down and a crimson haired woman riding a beautiful mare.
"That's a nice bunch of cute little soldiers we have there hahaha~ Woman ! Are you the one leading this mediocre army ??"
"Hahaha~"
"Fufufu~"
"Hehehe~"
At the words of His Majesty the King, none of us could help but laugh, dropping the strange pressure that had unjustly assailed us earlier. The King without fear and with the courage and determination of a sovereign, had questioned the half-human woman who seemed to be in charge. A heavy silence suddenly began to reign for a few seconds in the clearing as the subrace finally answered.
"To whom do I owe the honor ?"
At the moment she had uttered this sentence, she had stepped forward slightly accompanied by the three-tailed sub-race whose face was hidden. The crimson-haired woman's voice was particularly firm but gentle, yet with a palpable touch of disdain and disgust. Was she judging us ? Didn't this trash can even know the name of our almighty King ?
*Imp-Impossible !*
"Insolent !!! I am Theophylactus Zal, King of the Kingdom of Zal and father of Princess Alayna Zal whom you hold captive ! I am the ruler of an entire country and I am here today in person to destroy this forest, kill the warriors and enslave the women and children who will show us the respect they owe me ! I will not stop until my sweet daughter is returned to me and the leader of your little group bows down to me !"
At his words, the half-human who was in front of her small, puny army sighed before turning to her soldiers and nodding. The next moment, a beautiful young woman with blond hair appeared accompanied by one of the eight masked subraces. Before us appeared for the first time the Princess Alayna Zal who had been missing for months... the one we had been looking for was finally there.
"It's the Princess !!!"
"Her Majesty the Princess is indeed held captive !!!"
"They are monsters !!!"
The moment she appeared, I could hear my comrades, my fellow soldiers raise their voices in indignation and shock. An intense and noisy hubbub began to rise in the blue sky as the hatred towards this trash only grew second by second. However, once again, the voice of the King silenced them all as he exclaimed with both joy and anger.
"ALAYNA MY DEAR! !! Don't worry, daddy will deliver you right away and...
"ENOUGH !!!"
Without giving her father time to continue, the beautiful Princess surrounded by these monsters had shouted a single word plunging the clearing into confusion once again. Neither the King, nor Sir Myles, nor Saint Leto understood what was going on as Her Highness Alayna's face was not that of a daughter happy to see her father again. Her eyebrows were furrowed, her fists were clenched and she was filled with an incomprehensible anger.
"You who ignored me all my childhood and adolescence, you dare to enter these lands and destroy everything in your path in my name ? Pathetic. Am I just another reason to go to war ? A life worth saving when it can serve the interest of the Kingdom... your interest ? Here I have found family, friends... love, and never has life been so sweet as it has been since I entered this forest that you so delight in destroying today !!"
"Alayna you...
"FATHER ! No... Theophylactus, here and now I declare that I am no longer a part of your family and that I will never set foot in the Kingdom of Zal again as a Princess. I have found my place... yes, here I have found the strength to stand up against you, against your people and the atrocities that Humans keep committing. Leave... leave if you don't want your blood spilled today, but know one thing... If you decide to fight as oblivious as you are, I will also fight but in the ranks of those who welcomed me as family even though mine was not."
The Princess had gone completely crazy and kept saying crazy things as if her brain had been manipulated. She wanted to stay here ? She found love ? All of her statements made no sense and made me sick to my stomach just thinking about them. We had to get her out of the clutches of this evil place at all costs before she ended up completely alienated and brainwashed.
"MONSTERS WHAT HAVE YOU DONE WITH MY DAUGHTER ?? YOU WANT A WAR HUH ?? YOU WANT TO TAKE AWAY WHAT IS MOST PRECIOUS TO ME ?? GOOD !!!! IF MY DAUGHTER DOESN'T WANT TO COME TO ME... I WILL COME TO HER. ARCHERS !! SHOOT THIS EVIL WOMAN AND SHOW THESE WEAKLINGS THAT WE MEAN BUSINESS !!!"
In just a few seconds, everything had gone off and the archers in the front lines at the ends were already forming up to shoot. A salvo of arrows was then directed at the only trash standing on her horse but not moving. Suddenly, blue-gray lightning bolts came out of nowhere, roasting each of them as the previously silent three-tailed woman appeared in the middle of the clearing.
"Oi oi ~ You mustn't get so excited for nothing my big Theoki...Theopi...? Arg no matter... if you continue like this Cactus you will get an ulcer. Your daughter has clearly told you what she wants and yet you insist on believing what suits you best ? Stupid. I won't let you hurt anyone in my family so if it's war you want, you'll get it !"
At her words, the half-human on the horse put her foot down to join the one who had just disrespected the King himself calling him Cactus. There were now two of them in the middle of the clearing and while his Majesty was seething with rage, he snapped his fingers to call one of the strongest... the level 45 Mage Knight Erina. As a shadow passed overhead and a fine powder tickled our noses, the King presented his best counter.
"So let's see if you both can survive against one human..."