Chapter: 37 Spoiler

Large-scale magical warfare is not a thing for mortal eyes. It is flash,y it is destructive, and once a commander of tier five or higher activate their aura and take command of their troops it is another thing entirely. Imagine a knight leading what appears to be a flaming formation as they cut through a weaker opponent. Or another knight who forms an earthen wall allowing none to pass as his troops feed off of him and vice versa. The soldiers move as an extension of the knight. Like when a mage takes charge of a large spell casting or ritual. If you’ve ever seen one done in front of you know that the people in the casting are acting as extensions of the led mage. Not quite like the golems of the empire who can complete simple commands. Unless they’re the giant war golems stationed at the wall but similar in nature. Perhaps as humanity developed its own fighting style and we drew off of multiple sources to protect ourselves we ended up with something unique that the rest of Nia has never seen. Bloodlines, Knights and Mages, Golems, and so much more to protect ourselves from the strong beast and the orcs that wish to enslave us. Magical Warfare is destructive and that’s not even mentioning the after-effects of the battle and what it does to the land. There is a permanent storm that lies in the heartlands of the greenskin lands. One day I wish to gaze upon it myself. Where Apollo Kan served the head of Radix Doom. The war that was wage forever altered the weather in that region of Nia.

* Excerpt from the journal of Walter West. Noble, adventurer, explorer, and self-proclaimed official fine wine taste tester.

My swiftly moving body slowed before coming to an outright stop. The screams of the people behind me continued. I had power enough to destroy a large city with a spell. What good have I done with that power besides fight against the families and wage a small battle against Count Caccula.

A quote from my previous life came to mind. With great power comes great responsibility. Does it? Or is that a thing the weak say to control the strong? I turned around and just as black claws reached for the mother clutching the basket of cubs my ax served the hand and before the Nox had time to process what happened its head was gone too. I was not afraid of the Nox horde flooding outside of the gates of Fort Carrano. The creatures were mostly tier three and it would take hundreds perhaps thousands of them to bring me down. Especially as a single target.

“Head toward Carrions Ridge,” I said while pointing in the direction before tipping a healing potion over the hurt ankle. It quickly healed and the mother was off thanking me profusely while my attention turned back to the creatures rushing towards me and Fort Carrano.

Fort Carrano was a large walled military base that was for transportation and storing goods that were to be sent to the current front lines against the Nox. It was roughly the size of a mid-size town and housed many districts.

As they rushed towards me, I did the same saving people in the process and pointing them in the direction of my retreating army. I had a limited amount of time before this place became glassed by my spell. Perhaps I couldn’t save the thousands of refugees running to escape from the Nox horde. Perhaps if I acted soon, I could save more than just a few tens of lives. I was no hero. I have personally seen what the power of a tier six mage could do by the necromancer who wanted me dead. Sacrificing the city of Ton to summon the power of a dark god. That was only a mage around the power of tier five to six who could do such a thing. A few thousand lives gone just like that. The fate of their soul’s unknown.

I know wielded the same amount of power. Perhaps in a different format but the outcome would end the same if I was to drop |Falling Star| onto a city. It was almost the same as dropping a nuke. I was not a hero, but I was in a position where my power over the lives of others is near unlimited. I could have anyone executed and my order wouldn’t be questioned but carried out immediately. I saw the way the members of my army looked and worshipped me and my cousin. Something that she took as an obvious, but since I was a soul from another world reborn with memories and a mission by the system, I saw things differently. The way they talked about me not knowing how enhanced my hearing is especially when I focus and didn’t let the noise filler out as usual.

I was not a hero, but I was being trained and bred to be the head of my family. To stand tall in the face of danger and never show the slightest fear during any event. I was not a hero, but I was Aegis Kan. To my father, I was his heir, to my mother I was her little shield. To my siblings, I was an older brother and a figure to look up to. To my cousin a partner in crime. I was no hero, but to these people who reminded me of smaller versions of bears or perhaps the Ewoks from Star Wars as I stood up to the Nox, I was their hero.

My ax sang as it split a Nox in two and my left hand reached to the behind of my back grabbing the short sword that had never left its sheathe. I spun in what seemed like a dance but was the Kan family’s way of fighting as I chopped into the black carapace spilling the red blood of the insect-like creatures. While defending the running beast people as I pointed them in the direction of my army. Retreating with them. It was so easy as the tier threes were slower than me and I would not let myself be surrounded. Most lost their heads the moment they entered the range of any of my weapons. I began to laugh as flames licked the outside of my armor. Enough of my mana pool was restored and my bloodline roared to life. Now the creatures weren’t even strong enough to approach me giving me time to create distance between the horde and the escaping people. I advanced and the Nox retreated hissing and screeching. It all seemed to be going so well until a figure was shot out of Fort Carrano and crashed into the ground in front of me.

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I deactivated my bloodline and came forward to assist a bleeding, Gloria. Blood gushed from her mouth and her left arm was just gone not bleeding but gone entirely a black void filling the area it once was at.

“My Lady…,” she choked out but the potion I pushed to her lips stopped the conversation before it could even begin.

“Karla is fine before we left, I made sure to screen the people around her. She is fine.”

The older woman seems to calm down at that while the potion went to work. Healing the damage to her body as the black void where her arm used to be vanished and revealed a stump.

The moment it did, and I could see her visibly recovering I picked her up and tossed her over my left shoulder returning the short sword into its sheathe while I dashed off towards my waiting forces and safety.

Guttural cries rang out behind me in pursuit. I could hear a whirl coming from my heart area and knew my magi core amongst my various perks were working overtime to pull in essence and trying to restore me to my peak. The mental stamina I spent previously to uphold the illusion was already replaced and my mind felt at its peak once again. In the distance, I could see Carrion’s Ridge and my army hastily constructing defenses. I would be amongst them within a few minutes. Picking up a few beast people stranglers along the way. Fort Carrano burned in the distance. The fate of its hundred thousand troops is unknown.

A bright burning red missile fell from the sky and headed directly for the fortress. The Falling Star meteors were roughly the size of a ten-story building. Gravity did most of the work when they fell but the magic from the spell was still involved to give them the ultimate impact. Amaya must have spotted me and unleashed the spell. What I didn’t expect were two more burning bright red meteors to appear. Much higher than the last and would impact a minute after.

The first meteor hit Fort Carrano only for a bright blue shield to manifest and hold against the meteor. I watch with bated breath still moving towards my people. Moments before I made it to the hastily constructed walls. Dropping the beast people into the hands of the soldiers who rushed to me while I turned my attention back to the sky and Fort Carrano. The next two impacted the shield that was still attempting to hold off the first strike.

It seems like the world grew silent and watched with anticipation then the shield cracked, and I turned my eyes away. Shouting for the people to close their eyes and cover their ears. The roar shook the earth and light-flooded past my eyelids. The ground heaved from the impacts. The shockwave hit us and anyone standing on the ground was swiftly knocked over.

“Ha-ha, ha-ha, Ahahahahahahaha.”

Was the first thing I heard when my hearing came back to me. Aisha Loft was the first face I saw as she floated staring at the mushroom cloud and the superheated earth.

Her soft green eyes met my own.

“You should not have this type of power Aegis Kan. Not yet.” Raised above her head was an orb that was recording everything from the sound to the destruction of the spells. The high-end orbs I suspected Aisha was using could even record the smell of an area. The orbs would put you into the environment it recorded powered by magic. Her soft green eyes had a tint of excitement and madness to them as she watched. One by one the great families all joined her using various means as they watched the destruction of Fort Carrano. Lava erupted from the ground and all traces of life, and the presence of Nox were gone. The war had begun for the Last Kingdom long ago but for me. Today, today was the day the war truly began for me.

I thought about the countless lives that were taken as collateral. Not everyone in Fort Carrano was a Nox. In the vision, I saw thousands of them, yes but most likely Fort Carrano only had 15-25% of its inhabitants converted to Nox. Those converted were mainly the commanding officers and people in positions of power. We just took at least several thousands of innocent lives.

The alternative was to fight a pitched battle that would be completely chaotic as the commanders of the soldiers stationed at Fort Carrano would turn on their men.

“Well done, Young Lord.”

“Well done.”

A chorus of congratulations came from the members of the great families as they looked at the destroyed land, yet I sat there not in shock but something else.

I was stuck in contemplation at the actions and the results of my spell being used to cause such destruction. Granted I would not have reaped so many lives had the people been spread out. Fort Carrano was large. Not as large as the city of Artress but large enough to support and host over a hundred thousand souls. Souls that I had just glassed because of a single order.

A hand landed on my shoulder, and I looked up to see Amaya’s eyes hard.

“Stand up.”

“You are the Young Lord and a man of Kan.”

“Men of Kan do not falter.”

“Men of Kan do not fear.”

I stood. Holding eye contact with my cousin as she spoke.

“We can discuss the ramifications of our actions later. Right now, we need to plan out the next move. Fort Carrano was the closest fort to the front lines and was a military city used to station and transfer troops to different regions.”

Gloria who had fallen to her knees threw up. Drawing my attention for the moment as she turned to look at us.

“You… you,” she began but my cousin walked up to the woman gently lifting her before slapping her hard.

“There is no you, no nothing. There is only Young Lord Aegis Kan. He warned you of what was to happen, and you didn’t listen. The blame lies only on yourself and people for not having a full-proof method in detecting the Nox. A method that my cousin has graciously provided while also giving new magic that will raise the average strength of your people many folds. This is a war that has nothing to do with us in its entirety. Yet here we are to fight. You will address us properly or we will let the fate of your people as it is.”

“What fate is that,” asked the stunned woman.

“To die. World surrendered as you were not strong enough to protect your own lands.”

“Now our healers will take a look at you and allow you to recover. Once you regain your mental facilities you can join us in discussing what the next steps should be.”

I hadn’t fully seen this side of Amaya but ever since she gained her title Prime: Dragon the confidence in herself and actions had exceeded and risen to a new level. We made our way towards the large tent in the middle of the hastily constructed camp. It was time to discuss our next actions in this war. Before we got started, I made sure the beast people we rescued would be taken care of.

Chapter 37: Hero