Hello, and welcome to the beginning of the end. This is going to be one of the last few chapters of this arc. i may choose to take a break before the next arc, I may not. All i can say for sure is releases will not be regular anymore as work is starting to swamp me with everyone else in my lab taking holiday leaves for december, leaving me all alone in my lab.
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“Commander! Team 6 reports seeing sails over the horizon! What are your orders?” one of the cat girls dropped own next to Feni without so much as creating a splash in the mud. Thunder clapped in the night sky as rain poured down constantly onto the roof of the tents.
“How much time do we have till they are close enough to the shore?” Feni asked the catgirl for clarification.
“Maybe half a day at most. They are coming through the storm and are considerably slow. They should arrive by day break.” The scout replied, still on one knee on the muddy forest floor.
“Okay. The runes seem to be holding up and there aren’t any giants tonight. Reposition half the ballistae and trebuchets along the cliffs facing the ocean. I want to be able to hit them before we get in range of their cannons. Keep a close eye on them. I know it’s difficult in this rain, but I want to know their fighting capabilities as well as their strength as soon as possible.” Feni ordered calmly, heading back into the tent and throwing her hood off.
It was considerably dryer within the commander’s tent, with a warm pot of tea awaiting her. She took off her greaves and placed her furry fox feet over a warm pillow after drying them with a towel. The warm pillow had hot charcoal wrapped in chainmail and then leather as its core, then covered in several layers of soft cotton fabric. She hung her wet metal greaves over a pole to let the water drip out as much as possible before she would need to put them on again.
It was closing to winter and the torrential rain was not letting up. As if the cold air was not enough, the cold rain water soaking almost everything and making everything dripping wet was simply adding insult to injury. Campfires could not be lit to stay warm and soldier’s morales are dropping drastically.
It always happens around this time of the year but it was especially worse this year. The men have gotten soft from not being in combat due to the runes and have started taking things for granted. Hence a little setback such as the rain was affecting them more than they should be. She had thought about installing warming runes in the tents to help, but decided against the idea, hoping it will teach her soldiers to man up and endure. Besides, most of the national treasury was already emptied into the runes and asking for more would be preposterous.
As soon as her steel boots were dry and her feet were warm, Feni put them back on and donned her cloak to head to the cliff. The lamia and fox tribe soldiers were busy moving the heavy armaments from the chasm to the cliffs. Dragging the large wooden structures were not easy, especially in the muddy terrain with low visibility but the soldiers ploughed through nonetheless.
As the last of the armaments were arriving at the cliff, the cats with their enhanced vision at night approached Feni with the final report. Squinting her eyes, Feni could not even see past the diminishing rain, still wondering how the cats were even able to spot the ship in the first place.
“Commander! We have confirmed 2 ships, possibly holding no more than 20 people each judging by their size. There are no cannon port holes in the side of their hulls which may suggest they are merchant ships but we can’t be too sure. What should we do?” (Cat)
“The rain should be stopping soon. As sson as they come into range and you get a clear shot, fire a warning shot into the water near them. We will see how they react. If they really are merchants, they would either send a small boat to make diplomatic contact with us or simply turn around to flee.” Feni instructed.
The rain cleared up in the next hour and Feni could see the large silver sails that reflected the moon light. The 2 brigs were painted red and gold and were steadily approaching the shore. As ordered, one of the squads let loose a large flaming bolt from the ballistae. Feni watched in anticipation as the bolt streaked across the dark night sky in a parabolic arc towards the ships when suddenly, a huge red beam shot forth from the leading ship, disintegrating the bolt mid-air.
“Shit! They are NOT merchants! Fire at will! Bring more ballistae over! They have some kind of magical weapon. Do not let them get to us!” Feni roared, as the soldiers kicked into overdrive, firing non-stop at the silver sails.
Much to their surprise, and Feni’s horror, the projectiles all seemed to stop mid-air, and slowly make their way back to the shore. There, in the middle of the chaos, was a man who was holding all the projectiles in his silvery mana ropes, descending upon them like an angel with silver wings. Feni recognised that magic anywhere and quickly let loose a sigh of relief before ordering the men to stop firing.
“Do you have to be so hostile every time we meet?” Kiefer asked jokingly, as he laid down all the bolts and boulders neatly on the ground.
“I’m sorry, but being cautious is my job after all. You can’t blame me if I’m suspicious of 2 strange vessels that show up on our shores in the middle of the night and destroy our warning shot like it was some bug flying around.” Feni rebutted, signalling the men to move the heavy armaments back to the chasm. “So to what do I owe this pleasant visit from you?”
“Haha.. well about that… remember how I told you I have a personal grudge against Drigor?” Kiefer asked jovially.
“Yes. And what of it? Are you here to help us end this war?” Feni questioned, suspicious of Kiefer’s intentions.
“Well, yes… and no. See, I think you may have misunderstood me the first time around when I said I wanted to fight Drigor. When I said Drigor, I literally meant the elder titan Drigor, not the province. But, as it turns out, he is the main cause behind this war so in a way, after defeating him, it should lead to the end of the war.” Kiefer explained, still floating in the air.
“AAHAHAHAAHAH… You want to fight the elder titan Drigor?!? Kiefer I didn’t know you could tell a joke so ridiculous.” Feni laughed out.
“…” (Kiefer)
“haha… ha?” (Feni)
“…” (Kiefer)
“…” (Feni)
“Oh god… you are serious aren’t you?” Feni asked, her eyes widening in disbelief.
“Why do you think I’m not? You haven’t even seen a fraction of what I’m capable of and I have 6 other titans behind me on the brigs. Like I said, Drigor rubbed me the wrong way and I’m here to settle things with him.” Kiefer explained with a solemn look on his face.
“And you’ve come to me for what exactly? I hope you don’t expect me and my men to lay down our lives to help you fight the elder titan do you? We are mere mortals and we know our limits.” Feni asked in fear that Kiefer would force her into a tight corner.
“No, quite the contrary, I’m here to ask you to withdraw your forces as far south as possible. I intend to fight Drigor just beyond the chasm and I don’t know how far wide the collateral damage will be. Considering that I alone am enough to destroy a mountain with ease, I can’t begin to imagine what the destruction a battle of 7 titans would be.” (Kiefer)
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“And what of the undead? Are we to just sit back and let them raid our villages?” (Feni)
“You really think you have time to worry about a few mindless undead when there are 7 titans about to destroy half this continent? I doubt the necromancers from Diantes will want to stick around once the battle starts. If there are going to be any undead roaming around, it would be because of me.” (Kiefer)
“Fine, that’s all good and well, but I still can’t simply order a full scale retreat just based on the verbal suggestions of some guy, even if it’s you Kiefer. What am I going to tell my superiors? That I am retreating because ‘Kiefer’ told me to?” Feni argued, unwilling to leave her post for fear of repercussions from her generals.
All of a sudden, every single soldier on the cliff busy moving the heavy armaments collapsed to the ground, while Feni was brought to her knees by the extreme gravity. Then she watched in horror as one of the wooden trebuchets broke and splintered into hundreds of sharp wooden spikes, all levitating pointed at the throats of all the soldiers and Feni, threatening to pierce their respective targets.
“If my friendly advice will not get through to you, how about a threat then?” Kiefer bellowed at the ignorant little fox. “I will say this only one more time, move all your soldiers from the border and as far south as you can. Anyone left by sun down tomorrow will not live to see the moons again. Take what you can, leave what you cannot.” Kiefer threatened, before releasing the hundreds of hostages.
Feni hesitated for a while, blood rushing out of her already pale face. Then she picked up her hammers and turned around to bark out orders. The soldiers left the ballistae and Trebuchet where they were and rushed back towards the camp. Kiefer released a mana pulse and detected some more cat tribe spies lingering around within the small caverns in the side of the cliff. Teleporting to the entrance of one of the caverns, Kiefer pulled out a struggling cat girl by her waist and brought her to Feni.
“These cats obviously do not understand the meaning of ‘everyone’. If you think you can hide from me and continue your spy activities, you are terribly wrong, so why don’t the other 17 cats hiding about come out too, before I make sure you are stuck in your little caves till the end of time?” Kiefer threatened as his voice rang out through the shore, still holding onto the tearing cat girl.
Instantly, the other cats all came dashing out and disappearing into the shadows of the forest in the distance. Kiefer let the cat girl go and she disappeared the instant she touched the ground, melding into the darkness with her black garb, hood and fur. Feni took one last look at Kiefer and bowed respectfully before heading towards the forest herself.
That morning, Fiora province witnessed the first ever large scale retreat of the army, followed by the immediate evacuation of the eastern capital city. Feni had a difficult time explaining her actions to the top brass but with countless eye witness accounts of being held hostage and made powerless by a strange power, the generals had no choice but to trust in Feni as they always had and order the immediate evacuation of the citizens.
The once flourishing city was now a ghost town, with barely a hundred citizens left, either too old or too sick to move. They huddled together in a church near the south walls with a few volunteers, hoping that the destruction would not reach them. Since the citizens left in a hurry, there were plenty of food and water left behind to last them a long time.
Kiefer prepared himself as he commanded with his mana for all the orihalcom runes to return, forming a large block which he stood on. At this moment, he had already set up the escape portal to the coast and from the coast to the ships. All the titans were on standby behind him and they awaited the nightfall, when Luna would be at her strongest.
As soon as the sun set and darkness engulfed the vast barren land that is to be the battle ground, Feir stepped forth to face the undead legion that started pouring forth. Kiefer took to the skies just below the cloud line and beyond Drigor’s sensory reach, as he watched the titans step into Drigor’s territory.
“KIEFER!!!!” the ground shook as the roar rang out through the barren land. “YOU TRAITOR!!”
The group watched as multiple duplicates of the bearded human form of Drigor rose from the ground and decimate the annoying undead around them. Feir and Rashael wasted no time, taking out the lasers and melting the bodies into magma that flowed and covered the earth. Bright red flashes accompanied by silver and blue flashes could be seen as Rashael, Feir and Sher tore through the uncountable bodies of Drigor while Fiora and Isana changed into their titan forms and crushed the earthen fakes with their talons.
“His real body is deep underground. I can feel his mana emanating from there. We need to draw him out!” Rashael spoke into the comms as he dashed through the battlefield firing his laser at critical positions to ensure he skewered as many duplicates as possible with each hit.
“Can you pin point his location?!?” Isana yelled back over the comms.
“NO! He keeps moving. He’s like a fish underwater, except the entire ground is his ocean. We can’t keep wasting our energy like this. Kiefer can’t you think of something?” Rashael asked, as he chucked the spent moon crystal core of his laser into his backpack and replace a new fully charged one. The number of fake Drigors kept piling up worse than the undead ever could. The molten magma that cooled would eventually reform into more copies.
“I’ve got a plan! Feir stay still. The rest, keep the fakes off of him. Luna I want you to cast your darkness spell around Feir and into the ground as well. Drigor will be able to sense that Feir stopped moving due to blindness and come for him.” Kiefer said as he transformed the spare orihalcom into spinning blades that circled Feir and sliced any approaching Drigors. “Rashael, stay close to him. The moment you feel Drigor coming close to the surface, pull Feir out of there. He will be blinded. Only you and Luna can see inside that black sphere.”
Immediately, a large black sphere enveloped Feir and Rashael as the other girls took care of the remaining fakes. The dark sphere grew bigger until it was almost 300m in diameter when suddenly Kiefer saw from up in the sky Rashael dragging Feir out of the sphere.
Moments later, a huge earthen jaw in the shape of a dragon’s snout shot up from the barren wasteland and engulfed the black sphere, breaking Luna’s spell. The jaw alone was already 500m wide. Kiefer caught a glimpse of the eyes as the head of Drigor’s true form returned to the ground vertically, the same way it come out.
“Holy fuck… if his head is already more than 500m wide, just how frikkin huge is his body?” Kiefer muttered subconsciously into the comms. “And how am I supposed to drag him out of there. Even if I did manage to drag him out, how are we going to fight something that huge? Even Sher’s full body length is only 200m. He could swallow any of us in one bite.” This time, Kiefer thought silently, contemplating his options.