Chapter 24 - The Battle For The Mythril Cave!

The sound of clanking mythril resonated on every corner of the village. Sylphia's agents made their rounds, distributing weapons and armor to every sith able to wield them. None were spared. The young, the elderly, the handicapped - all were entrusted with whatever weapon they could scrounge. Even if one wielded nothing more than a sturdy pole or the tools he used to till the land, he would answer the call.

Sylphia called it Total War.

The emergency draft drew over 500 siths from the entire village. The huts were left empty but for the unnecessary things everyone left behind.

Of that 500, several dozen, mostly crippled, would be assigned as extra workers for the forges and the farms, while the rest were taken into the army's wings.

"Letty," said the little girl, "report."

"T-The kobolds are amassing in the grasslands at the center of the cavern. We don't know if they'll attack the village or the farm first."

"Hm." She nodded. "What are they doing?"

"Um... still assembling, apparently."

"Hmm..."

Two full companies of pikemen. 200 in total. 1 Company of Assault Infantry, 20 units. And 500 militia - though they're probably useless on their own, if I micro them well, I bet I could make a decent line infantry out of them. Letty has only 20 medics trained up, and only enough supplies to heal a handful. Of course we also need to keep a reserve for ourselves, plus for Rika and the others, just in case.

She let out a sigh as she reached the obvious conclusion:

I guess most of these guys won't be coming back.

She glanced at the surrounding village. None but a handful of siths remained in their houses - those already dying of old age.

This is everything. We might have dealt a blow to them the last time, but I have to assume that we're still the smaller party. If we allow them to seize the initiative, then they could eventually overwhelm us through attrition. In that case, I need to force a decisive battle.

She lifted her head and looked at the mass of loyal siths before her.

Each of those black, beady eyes that looked up to her was a deep well of emotion. What word did they expect from her lips at that moment? What emotion, what desire ran through their body as they held their weapon in their hands? Whatever it may have been, she had already chosen hers.

She raised her voice and said, "We attack!"

With a rapturous roar, the siths barked as one.

The edge of the Sith tribe's territory was marked by a cluster of hills that ended abruptly, giving way to a vast grassland that covered the central area of the cavern. In those vast plains, solitary mushrooms rose to great height, such that their caps nearly touched the ceiling. This was why the central was commonly referred to by the siths as The Garden of Giants.

It was in this garden that the two armies met face-to-face.

Sylphia wiped the cold sweat off her forehead.

Good God. They weren't kidding.

The kobolds arrayed themselves against the sith line in kind. As a result, their line extended from one cave pillar to the next cave pillar over yonder.

"Scouts, what's the number on those guys?" she asked.

"Bowow." a sith behind her said, "Somewhere between 1000 and 2000, my Goddess."

Shit. That's more than the entire population of the village! I'm starting to think a decisive battle wasn't such a good idea.

"Equipment?" she asked.

"Bowow. As expected, most catlings prefer to fight with swords, and the lesser ranked among them forgo the use of armor, in favor of mobility."

"Hmm..." She rubbed her chin.

That means the roles are set. They have the advantage in maneuver and in numbers. It would have been nice if I could somehow limit that advantage, but if the last battle is anything to go by, the kobolds are dexterous enough to nullify obstacles.

No-

More than that, they could use obstacles to their advantage and assault us from the air as well. Counter-intuitive as it may be, an open field is probably the best place to fight them. What I need to do is to tighten the front somehow and minimize the impact of their numbers advantage...

"Sylphie, look!" Letty, also standing beside her, pointed roughly at the center of the horde.

A lone kobold walked ahead of the line. It wore a full suit of armor, unique among the kobolds. Its helmet, intricately carved to show the face of a lion, inspired both fear and awe. A mane of bright red fiber completed the helmet and wisped along with the breeze.

Uwah... there it is, that guy's giving off that final boss feel...

The kobold scanned the army of siths before him left and right. The ones in front, all clad in full plate, were Sylphia's regulars. None of them even twitched an eyebrow at the presence of the lone kobold. They knew, for she hammered it into them, that no opponent before them was to be feared more than the Goddess who stood behind them.

The catman locked his arms onto his waist and gloated, "Nyaa ha ha ha! Is this all the vile doglings could muster, meow!? Have we killed so many of your warriors that you have hardly enough people to run a farming community, meow!? Nyaa ha ha ha!"

Gloating before the climactic battle? Tsk. Tsk. Tsk. That drops you down to mid-boss level at most.

"Hey, Assault Captain-" Sylphia pointed her at the annoying kobold at the center of the field. "-give that guy a piece of your mind."

"Arf!" He struck the end of his spear into the ground.

The sith beside him removed his helmet for him and held on to it while he himself stepped forward.

The two monsters faced each other in the middle of the field. As they glared into each other's eyes, neither dared so much as to blink.

The field soon grew silent.

Even the breeze, which otherwise blew constantly across the flatlands, gave way in humility to the intensity of these warriors.

The sith took his breath.

A gust of wind.

"Bleeeeeeeeh!" He turned around and waved his ass at the kobold. "Arf! You are dumb and always smell of piss!"

The kobold's jaw dropped. Sylphia's jaw dropped. Letty's jaw dropped. If the wind had a jaw, it would surely have dropped.

The Assault Captain then pulled his mouth down and blew his tongue at the baffled kobold.

Satisfied, he finally crossed his arms, and nodded victoriously.

What followed was utter silence.

That is, until, the thunderous roar of the sith army erupted.

The Assault Captain returned to his line with a hero's welcome. His comrades showered him with rapturous applause, interspersed with whistles, howls and barks. Every one congratulated him as if they had already won the battle.

Company A's captain ran all the way just to pat him on the back and say, "Woof! That was brilliant!"

The sith beside him slipped his helmet on, and said, "Bark! That showed them!"

But not everyone was pleased. "Hey!" Sylphia screamed at him, "What the hell was that!?"

The Assault Company Captain turned to her with a victorious grin. "My Goddess," he said, "I told him exactly what was on my mind."

The siths cheered even louder while Sylphia's eyes glazed over.

"U-um..." Letty scratched her cheek.

"Hahahahaha! Lighten up, will you?" Sebastian said, "The boys enjoyed it; that's all that matters!"

"Ugh..." Sylphia frowned.

"I... guess so?" Letty said.

Meanwhile, the disgraced kobold leader gnashed his teeth by his lonesome. Clenching his paws tightly, his entire body trembled with fury. "Nyaa-aaaaaah!!" he screeched, "You stinking doglings should just drop dead, meow!" He stomped repeatedly on the ground. "Hey! Do you hear me, meow!? Just die already, meow!"

Despite his tantrum, the siths completely ignored him and continued to rally around their hero.

"Pfft." Even Sylphia failed to hold it in any longer. "These guys…"

Geez, way to drain the tension.

Finally, the kobold turned to his men. "Nyaaaaah! Teach them a lesson, meow! First we kill them, meow! Then we burn their farm, meow!"

The deafening war cry of the kobolds resounded in the flatlands.

"Sylphie..." Letty tightened her grip on Sylphia's hand.

"Mm." She nodded. "Stay with me, Letty."

So it begins.

The tide of kobolds washed over the flatlands.

"All companies!" With Sylphia's every word, streams of black magic flowed out and engulfed her army. She pointed her fan upwards and cried out, "Get in formation!"

"Sylphie, what should I do?" Letty asked.

"Keep your magic in reserve. We'll use your fire magic for breaking important points!"

"O-okay!"

Sylphia, Letty and the Assault Company made a swift retreat between the two pike companies and assembled with the home guard at the rear. Next, companies A and B arranged themselves into a connecting line, facing the kobold charge.

The bulk of the kobold charge swelled at the middle. Each one ran was fast as he could, dashing forward on all fours, carrying their weapon in their mouth, much like they did when Sylphia first encountered them.

But unlike last time, the siths waited with their pikes up over their shoulders.

There is a certain level of intimidation to see a huge row of spikes. It triggers, rather wisely, the flight response.

Sylphia's lips gradually curled upwards in anticipation.

But what if that response didn't kick in...

The kobolds soon closed the distance.

...before it's too late?

Each army's vanguards were hardly a stone's throw away from each other when Sylphia finally gave her command. Swinging her arm in the air with Sebastian in hand, she yelled, "Pike wall!"

The black haze covered the sith pikemen. All at once, their pikes fell forward. The first line of siths knelt down, bracing their pikes into the dirt. Behind them, the second line held theirs by their abdomen. Finally, the third line raised theirs over the shoulder of the sith in front of them. Just like that, three layers of pikes appeared before the speeding kobolds.

In an instant, the catmen leapt back on two feet to slow down, but their sheer momentum would carry many right into the deadly trap. The ones further back managed to steer themselves away from immediate danger, buying themselves enough time to wield their weapons on their hands and fight away the incoming pikes.

"Nyaaaaaaa!" The kobold boss roared. "Spread out, meow! Crush them with our numbers, meow! Give them your warcry, meow!"

All at once, the kobolds let out a deafening cry. Their piercing voices made even Sylphia's eardrums throb in pain, and she was standing from a distance.

Geez! What the hell is with these guys!?

The kobold horde dispersed like a droplet of water hitting a stone. With the momentum of their center dampened, the rear mass of their formation spilled out to both sides. The catmen went down once more on all fours and, using their fleet of foot, quickly circled around to flank the spear wall.

Standard maneuver. This battle will be a piece of cake.

Sylphia smirked.

"Now," she said, "Reduce the front! Pike companies, square formation!"

However, this time, neither did her black magic appear, nor did her troops respond.

"W-what!?" She flinched. "I said square formation! Fucking do it now!"

Still no response.

"Heeeeey!" She yelled until she strained her voice. With a fit of coughs, she muttered, "What the fuck is happening!?"

"Sylphie!" Letty tugged her arm, "I... I think they can't hear you!"

"Wha-" Sylphia's heart dropped.

They can't hear!? No way... That goddamn screaming! The kobolds are making it impossible for my pikemen to receive my commands!?

"W-wha... what do I do!? What can I do!?" She jerked her head from side to side in panic.

There's no other way!

Without thinking of anything else, she dashed forward by herself.

"Sylphie!?" Letty yelled.

"Arf!?" The Assault Captain chased after her. "My Goddess!"

"Stay in fucking formation!" She screamed at him, creating a black smoke to restrain him.

"A...rf!" He struggled. Despite her magic, the sith refused to obey her order. "Arf! I cannot... allow our Goddess... to come to harm!" He then grabbed Sylphia by the arm, anchoring her in place.

H-he resisted my magic!?

"Goddamn it! Let me go!"

"Arf! My... Goddess!"

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"Hey, little girl," yelled Sebastian, "you can use magic, can't you!?"

"Yeah, so what!?"

"Then just cast magic to amplify your voice!"

"What!? Is there such a magic!?"

"It's goddamn magic isn't it!? Anything is possible! You should be able to figure it out!"

An immense pressure squeezed on her chest.

Damn it, this feeling...!

She recognized it as familiar. She had tasted it before.

Just like back then... when I met Rika...

She clenched her fists.

I'm cornered!?

The catmen soon reached both flanks of the pike wall. With no one to support them, the spearmen at the far ends fell against the tide of kobolds.

Tsk! There's no time! How did I do it!?

She looked down, only to see her hands trembling.

When that fireball was about to torch me, what did I do to make water!?

In a split-second, an image spawned in her head.

A bucket!

That's right, I wished for a bucket of water! She gasped. I... wished!?

I wish...

Then... I wish for a megaphone!

She swept her arm before her.

A huge goddamn megaphone, in this hand!

She imagined grasping it, tracing its conical shape with her mind. Then, as if reacting to her thoughts, black smoke gathered around her image and filled it in.

If I wish it... will it come true!?

She then drew that hand up to her mouth.

Please! Grant my wish! I can't let it end like this!

Sylphia took a deep breath.

"Pike Square!" she screamed into the sky.

In an instant, the black smoke in her hand shot out like a shockwave, engulfing everything in front of her. The immediate force of the magic was enough to uproot the grass by her feet, leaving a strip of barren soil.

The moment the shockwave hit the heavy pikemen in front, they staggered forward, disturbing their nearly arranged line. In contrast, many of the kobolds, wearing nothing but the fur on their back, were blown entirely away.

Next, a second burst of magic ejected from Sylphia's body. It following the trail of the earlier shockwave, and wrapped itself around her pikemen. Finally, her desperated orders were relayed to the vanguard.

With bated breath, she looked on as the spearmen peeled off one by one from the flanks and rearranged themselves into two adjacent squares.

"No way..." Having lost her ability to speak for a moment, it was all she could do to mouth these words.

So this is magic!

"Sylphie, that was... incredible!" said Letty.

But why does it work so different from my command magic!? Geez I've no idea...!

Her hands, still trembling, clasped around each other as she tried to regain control of her body.

But the battle isn't over! Since I have this magic now, I need to capitalize on it!

She looked to the girl behind her. "Letty!" her eyes sparkled as she said, "Let's go! Let's beat these guys and save the others!"

Letty could barely contain her excitement. "Mm!" She nodded with full enthusiasm.

"Alriiiiight!" Sylphia pumped her fist in the air.

Despite the sudden setback, the kobolds still held fiercely to their advantage and continued to harry the siths. In an attempt to regain their lost momentum, they spread out once more along the flanks of both square formations. Now finding a gap between the two units, the kobolds happily obliged and poured themselves in, doubling the rate at which they surrounded each piece.

"Let's do this!" she yelled further, "Assault Company, form spearhead!"

"Arf!" the Assault Captain lifted his cleaver into the air, "Brothers, it is time to sacrifice our enemies to the Gods!"

"Bark!" an Assault Sith said, "As the Goddess of War wills!"

"Woof!" another one said, "Blood for the Death Gooood!"

Sylphia then screamed at the siths behind them, "Home Guard! Battle formation!"

"Bow!" the home guard captain yelled, "All on you, with me!"

Every single sith, young or old; warrior or farmer, cried out.

"All units!" yelled Sylphia, as she raised Sebastian into the sky.

"Little girl!" Sebastian looked at her.

"Mm!"

She held her hand once more in front of her mouth. Then, she and Sebastian shouted in concert,

"Attack!!"

The shockwave expanded up the cavern. The air shimmered as the little girl's voice propagated across the vast flatlands.

With a sonorous howl, the siths of the Assault Company dashed forward. Behind them, Sylphia and Letty followed. Finally, the main body of the home guard - 500 monsters strong spread out along their axis of attack.

"Letty! Hit the center mass!"

With her command, the balck haze covered the scribe's body.

"Got it!" she pulled out her book and said, "Go!"

Its pages turned furiously as a dense blue smoke appeared from within and shot out with immense speed towards the bulge of kobolds squeezed in between the two pike squares.

The instant Letty closed her hand, the smoke collapsed into a brilliant flash of light. "Ignite!"

The kobolds caught in the blast became living fireballs. As they panicked and ran, they caused chaos further down the tightly packed cluster behind them.

"Now hit the flanks!" Sylphia said.

"I got it!"

Next, Letty split her cloud between both flanks, setting fire to the grass and to any kobold caught within.

The enemy now stood a few dozen feet away.

"Let me through!" said Sylphia.

"Arf!" The Assault Company then parted in half, creating a narrow path for their Goddess.

"Ah... ah...! Ah!" Sylphia sprinted ahead, panting hard as she swayed her arms around.

Her feet hurt.

Her head hurt.

But the adrenaline saturating her bloodstream kept her mind away squarely at the enemy before her.

"Aah! Aaah! Aaaah!" Her voice gathered in strength.

Hearing her voice, the kobold standing right before her met eyes with her at the very last moment.

Its eyes shuddered in terror at her frenzied gaze, centered right at him.

The black haze gathered in front of her mouth.

Taking a deep breath, she screamed right in its face.

"Aaaaaaaah!!"

The shockwave blasted away all the fur from the kobolds face, before sending him, his fur, and dozens of the kobolds behind him, flying into the air.

"Awooo!" the Assault Captain howled as he passed Sylphia.

"Crush them!" With Sylphia's command, the black haze wrapped around the Assault Company.

The Assault Captain lunged with a bone-chilling snarl into the first kobold he could find. With a single, effortless swing of his cleaver, the catman was cut cleanly in half.

Next, his company's spears crashed into the enemy. The moment the spearmen delivered their blow, they crouched down. Behind them, the rest of the company swordsmen leapt over their heads and brought the hammer down on the disorganized kobolds.

Sylphia grinned in excitement.

They're good... they're really good! I noticed it the first time they rescued us from the kobolds, but the Sith really seem to be naturally better at combat, pound-per-pound! I guess that ‘warrior' culture wasn't just for show after all!

The Assault Company had just broken through the kobolds' center mass when the Home Guard reached the front. The militiamen scattered out, positioning themselves beneath the deadly screen of the pikes, protecting them from anyone strong or foolish to break through the ring of pikes. The rest funneled themselves into the hole left by the Assault Company.

Deeper and deeper, Assault Company cleaved into the mass of kobolds. As more and more of the Home Guard Siths filled the gaps between each seasoned veteran of the Assault Company, the center mass of the kobold army finally broke in half.

In the meantime, the two girls found themselves stuck in with the rest of the siths.

Letty bombarded the kobolds' reserve units while Sylphia continued relaying orders via magic. At the same time, the little girl did her best to find, from the growing mountain of corpses, the ones she actually managed to kill, herself.

"Hey, did I kill this one!?" she screamed, "Tell me!"

"Don't be silly, little girl!" Sebastian said, "How am I supposed to know something like that!?"

"You can't be serious! Are even gaining anything from the blood you're drinking!?"

"I'll know when I get there! I just know that this is not enough!"

"What!? So you're telling me to feed you thousands of kobolds' worth of blood for potentially no reason!?" Sylphia clicked her tongue. "That's insane!"

"Oho, you say that now, but once I unlock my true potential, you'll be grovelling by my feet, begging to use me on your enemies!"

"Grrrr! Skip the gloating when you actually have something to gloat about! You useless fan!"

"Ah, skip the insults, little girl! You missed one over there!"

"Oh, shut up!"

Soon, the kobolds broke. Starting from the back, the entire horde began to rout. One after the other, they would look over their shoulder, only to see their comrades tuck tail and run. This wave of demoralization spread like a shockwave across the entire mass, and soon, Even the ones in front, fighting directly with the siths, peeled off and bolted, often dropping their weapons on the ground.

"Nyaaaaaargh!" The kobold boss screamed, "Where do you cowards think you're going, meow!?"

A total rout... should we pursue?

If there was one aspect that the kobold was clearly superior to a sith, then, it would be speed. Each one ran on all fours, reaching tremendous speed as they left the battlefield. On the other hand, most of the Sith were burdened with heavy Mythril armor, and none of them ran on all fours.

I guess the kobolds are more cat than the sith are dogs...

"Gnnyaaaaa!!" The kobold boss screamed, "That's it, meow! Now I'm angry, meow! Release our elite fighters, meooooooow!"

Damn, this is one noisy cat! You don't have to announce your every move to us, you know!

"Sylphie!" Letty yelled, "More kobolds are approaching!"

Sylphia clicked her tongue. Goddamnit, there's no end to them!

Soon, the so-called elite fighters came into view. They stood in a line across the field, and numbered roughly 40. Most were fully equipped with shining mythril armor and various weapons. They appeared rather threatening just from that, but what truly caughtly caught Sylphia's attention were the three tall figures standing in the middle of their formation.

What the hell are those? Some evolved form of kobold!? Some kind of hob-kobold? Maybe werewolves!? Shit, we don't have anything like that!

"Reform the line!" She raised her fan and guided the home guard back behind the front line. "Hurry!"

A sweat drop entered her eye.

Tsk. My units are doing alright, but I don't think I'm gonna last much longer.

She wiped her face with her bare hands.

Letty crouched down beside her, asking, "Sylphie, are you okay?" Despite running right beside Sylphia the entire time, she did not show anywhere near the same level of fatigue.

Sylphia held herself up on one knee and gasped for air. Dammit, I can't believe even she has more stamina than me!

Worried, Letty took Sylphia's hand. "Here." She then rummaged inside her mantle and brought out a rounded object wrapped in cloth, placing it over the girl's palm.

"Huh? What is this?"

Her eyes glimmered the moment she opened the wrapper. Beneath the fold of cloth was a single bun of golden brown bread the size her fist.

"How..." Her mouth filled up with saliva. It would have spilled out her lips too, had she not sipped it back in. "Why do you have this?"

"I-It's a ration I brought along..." She hung her head. "I was going to keep it in case we run out of food, but... looking at how hard you're fighting right now, I thought you might need it... sorry, f-for hiding it."

Sylphia took a small bite. Immediately, its nostalgic flavor spread around her tongue. She craved for more. Without hesitation or, indeed, any manners, she scarfed it right down. Upon her last bite, she let out a satisfied moan, with an equally satisfied face.

Looking at Sylphia, a small smile fell on Letty's lips. "Here." She gave pulled out a small flask.

"Wah! Thanks, Letty!"

She then happily drank the whole thing dry.

"Are you hurt anywhere?" She leaned in and inspected the tiny girl's body.

"No, I don't think so." she said as she twisted her body around.

She sighed. "Thank goodness... I was so worried when you ran ahead all of a sudden..."

"Ah, hehe... sorry."

At that moment, the kobold elites marched forth. Behind them, the stragglers of the kobold army had also regrouped.

"Letty." Sylphia said, turning her head upwards.

"Mm." Letty nodded.

Come at me, you stinkin' cats!

I'm ready for Round Two!