Glenn stumbled forward before turning to Veil with an expression of disbelief, "Why the fuck did you bring me here? I don't even have a drop of Mana left!"
Veil shrugged as a scythe appeared in his hands, "Make yourself useful, or Meditate, or even die, I don't care. We need the remains of this machine, so win us some time and you'll get what you wanted with bonuses."
His shadow grew until it reached beyond a nearby dune. The bandaged man made a small salute before being sucked away by his own shadow, disappearing to a corner of the battlefield. Glenn blinked and turned back to the battlefield, drawing Nelg out in his longsword's form.
"I hate my life..." He blurted out through his gritted teeth as he clenched his fingers tightly around his sword's hilt. The battlefield was massive, and magical explosions were flashing commonly, decimating hundreds of enemies on either side. There were orcs, black knights, white knights, paladins, other mercenaries, undead...the whole thing was a complete mess with each side barely distinguishable thanks to the banners hanging high: a setting sun on a red background for Munirp, and a wide opened blue eye over a white clouds for the Celestial Gods' side.
Sahro, Milena, and Liara were probably already fighting for their life in this chaos, but it was simply impossible to find them. There were thousands and thousands of soldiers on each side, each using powerful spells or Aura to destroy their enemies. Tens of thousands of men and women ripping each other apart in a bloody festival.
'Well...that's a sight I was expecting to see earlier,' Diamanes commented casually, unfazed.
Glenn's eyebrows twitched, 'Are you serious? That's the only thing you can say when watching...this?' He hurriedly jumped to the side as a massive ray of light carved into the dune he was standing on, killing hundreds of Munirp soldiers. The mage who conjured the spell, an orc with surprisingly modern clothes, grinned widely only for his head to be chopped off by an axe-wielding, muscular mercenary using an orange Aura.
That same mercenary ended up pierced apart by five spears of weaker orcs who were waiting for an opportunity. The group barely had the time to enjoy their kill and a massive fireball burned them to ashes. Glenn watched this mess with a mix of shock and horror. This was barely one fight on this massive battlefield.
"...I ain't going into this without my Mana..." He cursed under his breath as he hurriedly retreated despite the screams for help and despair, ignoring the rattles of death. He conjured his Mimic's cape and hid himself in the dark sand, closing his eyes and entering Meditation. His Recorder was floating beside him, watching silently as Glenn recovered his Mana, his left arm glowing softly with a purple hue.
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Hell.
That's what war was.
Sahro gritted his teeth as red lightning enveloped him in a crackling cape. He drew a deep breath before shooting through the hundreds of zombies and skeletons in his path, carving through them like a hot knife through butter. The necromancer barely had the time to gasp when Sahro's lightning blade tried to cleave him in half, only to be barely stopped by a couple of Knight Orcs. The Black Heir slid back in the black sand, retreating hurriedly as the necromancer unleashed one bone spell after another upon him.
'I need to take that guy down, but these damned—!' Sahro dodged to the side as an orc's axe almost managed to slice through him, only to land right into the punch of another orc. These green beasts were everything but beasts. The lower-ranked orcs fought in tight formation with heavy shields and spears, taking down individual opponents much stronger than them, while the higher-ranked ones worked in tandem with similarly strong orcs to eliminate individual powerhouses.
Sahro was one of these powerhouses on this bloody battlefield. Thankfully, he was only one out of many. The necromancer froze as he stared at a dagger piercing through his throat, before falling to the side. His undead crumbled into piles of bones as the orcs hurriedly retreated. Milena gasped in exhaustion and hurriedly retreated, using her mind-controlled orcs to defend her blind spots.
Liara flew above them and landed on top of one of the orcs that were dealing with Sahro, killing him with one clean stab through his skull. The two other orcs tried a last-ditched attempt to take down Liara, but Sahro's red lightning carved through them easily, cutting both of their heads in one fell swoop. The three joined together, taking refuge behind Milena's orcs.
"This is never-ending!" Milena shouted as she wiped the blood off her face. Liara nodded with gritted teeth, her blades covered in the familiar crimson liquid. Sahro peeked above one of the orcs' shoulders and drew a deep breath.
"You heard Veil's words; we need to take down at least one officer for him to let us be. Shit, this bastard doesn't even let us rest!" He spat.
Milena clenched her daggers tightly, her eyes gleaming with similar fury, "I swear, if I meet that bandaged asshole again, it'll be to shove my dagger in his bandaged ass!"
Liara nodded frantically, her lips sealed under a thick cover of dry blood.
The three dashed back into the battlefield, pushing through the bodies and fallen soldiers, ignoring the black sand flying around incessantly. The cries of pain and battle were echoing all around them, but they had grown numb to it. Had it been minutes or hours since they had been thrust into this battlefield?
None of them could tell.
They jumped above a dune, rushing toward the next enemies, an unending crowd of more undead. Sahro spat to the side and stabbed his sword into the ground. He planted his feet in the black sand while holding his mechanical arm with his other hand, channeling both his Aura and Mana. The lines of energy began to crackle with immense power, the brass and steel heating until the metal became white. Liara and Milena took defensive positions by his side, fending off projectiles and spells.
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The white mark on Sahro's forehead shone brightly as the power contained in his left, mechanical arm was released. A literal bolt of lightning pierced through all the undead, destroying them entirely without leaving anything behind. A contingent of lower-ranked orcs who were next to the undead group all died to the strike as well, their shields melted and their hearts pierced, their skin still crackling with red electricity.
An orc suddenly rushed through the bodies, covered in Roman armor from head to toe. He swung his trident with red Aura, aiming to pierce through Sahro. The Black Heir blocked with all his strength, only to fly back under the strength of the blow.
"Shit, a Grand Chevalier!" Milena shouted as she hurriedly sent her team of mind-controlled orcs after the Grand Chevalier trident user. The orc didn't bat an eye as he destroyed all of his previous allies with one clean hack, cutting their heads down like they were nothing. Liara suddenly surged from behind him, stabbing with her Telekinesy-controlled spear while carving upward with her sword. The orc swung down with his trident and crushed both of her attempts. That second he took to defend himself was enough for Sahro to dash back in and cut his head, his red lightning crackling threateningly.
Milena gasped and fell to her knees, blood trickling down her nose, "I—cough—damn it!" She cursed as she wiped the blood off and forced herself up. Liara hurriedly came and helped her, passing an arm under her shoulder. Sahro's face was crumbling down little by little as he watched a hundred more orcs and necromancers climb above the dunes and unleash their forces on Munirp's side.
"This is insanity..." He muttered in exhaustion as he allowed himself a short break. Liara made her spear spin above her and squinted in search of an enemy officer. They didn't exactly have an idea of what to be looking for, but they all had a creeping suspicion that any fighter above rank 3 was an officer. Rank 4, be they Grand Chevaliers or Expert Magis were way too rare in the opposite camp for them to be treated as common soldiers. They weren't exactly common in Munirp either, though, but it was clear that the Celestial Gods' lower-ranked soldiers were much better trained than Munirp's.
"...Alright, let's go for another...round?" Sahro paused as he watched a figure rise above the incoming wave of enemies, held in the air by strips of bandages. He was holding a large, farming scythe, and shadows seemed to be encroaching on his back. The bandages suddenly turned to black satin and wrapped around all the enemies, pulling them together regardless of their ranks or strength. Veil swung down and cut down a few hundred enemies in one slice. The black satin strips wrapped around the bodies and mummified them, before pulling them in the shadows and swallowing them up.
Veil turned back and continued the mown through the enemies, exterminating them like insects. Sahro gritted his teeth, "That guy...he's a monster."
Milena gasped beside him, out of breath, "...Huff...You're one to talk!"
Liara nodded slowly, her cross-shaped Inheritance sigil gleaming with an imperceptible light. The three suddenly paused and watched in horror as the black sand opened up nearby and swallowed hundreds of Munirp's soldiers, before closing down on them. An orc in a black waistcoat was floating above the battlefield, frowning behind thick glasses as he watched his spell destroy hundreds of enemies. Veil suddenly jumped up at the orc's level, hundreds of bandages shooting for him. The orc waved his hand dismissively, stone appearing out of thin air and exploding at the contact of the bandages.
Veil, undeterred, charged at the orc and swung his scythe down, only for the orc to immobilize him in a hastily made, building-sized stone coffin. The orc continued piling more spells on Veil, summoning hundreds of massive stalactites to shoot at the coffin. Sahro gritted his teeth, his feet crackling with red lightning before shooting off in the orc's direction, carving into a straight line. A loud sonic bang exploded as he shot passed the mage orc, missing him narrowly. The orc somehow managed to dodge the attack at the last second and even countered by sending half of his stalactites at Sahro.
The Black Heir lashed out with all his might, sending out a huge blade of red Aura that crushed a small number of projectiles. His eyes widened as he realized that his opponent was much stronger than him and dashed away in a blue strike of lightning. The stone stalactites sowed ruins in Munirp's ranks, killing hundreds and hundreds. Veil suddenly broke out of his coffin, his bandages loose. Sahro's heart missed a beat and he instinctively looked away from the Cleaner.
The orc paused and looked in horror in Veil's direction, only for thousands of black satin strips to wrap around him and pull him down in the shadows silently. Veil slowly adjusted the tightness of his bandages, relieving the pressure on Sahro before dashing off in another direction.
The Black Heir collapsed in the black sand while heaving with difficulty.
"...Curses..." He muttered while wiping the sweat off his forehead, "...I lost the others. Shit."
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Glenn drew a deep breath, his mind calm like a lake and his heart filled to the brim with Mana.
"...Veil wants me to lash out, huh...?" He muttered as he took off his Mimic cape and summoned the blindingly white Lightweaver suit. Nelg's cold steel gleamed under the burning sun as the weapon changed to its awakened form, ready to Cut & Pull.
"How many souls do you need to level up, Nelg?" Glenn asked as he let himself float above the Ink Dunes, watching the battlefield and scouring for enemy commanders. There were countless legions of undead and orcs, both powerful in their ways, and many high-ranked fights were raging in every part of the battlefield. Everywhere Glenn looked, there were Third-Circle, Fourth-Circles Magi, and as many Grand Chevaliers. He watched as Veil obliterated a Fifth Circle Expert Magi with Sahro's help, before going back into the melee.
"...Too many," Nelg answered emotionlessly. Glenn gritted his teeth as he heard the despair in his weapon's voice, but shook his head. He would love more than to get away from the fight, but his friends were in the middle of this mess, surviving almost miraculously as they avoided the stupidly powerful.
Glenn sighed and channeled his Mana in his left hand, watching as magic he didn't get the opportunity to try before grew in power. Milena's power, which he had taken some time ago, was brooming while making the reality around his hand tremble. His hand disappeared, reappeared, doubled, and transformed, the illusion reinforced by Glenn's psyche. He watched a regiment of orcs charging at a cohort of Munirp's soldiers and conjured the spell over them. The orcs stopped and looked at each other for a moment, their expression slowly going from confused to terrified, until they clawed at their necks and willingly killed themselves.
'...Wow,' Diamanes blurted out with a slight disgust, '...It isn't what I was expecting.'
Glenn grimaced and looked at his left hand, displeased, "Me neither, Diamanes. Me neither..." He shook his head and raised his sword while channeling Mana into his suit, making it shine brightly like a beacon of light. The battlefield stopped for a moment to look at the source of light, wondering what was up with that, until the light suddenly disappeared, replaced by Glenn grinning wickedly with a massive, fiery Infernal Blackhole burning above his palm.
A purple, evil hue was coming off his body, and his left arm was glimmering powerfully with that same purple.
All the fighters watching could have sworn they saw the smile of the Devil in Glenn's purple hand that day.
The grin of the Devil's Hand.