Chapter 71: Factions III
“I know the Earthern Hearts bear animosity towards the Bluelight clan! We can serve as your sword!”
“We are young and talented and I know that your emerald eyes are not just beautiful!”
“I hope that you can see the value in our lives if you help us today!”
The intense declaration and appeal echoed throughout the battlefield. The four forces turned their gaze at the small party of eight, particularly at the long, black haired young woman. Some thought that her pleading was interesting and bold, while others thought it was either arrogant or desperate.
“That young woman has a cunning mouth…”
A twelve-foot golem made out of fantastical metals lumbered over to the crystal princess and spoke his thoughts.
“For one reason or another, she knows the identity of that white haired man over there, and knows some past histories between us and the lightning kingdom.”
“Knowing that information, she actually has the impudence to turn us against each other while trying to flee to our side.”
The crystal princess replied.
“At least we know that she is capable.” She smiled.
From the opposite side of the Earthern forces, the white haired young man clenched his fists and grinded his teeth.
‘How does this bitch know that lightning runs through my veins?’
‘I was hoping to get out of this without confrontation from the other side…’
“If they really decide to help her we can only back down.”
A voice spoke from behind the man, and he turned his gaze behind him to see a young woman with black hair flowing with streaks of white. The eagle eyes on her face made her look particularly piercing and sharp, and she spoke with the confidence and assurance of an elite.
“With our powers together, you don’t think we can beat the crystal princess?” The young man said.
“Maybe we can hold out for a while but we won’t beat her. In a battle of attrition we lose. She's made out of metal and crystal. In a short but intense battle, you might be able to bring out tremendous power, but you forget that the person in front of us can amazingly do that too. And she could probably hold that power for much longer than you can. The crystal daughter holds a position in the top five for a reason.”
“Besides. The forces below us are so much weaker than hers. There’s a damn titan behind her group.”
“We lose in every aspect.”
Meanwhile, the other forces of Everrain and the golden haired draconic heir looked at the interesting turn of events. The force of Everrain started to back up. If a confrontation between the two forces were to happen in the middle, the energetic fluctuations and destructive power would definitely reach them from here.
The group clad in blue discussed among each other. Some wanted to watch the events unfold, yet the veterans and more experienced members wanted to leave the battle before they got pulled in.
The golden haired draconic heir was thinking of something else entirely. Agni and Everrain. Although they were not currently at war, the hatred between the two factions was deep and intense. So much so that there were numerous rewards for capturing or killing members of Everrain, and those rewards were not cheap. If he could bring down such a large force and turn them into the nearest hub, the rewards would greatly boost both his individual power and squad power.
Perhaps…he could scheme something in the chaos of it all.
Stolen story; please report.
All the forces on the battlefield turned their attention next towards the crystal daughter. She did not know it, but whatever reply she made would decide the fate of not just Gayle and her squad, but of all the people present within this tense situation.
All eyes focused on her crystalline figure, and she made her choice.
“I…am sorry.”
Gayle’s heart stopped and a sneer appeared on the white haired man’s face.
“My excursion to these lands are not for bloodshed. The force I bring is not here for battle with the Bluelight faction.”
“I am currently unable to take you under my wing. I hope that you can understand, and that our paths meet one day in harmony and peace.”
That reply resounded throughout the four forces, and each responded accordingly. The force of Everrain started to leave the site, and the white haired man’s group started to march forward once again.
“How the hell are our paths gonna meet again if we die here today…” Kina, a member of Gayle’s squad murmured to herself.”
All of her party members looked towards their leader in nervousness but her stoic expression brought some calm and assurance to them.
“Retreat towards the north.”
“Sprint as fast as you can. Go through the Earthern Empire’s force. They won’t accept us but they won’t stop us either. Our enemy is too afraid to aggravate them, so they won’t launch ranged attacks at us during that time.”
“Similarly those large moving rocks are too slow to get out of our way, so they can serve as our shields. They might get angry at us but not enough to stop us. The crystal princess’s nature won’t let them.”
“At their leader’s orders, they did not question them and instead took it as is. Yet one individual looked at her and meekly put forward a suggestion.
“Why don’t we ask that stranger for help…” Kina said.
“This isn’t his battle and not his responsibility.”
“Yeah but…if you asked maybe he wou—”
“Enough! Go! Now!”
Gayle’s party hesitated and in that moment of hesitation, a single assailant from the enemy force invaded their ranks.
CLANG!
The collision of swords rang out through the battlefield. Within everyone’s sight a woman with black and white hair matched swords with their owl-eyed leader. Winds shifted as the woman flashed away from Gayle, and towards another member of her party. As a gray sword whistled through the air to slash through Kina’s neck, Gayle similarly blinked away from her spot and reappeared to collide swords once again with the woman.
CLANG!
The eyes of an eagle met the eyes of an owl, and their talon swords screeched against each other making the sounds of an eagle’s cry and an owl’s call.
“Go! Now!”
Gayle’s party shifted into action and followed their leader’s plan. Pane stopped in his tracks, too loyal to abandon her, yet his leader and secret crush yelled at him for his devotion.
“You’re only holding me back! Get out of here!”
The young man looked at her one more time, before sprinting towards the scary looking stone golems.
The forces from the white haired man moved as fast as they could to intercept them. Ranged attacks consisting of arrows, fire, bombs and other such things bombarded the area as the two birds of prey fought. Just as Gayle had predicted, their ranged attacks stopped once Gayle’s party sped through the Earthern Empire’s group.
The crystal princess simply smiled as the two forces rudely ran through their ranks. The metal golem next to her started to turn red in anger, but the crystal princess looked at him with a glance, signaling for him to calm down. The enemy warriors sighed a breath of relief, for no one wanted four tons of steel hammering down on their head.
The lightning blooded man sneered as Gayle’s party ran. He prepared himself to activate his own bloodline and give chase to her members, but before he could, he spotted an unusual thing.
A middle aged man at the level of Adept was running through his force’s bombardment. The two young women fighting each other suddenly separated their locked swords, and the man flew past their exchange like a bullet fired from a gun.
A look of confusion appeared on all three of their faces, before absolute shock filled their being.
The middle aged man continued to run past everything, and flew right into the crowd of Everrain. The sudden landing took them off guard, and in the next moment an inferno storm of fiery flame burned thirty individuals into charred corpses and ash. The only thing that was left on them were their half melted medallions signaling that they came from Everrain.
Immediately the group clad in blue counterattacked, and beasts made out of water burst from the storage tanks that they kept. Water snakes, tigers, sharks, octopuses and unknown life forms from the sea pounced on him. A flood of waters followed as he jumped back into the center with a triumphant smile.
Behind him, his attacking force followed in his steps. Thousands upon thousands of normal individuals, hundreds of Novices, and fifty Adepts raided the center of the battlefield, and a great battle ensued between fire and water.
The attack by the draconic heir was thoroughly calculated, aiming for the most important member of the group from Everrain, but to his dismay…he was fooled. The triumphant smile on his face was wiped off as he stared in pure rage. The arrogance inside him could not believe he was tricked like that.
A young girl with long, straight, dark blue hair exited from a common carriage. Her blue priestess hood alerted the golden haired, golden eyed man, and the two locked eyes before a sneer came on to the girl’s face.
“Fuck!”
The girl was supposed to be protected by the same guardians he had just burned, but here she was, encircled by the same blue cloaks that he was supposed to have killed. The girl brought out a staff made out of solid cloud and floating water, and in the next moment she chanted a mysterious prayer followed by the circular movements of her staff towards the skies.
His worst fears came true…as the skies started to cry and water started to pour.
The man, enraged, took off his veil for all to see, and in the next moment they were met with one of the brilliant royal heirs of the draconic lineage. Unlike Balon he was not a physical fighter. Wings of flame burned on his back and he flew upwards. Fires of intense heat appeared on his hands and a sea of flame was summoned to fight the skies of water above, and his enemies below.
The battlefield turned into an apocalyptic combination of crying skies, burning flames, and mass amounts of smoke and gas that resulted from the two. The only thing the scene was missing now was lightning.
Within the terrible combination of elements, an eagle and an owl wrestled against each other with their talons, fiercely trying to slit each other’s necks…