"Form a circle, raise your shields!" Alex shouted.
The circle was barely formed when a great blue fire erupted in the distance, illuminating the area. Immediately, various amorphous creatures began attacking Alex's group.
"Maintain formation!" Alex yelled.
The creatures they faced resembled all kinds of animals like dogs or even lizards, but they were severely shapeless, with limbs that served no purpose or lacking limbs altogether.
Alex concentrated his energy and began fighting to relieve the pressure on his troops and allow for better regrouping. With his shield, he constantly blocked the creatures trying to bite his legs and stabbed those that lingered too long trying to gnaw on his shield.
Fortunately, the troops were equipped with high-quality gear; the Acevidrio demonstrated its fierce reputation, making the shields as durable as steel but not as heavy.
As Alex advanced to draw the enemies' attention and free his forces, the blue energy flame in the middle continued to grow and grow.
"What in the world is that?" Alex asked.
"It seems to be the source of the void energy ritual; something activated it," Athena responded.
"Alex, you need help. Do you want me to clear the area?" Torel shouted.
"Not yet, we can handle this," Alex responded.
The monsters kept crashing into Alex's troops, but the shield wall did its job in defending them. The situation was stabilized, and soon the monsters ceased to be a lethal threat. There were no fatalities or serious injuries this time, so Alex was pleased with their performance.
The blue fire seemed to rise to a great height and finally stopped growing, forming a vortex and shooting rays in eight directions.
Alex could distinguish that one of the rays didn't fall far from his troops, or was it better to say that it had flown in their general direction, as it was almost impossible to determine distances at the moment.
Where the rays fell, another blue flame slowly began to form, this time closer, so the stronger members of the group could distinguish what was hiding inside.
"An altar of the void," said Athena.
"So that's it. Someone is trying to complete the ritual," said Torel.
"We must stop it at all costs," Alex responded.
Just as the human was about to give the order to advance, the room began to light up enough to see everything inside the large circumference created by the eight altars.
Now they could distinguish at least a dozen different groups inside the space: orcs, nagas, humans, harpies, draconids, giant ants, among other races.
They all fought desperately for their lives. What was worse, different groups fought each other when they were within shooting distance, so no group seemed willing to cooperate.
"What's happening? Are they corrupted by the void?" Alex asked.
"No, lad, they show no signs of the void; they are corrupted by something worse. They are consumed by greed. Whatever is in the center, it's evident they want it more than anything else," Athena responded.
It was evident by their actions that they were willing to die so others wouldn't get whatever was ahead of them.
"Well, at least we know they are not reliable. Boys, maintain formation. We will march towards the altar to bring it down," Alex communicated his commands.
Instead of risking facing the vortex at its peak, it was much better for Alex to destroy the altars, although there was a risk because he didn't know what everyone else was fighting for. The only real option to get out of here alive was to destroy the altars. Whether it was possible to achieve something from all this, he would see it later after securing their lives.
The troops began a slow movement, maintaining a complete circle of two lines, where the first would kneel to protect against the creeping beasts, and the second would stab with their spears. Due to the lack of minerals and ways to refine them in the forest, the available weapons in large quantities were spears and bows.
Alex stayed in the middle of the circle, directing his troops like a master conductor. Despite the cacophony of screams and cuts, the vortex of the battlefield, his sonnet reigned supreme, making his soldiers march as if it were a waltz, moving almost uninterrupted across the battlefield, at a slow but steady pace.
One-two-three, waltz, one-two-three, waltz.
The orchestra continued its concert until an ominous note cut through the sky.
Alex was completely absorbed in giving orders around him to notice the object hurtling towards him at full speed.
In the air, in a parabolic curve, an arrow traveled with the power of a gale, with its target fixed on the distracted human.
Moments before the impact, both Torel and Athena noticed the object coming their way, however, they only made a gesture to move and then stayed still in their place, leaving the young human to his fate...
Moments before the arrow announced its arrival, Alex finally felt that something was wrong, a dissonant note in his melody. As he turned his head, he finally felt the danger, but there was little he could really do since he himself had an arrow on his bow, which was destined for an unsuspecting fighter on the battlefield. Irony was all Alex could think of.
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There was no fear on Alex's face, only his defiant nature. He truly did not intend to die by that arrow; something had to occur to him.
There was really nothing he could do; even before he could activate his own power, the arrow dramatically accelerated.
The battlefield continued to move frantically; soldiers fought with all they had to repel the constant hordes, occasionally changing lines to conserve their energy and rest slightly.
The initiates moved from place to place, using their forest energy reserves to the maximum. This way, they could run from one place to another to support any sector in trouble or to eliminate any enemy that was too much for the normal soldiers.
What would both groups say if Alex fell at this moment? How would they feel seeing their leader fall after so much?
Kragash had the answer.
"Over my damned corpse," the young Gnoll said.
With his large shield, the boy stood in the way of the arrow without any consideration, only using his energy to imbue his entire body with the strength necessary to withstand such an impact.
When the arrow connected, the boy was sent flying backward, crashing into the troops on the other side of the circle.
Immediately, Alex recognized where his arrow had come from and activated his power.
"Howl," Alex said softly.
His words caused his left hand to glow, and a tattoo appeared on it, from which a greenish light emerged, imbuing the arrow with energy. Alex drew his bow to the fullest and released it.
His own arrow seemed to fly lost in space; somehow, it seemed to soar like a hawk, and then it remained static in the sky for a second.
Roar.
The arrow transformed into a spiritual animal, more precisely into a small moon lurker, which looked down at the beings below with contempt and then let out a howl.
Along with the howl, Alex began to launch a barrage of arrows that fell like rain, each one transforming into a lurker that would ferociously hunt its prey until it finished them.
Without taking his eyes off the orcs that had suddenly attacked him and were now suffering his counterattack, Alex called to his squire.
"Kragash, are you okay?"
"Yes, sir, just my arm is slightly numb," the boy replied.
The shield he carried had clearly been dented, demonstrating the great power of the attack it had withstood.
On the other side, the orcs were under great pressure. Their leader was able to block half of the attacks, however, the other half caused great damage and confusion among their troops, leading to disarray.
However, the orc leader seemed unaffected by the casualties. He ordered his troops to pursue the Gnolls, even at the cost of sustaining damage from the enemies that continued to emerge from the shadows.
Before Alex could issue any orders, however, another monster emerged from the rear. They had come close enough to the altar for its protector to appear.
Alex looked over his shoulder and recognized a bear-like beast; it was plagued with void symbols, and blue flames emanated from its empty eye sockets, similar to those of the vortex.
"Torel, the ursine is yours," Alex proclaimed.
"What about the orc leader?" Athena asked.
"I'll take care of him," Alex said, taking another arrow from his quiver, positioning it on the string of his bow, and aiming. The tattoo on his arm continued to glow, feeding the arrow with his strength.
Although Alex didn't have much hope of being able to bring down the orc with one shot, he still felt disappointed when the arrow was simply deflected with a punch from the orc leader's own energy.
"Weak human," the orc leader shouted.
"You have bigger problems around you," Alex shouted.
The orc leader looked around to see the weaker troops of his armies being slaughtered, however, he only snorted.
"Useless," the orc leader exclaimed.
The orc lowered his center of gravity and began running as if he were a rhinoceros trying to barrel through everything.
"Atenea, I leave the other orcs to you, finish quickly," Alex communicated to her.
"I understand," Athena responded, taking flight from Alex's shoulder.
At the same time, Alex began shooting one arrow after another imbued with his power. The spirits of the moon lurkers began to harass the orc leader, striking in a clear pattern, one that he didn't seem to notice, or maybe he didn't care. Either way, the damage began to accumulate as he continued blindly charging forward.
The orc leader, despite the constant attacks, continued his charge, ignoring the pain and wounds accumulating on his body. His only goal was Alex, the human leader who had dared to challenge him.
However, Alex had no intention of facing the orc head-on. With a quick order, he directed his troops to open a path, allowing the orc to pass through their formation. As the orc charged, Alex prepared another arrow, imbued with all his remaining power.
Just as the orc was about to reach him, Alex released the arrow. It transformed into a large and menacing moon lurker, which howled at the sky before launching itself directly at the orc leader, aiming at the same spot as the rest of the arrows, his right knee.
The impact was tremendous. The leader felt his knee shatter in two parts despite his thick armor, crashing his face onto the ground and crawling until he reached Alex. The great moon lurker disappeared, but the wounds it had inflicted on the orc were evident. The orc leader tried to get up slowly, albeit unsuccessfully, clearly weakened.
"Now!" Alex shouted. His troops, who had been waiting for his order, charged. The orcs, disorganized and surprised by their leader's sudden fall, were quickly overwhelmed.
With their leader fallen, the remaining orcs scattered, fleeing in all directions. Alex and his troops remained on the battlefield victorious. They had won, but this was only the opening act; they knew their fight was far from over. They had to destroy the altars and stop the ritual. With one last glance at the fallen orc leader, Alex gave the order to move. The battle had ended, but the war still raged on.
In the rear Torel's fight continued, but the soldiers had no intention of blindly intervening there.
"Reduce the size of the circle, I need archers!" Alex exclaimed.
The Gnolls immediately understood, significantly reducing the size of the circumference they were protecting. The surplus soldiers moved back to the middle and positioned themselves next to Alex with their bows in hand.
"Take aim, ready, fire!" Alex gave his command.
The arrows flew towards the back of the Ursino, which was busy with the fight. The elf could have won the fight faster if he used his internal energy; however, considering the number of altars and external groups present, it was best to conserve energy as much as possible. This war was about endurance rather than speed, so it was best not to sustain injuries and conserve energy. If the cost was spending arrows, Alex's group still had plenty left, and they could still recover some from the battlefield.
The fight continued for a few brief moments, but to the horror of the Ursino, he was completely played by his adversary. If he focused too much on the elf, arrows rained down on his weak points. If he tried to attack the annoyances on his back, the elf would launch his devastating attack. Slowly, they weakened him until with a final roar, the Ursino fell.
Alex advanced to inspect the altar, while the troops retrieved as many arrows as they could, as well as some weapons from the defeated orcs.
"Atenea, what should I do with this?" Alex asked.
"The skull in the center of the altar is the main conductor; you can take the other objects, but I advise you to purify them before using them," Athena replied.
"Wouldn't it be better to destroy them? I don't know if we have people who can purify them," Alex said.
"Your matriarchs should have that power; I'm sure they'll be delighted to have these objects," Athena said.
"Fine," Alex simply said, closing his fist enveloped in forest energy and hitting the skull at the center of it.
Immediately upon breaking the skull, a horrifying and sharp scream sounded, like that of a woman whose most precious thing in life had been snatched away. The blue flame above the altar began to die at a rapid pace as the scream subsided.
"Get ready, another wave!" Alex shouted, feeling a surge of energy from the center.
Alex took the relics from the altar and stored them in a personal backpack, then returned to his troops to form positions again.
At that moment, another unexpected event occurred.