The scene had looked brutal from up above on the high wall. Now that Syllis was standing in the center of the battlefield, it only looked even crueler. The pungent scent of blood was already wafting. There was no doubt that by the end of their battle today, that scent would grow stronger, demanding improvement for the day after.

Syllis had long willed an icy-blue needle-point spear as she looked onward at the titans as they encroached.

Some of them were slow, some were fast. There was a rhythm to their movements. The titans on the edges approached first, likely so the central titans would have an easier time.

‘A dastardly strategy by a dastardly group.’ Syllis grinned, shearing through a few taran in an instant.

The insignificant grunts were of no challenge for Syllis. With her bond being the most lethal of the group, they were like a slab of butter, eviscerated by the sharpest knife.

As a group of amplified taran approached Syllis and Clyde, the sounds of the groups on the outer edges rang out. Their titans had reached them. Syllis did not know whether these sounds were their cries of pain or screams of joy, but both would inevitably come.

“You ready,” Syllis said indifferently, “Clyde?” There was no place for snide comments after the battle had started. Their lives were on the line and she would not risk either of them for a witty quip.

“Ready,” Clyde responded, seriously.

These were not only sole taran, the amplified were several, transfigured together. Neither Clyde nor Syllis had any way of discerning how many taran had coalesced into a single being, so it was best to be cautious.

Their faces were contorted. While not as threatening as the titans who commanded the gazes and attention of those around them, the amplified still radiated a certain horror.

As they neared, Syllis immediately willed a set of walls in front of Clyde and herself. These were meant to shuffle the taran into predictable positions. Their tar-colored bodies were difficult to see if not directly in front of the entrance to the sky chasm. If they were overlapped with the wall then it would be near impossible to discern where they would be. That would spell the deaths of Syllis and Clyde, possibly Aura and Korman’s as well.

That was unacceptable to Syllis. If she died, she would curse the world. If Clyde died, then the world would forsake her.

That failure would be everlasting and follow her for her entire life. The inability to save the future groom of Anahita. It was his destiny and after speaking with Anahita, Syllis did not entirely know if Clyde himself or anyone else could stop it. The only certainty was that if Clyde died and Syllis lived then she would almost certainly be jailed or even executed. Asanoch was awfully loose with such a punishment.

‘The benefits of a city-state…’ Syllis mused before setting her sights on the amplified anathema. The first few had begun to seep through the cracks.

This was certainly an abnormal amount to confront the elmannise soldiers at once. Vernim had informed Syllis and her companions that a group could take a measly one or two amplified taran at once. This was fine since they scarcely attacked in larger groups than that at once.

Now though, there were six amplified taran confronting Syllis and Clyde. There would be at least as many confronting all of the other groups. This was evident by a single glance to the left or right. You could tell by the terrified expressions and clashing of blades against gooey skin.

An amplified swiftly lunged towards Syllis, she immediately swiveled. Pivoting on her right foot and twisting in the same way, she extended her arm, piercing through the amplified.

“Clyde,” Syllis said, “they’re testing us.”

“I can tell,” Clyde answered, surrounded with a couple illusory copies of himself. “They don’t seem to know how to react to new concepts. This is furthered by their reaction to your walls.”

“We had better exploit this then,” Syllis said. ‘I wonder how they will react to Aura’s ephemeral monsters then?’

Syllis and Clyde made a few swift cuts. They overwhelmed the amplified with their bonds, dispatching of them quickly.

“Help!”

“Please save us!”

A couple of elmmanise called out in the group to the right of them. Just a moment ago they had been doing fine. They were cheering and eager to combat the opposition. Life was not always so kind though. One of their teammates had fallen. This caused their center to crumble, bringing their group to the edge of extinction.

“Wait!” Syllis said, seeing Clyde begin to make his way over. “What are you doing?”

“They asked for help.”

“You are not their savior,” Syllis said, “Clyde.”

“But I can save them,” Clyde retorted.

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“This is not your place. If you leave then our defense will crumble,” Syllis said. “And then, Korman will be overrun and they could die.”

“But—”

“Are these peoples lives worth more than two of your companions own?”

Syllis watched for Clyde’s response. But he did not give one. “Fine, stay here and draw Korman to the front. Aura, dismiss your bond!” Syllis said. “I will go in your stead.”

Cold air enveloped the death-marked group as a wall of chilling ice rose in front of them. It was like an angel shielding them from the worries of the world or easing them into death.

“Stand up,” Syllis spoke, coldly. She was not an angel, this was not out of her goodwill. But the elmannise knew that, and they did not need this to be a good deed. They needed to be saved.

The four elmannise that were in suitable condition to fight eagerly rose after being given a new chance at life.

“Names,” Syllis said, “now.” The wall displacing the amplified taran would not hold for long.

The apparent leader of the debilitated group stepped forward. He looked down at Syllis from a couple feet above her. “I am Hfroht. Behind me are—Hkolmon, hdrordt and hlorndt.”

Hfroht gestured towards two muscular men and a slender woman. They were each wearing tattered clothing befitting an addict or criminal in the outer ring of Asanoch. It was difficult to maintain the production of new clothing in Abyssia.

“Here’s the deal,” Syllis said, her voice stayed cold. “I save your lives and we merge teams. You will join me and my companion in the front lines and your three companions will join my other two in the back.”

Hfroht shook his head in agreement.

“Alright then!” Syllis said. She then dismissed her icy-blue wall revealing droves of taran.

They were furious and invigorated. They seemed to think that it was their efforts that caused the wall to shatter. Their ignorance was bliss causing them to attack with greater passion.

‘Pitiful creatures.’ Syllis sighed.

Syllis took up her needle-point spear again and pierced several taran with an indifferent expression.

Hfroht and the rest of the salvaged, elmannise group looked at her with a sense of horror and disdain. To so instantly dismiss such protection was the act of a lunatic, it was pure lunacy! They did not realize the impact the wall had on Syllis. To her, the sanity it took to maintain the large wall was more valuable than the few minutes of protection it would provide.

At that moment, several crags of ice rose from the ground piercing no less than fifty taran. Inconceivable, the elmannise looked onwards with a sense of awe. Without so much as lifting a finger, this short outsider had managed to deal the equivalent of an entire volley of brimstone-tipped arrows.

Incredibly short screams of pain were cried out just before the taran entirely died. Pink sludge oozed from their heads where the crags that skewered them had exited. The scene was grotesque and even Syllis who was attempting to disregard her emotions in this battle felt disgusted with herself. She relinquished the spikes, dropping the poor corpses to the ground. Splattering was heard as their tar-like skin dissolved into mush leaving only their pink guts and other innards mostly intact, strung across the floor.

With the entire mob of taran in front of them dealt with, the amplified ran forward to take their place. Dealing with them would not be such an easy task. The taran were a hive mind, easily adapting to the changes around them. These amplified taran would not be so vulnerable to Syllis’ bond.

Recognizing this fact, one of Syllis’ companions went on the offensive. A large dragon loomed above. Its wings were made of bone and it shone an ephemeral green hue. Frankly, it looked more horrifying than that of any taran. The mouth of this massive creature opened and out came bright green flames. They devoured anything in their path like the suns’ flame to the sky.

Taran screamed but the amplified recovered for the most part. Some spots of burning remained but many of them had morphed their bodies to better absorb such a blow. Absurd adaptability.

More than twelve amplified were rapidly approaching their group, preventing them from converging with Clyde, Korman and Aura. They wanted desperately to prevent the merging of groups.

Syllis would not allow this. Another huge wall rose, shining with an icy brilliance. Taran could be heard clawing away at the outside of the wall.

“Clyde,” Syllis said, “I’ve saved your people.”

“How do you like it?” Clyde asked.

“I,” Syllis said, “don’t care for it. Not one bit.” She then turned, facing the debilitated group. “You three, hold back with those two!” Syllis gestured towards Korman and Aura.

Korman’s expression softened after hearing this. He was slowly being overrun by taran and wounds were growing on his body.

“What’s your name?” Clyde asked the elmannise man, standing between him and Syllis.

“Hfroht,” the tall man said. “Thank you for sending her to save us. We would have suffered the same fate as Hjihlin.”

“Don’t thank us yet,” Syllis said, her voice hoarse from yelling. “We have to deal with this hoard before celebrating.”

The icy-blue wall shattered, just as the last one had. There must have been almost two dozen amplified, each stumbling over each other after the wall collapsed. They had been trying to scale the wall and climb over the top of it.

‘Around twenty amplified coming towards us…’ It was an inconceivable number, vastly more than any group had ever been confronted with before by almost ten times. They must have declared Syllis’ group to be an imminent threat. Combined, there must have been around one hundred taran, all merged together in the confines of the twenty amplified.

More spires were raised from the ground, but they only seemed to inhibit the amplified taran movement. Syllis cursed herself for not being able to form structures quicker.

Syllis and Clyde both looked towards Hfroht with his long-handled axe before looking forward again.

The three of them leapt forward, inflicting havoc upon the amplified. Aura’s dragon overhead also participated, claiming the lives of several amplified taran. The smell of blood had indeed grown even stronger, but Syllis did not smell it anymore. Her sense of smell had been dulled by the battle, everything smelled like blood and blood like normal. Adrenaline was pushed through the secare nymphs body as she cleaved several amplified taran in a couple short minutes.

Together with Hfroht, Clyde and Aura’s help, they had eviscerated nearly the entire group of amplified taran in less than half an hour, or what felt like it. They left the standard taran to be dealt with by their back line as they took a few minutes to rest and compose themselves.

What had once been an insufferably loud battle filled with symphonies of blood splattering and bones cracking, layered overtop of elmannise suffering was now quiet around them. They had taken control of the center of the field and only listened to echoes of the battles around them.

Thud. Thud. Thud! The sounds grew louder as a couple hulking monstrosities approached and with them, another wave of amplified taran. The titans were here. Life does not let you rest for long.