Walls of Qua-Toyne, 8:13 AM

"I need another archer over here, quickly!!"

Kein Maris ran down the walls of her beloved home city, the city where she grew up her whole life, and that was currently burning down. She held her bow and arrow tightly as she watched a now-dead elf be dragged away. Kein took their position. She prayed for the Gods to take care of their soul as soon she took her place.

The walls shook at each every strike as down below, a Lourian battering ram unit attempted to strike down the city gates with shields placed above them to protect against the Qua-Toynian arrows.

"Ignite your arrows and ready!" Kein looked back to defense captain Ine Laru. She felt a sense of honour as she fought under her command despite the chaos that was happening. Kein aimed her bow down to the Lourian siege unit and with one word, "set! FIRE!" she launched her arrows down to the battering ram unit as over twenty of them rained down on the Lourians. Only a lucky few managed to hit and yet the ramming continued.

"Negative, captain! Battering ram is still continuing! Reloading!" Another elven archer called out as Kein did the same.

However as she did, Ine looked up towards the sky to see a flying fireball and wide eyed, she yelled, "TREBUCHET! BRACE YOURSELVES!"

The archers looked up and quickly they then ducked as much as they could behind the walls before the three flaming fireballs struck the city. One hit the wall and the other two struck the already demolished homes behind them. Kein quickly stood up before she looked down to the ground to the battering ram. She then ran to the other side as desperate knights tried to keep the barricade up, "Captain the Lourians are getting close to taking down the gates! What should we do!?"

Ine was about to speak only to see a swarm of arrows started to rain down. She then yelled, "TAKE COVER!"

Kein looked back only to yelp as once more she hugged the walls of Qua-Toyne. She could only endure the yells of pain and death from her fellow archers as the ramming of the gates continued on. Quickly, Ine ran to her mana communicator in a panic as she spoke, "We're being overwhelmed here! We need reinforcements, please!!"

"... Hold on Captain! Reinforcements are inbound!"

...

Coalition Army Encampment, Outskirts of Qua-Toyne

"... Around Qua-Toyne is a siege unit up on the gates, multiple archer divisions just a bit further, and the main encampment about 3 kilometres away," a battered General Nou whose nigh cartoonish appearance contrasted heavily with his recent battle scars from Ejey spoke to his fellow General from Italy. Nou looked up in worry, "General what do we do? Any moment now the wall defences would fall!"

Francesco Gallinari eyed the map. He looked back to Nou as he explained his orders to him, "We'll be having two Mangustas to eliminate the siege unit on the gate. I told them to be careful since there are friendlies on the walls and behind the gates. Once they're done, a squadron of Mangustas will eliminate the archers... Then comes the MLRS. That encampment is gonna be wiped off the face of the planet."

Nou looked up, "One squadron? Doesn't that seem insufficient? I know not what a Mangusta is but we need more forces don't we? We are talking about dozens of archers! And... what is the MLRS?" The general asked in skepticism.

Francesco then walked out of the tent. With them on top of a hill, there was a decent view of Qua-Toyne below as the distant chaos made it looked like ants battling over food. Francesco then handed some binoculars to Nou, "Let's see for ourselves, shall we?"

Nou looked to Francesco, eyebrows furrowed before he used the binoculars.

...

"... But sir if we stop firing then...! Okay, I understand!" Ine said with skepticism before she yelled to the archers below, "Take cover behind the wall, help's coming!" Soon she yelled down to the men in the barricade. "Hide behind the walls, now! Stay away from the gates!"

Kein looked to Ine in confusion but not wanting to defy orders she and the others hid behind the stone wall. The more bangs that came by, the more nervous she got. But suddenly she could hear a heavy whirring noise as she looked up. Multiple insect looking iron beasts flew over the city as even the battering ram unit stopped their attack to look back.

"What the hell is that?" One Lourian swordsman said in confusion as they all defiantly eyed the iron insect beasts that hovered.

However, a measly looking black rod then moved, and before they knew it...

Kein heard the screams of the Lourians below them as curiosity got the best of her. She peeked over the walls only to watch the wave of Lourian men in the gates be ripped apart by multiple quick arrows that pierced their bodies. And as quickly as it ended, all that was left were the ruined corpses of the Lourians below. "They... they've eliminated the battering ram!"

...

Captain Delbin looked at the sight ahead as he yelled his orders, "Get ready men! Four iron wyverns approaching! Aim your arrows and go on my mark!" Delbin watched nervously as some strange iron beasts approached them. They scattered as they each seemed to be heading to every archer division on the field.

"Steady men!" Delbin ordered out. They needed to have it get as close as possible. The iron insect approached, and it only got clo—

Suddenly all Delbin could hear was the deaths of his archers and he too was pierced with multiple quick arrows in his body as he left the mortal realm.

...

General Falwin ran out of his tent as so did multiple of his men. In the distance he could see his entire archer regiment be wiped off the face of the planet. Quickly he yelled, "Ready your defensive lines!! The enemy is approaching!"

Falwin looked back as he watched his men, who were at first resting and enjoying their food, quickly slipped on their helmets and grabbed their swords. Once they were more organised he yelled, "Our boys on the fields have been eliminated! We must quickly approach the city and take it as soon as possible! For Louria and for the King!"

His soldiers cheered on as Falwin was about to lead them out of the encampment only to see plumes of smoke from behind the city. He and the soldiers stayed quiet as he watched the smoke arch over in the sky. Falwin went wide eyed as it was fast approaching them. "Trebuchet!! Everyone take cover!!" He yelled.

He equipped his own shield, ready to protect himself only to watch the flaming rocks separate into multiple pieces. And not long after, the earth shook beneath him, and after he felt the temporary agony of something burning his body, he was now dead.

...

Nou watched this happen and once he shakily lowered his binoculars, he had a look of fear at what happened. Over three thousand men gone in the blink of an eye.

Francesco lowered his binoculars as well as he scoffed, "That should teach them a lesson. Quickly, get your men into the city. We've officially pushed them out... My men will handle the situation beyond." He said to Nou as he returned to his tent.

Nou stood there and for a moment, he felt as if he watched the Gods themselves rain terror onto Elysia.

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Occupied City of Gim, 9:48 AM

In the walls of the now fortified city of Gim, a man sat perched atop the balcony of a converted building. He had a patch of black hair on his head, his body was slender and tall, as his eyes looked small yet stalking.

Lieutenant General Adem looked below as the city was less busy than usual. No longer did he hear the continuous laughs of Lourian soldiers and the despaired wails of the local Qua-Toynians. He scoffed as all he could see now were a couple reserve forces that was stationed to guard the city.

"This really pisses me off...." Adem said in a low, almost-snake like voice as he scoffed. He entered back into the office of the building, "Those men could've been better used on the battlefield, not to guard the capital." He said as he then looked out the window where a few hours ago, soldiers marched down the path to head to Jin-Hark.

"Orders are orders," A voice chimed behind him. A tubby man with slick back hair, a moustache, and a posh look in his eyes sipped on his wine as he spoke further, "Junfila said something about needing to defend the capital... an attack occurred there apparently."

Adem scoffed, "That man is heavier than you, Pandour but he doesn't have quite the brains," He said before he looked out the window, "Even with our wyvern forces, this amount of men is not enough to defend this wretched town."

"Relax," Pandour said as he set his chalice down on his desk, "Whatever's coming will have to get through Ejey first anyway. I haven't heard from the army out east yet so they're probably busy taking over the capital." He said with a confident smirk on his face.

Adem however wasn't as convinced. There was something tugging on his mind. A terrible premonition that told him to run away right now.

Pandour noticed this and scoffed, "Will you lighten up, Adem? You're not normally like this," he said in annoyance as he poured himself some more wine.

"Tell me again, General... Why did they recall some of our forces, hm?" Adem asked as he crooked his long neck, his head at an almost unnatural angle.

Pandour suppressed the shudder in his body as he kept up his posh demeanour, "Something about Italy attacking the capital. But I doubt that it will last any longer. Our forces on Rodenius are the best of the best... What's some other measly nation gonna do?"

Suddenly the door opened, and in came a young swordsman, "General! Emergency mana message from Ejey!" He said as he panted before he stood up straight, "Unknown enemies have taken down the capital forces! They warn that they are rapidly approaching Ejey!"

Adem looked to the swordsman and then to Pandour who looked to the side as if to avoid eye contact. He cleared his throat to Pandour who looked back.

"Oh yes. Do we know which enemy are we talking about here?" The general asked, calm as ever.

"Umm... All they have are iron wyverns and some sort of long distance trebuchet... But they have made visual that there are some iron beasts that are approaching by ground!" The man said.

Suddenly, he yelped as Adem gripped the young swordsman's collar, "You better be saying the truth or I'll have your head cut off."

"I-I swear sir! That's what our forces in Ejey told me!" He said in fear as Adem stared down at him like a snake with a rat.

Mercifully, Adem lets go as he scoffed. He then looked to Pandour, "Let's get our wyverns in the air, a few heavy swordsman and pikeman divisions out front, and perhaps some trebuchets within the walls, shall we?"

Pandour wiped his mouth off of some wine as he spoke, "I agree. Let's head out then."

"No... I will be personally heading to Jin-Hark myself. It is obvious we need reinforcements if they've gotten this deep into our occupied territory," Adem said as he adjusted his armour. "If they will not listen to our mana communicators, they will surely listen to me."

Pandour eyed him for a fair long while before he nodded, "Alright Adem. I'll trust you with that task. Let's make haste."

Adem watched Pandour walk past him to leave the building. And with that Adem followed to go to the capital.

He will not be dying in some lousy demihuman town.

...

Pandour watched the skies be circled by wyverns as he once more sipped on his wine. He sighed in satisfaction at the quality of his drink as he then looked out towards the fields.

700 men strong of the Gim occupation force with the remaining 100 in the city left to keep the slaves in order. He couldn't help but gulp his wine nervously. What Adem said continued to plague his mind.

Whoever the enemy is, if they got this deep into Qua-Toyne, they surely must be strong.

No, he will not let Louria lose to some measly force. Whatever was coming, he was ready.

And then he suddenly dropped his wine.

Pandour looked up in shock as a strong sound flew by and sooner than he realised, the sky lit up before it rained guts down Gim. He took a moment to realise what just happened.

The wyverns, they were all gone.

"Oh gods! What was that!?" He asked himself. He started to pray that Adem would return with reinforcements. But for now he needed to be at the frontlines as he quickly trotted his horse to the east side of town.

...

"... Approaching destination. We can confirm enemy units in front of the gates of the city. A couple hundred men."

Amidst the squadron of AW129 Mangustas, Dante Quinto piloted his attack helicopter with a mix of focus and excitement. It has only been now that Italy had some action against an enemy in years and their attack in Qua-Toyne only resonated more determination in him.

Meanwhile co-pilot and gunner Tommaso Rosa had a more serious mentality with the war. He had no hesitation to fire the guns to defeat the enemy, especially those who committed atrocities in the city they were fast approaching. But he would like to go home as soon as possible now. With that, he spoke, "Targets appear to have trebuchets as defence beyond the walls. Stay alert,"

...

"Wyverns inbound! Our wyvern forces have been decimated. Men, load up the trebuchets!"

Morin quickly loaded up the trebuchet along with the rest of the group as he could hear the fast approaching whirring noises of the wyverns. If they even are wyverns. He felt his heart beating quickly as he waited for the go signal of their captain. With everything loaded, they were ready for anything.

...

"Engaging enemy forces," Tommaso declared as he then opened fire. With a simply movement of his thumb, bullets started to pierce the enemy below them as their fellow helicopters handled with the archers on the walls. Without even stepping on the ground, much of Gim's forces were now dead.

...

Pandour watched from afar as his hold on the reins of his horse shook widely. But in his distraction, the man yelped in surprise as the noise of the wyverns scared off his steed which opted to run away as fast as possible.

He looked up as he watched the faster iron beasts start to approach again. In fear he ran into the HQ of Gim. It had its own walls to protect him. He was safe, he'll be okay.

He was a genius. The name Pandour will surely go down in history. He kept hidden in the lobby of the building. He was gonna tell the tale of the Battle of Gim, his genius and his prowess.

But suddenly, the ceiling exploded into a ball of light. And in the second Pandour was alive, all he could think of was one thing.

The Ravernal Empire has returned.

...

"QUICKLY!" Morin then poured oil onto the spherical stone of his trebuchet as he waited for his captain's orders. "On my mark!"

Morin readied himself. He waited for the captain to say the word. He was ready to release the pin and fire the trebuchet.

"FI—"

Suddenly the wooden walls of the city exploded into a fiery hell. Morin was knocked back onto the ground as he went wide eyed and watched what happened next.

His men were being riddled with rapid fire arrows of some sort. Morin yelped and hid behind the trebuchet as the others were being splintered and separated into a million pieces much like his comrades.

He smelled the stench of blood in the air as he shakily took a peek. His comrades were dead. Only he and his trebuchet remained.

Morin grit his teeth. He eyed one of the wyverns circling the city. Steady, steady. It was getting in range, busy with its task. He had to time this right... And with a cut of the pin...

...

"Dante watch out!!"

Dante looked to the side only to see a flaming ball approach them. With a hard hit on their helicopter, they started to spiral out of control, "We've been hit! Commencing emergency landing!"

...

Morin could only smile shakily. He managed to hit the wyvern! So why did it not explode into guts?

He couldn't contemplate that question as he joined his comrades in being ripped apart by the rapid arrows.

In his dying vision, he watched as iron calvary entered the city.

...

...

"... God damn it. I can't believe we got hit by a fucking boulder," Dante said in amused disappointment for himself.

Their AW129 dealt a fair amount of damage. A crooked tail and the immense heat of the fireball was enough to damage it for emergency landing.

The two sat in a forest as the AW129 laid crookedly on the ground, its wheels dug into the dirt as Tommaso crossed his arms, "We're definitely never gonna hear the end of this back home," he said before he had a more mocking tone that switched between masculine and feminine, "Oh my god! How did you get hit by a rock? Are you stupid?" He said before he sighed.

"Hey, to be fair, that came out of nowhere. And it's a flaming rock, let's see their cars be hit by one," Dante said with a snicker.

"Still... whatever. Anyway, we are gonna be picked up right? This thick forest's not gonna help us get back to base," Tommaso said as he went ahead and sat down on a log.

"They're sending a transport our way to pick us up. It shouldn't take too long," Dante said as he sat down with Tommaso. With their helmets off, his blond hair, brown eyes, and fair skin was revealed as so was Tommaso's white skin, blue eyes and black hair.

"Great... well, this is gonna be embarrassing," Tommaso said with a sigh.

Dante was about to speak before they heard a twig snap behind him and then a few angry shushed whispers. The two stood up as they looked at the source of the noise. The two looked at each other before Tommaso spoke out, "Who's there!? Identify yourselves!"

For a moment nothing seemed to happened. But then two elven children in old-looking clothes came out as they stood in fear.

Dante and Tommaso could only look at them in surprise.