The first of those among the war council that were ready to march were the hunter elders performing their grand war ritual the quickest, and so they marched first among the three armies of grass pixies that would be fighting. It was quite the sight to see; some would find it magnificent and others horrifying as the power of all the combined Hunter elders transformed the hunters that made up their armor.

As unlike when one hunting elder used their power, such as when Gressel did, causing himself to be transformed into a more powerful being that all the others followed. The power of all the hunting elders from the nine grass pixie clans working together transformed all of the hunters under them as well as the elders themselves.

So as each hunting elder was transformed to be like Gressel, they had become three times their size while also holding a magic bell and giant hunting spear. This transformation did not end with the hunting elders; no, it also changed the hunters beneath them, as this was not a great hunt but a GREAT PIXIE RAID, which transformed the hunters as well when it occurred.

The transformation that occurred was among the armor of the grass pixie hunters as they wore the trophies of their greatest hunts, those greater insects that threatened the grass pixies when they went into the grass. The power of the GREAT PIXIE RAID would not only make their trophy armor stronger but also bring it to life in certain ways. Such as the heads on the armor biting things that got too close to those that wore them and pincers being usable by the wearers.

This transformation to a living armor also allowed the armor to have some self-healing ability, which allowed it to repair itself in a fight. This living trophy armor boosted the fighting abilities of the grass pixie hunters tremendously as they went from just an agile fighting force to an agile fighting force that could take a hit and deal a lot of punishment.

Though there was a price in doing such a thing, as if the hunters were not careful and let the armors lead them astray, they would forget who they were; they would become the very armor they were. This was why such powerful ritual was rarely used, as it granted great power, but it had a terrible danger if the pixie hunters were not careful.

Thought it was quite the thing to see as the great pixie raider army marched across the lands of the eight pixie clans to the one that had fallen to the one now called the kingdom of smog. The march was at a fast pace, crossing the eight clans territory quickly, and in next to no time, the nine elders were all standing in front of the wall of smog that surrounded the fallen territory, all nine divisions of their army, as they were about to march into the wall of smog.

The nine elders looked to each other, not speaking, as their minds were linked to the magic of the hunt. This allowed them to coordinate their raider army with great efficiency but also allowed them to act together as one, and when nine hunting elders in their great hunt forms fight, they are a great danger to all they face, for there are not many things in the forest of Gregal that could not be threatened by such a thing.

Though the inherent danger in connecting the minds was that the hunting elders could become jumbled, confusing who was who, which was a risk that was necessary in such dark times. The nine hunting elders turned away from the smog wall and spoke to their divisions of raider grass pixies at the same time.

"We fight as one to save our lands and our people to do as our forefathers have always done. Which is hunt all that threatens our clans; now this kingdom threatens our people, and it shall be hunted to nothing if it remains." The hunting elders said as one, then turned as one to face the wall of smog they were about to enter.

Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.

The miserable rage catapult continued its ever-tilting patrol around the workshop that had made it. The miserable rage catapult also kept switching between its primary emotions of misery and rage. At one point it was miserable that nothing had ever threatened the southern part of the smog kingdom, which meant its existence was a mistake, for it had never been needed.

Then it would be enraged that nothing had ever showed itself to dare attack the South, and when someone dared to do so, it could tear them apart for daring to even think of it. Then it would be miserable thinking it shouldn't hope that someone or something would attack what it was charged with protecting.

Suffice it to say, the miserable rage catapult was a unique existence, and that was without considering the fact it towered over its lesser kin. It was the first time ever to be a general of the catapults of the smog kingdom, which it was quite proud of, though granted whenever it voiced its opinion, the miserable rage catapult would either say miserably that it would fail spectacularly in its leadership or it was enraged that the catapults under its command weren't good enough to be led by it.

Though the catapults placed under its command had rather interesting reactions to being under the command of the super weapons known as the miserable rage catapult. The rage grass catapults and the sad grass catapults both saw it as the greatest. The sad grass catapult was called the great sorrow, and the rage catapult was called the great rage—not the most imaginative, but then not many catapults were.

Though that was besides the point, as what was important was that titles given by both of the emotion-based smog catapults were based around the fact they saw the miserable rage catapult as the ultimate. The greatest expression of their kind that had ever existed, though granted neither had the words to express such things, as the rage catapults were always in a rage to kill something and the sad catapults were always too sad to ever truly express themselves.

This seeing of the miserable rage tank as the ultimate was why it could command the rage grass catapults and sad grass catapults so well, as they were eager to follow its orders. Though the regular grass catapult had a much different opinion than its fellows, as it thought that the miserable rage catapult was insane, and so were its kin, the rage and sad catapults, for wanting to follow such a mad creature. Though the grass catapult, being the most sane of all the grass catapults, wasn't dumb enough to go against a super weapon that had been allowed by the Creator himself, so they obeyed like the others did.

So as the miserable catapult made its endless patrol around the workshop that continued to make more grass catapults for its army, it set up its legions. The miserable grass catapult has the rage catapults in front of the regular grass catapults in the middle and the sad grass catapults in the backline. This formation is becoming a living wall that would be behind all of the southern front.

So both sides had made their preparations, and now it would soon be for both sides to be tested as a wall of smog was all that stood between two opposing armies. Who would win the battle for the southern front of the kingdom? No one was sure, but it would be a great and terrible battle; that all would be sure.