Large-scale conflicts between kingdoms were events that mostly depended on chance and the equipment one could bring to bear. That was a lie, Helera knew. Although the main fighting force consisted of thousands of soldiers, the true outcome of a battle was the level of Spirit lords one could field, both in quantity and quality.

Helera watched as the allied forces, composed of multiple small kingdoms, with a comprised number reaching half a million, crashed into the host of three Empire legions.

The allied forces surpassed them in numbers by a large margin of two hundred thousand, but the Empire had them in quality.

The battlefield erupted in a combined chorus of screams and clashing metals and then accompanied by an undertone of parting flesh and breaking bones as the soldiers began clashing.

She stood on a hill overlooking the battle whilst attended by a small number of Monarch shields standing guard and waiting for her signal to move.

A few dozen miles in the distance, on the opposite side of the battlefield, perched on a floating platform, were two Empire lords, also accompanied by their own squad of Monarchs.

The reason Spirit lords didn't take to the battlefield first was that it was an unspoken rule to let the lower realmers battle it out, giving them the chance to grow more powerful. It was a win-win situation.

However, although the Spirit lords didn't take to the battlefield, that didn't mean they were not present. There were always people who wouldn't adhere to any form of agreement. That was why she was here, standing as a deterrent to their enemies, and them doing likewise.

The first Empire lord was a middle-aged gruff gruff-looking man who seemed in his forties, although she knew that to be false. A dull bronze armor with criss-cross red lines of flames shrouded his body, no doubt an enchantment.

The second was another person in a black hooded robe, which covered their head. A hidden pillar, no doubt. To her, looking at the two, the first man was more intimidating, but if she had to pick, she'd rather face him than the robed figure. Hidden pillars came with many unfortunate surprises.

Like she'd said, wars were mostly left for the lower staged essence wielders to battle it out, but that didn't mean the higher realmers didn't interfere when they saw the battle turning against their favor.

The Empire might have out-leveled them in the quality of soldiers brought to bear, fielding more Monarchs, more powerful lower realm lords, and also having better equipment than the alliance legions, but that didn't mean the alliance was powerless. Numbers could do a lot for the outcome of a battle, as the Empire themselves had shown.

With Camlen leading the charge, the alliance, with two hundred soldiers more than the Empire, quickly swarmed their lines, although not without drastic casualties.

She detected the moment they decided to act. The cloaked figure disappeared, melding into a smoke of shadows, while the other blasted directly off the platform, heading straight for her.

Sadly acknowledging the future casualties of this battle, Helera moved to meet him. As someone who'd once stood where the common soldiers once were, she felt more for them than anyone could ever understand.

The Monarch shields of both sides spread out, seemingly coming to a tacit agreement to reduce the casualties on both sides. Although they knew someone in their number would not be leaving the battlefield alive, they still carried out their job with an admirable resolve.

Despite the deafening cacophony of sounds erupting from the battlefield, when the Spirit lord clashed, the explosion echoed over them all.

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Helera, with two large bastard swords, crashed into the maul-wielding lord in a deafening explosion that saw them briefly pushed back.

The maul, trailing sparks of red flames, sped through the large mushroom of smoke toward her. She dodged, but not quick enough, taking a glancing hit to the shoulder. That pain made her glad that she hadn't taken the attack full on.

She spun, mentally disoriented and a little bit out of balance. Although she quickly righted herself, those few moments of weakness left her open to their next attack, as a dagger suddenly appeared out of a portal of dark smoke, scoring a deep gash on her arm. She gritted her teeth from the pain, blindly swinging her armored hand and deflecting another aimed at her ribs.

Taking a moment to right herself, Helera flashed out of the area, appearing a short distance away. Her opponents were content to let her go, assured of their victory.

The man idly swung his weapon, managing to project contempt and boredom in equal measure. But she saw how he watched her like a hawk. His partner was nowhere to be found, and that unsettled her more than anything.

They clearly knew of her, studied her even, so they likely knew that even assured of victory, they'd have to work hard for it. She definitely wasn't about to make it easy for them.

Helera moved, instantly appearing to the right of the man, her sword already bearing down on him with the force of a dozen boulders. He deflected her attack, turning her sword away while he moved out of the way. Though he succeeded, he clearly didn't come out unscathed, judging by how his weapon then changed hands.

"It is inevitable, you're fighting a losing battle. Give up and spare us the trouble of putting you down. You've got no grey-eyed demon to help you now," the man said with confidence, though she did notice how his eyes seemed to flicker around as he spoke the last sentence.

Helera didn't waste time with a pointless exchange of words, she attacked.

Their battle carried them across the battlefield, flickering through the skies in a blur of movements. Although they seemed to be moving erratically, they made sure they weren't carried far from the battlefield. That was a mistake no one wanted to make.

The Monarch shields sped through the skies after them, deflecting any stray techniques that seemed to be heading toward the common soldiers fighting while leaving the ones heading in the distance alone.

One flashed, conjuring an unstable hand construct out of his element and using it to carefully influence a technique into the far distance. He still took damage from that, cradling a shattered arm. She winced in obvious pity, that was her technique.

Helera flew through the skies, evading hundreds of flaming needles from her pursuer; all the while, she constantly positioned her flying earthen-made shield anywhere a dark shadow seemed to materialize, escaping the tendrils that tried to snare her. Her arm was still numb from her first experience.

Hours into the battle, Helera was content to stay on the defensive, slowly dragging out their stamina and whittling their energy well. However, now that she thought so, it was a bad idea from the start, as while she only used her energy to block unavoidable attacks while only attacking at opportune moments, She was still being worn down faster than them.

She knew that she couldn't continue like this forever. Sooner or later she'd be eventually drained and left in the open.

The battle had already carried on into the night, with the night sky illuminated with thousands of flashing techniques. Soon, to her unavoidable effort to fight it, she began to noticeably flag, dodging attacks a second too late and failing to take advantage of any openings. Her will was drained, strained to its limit. Half an hour later, she began taking more hits; her weakened form blasted continuously into hills and forming large depressions.

Her thoughts started becoming incoherent, unable to think and process critically. Fear showed in her Monarch shields as they saw her being whittled down slowly. The other lower realm wielders might be spared, taken as prisoners of war, but they knew their cases were different. Monarchs were too dangerous to let live.

Sooner than she thought, she was completely drained, crashing into the side of a mountain and causing an avalanche. The two Spirit lords hovered above, content to enjoy her humiliating death.

"Lasted longer than I thought," one said, spitting to the side in distaste.

"At least it's all done. Her death will set the tone for the soldiers of Camlen. She is an influential figure, after all, losing her will drastically weaken their morale," the second one replied.

Helera was too tired to speak, nor laugh even. But her amusement showed.

"What do you find so funny?" The cloaked man peered down at her.

Mustering a smidgen amount of strength. She opened her mouth. "Did you think I was going to foolishly fight a losing battle?" Her lips spread in a wide smile.

Confused, they were about to speak when they both suddenly froze, no doubt already understanding what she meant. Their faces paled as space began tearing, evidence of an imminent spatial arrival.

And the aura that preceded it was one they all recognized.