Dashing out into the opening, the group was greeted by a limp body flung into the woods. They swerved and avoided it, before coming to a stop to assess the state of the battle.
The most striking image that Rein first noticed was a number of unmoving hovering figures high in the sky. There are many different methods to ‘fly’ with magic, but to do so pretty much require either an nigh-unaffordable piece of armament with the right combination of inscriptions, or for an advancer to reach the so-called outer advancer realm-- the level at which an advancer could start manipulating the aurae in the environment.
The advancers hovering in the air were split into five groups.
One group was dressed in the color scheme and sigil of the Hall of Heroes. Instead of the standard robe, each of them seemed to be a variety of customized armor. One of the hovering Hall of Heroes members had a completely golden chestplate littered with an intimidating mess of complex inscriptions.
A second group was levitating humans dressed in a myriad of colors that Rein lacked knowledge on. At best, he could discern a number of different sigils. One looked to be a hand clawing at the sun. Another had a mountain with a crescent hole punched through on one side. Another was a simple depiction of a cerulean whirlpool.
There were three more distinct parties. One was of the demons, many of them in half-metamorphosed state. A form somewhere in between humanoid and beast. This matched Rein’s knowledge of how beastkin climbed the advancer realms. For one reason or another, the humanoid form had always been considered the desired outcome of transformation. As such, these floating beastkin had gained a metamorphosed state.
Then there was a group, clearly of devils. Contrary to expectation, its members were not entirely gory, bloody, or corpse-like. In fact, one member was a handsome male that queens would desire to make a personal servant of. This group was an allotment of various sigils. They were clearly members of various sects considered to be devilish, deep into the western areas of the Evergreen Mountains.
The last group in the air was dressed in shimmering clothing that blinded the eyes. Even without close examination, one could tell that these figures were clearly the nobles of the Minhr Nation. Though, unlike House Larne, these were true nobles from significantly more influential and established advancer clans.
All these groups had one major similarity-- they all remained motionless in the sky, glancing at each other but not willing to participate. They were at a complete standoff, none willing to make the first move and potentially escalate the situation.
Unlike the situation in the air, the grassland was chaotic beyond imagination. It was essentially at least a fiveway fight. A Hall of Heroes member cooperated with a sun clawing sigil member to crush a devil who was sporadically licking blood from his axe. Yet, the moment the devil fell, the two turned on each other, simultaneously snuffing out the opposite’s life.
Despite the chaos, it was quite obvious to Rein and his allies what the main focus was. Charging across the grassland was a Hall of Heroes member carrying an ancient black chest. The most notable features on the black chest were a collection of ancient symbols strewn across its surface.
Rein knew they were not inscriptions, but rather, ancient runes from a long lost past of the gods. He had randomly come across that information under Master Yirn. To his knowledge, runes were the magics of the fallen gods, and frankly, modern advancers have yet to rediscover how to employ said ancient runes in their magics.
An army of automations surrounded this scurrying figure. Two other accompanying members looked as if they were about to drop dead-- their Hall of Heroes’ robes were ripped in various places, breaking the inscription pattern on its surface, and thus disrupting its protective mechanism.
The fighting was heaviest surrounding the wall of escorting automations. Many increasingly fell as attacks continuously sneaked through despite multiple Hall of Heroes members attempting to hold off the enemies. It wasn’t as if any would sacrifice their own bodies to prevent an automaton from being hit.
“This… This is a fucking suicide!” Chirh was despondent before things had even really started. “We are just meatbags! These are mostly shell realm enemies!”
He wasn’t wrong. The great sects of the Evergreen Mountains had an advantage on recruiting the talented individuals, who at similar age to them would have at least become shell advancers. And, many of the nobles who had entered the Hall of Heroes, unwilling to concede to the great sects, weren’t willing to sacrifice their bodies in such a chaotic battle!
The result? The Hall of Heroes had much higher numbers of inner advancer but not the comparable power of the shell realm.
“Stay in formation. Anyone not dressed in a Hall of Heroes robe is automatically an enemy. Now, follow my target instructions. Our goal is to snatch off the outermost enemies. It would be reckless for us, a newly formed group, to jump into the midst of that chaos.” Xeeseir as the archer at the back was definitely well suited to direct the group.
Rein stuck his soak staff into the ground, absorbing as much aurae as possible to augment his own body in preparation.
Xeeseir pointed at a head-height rock lying a good five hundred feet away towards the left hand side. “Curl around the rock and be ready to charge. Chirh. Take your shot at blinding them right when we come out from behind the rock. Now, go!”
Behind that rock was a pair of Hall of Heroes members barely surviving against four figures, all under a sigil of a fiery fist. All four seemed to have a full aurae skin that provided augmentation to their bodies, visible under their sleeveless vests, as well as their exposed calves and bare feet. They definitely had achieved a high mastery of magic compared to Rein’s group, as well as the two they had surrounded.
As for those two Hall of Heroes members? They appeared to have a slightly higher mastery compared to Rein’s group. Those two had partial aurae skins that seemed to meld with the magical Hall of Heroes' robes, exposing the two’s mastery level. Generally speaking, those able to generate incomplete aurae skins over fifty percent of the body should be peak inner advancers.
His observation allowed Rein to realize that the Hall of Heroes’ robes had the ability to allow an advancer to extend the unique qualities of their aurae skin to mesh with the already inscription-strengthened robe.
The two Hall of Heroes members could extend their aurae skin to half-cover their robes in a watery sheen, which seemed to somewhat successfully ward off the fiery blaze that each of the four enemies threw at them.
It was clear that they were struggling as increasingly, that water aurae layer dissipated into steam and the two had to rely on the Hall of Heroes robe’s own defense. The inscriptions on the robe appear dim though, as if they were about to exhaust their internal power.
Rein observed no power gem source when he equipped the magical robe. However, based on his own basic knowledge, he instinctively knew that a type of aurae source must be hidden somewhere in the robe. Perhaps, it had some ability to draw aurae from the environment, similar to his soak staff. Or, the material of the robe might have the ability to store aurae.
The serene voice of the lady that acknowledged Rein’s participation when he donned the robes temporarily postponed the group’s movement. “The javelins are coming. Hold out. All members capable of analyzing inscriptions and deploying these true Spears of Heaven make ready.”
Javelins! His half-senior had trained Rein on these. They are the Hall of Heroes’ ace-in-the-hole weapons! His attention was definitely piqued, as he was capable of using those javelins. After all, Chenhr had grilled him on understanding inscriptions and manipulating such a device for a whole cool six months.
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“Focus on the here and now.” Xeeseir redirected the group’s attention.
It was a timely reminder. The group’s plan was to curl around that rock, yet once they got close to it, a shadow popped out and flung a flying dagger at the group, and Rein whirled his staff in a wheel, managing to divert the dagger to the side.
The shadow smartly dashed away, not intending to fight five at once.
“That dagger had a whiff of poison on it.” Wilo commented. Rein trusted her senses-- she herself had used poison to rot a tree inside out.
He took a quick glance at his staff, but could not see even a dash of poison-liquid on it. He probably had knocked the flying dagger in an area that wasn’t tipped with poison.
Regardless, whoever that shadow was, they clearly were testing their luck in taking one of their lives.
As they curled around the large rock, Chirh could not remain silent as his anxiety got the best of him. “That’s the School of Burning Flesh. Their iconic fist magic punches a hole through the body by incinerating your flesh,” he whined in fear.
Rein couldn’t help but beam. The great thing about Chirh was his fear of dying to every single thing led to him seeming to have knowledge of even those semi-threatening to his life.
“Rein.” Xeeseir did not need to explain further.
“Acknowledged.” Rein prepared his soak staff.
Right as the group curled past the boulder, Xeeseir let fly an arrow that bounced off one of the fiery skinned individuals, its tip sizzling as the metal melted in heat. Their aurae skins definitely had high defensive qualities, but it was never Xeeseir’s goal to actually pierce them with a normal arrow.
The four Burning Flesh Sect members simultaneously turned their heads in surprise at the new arrivals, only to receive a blinding flash of light that made them swear and bluster. One even threw a fist in empty air, worried that an enemy had taken the chance to ambush them.
An unfortunate result, however, was that the two Hall of Heroes members originally by themselves against the enemy, both equipped with a seven-sectioned bronze whip, had also been blinded as their eyes had also been drawn to the new arrivals.
Rein took his chance, and activated the water droplet inscription of the soak staff. His skin felt the surroundings grow drier in a blink of the eye, as a ball of water as wide as triple that of Rein’s height appeared above his head.
“Brace yourselves,” Rein warned, unable to contain a tinge of embarrassment at the nature of the skill.
The water droplet then fell onto the group, and cascaded outwards in all directions as a huge wave. Xeeseir, at the back of the group, the group member farthest from Rein’s position, barely maintained his feet. As for Wilo, Dahk and Chirh, other than getting drenched, they had no issue maintaining their position-- the water waves had yet to gather momentum when washing past them.
The water wave reached a fifteen feet height as it crashed into the four enemies, and their flaming aurae skin fizzled as they were fully smothered by the huge wave that washed them a good hundred plus feet.
Once again, there was a case of friendly fire. The two allies they had wanted to assist-- two raven-haired ladies that looked to be twins-- had also been sent rolling by the huge water wave.
Though imperfect, one could say it worked splendidly. Their two allies were no longer knocking at death’s door in the current situation.
The six struck by the water wave recovered at the same time, sputtering in rage. As the four Burning Flesh members warily observed Rein’s group, the two raven-haired ladies picked up their identical seven-sectioned bronze whips and darted beside Wilo.
Though saved, the two were obviously not happy, soaked as they were. Their eyes glowered at the five, attempting to identify the ones who indiscriminately blasted them with both light and water.
“What now?” Chirh spluttered.
“You’re bait.” Rein motioned with an arm backwards at Chirh. Without looking, he already knew that Chirh was probably peeing his pants. But it was their best plan. After all, they were against four that had entered the so-called shell advancer realm. Already, the four Burning Flesh members had started to reform their fiery aurae skin.
“Chirh. Flash them as often as possible.” Xeeseir ordered.
An audible whine, but it was too late for complaints at this stage of the battle. Within a few heartbeats, a flash of light struck the four Burning Flesh members again, recommencing the battle.
Unlike last time, only one of them was stunned by the light. Three of the figures, now completely shrouded in a semi-translucent fiery aurae skin, had covered their eyes in preparation when they saw Chirh point the fuller of his broad shortsword at them.
What they were not prepared for, however, was a rain of wooden needles that Wilo had stealthily launched, camouflaged by the night sky.
Yet, these would not have the desired effect. The wooden needles simply burned and dissipated upon coming into contact with the four’s fiery aurae skin.
“I knew this would happen,” The masked Wilo mumbled. For the first time, she seemed to lose a bit of composure. “I really don’t like flames.”
“Two groups!” Xeeseir commanded. “Rein and Dahk with Chirh. The rest with me. Remember. Everyone is to adapt to Chirh.” Chirh would have to continue his role as bait.
The group immediately split into two groups as they dashed forward. The two raven-haired twin ladies reacted a bit slower, but intuitively knew who Chirh was based on their movements.
Their enemies seemed momentarily undecided as to which group to target.
“Keep them at bay for us.” Those were Xeeseir’s simple instructions to their two new teammates. Seeing the bow in Xeeseir’s hand, the two ladies understood their roles. Their two bronze whips were well-suited for such a task.
Rein and Dahk positioned themselves on the two sides of Chirh, ready to defend this annoying ‘fly’. As they peeled away from Xeeseir’s group, Chirh released another blinding flash.
The strategy was simple. Chirh would move around and try to flash the four enemies from different angles in an attempt to surprise them and he would be defended by Rein and Dahk. Meanwhile, Xeeseir and Wilo would fire projectiles while protected by the twin ladies.
The four School of Burning Flesh members seemed to be only equipped with knuckles for weapons. Despite the four enemies being shell advancers, Rein believed that in theory, they had a slight advantage provided Xeeseir did not run out of arrows.
As if to confirm his expectations, after an echoing twang of a bowstring, an arrow struck one of the enemy’s chest. However, unlike last time, this was no normal arrow. The arrow was enchanted with a type of ice magic, and the Burning Flesh Sect member found himself not being able to circulate his aurae into his defensive skin around the front area--his chest--for protection.
A second arrow swiftly struck in the same position after the ice arrow. This second arrow had instead a type of explosion inscription that knocked the man clean off his feet, forming a hole in his aurae armor around the sternum. A third wave, and this time Wilo’s poison needles landed, successfully penetrating into the body thanks to Xeeseir’s unique arrows creating a hole in the fiery aurae armor.
The Burning Flesh man’s hesitation had caused his impending death under the quick three waves of projectiles.
Sensing his imminent death due to the poison coursing through his veins, this Burning Flesh member took control of their group. “Behind me! This group first!”
He had managed to reform his aurae skin, but Wilo’s poison was already in his system. He could sense that the strength of Wilo’s poison was beyond him. It wouldn’t be long before he would drop dead. He dared not escape, unsure of losing his life for nothing in the surrounding chaos.
He charged with courage at Xeeseir’s group of four.
“Now!”
A timely flash from Chirh from the side caused one of their enemies to lose his footing and tumble in a few body rolls, but the other three kept storming toward Xeeseir’s group.
The man who had been poisoned fearlessly hurtled forward, his aurae skin cracking under pressure as his body was struck by the twin ladies’ bronze whips. However, he was successfully relieving pressure on the two allies behind him. The fourth that had been surprised by Chirh’s flash was only just getting to his feet, and at this point, stranded by himself.
Another arrow from Xeeseir pierced through a chink in the charging man’s aurae skin, and blood spurted out of the man’s abdomen.Yet, that did not even impede their progress one bit.
Rein swore as he realized what this man was attempting. This poisoned man was clearly using the last moments of his life to unleash some sort of suicide attack at the individuals he deemed most dangerous!
Unfortunately, there was nothing Rein could do-- or at least, he wasn’t willing to expose the fact that he could employ an origin skill to rapidly teleport himself to aid Xeeseir’s group. Doing so in this wide open plains, his secret would be remembered by all! He could only hope the outcome would not be too devastating.
“Follow me,” he ordered his group, and they themselves dashed forward to engage the stranded fourth Burning Flesh member.
Yet before they could surround this dazed fourth member, Rein saw the two Burning Flesh members accompanying the poisoned member, put flask-to-lips to consume some sort of liquid, then the very next moment, spew two magical torrents of black liquid directly at Xeeseir’s backstepping group!
The black liquid showered onto the four. For the final blow, the poisoned man’s orifices turned a fiery red as his whole body burst into flames. His allies suddenly stopped charging, and then his whole body lit up in a blaze and accelerated like a meteor toward Xeeseir’s group!