With my ice powers, I pushed back the enemy and cleared a path for my allies. Together with Shou, we scattered our opponents. Ryuu fought the beast alongside the dragon while the rest of us were spread out, trying to gain the upper hand.

Despite our advantage against the enemy army of giants and orcs, I wasn't sure if the Fourth Epic would let us go. The other side wanted to even the odds.

Even if the Fourth Epic wasn't interested in us for the time being, we were certain that their elite soldiers would intervene to stop us. Otherwise, the war wouldn't be any fun.

After Babu and Rose dismounted from the dragon and joined us, we dispersed among ourselves - some alone and others in pairs.

The enemy was better equipped than us - some of the giants even wore metal armor. The battle raged on as waves of enemies attacked and we fought back with determination.

The Knights and Kings focused on the Fourth King and his army, their family feuds fueling the war. Everyone tried to even the odds and gain an advantage.

Later in the battle, I had made significant progress and was still defeating enemies when I saw Mila floating in the air. I didn't know what had happened, but I quickly used my ice powers to slide down and catch her before she hit the ground.

I asked her what was going on. "What happened? Are you okay?"

"I'm fine," she replied. "Just a little scratched. Thanks for catching me."

As I spoke with Mila, an elite soldier appeared before us. He resembled a merperson but was different from the usual description. This elite soldier had a long tail, hands with fused fingers like fins, and fangs. At first, I thought he was weak, but he didn't appear to be.

The Fourth Epic seemed to have made some improvements to the elite soldier. Some of the body parts looked as if they had been replaced with metal. This must be one of the hybrids they were talking about.

The elite soldier approached us and spoke. "Princess Mila, princess of the merpeople, I hope you won't be angry with me for what I did. When I'm done with you, there will be no princess of the merpeople."

Mila and I stood up to face the elite soldier. Before we attacked, I turned to Mila and said, "You look like you could use some help."

"You're always so helpful," she replied with a smile.

Mila had gotten to know me well since we met. I didn't help people easily, but for some reason, I felt warmth towards her. Maybe it was because she believed in me. I answered her jokingly, "I can be helpful sometimes, you know."

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The elite soldier attacked us aggressively, wasting no time. His primary target was Mila, and he aimed to kill her first by throwing thorn-like, sharp things on his tail at her. It was clear from his speech and actions that he had a strong dislike for Mila. I used my ice power to create a wall of ice, blocking the fast-rising spikes and protecting Mila. Suddenly, the elite soldier turned his attention towards me and sprayed poison from his mouth. Fortunately, I managed to create an ice shield in front of my arm just in time, saving me from the toxic attack.

As Mila continued to shoot arrows at the enemy while maintaining her distance, I took the opportunity to approach the elite soldier. However, he used sound waves to prevent me from moving forward, just like Mila had done earlier. Mila continued to shoot arrows towards the enemy's head, but he was quick to dodge them. I threw ice shards at him, but he was able to melt them using his poison.

Overall, we were locked in a fierce battle with the elite soldier, with each of us using our unique abilities to defend ourselves and attack him.

As soon as the elite soldier used his poison, I swiftly moved to his side and swung my right fist at his face. He attempted to retaliate by catching my right fist in mid-air with his fin-like hand, but I beat him to it. Not only did I freeze his hand on contact, but he also couldn't pull his arm back.

I froze the ground we were standing on and swung my arm vigorously to the right and left, causing the elite soldier to be involuntarily knocked to the ground on the icy floor along with my arm. However, using his sharp fingers, he managed to break free from my grip and grabbed my arm tightly. He fiercely responded with his long tail, sending me flying.

As I floated away from the impact, Mila continued to fight back against the elite soldier with the power of the water. Quickly rising from the ground, I knew I had to help her. I made a spear of ice and threw it at the elite soldier to distract him.

As the elite soldier ran to the side to protect himself, I knew he couldn't escape the water attack. So, he shielded his arms to protect himself from the incoming water. But what he didn't know was that I had used my ice power to solidify the water.

The water turned into ice in the air and hit the elite soldier in the form of a heavy mass. Though he managed to fight back, it was clear that the enemy was stronger than we had anticipated, and our battle seemed to be taking longer than we had initially thought.

The elite soldier clearly did not appreciate our attacks on him. He was about to attack again, approaching us with great strength and anger. The elite soldier leaped into the middle of us, pointing his tail at Mila and attacking me with his fists.

Mila tried to protect herself from the tail blows using her water power. He was surprisingly skilled in combat, punching harder than I had anticipated. His fins hands were also sharper than I expected, and he managed to catch me off guard, hitting me in the stomach. Unfortunately, in the process, he kicked Mila, who was standing behind him, hard.

Mila backed up from the kick, but she still continued to fight, swinging one of her arrows at the elite soldier. However, he was quick to anticipate her move and tilted his head slightly to the left, causing the arrow to be aimed at me, the person in front of him. Thankfully, I managed to catch the arrow just in time.

The elite soldier continued his attack, jumping up and kicking me. As he was about to make another attack, I tried to avoid it by using my ice power to create a shield in front of me. Unfortunately, he managed to break through the ice with a hard shoulder and hit me again. I retaliated by grabbing him in the stomach and throwing him to the other side.

Although he didn't take much damage, I managed to block his attack. Once again, the elite soldier was in front of us, Mila and I stood side by side, waiting for him to attack again.