Chapter 178: Invading Primordial Crimson
"Plan ahead? How do I keep all those thoughts in my head before attacking? It takes a split second to make a decision to attack, there is no way I can think," Riker said.
"There is," Ragna replied. He raised his fist up and showed it to Riker. "How many moves do you believe are possible with this fist? There are many, so many that I could do, but there are a few main ones you think of first.
Those attacks are what you must take on first in your mind and keep the perfect counter for each one, and you must do this in an instant.
Listen, until you master complete control over your body, you cannot truly master instincts and know how to allow your body to move. You cannot leap to instincts and leave behind control. That is what separates you from a wild animal."
While Ragna explained, he sensed something. Someone was coming, and they did not have the intention to make peace from the way that they were approaching.
"Seems we have guests," Ragna said. He looked at Riker.
"Ready our forces. Ensure all children and non-fighters head to the cave now," he barked immediately.
Riker understood that something was happening, and so he moved fast. There was no time for a single delay. After Riker was gone, Ragna picked up his sword, which he had laid to the side for their training. He walked in the direction of the incoming force.
When he got a bit far, facing the forest ahead, he stomped his foot hard into the ground, and it sent a shockwave through the floor to announce to all those that were coming that he was here.
"You have come far enough," he bellowed in a heavy voice. "This is the territory of Master Ren. You have no business here."
There was silence for a long while, but Ragna could tell that someone was there and that person was looking right at them at the moment.
"Hahahahaha." A laugh cut through the air, and a figure began to approach from the forest, Tempest.
He carried a smile on his face, his sword in his hands and an evil glint in his eyes.
"It’s funny how those that my friend Calamity saved have now turned to serve the very monster that killed their leader. You are all backstabbers and fair-weather followers."
Ragna was stunned when he saw who it was. He did not expect to have to fight the king of Ogres.
’Tempest, the king of Ogres. He is stronger than even Calamity, my former master. If he is here to fight, how can I stop him?
Tch, I have no choice. Master Ren has placed me in charge of ensuring that our home remains standing no matter what, and if I need to fight against a monster like this, then I will give it my all no matter the cost.’
He clenched his sword even tighter and looked at Tempest.
"I can sense the entire army behind you. I take it that you did not come here to have small talk with us or make fun moments.
You are here to destroy all that my master has built. You chose now that he is not here, a good plan, I have to say, but the plan of a coward."
Tempest frowned when he heard Ragna call him a coward.
"You will regret the words you have spoken to me, Orc. I’ll raze the place to the ground and force you to watch while everyone dies in the flames." He said that and then raised his sword. The signal was given, and his army of Ogres rushed forward fast.
Ragna saw them coming in their large numbers, and he knew that he had to slow them down as much as possible to ensure that Riker got the forces ready and everyone else to safety.
He raised both cleavers into the apex. A red glow circled around the blades, and he slashed down at full strength. His swords hit the ground with explosive force, and cracks immediately spread, each one as large as a human. It caused parts of the ground to go higher and some lower. It left massive holes in the ground that would take a lot to cross and even a lot of unstable ground that would be worsened by their weight.
It took effect immediately as many Ogres fell into the holes. Some got caught, some were delayed before they could finally get through.
Tempest looked at this, and then he looked at Ragna.
"You are quite strong. I am impressed. At least you will be able to put up a good fight before you die."
He said that and charged forward instantly, coming with a wide slash.
The cleavers caught the attack, and the force behind it was immediate and total.
Ragna dug both blades into the ground before he finished sliding, the metal tearing furrows into the earth, and he barely stopped himself before the tree line.
Tempest was already coming.
He crossed the distance in a single stride and swung again, the sword coming in from the left with enough force that the shockwave from the impact blew loose soil outward in every direction. Ragna blocked it and was pushed further back, his feet leaving the ground briefly before he planted them again.
Another swing came from the right.
Block. Pushed back.
Another from above.
Block. Knees bent from the force, ground cracking beneath him.
Tempest kept pressing, each slash heavier than the last, his voice carrying through every exchange with the particular edge of someone who had already decided how this ended and was simply waiting for the other person to accept it.
"Come on," Tempest said, swinging again. "Show me your strength." The blade came down and Ragna caught it on both cleavers crossed. "Show me what that dragon has done for you that made you choose to serve him over your real master."
Ragna held the block and said nothing.
Tempest pushed harder.
"Does he even know you are out here fighting for him?" He pulled back and swung from the other side. "Does he care?"
Ragna absorbed the hit and dug in deeper.
On the far side of the settlement, the first of the Ogres found the gaps in the terrain where the cracks and the rough ground had slowed the advance, and pushed through.
More followed.
The formation that had been held back by the broken earth reformed on the other side of it, the Ogres regrouping and pressing forward toward the settlement walls with renewed momentum, the delay already forgotten in the face of what was ahead.
Then the arrows came.
They flew up from inside the settlement in a high arc, dozens going up before curving down and landing among the advancing formation with the particular accuracy of something that had been calculated rather than simply fired.
The tips hit.
Then they exploded.
Each arrowhead detonating on contact, the blasts tearing through the Ogre formation in rapid succession, bodies dropping and the advance breaking apart before it could properly begin, the explosions chaining across the ground in a line that cost the Ogres more in three seconds than the terrain had managed in several minutes.
Tempest saw it from across the battlefield.
His eyes went to the settlement and then to the arrows still raining down and then back to the aftermath of the first volley.
His expression shifted.
Inside the settlement, Grent threw his head back and laughed.
"I knew those explosive arrows would find their use," he said, watching the results with considerable satisfaction.
Riker stood beside him, his eyes moving across the battlefield in a steady sweep. He saw Ragna and Tempest locked in their exchange and understood immediately that that fight was not his to enter. His job was here.
He raised his hands.
Every Orc, every lizardman, every wolf and hobgoblin and goblin that was active and ready responded in the same moment, the settlement’s forces turning as one. Riker pushed his hands forward and they moved, rushing out to meet the remaining Ogres in the gaps the arrows had opened, the counterattack filling the space the explosions had cleared.
Ragna finally caught one clean.
The cleaver met Tempest’s incoming strike at the right angle and deflected it fully for the first time in the entire fight, and his red aura spiked the moment it happened, power rushing through him as he closed the distance fast and began working, left cleaver, right cleaver, left, right, coming from every angle without pause.
Tempest blocked each one and laughed.
"Is this your best?"
He parried one strike, spun, and slashed across Ragna’s midsection. The blade caught him, and Ragna hit the floor, rolling, blood pouring from the wound as he groaned and pushed himself back up.
The wound began to close.
Tempest watched it and clicked his tongue.
"That healing factor," he said. "Annoying."
He gripped his sword. Red flame climbed the blade slowly, burning bright against the dark.
"This flame," Tempest said, looking at Ragna. "Looks familiar, doesn’t it? Reminds you of your master’s?"
Ragna looked at the flame.
Then he looked at Tempest.
"Your flame cannot be compared to Master Ren’s," he said. "His flame does not burn simply to kill." He gripped both cleavers. "It burns to make way. It burns to lift. It burns so that everyone who looks up to him can see light."
He planted his foot hard into the ground.
"Today," he said, "I will not let you kill his light."