Chapter 247: Awakening of Elemental Steel
General Valerius’s roar of rage still echoed in the air when the heavy village gates burst wide open. Brak, Lupar, Marty, Vael, and Thorin charged onto the battlefield like a whirlwind, slamming into the legion’s flank to break the encirclement surrounding Kellar and Ignis.
Without wasting a second, the five warriors channeled their mana into the weapons provided by Lennis, unlocking their potential mid-combat. Brak, Lupar, and Thorin brandished the heavy Earth-Fire Stone war axes; upon striking the enemy vanguard’s metal, fireballs detonated at the point of impact, blasting the lead Golden Rose soldiers into a shower of shrapnel and flames. Meanwhile, Marty and Vael raised the Windstone two-handed swords; as they cleaved through the air, high-pressure wind blades swept forward, severing spears and shields meters away.
Vael ground his teeth, marveling at the weightlessness of the wind sword in his hands. The trust Brak had placed in him, a former Black Skull tribe member, fueled a relentless ferocity in every strike.
The impact of the experimental weapons caused chaos within the legion’s ranks, tearing a gap through the front line. However, the realm army’s discipline reasserted itself. War mages stationed in the rear reacted, while the heavy infantry raised their tower shields to form a wall covering the casters.
The enemy mages ignored the tribe’s marksmen sheltered atop the village wall; the distance was too great and their spells lacked the range to reach them. All their magical artillery focused on the ground assault squad. Orbs of energy and elemental blasts rained down upon Brak and his four captains, forcing them into a clash against the solid shield wall.
"Keep the pressure on! Don’t let those mages finish their incantations!" bellowed Brak, dodging a burst of flame as he brought his axe crashing down against the legion’s bronze wall.
Vael and Marty exchanged a glance amidst the hail of mystical fire. Instantly grasping the tactical advantage of their new weapons, both captains tightened their grips on the two-handed swords and channeled their mana into the Windstone blades.
"Now!" roared Marty.
As they triggered the compressed airflow, an updraft enveloped them, rendering their bodies light. With a leap, both captains soared high above the tower shield wall, flying over the legion’s heavy infantry to crash down directly onto the war mages’ formation.
"Fall back! Intercept those—!" managed to shriek the lead spellcaster before Vael’s blade cut his words short.
Vael executed a horizontal sweep; the wind sword emitted a sharp hiss, unleashing an arc of vacuum-cutting air that severed magical staves and tore through enchanted robes before his feet touched the ground. Simultaneously, Marty landed on the other side of the line, thrusting his blade at speed to shatter the enemy’s channeling circles.
The interruption of the spells triggered a chain reaction of magical backfires among the legion’s rear ranks. With the mages exposed and cornered by Vael and Marty’s air slashes, the suppressing fire directed at Brak’s squad ceased.
"The front is ours!" bellowed Brak, seizing the chaos to smash his fire axe into the weakened center of the shield wall, blasting the tower guards into a ball of flame.
In the center of the battlefield, General Valerius felt the tactical control of his legion crumbling from behind.
"Hahaha... Hahahaha..."
A cold laugh echoed in the center of the battlefield, slicing through the roar of the cannons and elemental explosions.
From among the legion’s disordered ranks, a young man stepped forward with slow pacing. His face was concealed beneath a featureless polished iron mask, revealing nothing save for two dark slits emanating a bloodthirsty aura.
The youth halted a few paces from the scene, casting a look of disdain upon the commander.
"So this is the extent of your strength, Deputy General?" sneered the youth, his voice young yet dripping with venom. "As His Majesty’s designated evaluator, I declare that you have failed the test. Fall back with your trash... we shall take over from here."
Kellar, Grok, and the captains froze for a fraction of a second at the sudden intrusion and the newcomer’s insolence. However, along the mages’ flank, Marty and Vael felt an instinctive surge of dread that made their skin crawl. Their Windstone blades vibrated, warning them of a physical disruption in the atmosphere.
𝚏𝐫𝚎𝗲𝕨𝐞𝐛𝕟𝚘𝐯𝚎𝗹.𝕔𝐨𝗺
"Fall back!" shrieked Marty and Vael in unison, horrified by the shift in atmospheric pressure.
They didn’t have time to take a step.
The iron-masked figure vanished from the ground, leaving behind a sonic boom that pulverized the bedrock beneath his boots. Moving at supersonic speed, he closed the distance in the blink of an eye. A shockwave explosion detonated against the tribe’s two captains. Marty and Vael managed to cross their two-handed swords over their chests to block the strike before being blasted skyward like ragdoll projectiles, crashing onto the stony ground meters away as the steel of their blades rang out at the limit of its endurance.
Seeing Marty and Vael thrown through the air by the supersonic strike, Brak, Lupar, and Thorin roared in fury and charged headlong to intervene, brandishing their heavy fire axes to cover their fallen comrades.
High atop the ramparts, the tribe’s marksmen locked their sights on the iron-masked figure and pulled their triggers as one. A concentrated volley of bronze projectiles streaked through the air; yet to the tribe’s horror, the bullets passed through the youth’s body as if he were a mirage of air, striking uselessly against the earth behind him.
While the masked youth moved with swiftness dodging the gunfire, two other figures carved their way out from the center of the legion. No one had noticed them amidst the mass of three thousand soldiers, but their presence was overwhelming: they were two colossal warriors, not because of their height, but due to the width of their torsos. At first glance they resembled two huge, grotesque meatballs, but as they drew closer under the firelight, it became clear that it was no fat, but massive layers of pure muscle wrapped in heavy armor.
The two muscle-bound giants launched themselves into a synchronized charge straight toward Ignis, the giant war bear.
Sensing the threat of the oncoming dual charge, Ignis reared up on his hind legs, opened his jaws, and unleashed a roar, exhaling a scorching torrent of mystical flame straight into the two attackers.