Scene 8A - Ramage

Dust, screams, and trails of blood flew through in the air in the enemy’s camp as Lord Elbirret rampaged, devouring everything in its path. It was a sight for the eyes as mages frantically cast various spells causing lakes of elemental magic to fall upon Lord Elbirret the Terrible. But as a demonic snake that once plagued the world, how could Lord Elbirret be dealt with so easily?

Whipping its tail furiously, causing earthquakes to appear, Lord Elbirret opened its mighty mouth, revealing its horrendous fangs as it swallowed the magic attacks greedily, stunning the tiny pale mages around it before shooting a death beam across the landscape, explosions lining its path. Body parts fly and charred corpses flew into the sky as the puny mages scattered in panic.

Princess Diana’s face paled and she unhesitatingly turned around to shout orders at her cowering men “All forces retreat back to the camp! Those with able bodies carry the heavily wounded! Those that are injured yet can still walk, get your asses moving!”

Despite her calm, confident voice, Diana's mind was in utter turmoil, ‘Why the fuck is that demon at the 13th rank of heavenly refinement?! What idiot would summon something that could end both of our kingdoms?!’

As her forces retreated back to their camp, the slimy feeling in the air vanished without a trace, allowing those who had spent their qi to recover at last. What was left of the enemy army stood dazed, losing their spirit as they watched the monstrosity called Lord Elbirret devour their fellow countrymen with ease. Princess Diana scoffed at the shellshocked enemy soldiers who stood as if they had lost their souls and made making her way to the main tent, “Boren! You are in charge of the retreat!”

Boren was shocked and horrified, knowing what the princess wanted to do, “You don’t mean to stay and fight that demon by yourself?! Your highness, that's utter madness!”

Princess Diana forced a laugh, a charming smile on her lips, “If no one holds it back we won’t have time to flee back to the kingdom.”

Boren made a difficult face and opened his mouth, but the Princess had already left the tent.

Diana stood upon a crate and infused qi into her voice, allowing it to be heard in all corners of the camp, “I issue a full retreat! Split into 10 bands and thead for the castle to report the situation! Those of able body, carry the wounded to the carriages! Those that wish to stand with me and fight the beast threatening our kingdom, stay back and join me in slaying it!”

Despite the low morale in the camp and confusion over Princess Diana's appearance, a thousand warriors decided to stay back and fight, causing the Princess's chest to swell with pride. Surveying those remaining, she noticed Jao and Jayce quietly standing on the edge of the crowd with blank expressions.

Not paying much attention to the pair, Diana ordered her remaining men to prepare the defenses in order to slow down the giant snake as much as possible. She guessed they had about two or three hours before the beast came for them.

While overseeing the work, she noticed she saw that Jao and Jayce weren’t moving at all, despite her orders. A flash of anger passed through her eyes as she walked up to them with a cold snort, “I’m thankful for your help, but since you're here there is no time to slack off! Hurry up and help the rest of the men set up the defenses!”

The two stood there with blank expressions, not even gazing in her direction. Now fuming, the Princess roared, “Fine! Be that way then! But you have to fight two times harder than the others when the battle begins or I’ll hang you both if I get the chance!”

Still fuming, she turned with her head held high and began helping her men move bricks and logs, ordering them in a way that would help restrict the demon's movements. Three and a half hours passed in a blink of an eye, and even while working the princess had remembered to gaze at the two men standing still as statues.

She eventually came to the concision that the two had somehow managed to faint while standing up. It would have been funny at any other time, but this wasn’t a joking matter to her.

If she had noticed earlier she could've had them brought away from the battlefield, but now the two were doomed to stay even if it meant their deaths.

The last of the duke's forces were almost completely wiped out, leaving only a few small pockets of resistance. The moment they were gone, the snake would turn its attention to them. Yet looking at the giant snake's unwounded appearance and its hard as steel scales that deflected both swords and magic with utter ease, Diana felt a headache coming on.

Suddenly the air changed and the princess couldn't breathe. A slimy and cold feel crawled over her skin, and she knew that the demonic snake had set its sight on her band of men. She knew at that moment the demon had set its sight on her band of men.

Biting her lip to resist the pressure, a trickle of blood rolled down her chin as Princess Diana held up her sword, “Prepare for battle! That damn snake is approaching!