"HAHAHAHAHA!" Mad laughter echoed over the northern battlefield as a blood scourge zipped back and forth over the warriors. Aerial battles between the blood vampire and dozens of wyverns summoned by the desperate Orthana left massive craters in the earth as missed breath attacks slammed onto the armies below. Somehow, over ninety percent of the collateral damage from the battle strangely belonged to the Merrite army.

Syèl, whose mocking laughter simultaneously demoralized and depressed the Merrite army, chuckled at the wyverns hot on his tail. The draconoids lacked the lofty dragons’ magical abilities, but they made up for it with powerful breath attacks that they cleverly manipulated to produce alternate effects for different purposes.

The wyverns, whose scattershot tactic failed to penetrate the vampire's defenses, resorted to focused pillar/beam attacks. The concentrated attacks sacrificed the splash range for exponential damage increase, which even the vampire had to be wary of.

Syèl chuckled as he rolled and banked sharply midair, allowing him to weave through the ceaseless bombardment unscathed. The blood mage's cruel gaze scanned the army below, slight traces of discontent taking root at the collateral damage resulting from the wyverns' switch from scattershot to focused beam-like breath attacks, had sharply reduced. "Tsk," he clucked his tongue as he gazed over his shoulder at the pursuing wyverns. "Can't even do your jobs right. What use are you then?"

Syèl suddenly climbed vertically, massive wings releasing a blast of wind that suppressed the soldiers below. The wyverns roared with rage as they gave pursuit, eager to end this pest that had taken down numerous members of their clan in such a short time.

Below, Shoko charged toward the pillar of wyverns, which had begun to form in the distance. What the swordswoman lacked in agility, she more than made up for with sheer explosive power. Concentrated ki release followed every stomp, launching her tens of meters in a single leap.

The Merrite contingent could do nothing to stop Shoko’s charge as each swing of her blade claimed all lives in her path regardless of power or rank.

Accompanying the blonde saboteur was a demon encased in green lightning. The small figure easily kept pace with the swordswoman. Lightning charged feet tore across the landscape quicker than arrows in flight. Bodies in her path combusted, reduced to dust by punishing lightning bolts.

Jade threw her gaze to the far distance as the earth begun to tremble beneath her feet. A smirk formed on her lips as accompanied by loud bellows, ten Therium Rhinos charged towards the duo, their stocky builds crushing Merrite soldiers from Olgar's army beneath their feet. The electric mage charged ahead of Shoko, a sadistic grin on her face as she scrolled through her inventory with deft motions.

A set of metal throwing daggers appeared between Jade's fingers, static electricity blossoming in eager eyes. She danced in a circle, intense bursts of electricity between her fingers, creating mini-shockwaves as she flung both sets of knives. The knives, propelled as though shot from a cannon, issued shrill cries as they zipped towards the men mounted atop the rhinos.

Although not at Olgar's or Orthana's level, the Chiefs were not so weak as to fear tiny knives thrown by what they perceived as a desperate child. With disdain filled snorts, they raised their arms to catch the childish weapon.

"Gotcha!" Jade screamed with a mocking smirk as lightning fired out of a staff that just appeared in her hand. The Chiefs, who were still in the middle of raising their arms, could not understand how they suddenly found themselves facing the sky, with over half of their bodies charred black.

The surrounding soldiers saw what happened, though, and each of them sucked in a deep breath at the monstrous display of power and skill. The daggers, propelled by sonic booms created by concentrated bursts of electricity, achieved speeds that surpassed what even the chiefs had ever witnessed.

Furthermore, despite seemingly thrown haphazardly, the daggers took advantage of the mage's [Mana Lock] to fly to their respective targets accurately.

However, the daggers weren't even the real catch.

Just as the knives were a few meters from the Rhinos, arcs of electricity channeled from Jade's staff shot into them. The combo skill, [Overcharge Object] charged the knives with tens of thousands of volts that exploded upon impact with the chiefs. The considerable discharge unleashed all that potential energy into the chiefs in the form of massive electric damage. Blasted off their mounts, the chiefs did not even get a chance to feel over half of their bodies instantaneously combust into flames.

They were long dead before they hit the ground.

Jade let out a chuckle as she continued running towards the pillar-like structures off in the distance formed by the wyverns who chased the rapidly ascending vampire. She quickly downed a mana potion, an eye on the still advancing Theriums. Mana had just begun condensing around her right hand when a set of throwing daggers suddenly stabbed into the earth a few feet ahead of the rhinos. Jade sent a smile at the red mage who zipped overhead on a broadsword.

Absalon's had already cast his gaze to the next emergency on the battlefield as he muttered absentmindedly. "[Gravinode]"

The Therium Rhinos, as if ordered by a god, suddenly crashed to their knees, faces planted against the earth. Fortunately, the commander reduced the gravity to conserve mana, so, though they did not die, the Therium Rhinos suffered for the thirty-second active skill time. Their pained cries fell upon deaf ears as the commander had already sped off to resolve a crisis somewhere else.

Jade issued a mock salute with two fingers as she zipped past the fallen rhinos. Green eyes sparkled with delight as a line of heavy warriors with tower shields ahead banded together to form a seemingly impenetrable wall. Six rows of desperate Merrites strengthened the shieldbearers from behind; rugged bodies braced against the person directly in front.

The electric mage issued a small smile as a flash of yellow and blue boomed past.

BOOM!

An explosive boom burst out as Shoko's right foot stomped onto the centermost shieldbearer's tower. Rather than help absorb the impact, the six men behind formed a sturdy wall that concentrated the strike on the shieldbearer. A sickening, crunching sound rang out as the shield crushed its wielder's arm and then forced him to a knee as it bent backward.

Shoko's sword sheath glowed as she pushed down on the shield and launched herself above the line of soldiers. The bowmen already had their bows notched in preparation for such an attempt to bypass the shield wall.

The archers inwardly laughed as they aimed at the stupid swordswoman. There was no way she could use her fancy footwork while airborne to dodge. A sitting duck had a higher chance of survival than she. With a shout, their fingers were only half-a-second from letting loose a hail of death.

Shoko was faster.

Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!

Shoko's blade screamed out as she unleashed the charged [Sword Potential] at the soldiers below. These scythes were not so sharp that they caused instant death. Instead, they were massive and behaved more like clubs that exploded on impact with the ground, rendering the enemy lines chaotic as it blasted soldiers out of formation.

The recoil, which increased with each swing, kept Shoko suspended in place. Nine times her blade cried out. By the tenth, massive ki burst out of her body to center on the sword as it momentarily returned to its sheath.

The soldiers below braced themselves as it was apparent this would be the final and most potent blow of the ten-hit combo.

Shiing!

A dense amount of blue ki burst out as Shoko's blade shot out of its sheath. The Merrites, who had already braced for impact, were shocked to see the swordswoman turn in place, her sword traveling anti-clockwise, down then up again. No one noticed the flash of green that jumped for the swordswoman as her blade began its descent.

By the time the Merrites realized her intention, it was already too late. Jade's boots landed on the flat of Shoko's blade as it began its ascent.

With a loud war cry, Shoko released all the potential left in her sword.

"WOOOOOO!!!" Jade screamed with exaggerated delight as like a shell from a cannon, Shoko launched her toward the rising column of wyverns with so much speed her eyes watered.

At the apex of the rising pillar of wyverns, Syèl dodged elemental attacks as he looked over his shoulder at his pursuers. A sly grin crept up his face as he hissed, "Lined up nicely. Sweet." He suddenly halted, and a suffocating amount of blood-infused mana burst out from his pores. He had been chanting a spell the entire time and was only now ready to unleash hell on the ignorant overgrown lizards.

"Tch," Syèl clucked his tongue as hundreds of three-meter spears began condensing around him. "I ain't borrowing this move." The wyverns faltered, heavily intimidated by the blood-red spears’ baleful aura. Ignoring the panicked wyverns below, Syèl muttered with dissatisfaction, "This is a very common anime move. I'm totally not stealing it from that kid."

Self-justification completed, Syèl grinned at the wyverns below who had begun changing directions in an attempt to escape. "Now that's not very nice. I got this all prepared for you guys," Syèl teased as the skies themselves turned blood red, tainted by the vampire's aura. "It's pretty rude to leave before the party's even started." The wyverns ignored the halben, rapidly banking to swiftly fly out of this range.

"Fine then, be like that," Syèl snorted, playful laughter apparent in his yellow gaze. "Don't forget to take your gift baskets, though." With a flick of his fingers, the spears shot down like Odin himself flung them.

The soldiers on both sides froze in their steps as massive wails echoed over the battlefield. They cast their gazes to the red flower in the distance, created by blood showers erupting from the wyverns as the blood spears continuously struck them.

Although the spears were not strong enough to outright kill them, over ninety percent of the wyverns had their wings ripped to shreds. Even those still able to fly found it challenging to do so as numerous severe wounds piled up all over their bodies.

"Look!" A petrified soldier screamed as he pointed at something in the sky. Those around him followed his line of sight. An incredulous look crossed their faces as a woman covered in green lightning flew into the center of the falling wyverns.

"[Chain Overload!]" Jade, upon entering the world of blood, did not hesitate to unleash her most potent offensive ability to date. A massive explosion boomed out as dozens of electric arcs shot out off her body. The young woman, who currently resembled an electric sprite, was like a battery that constantly emitted rapid electric currents to everything in the vicinity.

The electric arcs burst into the surroundings, using each droplet of blood as a conduit to channel even further till they hit the wyverns. Like a greedy snake, the currents tore into the wyverns then exited at another end, searching for the nearest drop of blood or wyverns with which to expand its influence.

[Chained Overload] combined the beginner [Chain] skill, which as its name implied chained electric attacks among common enemies, with [Overload], a devastating lv. 100 skill that expunged all of a mage's remaining mana in the form of electricity to decimate any nearby opponents.

Both skills were deadly on their own, but the electric mage found a way to marry both skills to create a devastating fusion. Furthermore, by taking advantage of the orchestra's war songs, its effectiveness had more than doubled.

The electric tree pierced through every wyvern in mere seconds, their limp bodies hanging like dried fruit from its branches. The Merrites faltered, hearts seized by the majesty of the apparition above. It was like gazing upon the fabled Yggdrasil, which was said to hold all the races on its branches.

Ten seconds later, the conduit droplets of blood were utterly disintegrated by the electricity. The electric arcs, having lost their mediums, disappeared. Dried husks which once hosted the souls of proud wyverns dropped to the earth, each thud a resounding smash against the merrite army's already fragile morale.

Jade shut her eyes as she also dropped, the [Fatigue] status draining her of all energy. Her descent, however, did not last as long because the young vampire securely caught her.

"Not bad," Syèl praised, a twinkle in his eyes. "Didn't think you had it in you."

"Hmph," Jade playfully harrumphed. "Had to impress in my debut fight after all." She yawned lazily and rubbed her eyes. "Next time, I'll stick to healing and let you guys do the heavy lifting."

"No complaints here," chuckled Syèl as he dropped to the earth behind the coalition army. "You should get some rest if you want that status gone," Syèl advised as he set her down.

"Hehe... Saeko-chan was right," Jade teased. "You did read the manual."

Syèl stumbled and nearly fell over. With an embarrassed cough, he corrected his posture and took to the skies.

At the back of the merrite line, a pale-faced Sheri Orthana coughed up blood as she dropped to a knee. Despair and disbelief shrouded her gaze as she stared at the falling silhouettes, her mind driven to chaos by the mindlessness of it all. How was this possible!? These were the wyverns! Wyverns! They were just a single mutation away from being full-fledged dragons. How could they be killed off this easily!

The poor halben could not be blamed for her shock. After all, how was she to know about the peculiarities of a Vampire Duke? One of their most fearsome traits was the ability to temporarily store blood absorbed from their enemies in a sort of external mana source. Although the stored blood could not last for very long, usually 15-20 minutes at the Duke level, in a battlefield that flowed with excess blood, it was like granting a Duke infinite power from which he could cast spells beyond his level and heal all injuries lightning fast.

Gathering the blood was why Syèl opted to force as much collateral damage as possible at the beginning of the battle.

Orthana, ignorant to all this, could only stare with blank eyes as the Aygorian coalition, led by the dwarfs, reaped the lives of their dispirited army. Even though the numbers were not so different, her army's morale, after losing Olgar and then the wyverns, had fallen to the pits in such a short amount of time.

The mage glared with evil eyes at the vampire in the distance. "I will return this insult," she cursed through gritted teeth. Rage burned in her eyes as she clambered onto the back of a wyvern she had kept in reserve. "Order a full retreat!" She screamed out to her second in command as the wyvern took to the skies and headed north. Although they had lost the fight, Olgar had stupidly perished, meaning his territory was ripe for the taking. She would go there, regroup and come back another day.

When she did, these ignorant dwarfs would wish they had surrendered when they had the chance.

"Not on my watch, lady!" Syèl screamed as he burst toward the fleeing wyvern with a mighty flap of his wings. However, he did not get very far as the commander of the Aygorian coalition blocked his path. The vampire came to a halt, brows furrowed as he questioned, "What's the idea?"

"She's not important," declared Absalon with a shake of his head. "They are." He gestured at the dwarfs fighting below. "We might be winning now, but it is best to reduce any loss of lives on our part as much as possible. As such, we still require the services of heavy hitters such as yourself to close out this farce as early as possible." He glanced over the wall, which had divided the enemy flanks from the main body. "Besides, we'll need your intimidation skills if we're to get the rest to surrender completely."

Syèl glanced over Absalon's shoulder to the wyvern, which had already become a speck in the horizon. It would be meaningless to chase after it now. With a sigh, he shrugged. "Fine, I'll clean up the grunts. It's almost noon anyway, and that last move sapped me of most of the blood protecting me from the sun." With a devilish grin, he shot towards the ground. "Daddy here needs a refill."

Absalon ruefully shook his head as he turned his attention to the Merrite army. Although both commanders had fled, some war chiefs and lieutenants remained, and the army was still considerable in size, which meant it would not be easy to wipe them out without heavy losses.

Absalon’s gaze narrowed as he studied the peculiar group which fought like they were savage animals, somewhat reminding him of that one American series... what was it again? Sparta—something? A brilliant light flashed in his eyes as the genesis of an idea took root in his mind.

Taking out a rink, Absalon requested, "Lunette-san, could you do me a favor..."

The battle for Aygorzi reached its peak.

Men battled no longer for honor and pride but for a vague desire to live past the day, to see another sunrise. The bodies they slew had long seized to be human in their eyes. They were just obstacles. One more thing to cut down that would give them a chance to see tomorrow's sunrise.

Every swing of a blade, every drop of blood that soaked the earth, orphaned a child, or rid someone of a loved one. A man lost his arms, doomed forever to rely on others for food and shelter. Another had his eyes burned by a mage's fireball, never to see the sun for the remainder of his life.

It was within this maelstrom of fear, hatred, and rage that the voice of a goddess once again descended. Her warm voice, floating on an organ’s sweet, simple notes spread across the battlefield, soothing the warriors' heightened emotions.

Slowly, tears spilled down the warriors' eyes as the music temporarily restored their humanity. For the first time in hours, they recognized the enemy they locked blades with as a hume just like them—a full-fledged living being with hopes and dreams of their own.

"It has been a long pointless war!" Absalon's heavy voice boomed across the battlefield, his voice amplified by whatever it was the choir had been using this whole time. "Olgar Ritz has died, and Orthana had fled to save her skin. I do not know what your reasons for joining this battle was or is. But, this I do know, at this rate, you will all be wiped out. You have all witnessed the power of our vanguards. Should they decide to, they can decimate your army."

The commander paused, slightly impressed by the continued effects of the songstress's song. Typically, at this point, the Merrites should have protested in rage at being insulted., but right now, they all stood calmly, their gaze narrowed at the hovering commander. It was apparent they were willing to listen before taking further action.

"However, We seek not Conquest, but Unification," continued Absalon. "All races united under one banner, striving for the prosperity of all. As such, I offer you these terms. To all slaves under the Merrite army, surrender now, and I promise your status of slaves will not only be revoked, but you will also be issued a full pardon for all actions taken during this war. You will be allowed to leave for any nation of your choosing or remain here. Should you choose to stay, you will be granted citizenship, which will help as you assist us in building a true nation for all." Absalon paused, allowing the slaves to digest his words. Considering their treatment under Olgar, it was no shock to see one slave warrior after another drop their weapon to the earth.

"What about us!?" A merrite mercenary yelled, fist tightened around her blade.

"For the soldiers, those who surrender have two options." Absalon enumerated, "Either you spend five years in the dungeons as a prisoner, or spend two years working out your sentence. Upon completion of either option, you will be freed and allowed to go wherever you want. However, only the second option will allow you to be marked as a Rosen citizen. Make your choice."

"I'll never be anyone's prisoner!" A merrite mercenary screamed at the top of his lungs. But before he could even move, five blades stabbed into his head and torso. Four of those five blades belonged to former slaves, while the last belonged to one of his own squadmates.

"You can choose not to surrender," Absalon stated with a frosty gaze. "There are many here with a lot of grievances to shed."

The sound of metal against earth rang out as hundreds of soldiers threw their weapons to the ground and raised their hands in surrender. The few couple dozen who tried to prove stubborn were skewered by those eager to prove their new allegiance.

And so it was that the northern battle of Aygorzi came to an end. By the time the walls finally came down, the three thousand soldiers trapped outside would come face to face with an already defeated army.

ARMY STATISTICS

Start of Battle

Olgar/Orthana Coalition: 9000 men

Absalon's Humes: 1500

Asha's Felur: 100

Dwarfs: 6000

End of Battle

Olgar/Orthana Coalition: 3500 dead, 4500 Surrendered.

Absalon's Humes: 400 dead

Asha's Felur: 30 dead

Dwarfs: 1800 dead

South Gate

"KASHI!!!" screamed an incensed Ruse, fiery-red eyes spitting out flames as he glared at the accursed daeben. Seeing the scourge who humiliated him in the pit reawakened that feeling of helplessness. That hated feeling where he was basically at the mercy of someone else.

In all his life, Ruse had never felt so weak, so useless. His rage had reached the point where he would not rest until he utterly destroyed the source of that feeling.

"I will kill you! Your family, Your friends! Everything you love! I will burn them all to ash!" Ruse roared with maniacal laughter. "But not you. Oh no, not you. You. You, I will make you watch everything you love burn, then I will take my time with you. I will slowly boil every single cell within your body. You will beg for death and not receive it. You will cry for mercy, but no one will respond. You... You… You—"

"Oh, Shut up already." BOOM!

Ruse's eyes widened with shock as something blasted a hole through the center of his chest. He turned over his shoulder, eyes nearly bulging out of their sockets at the arrow that flew off in the distance. He turned his gaze back to the daeben, a hesitant look in his eyes. He had not even seen when the daeben notched an arrow, let alone the flight of the arrow as it tore through him.

Still, the shock in Ruse’s eyes soon gave way to gloating. "Hahaha! Did you think you can hurt me! This is not the pit!" His entire body burst into flames, and the hole in his chest immediately closed up. "You can't hurt me!" His laughter only intensified as the daeben looked at his bow as if in disbelief. "HAHA! Try not to die too quickly!" Ruse screamed as five-meter-wide plumes of flames descended upon the daeben, who still stared at the bow in his hand. The daeben's body soon disappeared, swallowed entirely by the raging flames.

Ruse's eyes lit up with delight as several seconds passed with no reaction from the daeben. "Die in your ignorance, you fool. There are powers beyond anything you can ever imagine. Witness true po—"

"Shadow, Kira, listen up," a voice calmly interrupted from within the flames. "Where we're going next, you will have to face up against many elementals and spectral creatures. Most of these creatures are immune to physical attacks, so if you do not have a mage on your team, you will be fucked nine out of ten times." If one listened carefully, they would hear the sound of a bowstring being drawn until it was taut. "However, it is not as if warriors are completely useless in this regard. This world, for all its madness, is quite fair. For us warriors, if we want to attack such targets, we must use our ki. Ki is much more powerful and versatile than you might think. For example, if there's an annoying flame bug noisily buzzing around..."

BOOM!!!

Ruse suddenly crashed to the earth several hundreds of feet from his original location, a shattered arrowhead buried within his chest. Heavy gusts of wind sharply dispersed the flames to reveal Kashi, bow in hand, a mischievous smirk on his half-burnt face as he turned to his companions.

Kashi ignored the burn wounds, which rapidly healed with speed visible to the human eye. "You can swat it away with a ki-infused arrow." He grinned at Shadow. "You've already got the basics down. Now you just need to learn how to attach it to thrown weapons. It isn't too difficult."

‘For you, maybe.’

"KAAASHIIIIII!" Any further words were interrupted by a massive geyser of flames that exploded in the distance. Ruse shot out, eyes screaming bloody murder as they hatefully glared at the daeben. A trace of wariness flitted across his gaze, forced by the injury in his chest. Although it wasn't very deep, there was no doubt that the daeben's arrow had struck his flesh, even though it should have been impossible to do so. Still, reality reared its ugly head in the form of blood that streamed from his chest. "I will kill you!"

Kashi's smile turned frosty as he glared at the hovering mage. "This is the second time. Do not make me repeat this. You are not permitted to talk down to me. Get. Down. Here!"