Divine Beast Ascension

From numbers alone, there was already a favorite to win.

The Forell army of about two hundred contained elders and adepts, along with a bulk of Forell’s perennials and some of Iron’s perennials.

In contrast, that underground army had already been cut in half when Commander Ephar took some men away to circle around the hill. Then, with the collapsing chamber, two hundred of the remaining troops exited through the back tunnel due to its guarantee of being open.

And, for a reason unknown to the Prodson soldiers, their second camp stationed on the cliff wasn’t making a sound. Everyone could see the collapsed cliff, but it was evident that very few troops had caught in the collapse. No corpse or trace of blood was left among the rubble or on the cliffside.

Now, with better formations and time to prepare for the arrival of the Prodson troops, the Forell army was gradually stepping in closer to shrink the area of footing available to Prodson.

“Aaah…”

Marsel immediately retrieved the flaming axe from his fallen opponent. He glanced at his wife for a moment, but Marsel hurried off toward his sister instead. With his flaming axe leading the way, Marsel charged into Ceela’s battle with the Prodson remaining perennial.

Further down the road, General Ocker’s rage was already boiling. Ocker didn’t know how Iron had pulled it off, but Ocker understood what the collapsed hill meant. That the rest of Prodson’s troops likely wouldn’t make it to the battle, in some way or form.

.....

Ch-chting! C-crack!

Bits of ice sprayed off of every clash between Hurman and Ocker, from each of their ice-coated weapons. And, to Ocker’s surprise, Hurman’s minute control over essence was putting Hurman on Ocker’s level. When paired with Hurman’s unusual and adaptive sword skills, Ocker was perfectly kept at bay. Neither side budged.

However, Ocker had begun to wain on a single point.

“How did you collapse the hill?”

Hurman was ignorant of the question. His sharp, honed gaze never flinched, nor did Hurman’s mouth or stance.

CRACK-CK! Chting!

Ocker pressed against Hurman, but Ocker had to pull back after his halberd was parried and Hurman stepped in for a free strike.

Shouting with a stern glare, Ocker asked, “What have you done to the archer camp?”

CHTING-TING! C-c-crack!

Still, Hurman’s face never showed a hint of change. And Hurman’s swords continued the relentless game of parry and strike.

Those two interactions alone were enough for Ocker to understand Hurman’s character. And Ocker was pissed to find that Prodson’s intel had been devastating wrong about so many factors. From Prodson’s assessment of Hurman Practor’s current abilities to Prodson’s assumptions of how Iron would distribute their forces across multiple armies. It was all wrong.

So, Ocker tried a slightly different approach, saying, “That’s funny! Since when did the mighty star of Practor become someone’s lapdog?”

… No reaction.

Chting! CH-CHTING!! Crack!

Scoffing, Ocker asked, “And since when would Iron be so foolish as to leave their own home unguarded? There’s no way such savages could produce so many perennials out of thin air.”

Crack-ck! Chting!

Hurman blocked and lunged without hesitation. His eyes never wavered in the slightest, keeping to their target without fail.

General Ocker, on the other hand, was feeling more and more out of options. Especially with his troops trapped and encircled.

Crack! Crack! Crack! Crack!

Suddenly, a slew of arrows crashed into the cliffside above the encircled Prodson troops. The arrows cracked on impact with the stone but most of the arrowheads were left embedded in the wall.

“REINFORCEMENTS!!” the trapped Prodson troops cheered. Finally, a ray of hope had appeared to offer them a path to survival, and possible victory.

“GENERAL OCKER!” a voice called out, drawing attention to a man standing beside a line of archers.

Ocker could only afford to give the new arrivals a quick glance.

But that was more than enough for the officer on the cliff. That man raised one arm while keeping his gaze on the general locked in combat. “General Ocker, surrender! Or I, Oeleron Neilor, will guarantee that the Archer & Spear Corps. of Iccad City won’t miss a second time!”

All Prodson troops, desperate to cling at every glimmer of hope, fell deeper into the pits of despair. It felt like even the ground beneath them was out to claim their lives. Of course, the Prodson soldiers were aghast at that jarring announcement.

But they instantly spotted the hulking gorilla walking up to Commander Oeleron, until Oeleron and the gorilla stood shoulder to shoulder.

Away from his men, Ocker’s rage was boiling over.

CH-CHTING!! C-c-crack-ck!

“TRAITORS, ALL OF YOU!!” Ocker yelled while keeping Hurman in the corner of Ocker’s eye. “How dare you–!”

“And how dare Prodson bring us away from our homes while providing the Archer & Spear Corps. with misinformation!” Oeleron retorted with a venomous tone. “We only found out that no army was coming from Forell after we had arrived. Then you kept us here with reports of Iccad City being passed by, while Iron’s army marched on Dobbar City! But Iron has already been given Iccad City by City Mayor Jarkon Neilor, without a single casualty!!

“Surrender, Prodson! Throw down your weapons or we’ll fire, by order of City Mayor Jarkon Neilor of Iron Territory!”

Oeleron kept his rant to a minimum. He succinctly informed everyone on the road below of the truth behind Iccad City’s supposed demise. All the while, Oeleron held out his father’s letters, which explained everything.

Without thinking, many Prodson troops dropped their weapons and fell to their knees, begging for mercy.

And the battle of morale immediately ensued, with the trapped soldiers stuck on the fence of indecision. Some men didn’t need to think twice about surrender, others held their weapons all the tighter, and plenty of troops were unable to decide altogether.

“Noo!” a cry rang out as the last perennial near the trapped troops fell to Marsel’s axe.

At the same time, General Ocker’s face twitched in fury. And an avalanche of ice essence fell out of Ocker’s halberd.