As the first light of dawn broke through, the eastern horizon gradually brightened with a pale gray, restoring the barren plains to their original brownish hue. The sound of wind sweeping through the sparse grass and sand was lonely and silent.
The Sixth and Eighth Corps marched forward with steady and orderly steps. Rhett, Laedros, Haisenth, and Baruch, at the forefront of the formation, cautiously scanned their surroundings. The ambush by the orcs in the valley days ago had cost them dearly, claiming nearly half their men, making them even more vigilant as they advanced.
Soon, they spotted faint black dots on the distant horizon, and the faint smell of smoke and the echoes of battle drifted through the air.
"All troops, listen up! The battlefield is just ahead! The orcs are wailing; they are no match for us. Charge forward and kill them all!" Haisenth drew his golden Swiftblade from his waist, bellowing with a fierce glint in his eyes.
"Charge! Kill the orcs!" Baruch's chest swelled as if his blood was boiling, his muscles bulging as he let out a thunderous roar.
At this moment, Rhett, standing at the rear of the formation, checked the family panel and glanced at the [Destiny Points: 15013] section, feeling a surge of emotion. The Sanctuary was within reach, and he hoped this war would help him achieve his dream!
Taking a deep breath, Rhett drew the wand from his back, his mage's robe billowing in the wind as he fixed his cold gaze on the horizon. His voice, carried by the wind element, spread rapidly across a wide area:
"Kill the orcs, leave none alive!"
Thud, thud, thud, thud, thud...
The rapid footfalls sounded like a thousand warhorses charging, as they rushed toward the battlefield ahead!
At the same time, the main battlefield was a chaotic melee, the battle lines stretching for kilometers in both the east and west directions. The blood of both humans and orcs stained the brown earth crimson, creating a grotesque scene, especially where the blood of both races mixed.
...
"Annabella, don't worry about me. Prince Hogus has charged too deep and is at risk of being surrounded. Go support him!" A one-armed Sky Knight wielded a standard longsword, cleaving a heavily wounded high-ranking orc in two. Bathed in holy light, he struggled as he spoke to the white-robed woman casting healing magic on him.
The woman, clad in a white cloak with a gray fur-lined hood, focused intently on her spell. Her deep blue eyes revealed a hint of sorrow as she looked at the one-armed knight's wounds.
"Aruna, you've already lost an arm. If you sustain any more severe injuries, even if you survive, you'll have to leave the Coldstream defensive line," Annabella said, her voice steady as she completed her spell, standing tall with her chest out.
"Annabella, don't worry about me. I'm fine now. The situation is critical—go support Prince Hogus!" The one-armed Sky Knight, feeling his strength returning, charged toward the densest part of the orc horde, his sword blazing with an unyielding flame that incinerated any orc in his path.
As the flames receded, Annabella watched his figure disappear from view, her eyes filled with sadness. She sighed, but quickly turned and made her way toward the flank of the battlefield.
However, as she moved about two kilometers, Annabella suddenly lifted her head, sensing the approach of a large army. A glimmer of joy flashed in her eyes as she murmured, "It's Laedros's presence. He's leading the Sixth Corps to support us!"
But at that moment, a foul stench filled the air. A seventh-rank Night Cat darted nimbly through the dense crowd, its green eyes glowing with malice. The battlefield's executioner had found its next target—an unguarded yet dangerous mage shrouded in holy light!
With a few swift movements, the Night Cat closed in on Annabella. Its foul-smelling maw dripped with saliva as it swung a claw at her pristine face.
Startled by the sudden attack, Annabella quickly regained her composure. Her smooth hands gripped a white wand, and a two-meter-wide beam of light shot out like a laser cannon.
"Beam of Light!"
With a thunderous blast, half of the Night Cat's body was pierced through. Though there was no blood, the light gradually faded, leaving its body shriveled and lifeless, like a withered tree branch.
The Night Cat shot a hateful glare at Annabella, the pain it felt unbearable. It took advantage of the opportunity to lunge at her again, its claws poised to strike.
The claws whistled through the air, brushing against Annabella's pale, frightened face. But just then, a spike erupted from the ground, piercing the Night Cat's right paw with lightning speed.
In the next moment, at the point where the spike and claw met, it was as if an invisible abyss had opened, devouring the creature's entire body, disintegrating it into nothingness...
The human soldiers and orcs alike were too focused on their battles to notice much else, but the sudden disappearance of the Night Cat did not go unnoticed. Such an eerie event sent chills down everyone's spines.
Unsurprisingly, the orcs were the most terrified, their morale shattered, causing them to falter under the relentless human assault.
The human soldiers, though equally puzzled by the phenomenon, quickly surmised that it was their side's doing. As for who was responsible, that mattered little on the battlefield...
"Annabella, are you alright?" Laedros led his troops in a charge, his concern evident as he approached his younger sister. Earlier, Rhett had warned him that a seventh-rank female light mage was under attack ahead, and his first thought was of Annabella, prompting him to rush to her aid.
"Brother, I'm fine!" Annabella's eyes widened with relief as she exclaimed, "You've finally arrived. Before the battle, I heard you were coming to support us from the flank, but when I didn't see you for so long, I was worried something had happened to you."
"Haha, that's my good sister." Laedros laughed heartily, casually slaying a few orc stragglers with his sword. His smile faded as he said with lingering fear, "It was dangerous just now. We arrived just in time. If not for Rhett's intervention, you might not be standing here."
"Rhett? I must thank him personally after the war!" Annabella's eyes widened in surprise, then she said urgently, "Prince Hogus and Aruna just charged ahead into the orc horde. Can you assist them?"
"What? I saw Aruna charge ahead, but I didn't sense Prince Hogus's presence. Could he have already broken through to Sky Knight?" Laedros was shocked. He furrowed his brow and exhaled sharply, saying, "Never mind, I understand. Stay back and protect yourself. Don't rush into the fighting. Healing the wounded is also a contribution. I'll go support Prince Hogus!"
With that, Laedros bent his knees and leaped into the air, pausing for a moment dozens of meters up. His eyes scanned the battlefield, searching for Prince Hogus and Aruna.
He quickly spotted Rhett and Haisenth, who had just broken through from the flank, one clearing the path ahead while the other closely followed. According to the plan, Laedros should have been guarding Rhett, but supporting Prince Hogus took precedence.
Finding someone on a crowded battlefield wasn't easy, especially with Prince Hogus's presence now more elusive. Laedros's eyes darted left and right, trying to track down Prince Hogus by sensing the fluctuations of battle qi or mysticism.
Suddenly, a familiar scream echoed from a thousand meters ahead. Laedros's face darkened as he saw a figure cloaked in black-purple mist shoot out from the battlefield, holding a slender figure in one hand.
At the same moment, an ice-blue longsword fell from the sky, and Laedros's eyes widened in recognition—it was Prince Hogus's sword.
"Die! Ice Wheel Slash!"
Laedros, frantic with worry, unleashed his battle qi, performing a high-level battle technique. Boundless water qi transformed into ice crystals that enveloped his sword. He hurled the sword with both hands, causing it to spin rapidly, carving a perfect arc through the air. The icy aura froze weaker orcs and human soldiers alike. In that moment, he cared little for collateral damage—speed was paramount! If Prince Hogus were captured, the consequences would be dire!
But just then, a spike shot out, piercing the Shadow Tiger that was mid-leap, causing it to disintegrate as if a balloon had been popped.
Prince Hogus, unconscious and covered in blood, fell limply. The orcs below, seeing their chance, leaped up like fish out of water, aiming to kill the human prince. But Haisenth, his face icy, stepped forward, sweeping his sword in a wide arc. A crescent-shaped slash of battle qi swept across the battlefield, cleaving through dozens of orcs and leaving behind a field of broken corpses.
At this moment, Prince Hogus regained some of his senses, opening his eyes to find himself in Haisenth's arms. Instantly, he was jolted awake. His face pale, and his voice weak, he said, "I... I was on my way to support my second brother, but I was ambushed. Was it you who saved me?!"
After speaking, Prince Hogus struggled to turn his head, scanning his surroundings. However, he couldn't spot the Shadow Tiger anywhere, and a surge of anger almost made his chest explode. He said furiously, "Where's that orc?"
"The orc that ambushed you has already been dealt with by Vice-Commander Rhett," Haisenth replied as he continued to slash through the seemingly endless waves of orcs. "Prince Hogus, it's too dangerous here. How could you charge in alone? You should retreat to the rear for treatment."
"Rhett?" Hogus froze, a flicker of confusion in his eyes. He asked, "Wasn't he just a seventh-rank Grand Magister? Can he already kill an eighth-rank Shadow Tiger so easily?"
"Hmm? Seventh-rank Grand Magister?" Haisenth caught the anomaly in Hogus's words, his pupils contracting as he realized something astonishing. He said in a deep voice, "Just a few days ago, he advanced to the ninth rank as a Grand Magister."
"How is that possible?!" Prince Hogus exclaimed in shock, his voice so loud that it made his chest heave, causing him to cough up a mouthful of blood.
"Ugh..." Realizing he had lost his composure, Hogus took a deep breath and lowered his voice, saying, "What on earth happened to him..."
Haisenth remained silent, not out of a desire to keep secrets, but because he too was curious about the same thing. However, now was clearly not the time to delve into such questions. Any doubts would have to wait until the battle was over.
"Who knows..." Laedros muttered, his eyes flickering as he casually responded.
He glanced around, the sound of tens of thousands of orcs roaring around him. Just a few hundred meters away stood Rhett. After bringing Prince Hogus to Annabella's side and giving her a few instructions, Laedros quickly made his way back toward Rhett.
Cone Rain Spell! Rhett spread his arms wide as if calling upon the heavens, but in reality, he was fully unleashing his mental power, casting the most powerful Cone Rain Spell he could muster! If he could infuse the Disintegration Arcana into it, this Cone Rain Spell would possess world-destroying power, causing anything it touched to disintegrate instantly, unable to withstand the destruction of the world's primal forces.
Unfortunately, with only a preliminary understanding of the Arcana, he could only manage to infuse it into the tips of his Cone or Ground Spikes. To spread it across every corner of his magic at will was still far off.
Fortunately, he didn't intend to destroy all the orcs himself. Should he leave Tuck to "harvest the air" later?
To conserve his mental strength, Rhett didn't even use any Arcana in this Cone Rain Spell.
Brilliant yellow clouds of light gathered in the sky, raining down deadly cone-shaped spikes.
Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh, whoosh, whoosh... The air was filled with the sounds of piercing sonic booms as Rhett focused intently on controlling the trajectory of each spike. The magic he cast was like countless tendrils spreading out, complex yet not difficult for him to manage.
The battlefield resounded with cries of agony as spike after spike pierced through abdomens or shattered limbs, causing severe injuries and drastically reducing the orcs' combat effectiveness, though almost none of the strikes were fatal. "Such a vast Cone Rain Spell... it seems Rhett really has advanced to a ninth-rank Grand Magister... Even Master Zelos can't compare to him..." Prince Hogus, bathed in the healing light of Annabella's magic, felt the cuts and bruises on his body gradually healing. His eyes shone brightly as he watched Rhett from afar, awed by the overwhelming magic covering the battlefield. His personal guard, Zelos, was also a ninth-rank Grand Magister, but even he couldn't match the sheer power displayed by Rhett...
Narrowing his eyes slightly, Hogus silently resolved to uncover the secret behind Rhett's rapid advancement after the war.
"All high-rank orcs, listen up! At all costs, focus your attacks on Rhett! He's a ninth-rank Grand Magister among the humans, mastering the Scatter, Condense, and Disintegration Arcanas. Whoever kills him will be richly rewarded by the tribe!"
Suddenly, a thunderous roar echoed across the battlefield, reaching the ears of every orc. Peak Shadow Tiger Tail appeared from the rear of the orc forces, quickly closing the distance to within a hundred meters of Rhett, dragging with him the body of a man in golden armor, bloodied and mutilated.
"Second Brother! Vergil!" Prince Hogus recognized the mutilated figure in Tail's grip and couldn't help but cry out, his body trembling as he stared at the Peak Shadow Tiger. Unable to suppress his boiling rage and battle energy, he slashed his sword, coated in Dimensional Arcana, sending a wave of fierce energy rippling through the air, tearing apart everything in its path as it raced toward Tail.
"Hmm?" Tail frowned, sensing the terrifying energy rushing toward him. The sharp cutting force made him wary, and with a twist, he dodged the blade's arc. He glanced at Hogus with disdain, a sneer forming on his lips.
Originally, his next target was Hogus, a Sky Knight who had comprehended the Arcana—a threat that had to be eliminated sooner or later.
But then Rhett appeared, changing his plans. Not only did Rhett wipe out his subordinates, but his extraordinary talent also posed an undeniable threat.
Eliminating Rhett wasn't just his idea; no orc could allow such a formidable foe to continue growing! "Howl!"
"Meow!"
With Tail's arrival, a series of roars echoed across the battlefield. In the next moment, several grotesque and vicious figures emerged from all directions, leaping toward Tail.
At the same time, the various human corps and the other high-rank supernaturals of the Coldstream Camp were not idle either. While leading their troops against the orcs, they silently moved closer to Rhett's location. Although they didn't know Rhett well, they were determined to protect anyone targeted by the orcs.
The commanders of both the human and orc armies quickly issued orders, instructing their soldiers to retreat from the area around the gathering of high-rank supernaturals and orcs. At this level of battle, the ensuing shockwaves would not distinguish between friend and foe, and both sides wisely created a buffer zone—a tradition born from centuries of war at the Coldstream frontline.
Rhett glanced ahead, seeing over thirty high-rank orcs gathering, each one fierce and menacing. Behind him, the knights, clad in armor and glowing with battle energy, were no less formidable, with more than forty high-rank supernaturals staring down the orcs, refusing to back down.
"Tail! Were your army and Fili's wiped out by him?"
A deep voice rang out. A Minotaur, about four meters tall, with diamond-colored horns, pointed his massive axe at Rhett and turned to Tail.
"Yes... Beware of his Disintegration Arcana. It's incredibly powerful. I never imagined that an Arcana unseen for thousands of years would be mastered by a Grand Magister! We can't allow him to grow any further... He must be eliminated today!"
Tail's voice was filled with trepidation, his eyes narrowing as he prepared to unleash a deadly strike.
"Meow! Then let's kill them quickly!"
A Night Cat hissed sharply, its claws twitching as its green eyes locked onto Rhett. The sight of its fallen comrade, killed by Rhett, filled it with endless hatred.
"What are we waiting for... Let's tear them apart!" An eighth-rank Dragonman cracked his knuckles, growling viciously.
It, too, was full of hatred for humans. Even without considering the extinction poison, their Dragonman race had only four Peak Dragonmen, all potential candidates for sainthood. Just on the Coldstream frontline, half of them had been lost. Such losses would bring harsh consequences when they returned! Their only chance at redemption now was to win a decisive victory and avenge their fallen!
"Laedros, why are there so few high-rank orcs? It seems there are about ten fewer than we estimated." A knight clad in black armor, wielding a broad-bladed sword, spoke calmly. His helmet concealed his hair, but his white beard suggested he had seen many years.
"We took care of them on the way here," Laedros replied. "To be precise, Rhett handled most of the high-rank orcs. They invested a lot of forces to block our flanking unit this time. If not for Rhett's impressive display, we might have had to face the orc army instead..."
At his words, the thirty-plus high-rank supernaturals narrowed their eyes, falling into silence. Now wasn't the time for small talk. They remained vigilant, focusing on the orcs' every move.
Just then, a voice came from the back of the group. Annabella, in her clear and gentle voice, asked, "Rhett, what do you think we should do?"
"Hmm... Rhett, you're the strongest here. How do you want us to assist you in dealing with these enemies?" Prince Hogus asked as he took a few steps forward, the blade in his hand glowing with a blue light, an invisible force seemingly slicing through the space around it.
Rhett kept his eyes locked on the orcs ahead but shook his head.
"Hmm?" The people around him looked puzzled. What did he mean? Did he have no strategy in mind?
At this moment, they were all communicating in coded language, not concerned about the orcs understanding them. Similarly, the orcs' speech was incomprehensible to them, just a jumble of noises.
"All of you spread out, form a surrounding circle, and don't let them escape. That will be enough," Rhett said calmly.
"Hmm? Are you sure about this?" Hogus frowned deeply. Although he knew Rhett had mastered the Scatter Arcana and was not worried about his safety, facing over thirty high-ranking orcs alone seemed a bit overconfident.
"Trust him."
The First Corps Commander's beard twitched slightly as he spoke. He had been on the battlefield for over a century, and his experience told him to trust this comrade. Of course, what truly convinced him was the power Rhett had just displayed with his Cone Rain Spell.
"Thank you!" Rhett nodded toward the First Corps Commander. He knew the man's name—Moldy, a seasoned veteran. After expressing his gratitude, Rhett quickly added, "Time is of the essence. Spread out to avoid any accidental injuries."
This time, no one hesitated. They followed Rhett's instructions with remarkable coordination, forming a wide circle that spanned several kilometers. As they spread out, they continued to dispatch any orcs that crossed their path, all the while keeping a close watch on the high-ranking orcs and Rhett, ready to provide support or block any escape.
"Rhett... a recently famous vice-commander, but does he really have such formidable strength?" The Third Corps Commander, recently assigned to the Coldstream front, retreated and looked at Rhett with some doubt in his eyes.
"My prayers are with you, Rhett. May victory in this battle be yours," Annabella whispered softly, her hands clasped together in front of her chest.
The other high-ranking supernaturals still carried traces of skepticism in their eyes. They acknowledged Rhett's formidable power, but as seasoned commanders, they didn't favor displays of individualism on the battlefield...
On the other side, the thirty or so high-ranking orcs exchanged a few words and quickly formulated their plan. The Minotaurs and Dragonmen would charge from the front, while the Night Cats and Shadow Tigers would flank from both sides, intending to encircle Rhett from the rear. Their coordination was seamless.
But in the next instant, the terrain suddenly shifted—a patch of quicksand appeared out of nowhere. The nearby Peak Dragonman managed to evade in time, narrowly escaping the quicksand's grasp. However, the Minotaur was less cautious, relying on its ninth-rank strength, thinking its charge could crush Rhett like before, only to be caught by the quicksand's intense pull, trapping it firmly in place.
"Watch out!" The Peak Shadow Tiger cursed inwardly. Was the Minotaur's brain swapped with that of a Pigman? The tactics they had just discussed were thrown out the window in an instant.
"Moo!"
The Diamond-Horned Minotaur's face contorted, its nostrils flaring with white-hot breath. It exerted all its strength to move slowly through the quicksand. Its eyes were bloodshot, and it roared furiously. Just half a second more—just half a second, and it would break free!
But at that moment, a seemingly ordinary spike formed at the bottom of the quicksand, like a treacherous waterweed from a lakebed, piercing the Minotaur's wide and hardened hoof at a particularly tricky angle. The Diamond-Horned Minotaur felt an excruciating pain, instinctively wanting to kneel down.
But before it could bend its knees, it looked down in horror to see its lower half vanishing into nothingness. The Disintegration Arcana rapidly spread, disintegrating its flesh bit by bit. It couldn't even let out a final cry of despair before its entire body disappeared into the void...
With the disappearance of the ninth-rank Minotaur, the battlefield fell into a moment of eerie silence.
Rhett's indifferent gaze weighed heavily on the minds of all the orcs.
"Again... it's that same technique!"
The Peak Shadow Tiger swallowed hard. This was the second time it had witnessed this, and it still felt a shiver of fear. But its resolve to eliminate Rhett had never been stronger. With a fierce determination, it roared:
"Everyone, attack together! Don't let him pick us off one by one!"