Chapter 16: Chapter 16 - The Final Battle Begins
I spent the last two days before we left polishing my new skills. To the exasperation of many in the mountain base, my repeated casts of [Carnage Pinwheel] turned the valley behind the base into a burned crater. I had now gotten used to using the heavy glaive. My high [Strength] allowing me to swing the large weapon easily. I knew that in the upcoming war, this weapon would allow me to cull common soldiers with ease. As I lay in bed on the final night before the special forces deployed in mass, I opened my status screen.
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[Magnus Witherthorn]
Rank 3 - Mortal
Essence - 1655
Essence type - Myriad Elemental
[Strength] - 1009(+100)
[Agility] - 1205(+20)
[Dexterity] - 1051
[Intelligence] - 1125
[Spirit] - 120
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Active skills:
[S] - [Sky Steps], [Sacrifice]
[A] - [Identify], [Wind Dash], [Assassinate], [Wind Bolt], [Earth Manipulation], [Summon Greater Scholar's Domain], [Carnage Pinwheel], [Shadow Cloak]
[B] - [Essence Boost], [Heat Sense], [Higher Speed Enhancement], [Conjure Ice Armament], [Seismic Sense], [Healing Orb]
[C] - [Conjure Shadow Dagger], [Reinforcement], [Flame lash], [Light Discharge]
[D] - [Fire Starter]
Passive skills:
[SS] - [The Blessing of Myriad elements]
[S] - [Pinnacle Dagger Mastery]
[A] - [Greater Arithmetic Mastery], [Greater calligraphy Mastery], [Danger Sense], [Greater Acrobatics Mastery], [Accelerated Regeneration], [Dimond Skin], [Essence Perception], [Greater Glaive Mastery] , [Giant's Endowment], [Greater Etiquette Mastery]
[B] - [Keen Senses], [Swift Steps], [Conceal Presence], [Higher Close Quarters Combat Mastery], [Uncanny Eyesight]
[C] - [Balance], [Movement Style: Silent Wisp], [Burn resistance], [Median Cooking Mastery]
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Besides [Spirit], which had risen after my battle with the rank 5, all my other stats had exceeded 1000 points. I once more realized how ludicrously powerful a rank SS skill was. Even without the new skills I had learned, with just the stat increases I had experienced over the last week, I could easily beat the vice General. My spell and weapon practice also kept giving me stat boosts.
'I wonder how quickly I can rank up with an absorption technique, I need to finish this war quickly and get to the royal library'
The next morning, every combatant in the base gathered in the training fields. Almost every single operative in the kingdom had gathered for this battle, over 300 ascenders. People who usually worked solo and in small groups because of their immense power had gathered to form a battering ram to smash the army of Palence to bits. I stood in front of the most powerful strike group, twenty rank 3s, and three rank 4s. Sophia stood on a raised platform in front of the small army, decked in her black amour, and hefting her huge sword.
"Soldiers! Warriors! Today we embark on a journey to the final battle. Trust in your training, in your instincts, and in your comrades. We will make the enemy bow before our might, they will fear our names. Fight for your people! Fight for your homeland!"
When Sophia finished her speech, the operatives roared in approval. I didn't join in, it was a waste of energy. After the screaming died down, we all formed thin rows and exited the base. The mountain paths weren't very wide, and with so many people, movement was slow. It took us the entire day and much of the night to reach the foot of the mountains, where we set up camp for the night.
We spent the next two days marching, moving east towards Monolith then north to be in position to the side of the army of Palence. We set up a fireless camp that night as Sophia gave us a final briefing.
"The battle will most likely start early tomorrow morning. We will wait until the fighting is underway, then strike at full force. Be aggressive, deal as much damage as you can as quickly as possible. As soon as we make contact, the main army will abandon defensive and charge forward. We will crush Palence on two fronts"
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I awoke the next morning by sounds of explosions. I quickly strapped on my light amour and picked up my glaive. Sophia had let me take any weapon I wanted from the armory, I had grabbed what I believed was the most well-crafted glaive I could find. Its seven-foot-long pole held a slightly curved two-foot-long blade. The balance was perfect and the metalwork was better than any other weapon I could find. There were no ornaments or fancy carvings, the glaive was highly functional, an instrument of war.
Once outside the tent, I could see the smoke rising in the distance, the battle had begun. I formed an earth chair, sat down, and waited for the order to form up. 45 minutes later, all of the strike groups had gathered outside the camp. We stood there for a few more moments before Sophia spoke up.
"Move out"
We moved at a quick march, the different groups spreading out into their positions and assuming arrowhead formations. My group was at the center, we would be driving directly into the heart of the army. The battle soon came into view. The thick rows of the army of Palence were advancing on a wide earthen fortification. Our army was launching explosives spells and rains of arrows upon them. Many of the projectiles were blown aside by strong gusts of wind and destroyed by walls of fire and earth that appeared in the sky. When we were within a mile of the rear of the enemy, a trinket strapped onto my belt blinked twice. At that moment, every strike team leader received the same message.
"Attack"
I signaled the rest of my group and we sprinted forwards. I held back and stayed at the front of my team. I could see the army start to react as they noticed our approach. When we were a few hundred feet away from the quickly strengthened rear guard, I began casting [Carnage Pinwheel]. Before we collided with the army, I tossed the essence storm at them. It tore through the soldiers like they were moats of dust before a tsunami. After it exploded and the smoke and gas cleared, it revealed a massive gap in the defensive line filled with the corpses of hundreds of Palence soldiers. I pick up my speed and drew in front of my group. I advanced straight forward.
When I reached the soldiers that were filing in the gap, I swung my glaive in a wide sweep. They didn't even have a chance to raise their shields before my glaive arrived at their necks. I continued advancing forward, swinging my glaive as fast as I could. I was like a whirlwind, leaving nothing but destruction in my wake. Nothing could stand in front of my immense might.
My path of carnage was soon noticed and multiple ascenders descended upon my position. I didn't even bother identifying them. A skinny man approached me from the front, hoping to use his spear to combat my range. Three different mages threw spells at me, lances of stone, a massive chunk of ice, and strange black arrows that seemed to absorb the light around them. A man in leather armor holding a thin dagger approached me from behind. I dashed at the spearman, grabbed the shaft of his spear, and pulled it with all my strength. He came flying forward, landing on his stomach where I was previously standing. All three of the spells crashed into him, giving him a gruesome death. The rouge sped through the debris thrown up by the explosions and raised his dagger to stab me. At the same time, the mages began casting more spells. I spun around and caught the rouge in the side with my glaive, his light armor did nothing to protect his as his body was shorn in two. I jumped into the sky to dodge the second round of spells and cast six wind bolts, two for each mage. Only one of them managed to get up a barrier, the other two fell down with bloody holes in their foreheads and chests. I turned in the air and use [Sky Step] to rocket towards the remaining mage, impaling him with my glaive.
I yanked my weapon out of the corpse and observed the surrounding battlefield. All of the common soldiers near me were cowering in fear. The rear defensive line of the Palence army had collapsed, the special forces strike teams shredding it to ribbons. I could see Warren soldiers pouring over the fortifications like a tidal wave, rushing at the panicking Palence soldiers. Sophia had informed me that there would only be one more rank 5 in the army of Palence, the general General Rodrick Palence, and that he couldn't move to intercept me. The moment he moved, So would Lord James. Which means I would most likely go uncontended for the entire battle.
With this thought, I got back to work. I charged back into the wall of soldiers and tried to deal as much damage as possible. I only had a minute or two before more ascenders arrived. After three more minutes of wrecking havoc, my many senses picked up a new group of ascenders approaching. I scanned my surroundings and found them quickly, a group of ten was approaching me. The elegant man I had seen two weeks ago was at the head. The army parted around them as they approached. I cast [Conjure Ice Armament] and hefted my glaive in preparation before identifying them. All rank 4. I cast [Carnage Pinwheel] and lobbed it at the approaching group. A huge man covered head to toe in shining crimson armor stepped forward and planted a similarly crimson tower shield on the ground. As he did, a semitranslucent barrier spread around him. The [Carnage Pinwheel] smashed into the barrier and produced a horrible screeching sound. After the spell exploded, many of the nearby soldiers had died, but the group of ten was completely unharmed. However, The armored man dispelled the barrier and fell to one knee. Defending against the attack seemed to tire him out.
I took this chance and rushed forward, arriving in front of the armored man in mear moments. I swung my glaive at the thin section of exposed chainmail between his helmet and breastplate. But a longsword appeared in front of the blade of my glave and deflected it. The man holding it was blown backward by my strength but managed to save his companions. The rest of the group swung into action, obviously having worked together before. The shield-bearer stood back up and two men appeared at his side. Both had arming swords in one hand and targes in the other. Behind them, a woman raised her bow and knocked an arrow. An old man next to her raised a staff with a deep red crystal of some type on the top of it and began casting a spell. Two people flanked me on each side. To my left, the man who had deflected my previous blow and a short woman carrying a long curved blade and whose face was covered in burns. To my right, a man wielding dual hatchets and anther with a pike. The elegant man stayed still, not even drawing his rapier.
I took in their simultaneous actions and then made my move. I dashed forward and leaped over the men holding shields. The old man launched a pillar of flame at me and the archer loosed four arrows around me in quick succession to seal off my escape routes. I sky stepped to the left and conjured a shadow dagger in my right hand to slice the approaching arrow in half. After a few practice sessions, I had noticed that [Uncanny Eyesight] had also improved my hand-eye coordination. This combined with [Pinnacle Dagger Mastery] allowed me to slice a storm of incoming arrows to bits. The fire pillar avoided and arrow destroyed, I continued my charge. The archer released half a dozen more arrows at me, but none got past my dagger. The last arrow of the bunch exploded when I cut it, but my ice armament negated the damage. The old man finished setting up a barrier of dense rock around himself and the archer when I finally arrived in front of them. I landed and kick the wall with my right foot, my thousand-plus [Strength] shattering it to bits.
The rest of the group was quickly approaching, but they were far slower than me. I swung my glaive and bisected the old man from his right shoulder to his waist while I cast a handful of wind bolts at the archer, tearing her to shreds. I then spun around rapidly and grabbed the handle of a hatchet covered in wind essence that was flying at my head. I crushed the wood beneath my hand and dashed at the rest of the group.
'Two down, eight to go'
Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone