Jace felt other powerful presences draw nearer to him as he cut a swath through the swarm and towards the gap that birthed the horde of dravu. He himself had absorbed enough blood to grow to a towering three meters in height, everything grew in proportion, even his armour still felt snug around his body. The sensation was odd, he could feel things through his blood constructed body as if it was his own. If he had more presence of mind he might have noticed that he continued to grow. The red haze had taken reasoning from him, the only thing on his mind was the enemy and how to slaughter them.
A gap appeared on his right and he saw a blood covered woman appear next to him, her sharp teeth glittering in and eerily wide grin. She ducked under a dravu and used those sharp teeth to rip its throat out. Her ears vibrated and she screeched, sending a shockwave flying through the horde, causing the smaller dravu to collapse to the ground, blood leaking from their orifices. To his left a golem broke through the horde and joined them, a bearded face grinning from within the rocks. The man's face was splattered with blood, but his grin like theirs was savage, primal.
They continued their push, more and more powerful warriors joining up with them. A man who looked like a walking flame elemental, turned anything that tried to approach him to dust. A armored dire bear, flattened dravu to paste with each swipe of its gigantic paws, a women turned into a cyclone of death as an extra pair of arms made from shadow sprouted from her shoulders, each hand held a thin scimitar that made short work of anything that dared near them. A woman's every footstep caused an area within twenty meters to turn to ice, she ignored anything that tried to reach her as they shattered into shards before they could.
Jace felt himself grow more powerful when the warriors neared him, he felt a feedback from each kill they made. Something resonated between them, a thirst for battle, a hunger for something just beyond reach. They needed something stronger to throw themselves on, as if it had heard their yearning a class four appeared, it towered over them and screeched in anger at the small creatures that were decimating its brethren. The warriors roared as one and charged towards the creature, the dire bear became a blur of fur as it crashed into and straight through one of its legs. A stripe of white broke through the horde and appeared next to one of its legs, an ivory hand touched it and the leg shattered into crystals. Opposite of her a burning line of flame tore through the swarm and set another leg aflame.
Jace, the golem-man, Hirki and the four-armed shadow warrior dove towards the creature's face when it collapsed near them, in a brief second it was mince meat, its head crushed under their combined assault. Carmine dove into the corpse and gathered its blood and meat, growing with every bite. She came out of the class 4 thicker than ever before, her length grown to and impressive hundred meters. The group roared in victory and as if their minds were one turned to the left, following the scent towards another powerful opponent. The dravu horde desperate as they tried to approach the warriors.
They continued their mindless slaughter, inexhaustible, strong. They became and object of power, a sense of awe falling over those who watched. Even the lower level soldiers felt their blood boiling at the sight. They roared and shouted their encouragement, more people started jumping down from the wall to take the fight to the dravu. Even the normal soldiers started climbing down, their minds set on nothing but joining the spectacle. They charged the monsters, fear replaced by a need unexplained. Their eyes focused, determined, their bodies stronger, faster than they should be.
They threw themselves at the enemy with no sense of self, they tore through more and more of the dravu per second. Their levels grew at and awe inspiring pace, left and right the soldiers below level hundred evolved their classes, gained traits, and some even force unlocked classes. The few stronger warriors who managed to keep their mind had to rush around to keep the crazed soldiers alive, the healers worked with pale faces to keep the crazed legion alive. The queen of the country watched on in confusion as her well trained and disciplined soldiers lost themselves to the blood lust. She looked over to the marshal who was as confused as she was.
To everyone's surprise it was working, the dravu were pulling back into their tunnels angry screeches resonating through the field as the warriors continued pushing forward, stepping over the corpses of their enemies. The queen blinked as she received a notification.
[Due to the influence of a knight under your command your army has unlocked the following skills. : Combined Resonating Bloodlust, Berserk Guardians]
Her jaw dropped as she looked on at her people, as they threw the dravu back. For the first time in history as far as she was aware of, the creatures were retreating. It shouldn't be possible, they hadn't even managed to kill half a million of the creatures. No destroyers had appeared and the matriarch hadn't shown herself. While her mind was puzzled her heart was relieved. Any time they bought was time for reinforcements to arrive. She turned to the marshal, "Find me the one that did this, I have some questions that need answered."
"As you command."
Meanwhile, Jace stood on the field of battle, surrounded by the corpses of his enemies. He breathed heavily as he let his eyes wander over the the scene of chaotic destruction. The blood that surrounded him settled and calmed as the dravu retreated. Carmine slithered up behind him and pushed the corpses out of the way, she curled up loosely around him. Jace reached out a hand and stroked her scales. He turned and looked back at the warriors who had followed him deep into the enemy lines.
He smiled at them, "Well, let's go home. We might be in time for dinner."
The golem fell apart and a muscular man with a beard and long braided hair stepped forward with a laugh. "Dinner does sound good right about now."
The others chuckled and gathered around Jace as they headed back, bantering as if they were old friends.
Jisa's grandfather dropped down from the wall and behind him a woman floated down gently, the corpses and blood that stained the dirt seemingly pushing itself out of the way before her steps. The warriors paused and fell to a knee, Jace did the same. He didn't have to meet her to know who she was, her regal aura told him enough. The queen of the country he had decided to serve. He smirked to himself, he had ended up in the army once again. It seemed there was no escaping one's nature.
The woman spoke with a gentle voice, "Rise." And so they did, he stood and looked the queen in her eyes. The warriors behind him formed ranks behind him.
"You are an odd new addition to my army, Jace grandson of Trishla. You have my most elite guards following you as if you were their commander." Her gaze wandered over the warriors behind him, some of them had the sensibility to blush while others just grinned. "Yet through your own actions you have incited my army into action, even managing to grant me new skills with your action."
This news caused murmurs to spread through the crowd that watched them. Jace coughed and the sense to look slightly embarrassed. The queen continued in a calm tone, "None of these are crimes and I dare say that you have saved a lot of my people's lives today. As I would expect of one of my knights. But the battle is not finished, I doubt it was your actions that caused the dravu to retreat. It is more likely something happened to their matriarch."
She looked towards the marshal, "Gather the high ranking officers and my children. My guard will accompany me as well." She rested her eyes on Jace, "You will follow."
Jace bowed, "As you command."
The warriors fell in half a step behind the queen and followed her as she headed towards one of the towers. Soldiers around them bowed in respect as she passed. She gave the soldiers the occasional nod of acknowledgement. A small gesture that gained some respect from Jace. The marshal suddenly walked closer to the queen. "The elves and the dwarves will arrive within the hour, we have news that the emperor himself along with his elite guard will be joining us. The desert walkers, lyncan tribes and the mountain giants will be here within the day as well."
The queen nodded and Jace noticed a sliver of tension leave her soldiers. "It seems everyone is moving with haste, it warms my heart that most have no taste for politics in this emergency."
Jace frowned, another thing that was massively different from back home. Enemies putting their fights aside when something threatened the majority of the populace. It felt incredibly odd to him, although he did not that the queen said most instead of all. So there were people that acted as he would have expected.
The queen motioned for Jace to walk closer, he moved up and fell into pace a half step behind her. "How much do you know of politics?"
Jace blinked, "Nothing my queen."
She looked over at him with a single arched eyebrow. "Nothing at all?"
Jace smirked before quickly smoothing out his face. "Politics is neither an interest nor of import to me. I am a soldier, I leave the politics to others."
She smiled and a sense of levity spread throughout the area. "The one who has befriended the Xor, has become the warlord of the lycan tribes and thrown the command of my entire army into disarray has no interest in politics."
Jace blinked, "I haven't befriended any Xor nor am I the warlord of the lycan tribes. The first adult Xor I have met is her."
He looked over at Hirki who was walking close by, she grinned and showed him her pointed teeth. He smiled back, but kept it polite. The queen tapped her chin, "Perhaps the rumors of you are slightly exaggerated. But seeing the effect you have on the people around you I doubt it." She turned to Hirki, "If he asked the Xor to go to war, would they?"
Hirki showed her a predatory smile, "We would."
Jace frowned, "Why?"
"I would want to, my people have no need for another reason." She stated.
Jace smiled slightly, "Because you love war, you might as well fight for one you approve of? It makes no difference as long as there are worthy opponents to find?"
Hirki chuckled, the sound a soft rasp that sent shivers down the nearby soldier's spines. "Indeed."
Jace looked to the queen, "As you see my queen, my only political talent is attracting… odd individuals."
The queen smiled, "A dangerous talent my young knight, it is those who stand out from others who tend to reach heights beyond others. Even I myself sense something from you. A small mental nudge that pushes me to trust you, to keep you close to my person. You are involved with something dangerous and powerful. I have to admit it is quite enticing."
Jace looked at the surrounding people to find hints as to how he should react. The fact that they were all avoiding eye contact spelled nothing good for him, nothing good at all.