The Water was cold, some fish were in the area but mike was unable to see any predators. Anchoring himself to the seafloor, Mike sent his vines out to all six ships. When they were surrounding them, the vines shot out of the water and onto the decks.
About a hundred unsuspecting officers were killed in an instant, leaving only a few alive. When their own life signs had ended, their bodies stopped moving entirely, Mike slaughtered the remaining sailors.
The ship became graveyards, however, once they were cleared, Mike left them in place. It could give his arrival way if the vessels were missing or destroyed. In order to get a surprise attack on their forces he would have to do things tactfully. There were lots of materials on the ships, the commanders were holding documents in their hands. Strategic information to aid them in their conquest of Poocha Kingdom.
Mike scanned over their troop numbers and route, written on notes in the captains quarters.
When he was convinced that he had their movements memorized, Mike flew to the outskirts of their perception. From several hundred meters away, he could see their perspiration. The Marching Ornian forces were comprised primarily of slaves. The green haired people of Ornia stood behind the soldiers with collars and whipped them repeatedly, driving them to pull the war machines.
'Why the heavy machines?' Mike couldn't figure out what their purpose was but it had to be some sort of trump card. He remembered the shield that Prince Troeg had once deployed, such countermeasures would be needed if they intended to breach his security.
His body was brimming with energy, the ambush he had accomplished earlier on the boats had gotten his fighting spirit to a peak. His heart pumped faster, the energy in his body circulated and pulsed. Mike flew past the War machines and buried himself in the riverbed. The flowing water masked his entry point and quickly cleared away any residual signs of his laying in wait.
He remained as motionless as possible, hundreds of soldiers were in front, leading the way. Their marching gave a rhythmic pattern and once it had passed momentarily, he knew the war machine with its six large wheels was next.
Mike sent his vines up and out of the river.
It alarmed all of the mages, they thought a beast was attacking their convoy and turned to attack. Mike wanted to laugh but it was pointless while he hid under the mud. The Vines shot directly at the War machine and he started to drag it toward the river, pretending to be a beast.
He really wanted to laugh, they were firing all sort of magic at the vines. When one would break, he'd split it into two, discouraging their attacks further.
The machine broke apart when it was dragged, it had hit a rock and toppled over before folding on itself. As it entered the river, it broke apart further and washed downstream. Many soldiers and mages were attacking the vines but the vines just kept wiggling like a great beast that was gloating.
Mike made the vines stop moving and tilt slightly toward the Ornians. They jerked backward and readied themselves for combat. The vines grew in size and multiplied, the blew past soldiers and beasts. Most of them were about the width of a pencil but some were as thick as an arm. He didn't want to overdo it and have them use a method of last resort on him but he wanted to drive their fighting spirits into the dirt.
There were so so many people that he had already killed but none of them suspected it. They themselves had declared war on neighboring countries but were relaxed in their own homes. Now, all of the Ornian forces were fired up, battle ready like pissed off hornets.
Swarming the rivers edge, they searched for the source of the attacks. The Vines were coming from underwater but they seemed unnatural to those contending to their chaos. The vines grew thorns and began grabbing the Ornian soldiers one by one and drowning them. When their bodies stopped kicking and the last bit of air escaped their lungs, Mike would store their bodies away. By doing this, he made it appear that the creature was eating the men, having intruded on its hunting grounds.
People who appeared to be Officers began to move, through his senses he was able to tell which of them were giving orders but as he was underwater, he had to wait for an opportunity, that is, until they chose to speak. Vines darted out of the water at high speeds, three soldiers put up their shields and were able to deflect the incoming vines. The vines didn't just rise into the air, they plummeted back down, straight through the defenders' armor and brains.
Screams of horror marked the underlings, their commanding officers and defenders had been easily picked out by the enemy. Mike laid down on the bottom of the stream with his eyes closed, concentrating.
Several minutes later, the fighting had ended and he had destroyed the convoy. No noise could be heard, even the birds themselves had chosen to hide. Mike wasn't concerned with deserters, he leapt out of the water and collected the corpses. When he was sure no one had seen him, he flew toward the Poocha Castle.
It was a days march from the shore to the Castle but for Mike, who was able to fly, the stretch was only a few hours in length. From the air above the clouds, he could see a shield being impacted by catapults and magical attacks. Dozens of them per second, who knew how long they had been holding out.
Forced to stop in the air above the castle, Mike looked down. He hadn't been noticed for some reason, that, or they were hiding themselves well. Prince Troeg and more than two dozen Elders were pouring their energy into the shield on a rotation, otherwise they would have long since been overrun.
֍ꟷꟷꟷꟷ֍
Poocha Kingdom was on the verge of collapse, their citizens were hiding in the Castle behind the shield, evacuated by the Royal Family.
A laughter that caught everyone's attention from below echoed across the battlefield, no one stopped fighting but everyone's ears perked. "TROEG! SEND THAT SICK BITCH OF A MOTHER OUT HERE TO DIE AND MAYBE, JUST MAYBE WE'LL LET YOU LIVE AS A SLAVE!"
Prince Troeg stood on the Balcony channeling his energy into the shield, he couldn't afford to answer. The vantage point for the Balcony was much higher than all of those attacking, When Prince Troeg looked out at the battlefield and the people attacking he sighed and looked to the sky, he needed a sign, any sign.
Mike was hovering and his eyes caught the Prince's. Mike raised his hand in a shushing gesture, then he flickered out of view. He put on the Ornian Uniform and retracted his wings, hiding them from view. When he rushed up to the war machines and catapults, no one gave him another thought. He made his way slowly, a few seconds here, a few seconds there. When he was close enough to the commanders, he gathered his aura.
For a soldier of the Ornian Empire, they were meat sponges. Destined to be sent out as cannon fodder because of their inherent lack of communication and reasoning skills. That's why they were forced to wear the masks. To see one of them gathering their aura was an alarming sight.
Archers turned instinctively to fire, they released the arrows in their hands but it was too late. More than a hundred soldiers were thrown into chaos. Mike had jumped into the air, leaving a burning tag on a bottle of liquefied fire essence. The Arrows couldn't change direction once fired, the many magical arrows landed, breaking the front lines with tremendous explosions.
More than thirty officers nearby were thrown into the air, their body parts scattered in the wind. Deranged looks crossed those who had survived, the soldiers who had seen Mike's flight upward were among the first to face the explosions. Everyone that remained began fiercely fighting those beside them. It turned into utter madness, fires spread and more than seventy people had died in a matter of thirty seconds.
Mike's grin was from ear to ear. He had been in conventional wars in his past life, fighting was second nature to him but he had never taken to killing with such glee. He was unrestrained and the methods of killing people in this world far surpassed anything available to a Soldier from any of the nations of Earth, short of a nuclear bomb. Adrenaline coursed through his veins, he spent the time it took to watch the bodies fall, allowing himself to acclimate to the rush.
It was delightful, and it scared him. 'Don't get carried away. Keep your head on a swivel.' Mike's training crept up and he took a deep breath. In the bottom of his heart, he regretted having to go to such lengths but Ornia had already taken the mile when demanding an inch.
The tribulation lightning from before was enough to help destroy the entire island, he had considered repeating his actions from before but he was in the Poocha Kingdom. He didn't want to obliterate it and the shield, while it protected the castle and the majority of its people, it would not save the town, the fields or anyone unfortunate enough to be stuck behind the enemy forces.
Mike was wondering what to do when something unexpected happened.
The shield around the Castle fell.
A Thousand soldiers came charging over the barrier, they crashed into the front line and tore through Ornia's mightiest of warriors. People were being impaled with swords and spears, beheaded and run through. Some were stabbed in the chest or backs, bodies began to fall. Mike's earlier plans had been thrown to s▓it by their arrival but it was best that they took care of themselves. He flew toward the Castle since the shield had come down.
Prince Troeg stood on the precipice and saw Mike coming to the edge, "Your timing.." Prince Troeg didn't know of Mike's arrival, how could he? He wanted to cry but kept his regal exterior, if Mike had chosen to end his quest for vengeance early the Poocha Kingdom would have been destroyed soon after the shield had collapsed. "The collapse is impossible to avoid, we've been under siege for nearly three months."
"Three fucking months! Why didn't you say this earlier." Mike felt annoyed.
"You really don't get it do you? I came to you directly with my request, I told you we were under siege." Prince Troeg wanted to slap Mike but he didn't have the nerve.
"You could have explained it better, I wouldn't have said no so quickly had I known they were already advancing like this. I caught a group of their scouts burning down my farms." Mike's bottom line had been touched, now that he was calming down and reflecting, he was ready to finish the job.
"What did you do?" Prince Troeg felt like it was a stupid question, of course Mike would have done the extreme to protect himself.
"I burned down Ornia." Mike said the words but they didn't register on the Prince's face.
"That's understandable, they are bound to attack you .. wait, what did you say?" Prince Troeg had a deadpan expression on his face. He shook Mike's shoulders, "SAY THAT AGAIN!?"
Mike was still dealing with the prince shaking him. He stopped Prince Troeg's rattling and steadied himself. "Don't mess with Texas." Mike laughed. "I burned them all to death, I would have done the same here if not for your forces having run out.
"What?" It was like he had heard wrong.
"Quickly tell your forces to be careful and to show no mercy." Mike said earnestly.
"This won't sit well with the other nations." Prince Troeg paced back and forth. He spun a formation in his hands, it flowed toward his face and he spoke with clarity. "TAKE. NO. PRISONERS."
The words were like swords in the backs of all the remaining Ornian soldiers, they found themselves surrounded on all sides and out maneuvered. The idea that they would be spared was all that kept them in motion, some tried to surrender but quickly found themselves at the end of a blade.
When all had lost their lives, the battle was won.
Poocha's guards and soldiers had only lost a handful of their own during the battle. Prince Troeg's order to kill the surviving or wounded Ornians greatly increased the morale of his soldiers. "Gather their corpses, they all belong to our benefactor."
"Pass. I don't need anything from these fools. If they had anything useful, they would have used it. Besides, I already cleared out their storehouses. The Ornian Ancestral home was quite well stocked." Mike patted his storage ring and looked at Prince Troeg. "I suppose you can take care of the rest?"
"You assume correctly." The Prince shook his head slightly. "Is there anything in our storehouses that you would like?"
"No. Consider this payment for our past. All debts have been settled." Mike spread his wings. "Tell no one of my involvement. That is my request." He flew from the tower balcony and back toward Lonestar City.