The appearance of the Harmonic Knights brought about a slight lull in the battlefield. The humans in armour wielded their double classes with finesse as they tried to force a way out. Their swords all gleamed with different lights, whether it was Tangible Will or the light of Mystic Patterns.
Orcs and beasts fell at a faster rate, as the third and unexpected party brought about disarray. But the Harmonic Knights were not faring so well against the powerful physiques of the orcs and the hardy natures of the earthen beasts.
This was a rare occasion where the knights had to rely fully on their skills. In no way were they capable of bluntly overpowering the monsters before them. Various Mystic Pattern sequences flashed in the air as crowd control abilities descended.
Mystical abilities brought colours to the bloody battlefield. Strands and cages of Tangible Will impeded the advance of both the beasts and monsters.
"Ignore the humans, you idiots!" Hilvar roared at his brethren. "Focus on felling Lioxus! They aren't our enemies if you don't attack them!"
After such a command, Thallium Yan issued a command of her own. It seemed like the lady had studied Acivis in the past. "Ignore the green monsters! Sheath your blades and run through their army! None of this is our business!"
A peculiar sight then occurred as the army of Orcs let the humans pass through their ranks. A company of Harmonic Knights heightened their abilities of movement and practically flew through the air as they slew any wild beasts that barred their path.
When the humans made it out with only a few injuries, the war between the Orcs and Greater Goblins resumed in full force. No more crafty crowd control abilities blinded their eyes, gave them headaches, burst their eardrums, or bound their legs with vines. They could freely let loose.
The company of Harmonic Knights were also able to calm down as they regrouped. The sound of beating wings then drew the attention of their captain.
"Captain Yan," A pleasant voice rang out as a golden angel descended. Irene smiled, "Fancy meeting you here."
"Miss Irene, good evening." Thallium Yan managed a reaction after a few heavy breaths. She put on a smile of her own, "How long has it been since we last had tea?"
"It has been months," Irene chuckled as the knight captain instructed the Harmonic Knights to rest. "Would you like to join me for a chat? You and your knights must be disoriented to have literally fallen into the middle of a war."
A small sigh of resignation escaped Thallium Yan's lips, "That would be helpful. I wasn't expecting such a situation to unfold. I only have my luck to blame..."
The knight captain's [Luck] attribute was famously dubbed, [Weird]. It had created many a strange scenario both positive and negative, pleasant and dangerous. An exciting life was the gift of such luck, and as its owner, Thallium Yan had learned to accept her bizarre fate.
It was better than an outright foul attribute that might've doomed her on many occasions.
.
.
.
After a brief appearance, the humans disappeared into the darkness beyond Lioxus' torchlight. All for some tea.
It left Athelei delighting in the waves of death that roiled throughout the kingdom-city of Lioxus. As I once said before, he was the reaper of minds. Whenever a being died, he was present to take their consciousness.
Beasts, Orcs, and Greater Goblins.
Their minds were all his.
The laughter of a child was echoing out among the feral roars and cries of desperation. It was quietly whispering to every combatant as if to say,
"Come to me when you meet your end!"
Under the mighty lead of Hilvar's earth-shaking displays of strength, even the Greater Goblin's High Shaman was beheaded after hours of battle. The Royal Lizards under its command were all slain by his greatsword, to be delivered to the kitchens for the feast being prepared.
Blood drenched the streets of Lioxus, and many buildings had been further destroyed. Perhaps half of the kingdom-city was simply a pile of rubble now, with only the valuable torches being kept alive.
The Orcs and Greater Goblins found construction tedious.
However, rarely was there a body left strewn and scattered about. All beastly carcasses were being transported gingerly. The fierce warriors had transformed into chefs who treated their ingredients with finesse.
The way of the sword was also the way of the knife at times. Many of their most-skilled warriors were fine butchers, both on the battlefield and in the kitchen,
As for the bodies of the Greater Goblins? Those were turned into trophies. Their skulls were added to the Orcs' weapons as a display of their wielder's ability to kill.
Among the two thousand Orcs, one thousand and four hundred remained, but they were stronger than ever. Their kill counts had grown, and their prowess refined.
"Lioxus is ours!" Hilvar's voice boomed throughout the kingdom-city from atop its highest tower. "The reign of the goblins has ended. No longer is this fortress under their control. Mark your maps! This land is now ours!"
"Glory to the Orcs!"
"Glory! Glory!"
"Hurrah!"
The yells of the victors echoed and reverberated, masking the low hum that gave each listener a chill. Discomfort would've plagued these Orcs if not for their heightened emotions and burning physiques.
Athelei had found himself below Lioxus' keep, deep inside its dungeons where not a single cheer could be heard. Only the sound of a soft breeze whistled throughout the desolate prisons. It was in one of these rooms that the angel was looking ravenously at a black splotch of ink floating beautifully in the air.
"A Stain of Existence," gulped Athelei as his fingers reached out.
Hummmmm!
Images flickered to life, painting over the world of grey that the angel could perceive. But the stain was much too small, much too shallow. All that Athelei saw was a tall, tall tower, collapsing in on itself.
Cylindrical and pristine, that tower could have been a bridge if its axis was made horizontal. It was an astonishing ten kilometres in height, connecting the ground and the ceiling above. A pathway for those incapable of flight, carved from one of the many pillars that held up the sky.
It had simply been toppled, becoming irrelevant in one moment. The cause was unclear to the Endbringer, but it was still a sight to behold.
When the short glimpse of the past was completed, the Stain of Existence joined his body. It was a droplet when compared to the stain born from the End of Avina, but it was a piece that Athelei welcomed nonetheless.
He felt his second pair of wings grow with that seemingly tiny sip. They grew a whole six inches in total and some of its feathers were dyed a starry black. A wave of rejuvenation suffused every particle that composed his growing wings, making Athelei smile.
'I need to witness more of these battles,' He thought to himself as he dissipated into a thin grey fog with a quiet laugh. 'It seems like my diet has broadened as an Endbringer, after all.'
The thin grey fog then drifted upwards and through the earth. It stopped before a throne room, wherein the entire kingdom-city of Lioxus could be seen. This was where the Greater Goblin's High Shaman had once lingered in. A place that Athelei had infiltrated before but did not mess with.
Simply because the only item he was interested in was always in the grasp of its owner.
But that owner had been beheaded in the battle that had just come to pass.
And now, Athelei watched as a tired Hilvar tossed a staff off to the side. The gemstone at its head glimmered in a deep blue light as it fell. If an object could express itself, this mystical staff definitely had a sullen expression. It had just lost another owner, and its new owner simply tossed it aside as if it was useless.
But, before it hit the floor, it simply vanished into thin air. No cracking gemstone would resound in anyone's ears, nor would there be any craftsman weeping in their grave.
Hilvar had seen the staff disappear out of the corner of his eye. Such a sudden, silent occurrence made him jump. An immense heat flared throughout the throne room. The Orc became a living bonfire as he swung his greatsword around.
"Who dares challenge me?" Hilvar growled, but there was no reply.
"Show yourself, coward!" He roared, causing the walls to shake... but still, there was only silence.
Only a soft breeze was blowing out of the throne room's large windows. There didn't seem to be anyone there.
Hilvar kept himself primed for battle despite the further depletion of his [Energy] reserves, but after half an hour, there was still nothing. Hesitantly, Hilvar retracted his blade and silenced his aura.
But he couldn't get rid of that itching feeling of being watched. Whenever he turned around, his honed instincts would keep flaring up.
"Something is wrong with this damn kingdom-city," Hilvar grumbled as he entered a room where his subordinates were standing before a map.
"Warriors are greeting the great Hilvar!" All the Orcs gave a salute the moment he walked through the large doorway.
"Mm," Hilvar grunted as he eyed the map put on display. It was a map rather unfamiliar to him, which he knew from experience that it came from the Greater Goblins they had just defeated. His subordinates had done the usual looting and scavenging for useful items.
"You've all done well. Let us plan for our next target." Hilvar took on a very human-like image at this moment, standing proud and speaking well. With his fingernails, he scratched at the map, marking a few distinct locations for all to see. He then spoke,
"The king wants us to annihilate at least four more kingdom-cities ruled by the goblins. This is the year that we Orcs will become the true Enlightened of the underground, for once the Greater Goblins are destroyed, the Ogres will be next!"
But after such a valorous proclamation, Hilvar's expression chilled.
"Also, keep your eyes on those humans." He said with a grim tone as he eyed each Orc in the room, "I've been having a bad feeling ever since they appeared."