TW: Violence
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The sounds of metal clashing against each other could be heard. There were also numerous voices of men exerting their breaths into battle cries, unsure of their survival against the suffocating place of the battlefield. It's either make it or die - that's the only choice they had. In the middle of the chaos, a huge magic circle entered the fray - shimmering with blue light in the middle of the death stricken place.
The people who were on each other's throats, locked their individual gazes to one another as blood trickled down from their wounds. None of them knew who would be coming out of the magic circle but there was desperation echoing through the hearts of the fighters who were fighting for their land - the cat people whose numbers trimmed down and are at a disadvantage to the catastrophe. For some cat-people soldiers who already lost their hope, ready to die out of honor and their enemies who were already full of themselves - they never cared of its arrival and their relentless attacks didn't falter until one of them lay lifeless on the blood smeared land.
The magic circle pulsed and with a silent hiss, five figures arrived on the battlefield with it. Two of them, Anthony and Aegir, were new to the face of war. As soon as their eyes registered the carnage, their eyes went wide in terror as they stumbled forward. They already anticipated the gravity of the situation but witnessing the real thing is traumatic.
"Dear God... " All Anthony could say, his voice was trembling, his heart was beating wildly against his chest.
He wanted to tear his gaze from what he's seeing but the cold dread he was feeling made him struck motionless. Just ten meters away from them, a cat-person screamed as he drew his last breath, his face a mask of horror. A hulking brute orc from the enemies' side clad in black armor cleaved him into two with a single, brutal swing from his double-edged ax. The cat-person's screams died down in a choked gurgle. Its impact sent a spray of crimson across the ground as his body fell with a loud thud. Anthony's stomach lurched, he wanted to throw up. He had seen dead people before but seeing an individual being murdered up close is not the sight he was prepared to see.
The person next to Anthony, Aegir, stood there with a blank face. No words could reach his throat but his system screamed with fear and out of anger at what he's seeing, his knuckles were tightly crumpled; stopping himself from making reckless decisions. The land where the battle was supposed to be was an empty space near the town where cat-people's children used to play. Aegir could remember that there was a tree house somewhere here but now all he could see was dirt, rubbles, and blood everywhere. The once place where laughter of children could be heard was now reduced to a desolate place stenched with screams of anguish.
It was unforgivable. Those people have the audacity to ruin people's lives out of their thirst for power. "Do you have some orders for us, Artemisia? " Aegir asked, his voice was unusually cold - devoid of his usual beam. It was deep baritone, narrow enough for burying someone.
Artemisia could understand Aegir's sentiments. Her face was serious as she pointed in different directions. "Let's go, survive! Be sure to finish their generals! " She ordered, making all of them make their battle positions. They were arranged by the usual line up. Vin was with Anthony and Aegir for support.
Aegir's eyes pierced sharply, calling forth his gauntlets. "Claws out, " he murmured, soon enough claws erupted from his weapon. The blades glinted dangerously, prepared to hunt its new prey.
Anthony and the others could see the menacing aura Aegir was releasing. One of them, Vin, never expected this reaction but perhaps the thought of seeing his birthplace ruined weighed more than Aegir's fear and hatred towards the cat elders.
"Go! " Artemisia roared a signal and it was that moment where each of them entered the battlefield.
It was Aegir who striked first, plummeting his gauntlet towards an orc's face who were attacking a disadvantaged soldier. A small crack was heard; signifying it was strong enough to break a bone. The intensity of Aegir's fist caused his enemy to stumble on the ground as a guttural roar escaped its lips.
The soldier immediately scurried away from the scene, terrified of the sudden intrusion of someone capable of bringing an orc to its knees. Anthony and Vin's expression was no different, they were taken aback by Aegir's sudden action.
It was Aegir's pure physical strength that caused the uproar, he didn't use magic yet nor did Vin casted an enhancement on him. Perhaps it's his feelings that amplified his blows.
Aegir's forest-green eyes slit venomously, his voice was cold and harsh; his fist raised upward. " I hope I wasn't interrupting the fun. You're a bad clown, anyways, " he rumbled. He didn't wait for his enemy to speak or get up to his feet, Aegir lunged forward; delivering a swift kick to the orc's massive exposed belly, sending a shockwave to its frame.
Aegir glared at his enemy as he sent a relentless barrage of fists to its body. The orc thrashed desperately to escape Aegir's heavy assault but Aegir's strength was no match to it. He kept on pounding and pounding, his ears, deaf to his enemy's gasps. Slowly, the resistance waned, replaced by a deadly stillness. Aegir finally drew back his fist, blood was dripping from it.
"Aegir! " Anthony worriedly called Aegir's name, aware of why Aegir was acting this way. This is the first time he saw him in this state but somewhere in his heart he was also proud of him for being this strong.
"Anthony, eyes on the battlefield! " Vin reminded him as one mage was aiming at him with a spell. Anthony immediately placed his attention towards the mage's direction; summoning his shears and coated it with two different magics he learned earlier.
In a blur, Anthony was face to face with the astonished mage. He tried to cast a quick powerball to throw it against Anthony but his resistance was deemed futile; with a resonating thwack, Anthony's powerful kick led to the mage's wooden staff clattering away from his grasp. The mage's eyes widened in terror as he tried to ramble some chants for a quick spell. His foe's eyes surveyed on the battlefield as if trying to find a suitable bait for his spell.
But Anthony was no idiot nor an anime character who will wait for his enemy to finish casting their moves.
"I am sorry, " Anthony mouthed softly, inhaling deeply before making another move. His shear hung heavy on his grasps, there's hesitation crawling in his heart after all, it's his first time to kill other beings apart from that one orc on his last mission and countless of undead.
But it was clear to him that if he decided to stop, the mage will not waste time and will try to kill him and if he'll continue to chicken out on this place - he'll be the one dead - he couldn't afford that!
Taking a shuddering breath, Anthony offered no respite to his enemy, he surged forward, raising his shears high. Anthony slashed his enemy. It didn't only injure his enemy but its life-draining skill drained the mage's vitality bit by bit until moisture left its body. By the time his blade lowered, his foe lay still - motionless, its skin in a liquified state.
"What the? " Anthony blinked repeatedly, his breath came a little quicker as his pulse picked up the pace. A stunned expression was laced all over his face as he shot a look on his shears and the disheveled corpse on the ground.
His eyes never left the corpse, his throat ran dry trying to reach for a plausible explanation on what he had seen. "Did I do this? " The question echoed on his mind like a broken record. He's a student studying forensics and it was impossible for a corpse to turn into the active decay stage after death.
It only took two swift slashes for his weapon to drain all of the mage's life force. Normally, it sucks away vitality slowly, making the enemy weaker as the fight progresses. But this time it was entirely different - is it because of the improved magic he placed on its blades? Or did he really become powerful?
There were a lot of thoughts rushing through his mind and he wanted them all to be answered but he'll surely be the one dead if he keeps on entertaining his thoughts.
"Not now! " Anthony slammed his eyes shut, forcing down a surge of nausea. He couldn't afford to dwell on this. He needed to find Aegir and support him. His Aegir was no damsel in distress but still he won't leave him alone.
'Yes, that's right, move you idiot! ' Anthony berated himself in his mind. He and his mind both know that they couldn't afford any bad things that might happen to Aegir.
Even if it means bathing himself with the blood of his enemies to reach him - he'll oblige in a heartbeat.
His eyes scanned the surroundings, all he could see was soldiers fighting each other. Not far from him was Vin shooting his enemies with arrows. There were also numerous golems under his command, stomping and throwing his foes that were trying to come near him with ease.
He nodded, deciding to leave Vin be. The bunny was supposed to be a healer but sometimes he refused to believe Vin was one. There's nothing holy about Vin, especially now there was a smug look laced on his face, taunting his enemies. That's one corrupted being, yep.
"Alright! Wait for me, Aegir!" Anthony ran, carving a path for himself on the battlefield. The sound of his blades clashing through that of his enemies could be heard, its sound echoing to the screams and shouts that were already present in the place.
Anthony spun his blade, piercing through an enemy's armor. "Get out of my way! " He hissed as he panted slightly, a sheen of sweat forming on his brow. One shear found its mark, embedded deep on one of his foe's chest. Anthony was fast enough to react when there was an orc approaching, wielding a claymore. He yanked back his weapon creating a metallic screech.
Frustration bubbled inside of him, a thought erupted from his mind. 'How many more bastards does their enemy have? They just keep on coming! ' Anthony was not having it, if he would follow his intrusive thoughts, he'll scream on each of these ugly-ass faces but he's aware that it won't do anything.
Their countless intrusions delay him from finding Aegir. He just wants to finish wiping their asses fast. Anthony never had anger issues before maybe because he was used to bottle everything and now it's all pouring freely.
Two other enemies charged at him, Anthony frowned in annoyance. With a flick of his wrist, he launched his other shear high up in the air. It became a blur of silver against the backdrop of smoke and fire, before it could complete its purpose; Anthony bent over to reach another enemy, another mage wearing a velvet robe, their hand was waving arcane symbols, trying to chant another spell.
"Shut up! " A snarl escaped Anthony's lips, his power coated fist found its way slamming against the mage's face, the impact of the blow sent his enemy skull- first onto the cold ground.
Anthony summoned back his shear again which immediately found its place on his hand again. He used both of his weapons to deflect the countless streaks of arrows heading into his direction. His jaw hardened as he fixed his sharp penetrating gaze towards the perpetrator - a female siren who was preparing to launch another set of arrows with a conceited expression written all over her face.
"You're just lucky. " The siren managed to taunt him, her voice was high pitched resembling that of a broken speaker or an untuned musical instrument making Anthony's nose crinkled. He just wished for her to shut up but she's still going.
"Let's see now! " She took another arrow from her quiver.
Anthony glared at the archer. He surged forward, deflecting the new sets of arrows again and again. He raised his hand to release a fireball - a combination of his usual violet flame and his uncle's crimson curse energy. He aimed it towards the siren who had that confident look on her face. Anthony fought the urge to say something unpleasant but it's already at the back of his tongue.
"Get lost! "
The siren opened her mouth to release a sonic wave against Anthony's fireball but they underestimated Anthony's ability, it didn't do anything to stop it, nor it affected Anthony who was intelligent enough to encase himself with a barrier he saw his uncle Trace had done before.
The siren tried to run away from the approaching fireball but it felt like its energy was sucking her away. As she fixed their gaze towards the hissing fireball, her heart skipped its beat due to how eerie looking it was. It was a mixture of purple and crimson, it wasn't that large but there was something on its flame dancing around the ball that made her want to run away from it.
The fireball hit her skin seconds later. It was brief, she couldn't keep up on what was happening. She didn't feel any pain at all until her body reduced to a pile of black - only shadow remained. It was only that moment when the siren realized that she's dead and when the pain finally registered.
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