After reorganizing the group and assigning Benimaru as the ground troops commander, Me and Rimuru decided to head to the battlefield from the sky to get a better view of the overall situation. Rimuru is able to fly by sprouting bat wings from his back using partial mimicking, as for myself I regained the ability to make footholds in the air recently so I was able to keep up.
It would take about an hour of running to make it out of the forest, but in the air, it took barely any time at all. Now we were above the battlefield, checking out the entire situation. having a bird's-eye view of the entire battle like this gave us a great advantage, And using that info to send Thought Communication messages to any of the troops working like satellite imaging, it was like bringing the latest advances in war technology to a medieval battle.
It was just what we needed to make the numbers work with the small force we had, The Lizardmen weren't looking good, they were clearly surrounded with no escape route, and it was only the wild rallying from their leader that let them hold out. There was no telling how long they'd last.
Squinting, I recognized Gabil as the leader. I thought he was some random idiot at first, but maybe we underestimated him, he was holding up against an orc general, Gabil fought courageously. His considerable nimbleness and skill with a spear as he faced off against the orc general made me wonder if Gobta had had any chance at all, in fact, without that shadow-skipping trick.
Sadly, though, the difference in strength between him and the orc general was just too much. Little by little, Gabil's body was being ravaged by cuts and wounds, he is a decent fighter but an awful general.
It was then that rimuru issued an order through thought Communication
(Ranga, can you Shadow Motion yourself to Gabil?)
(Yes, my master.)
As with Soei, Ranga could directly travel to anybody he'd personally met before. Which made it easy for him to reach Gabil's position.
(Gobta, you go there, too!)
(Geh! R-really?! It's, like, a huge army there—)
We heard a scream of pain through the transmitted thought. Gobta was cut off for a moment, then the line came back.
(He will gladly accept the mission, Sir Rimuru) answered Shion.
Looks like she managed to convince him to take action, yeah let's leave it at that.
(Great. I want you two to rescue Gabil for me. Get going!)
Gobta would get to Gabil first while Ranga was distracting the rest of the horde. He'd then work with the lizardmen and goblins to forge a path out of that skirmish, it was a decent plan.
The rest went all out, the goblin riders broke through the encirclement to reach Gobta's position with the help of shadow motion while Ranga made a distraction.
That leaves the three kijins on the ground who were itching to go, the three took off at top speed. They ran through the lush trees and grass, almost flying along the ground, the scenery of the marshlands was upon them in the blink of an eye, smashing through the orc hordes on the outer perimeter without dropping their speed for a moment.
I left Rimuru in the air still scouting the situation, while I decided to target the high level commanders of the ocrs' army. I locked my sights on an Orc general leading the encirclement and approached him from above while activating Dark Thunder, before reaching the ground I fired a shot at his direction blasting off most of his orc minions.
Surprisingly the orc general is equipped with anti-magic full-plate mail, blocking my attack. he then charged at me madly swinging a double axe, I unsheath my new nodachi parrying his strike one handedly while using the other one to deliver a punch to middle of his chest making him lose balance. While the opponent is still staggered, I grasp the nodachi with both hands and bring it down delivering a Ryōdan with enough force to cut the orc in half down the middle armor and all.
I have to admit, although this sword is still not at a level of a Zanpakutō, it's good enough to deal with these orcs. I killed the rest of the general's entourage then took to the sky again to check on the others and find my next target.
I noticed Shion in the distance shooting a blast of energy from her heavy sword. The orcish soldiers crowded in front of her were blown away before they realized what had happened, Hakuro was moving through the crowd easily handling them, while Benimaru casually thrust his right hand forward. A black ball of flame flickered to life above it, expanding to about three feet in diameter before he unleashed it. Realizing the danger, the orcish soldiers took evasive action—but they were too late. The fireball continued to expand and accelerate, faster than a hurricane, and the orcs were simply too slow to run from it.
Anyone who touched it was instantly incinerated, not even leaving a pile of ashes behind. But that wasn't what made the dark fireball terrifying. Several seconds later, upon reaching a large clutch of orcs in front of it, the flame released all the energy it had stored inside. An area three hundred feet in diameter was suddenly cloaked in a dome of pure black, centered around the fireball. Then, a mighty rumble, low and loud enough to freeze the entire battlefield, and the blood of everyone in it.
I have to admit that attack is more efficient in culling off a crowd of enemies. the three are walking briskly, nobody standing in their way. In a panic, the orcs began to stampede, totally out of control. Nothing could knock them back to their senses now; the only thing in their minds was running, quickly, anywhere away from there.
I shifted my attention to Ranga and Gobta's battle finding out that they succeeded in rescuing Gabil, who was asked by Gobta to retreat with the rest of the Lizardmen and take defensive measures. Ranga was facing an orc general while releasing a powerful aura. I could sense the power surging within form my location. His muscles grew, propelling him to his full, sixteen-foot-tall frame. His claws enhanced themselves, his fangs transformed into steel-like daggers—but what stood out most were the two horns that now grew from his forehead.
This was the form rimuru had taken before in the dwarven Kingdom. The tempest starwolf. And now he had evolved into that.
The howl made the orcish soldiers shudder, but they felt no fear from it. Their orc general was right by their side, and the Ravenous skill had dulled their hearts. Ranga gave them a disinterested snort as he glanced at their leader. This was no threat to him now. He could feel his true strength, and it was time to show it off.
Sensing the flow of power, he focused his magic on his horns. The orc general picked up on this higher-level transformation, and he knew the danger involved. He hurriedly ordered his soldiers to spread out, but he was too late.
A flash of light ran across their ranks. Then the sound came—the crack of thunder as pillars of electricity shot up from the ground to the heavens, accompanied by a small army of tornadoes.
Ranga had obtained the Dark Lightning skill—and while he couldn't directly control lightning the way me and Rimuru could, his two horns allowed him to define its range and power. And he had something else—the extra skill Control Wind. This was, in a way, an inferior version of the Control Particles skill Rimuru had picked up. It let Ranga raise and lower the local atmospheric pressure to generate wind gusts, and combining it with Dark Lightning provided a lethal one-two punch.
Gobta appeared to be doing well, too. The lizardman force was starting to gather itself back together under the watchful command of Gabil. The goblin riders had rejoined Gobta, and together they were mowing down the orcs that had so tormented the lizardmen and goblins not long ago. It wouldn't be long before Gabil's men were a coherent force again.
The situation is looking good for us currently, the orcs don't seem to pose a threat all what is left to see is the Orc Lord.