Honestly, there wasn't much to say about my battle against the prehistoric type spirit beasts. It was a clash between armies, and there wasn't anything I hadn't already seen. My King Crab and Colossal Crabs met a Giga Rex and a pack of Velocity Raptors in a collision of shell and pincer against fang and claw. My Lantern Sharks swooped upon the hapless supposedly extinct shelled cephalopods at the back, teeth against tentacles, with lightning crackling through highly pressurized torrents of water. That would be a one-sided slaughter, given my Lantern Sharks' elemental type advantage against the poor mollusks. Lightning against water was always going to be overwhelmingly in the former's favor.
The Guardian Golems met the charging Giga Rexes steely, an immovable object in the face of an unstoppable force. They wrestled and grappled, while the Tree Revenants and Pumpkin Wraiths supported them from behind. As I expected, the Pumpkin Wraiths couldn't kill the Giga Rexes outright, their grass scythes cutting deeply but not enough to penetrate all the way to decapitate the dinosaur type spirit beasts in a single stroke like Sigmund Krieg.
Xiao Ke led the Little Anglers and Lantern Fishes that I had summoned shortly after to deal with the shellfish spirit beasts that scuttle toward us, while Da Hai protected them, his massive shell proof against the sickle claws of the shellfish spirit beasts' evolved forms. While they dealt with the overgrown shellfishes, Xiao Huo and Xiao Huo Long incinerated swathes of anomalocarid spirit beasts, be they the smaller sea scorpion types or the enormous bipedal dinosaur-anomalocarid hybrids. The latter withstood the flames, though, their armor plates offering them resistance against both physical and elemental attacks.
Myria shored up on their defenses, serving as a mobile strike force that reinforced buckling defensive lines. Her water whip technique was as brutal as ever, slicing through the spirit beasts and carving off chunks of flesh and scales or armor plates from the larger ones. Though she couldn't kill them outright in one hit like Sigmund Krieg, it was an unfair comparison because of their difference in cultivation realms (or mage ranks). Even so, she proved instrumental, moving from position to position to help out my spirit beasts whenever necessary. When my Colossal Crabs were being overwhelmed by the pack tactics and sheer cunning of the Velocity Raptors, she swiftly moved in to cut them apart and sow chaos in their formations. When there were too many shellfish spirit beasts for my aquatic armada to handle, she darted in to carve them apart, their shells no match for her water whips. The Sickle Shellfishes – the evolved forms – were harder to deal with, but their skill with their scythe-like claws were no match for her elegant sword techniques.
Similarly, whenever the Sea Scorpions and Armored Carids threatened to overrun Xiao Huo and Xiao Huo Long's positions (as well as the Phantom Stumps and Ghost Pumpkins I had placed in position there), she moved in to help them. The Armored Carids proved to be a considerable concern because of their armor plates and tenacious exoskeleton, so she had to spend most of her time there. Fortunately, Sylvie, Silvia and Eliza knew that was probably the weakest point in my lines, and so they supported my fire type spirit beasts with their spells. The fairy sisters, in particular, swiftly set up powerful spirit arrays to blow holes in the ragged lines of Sea Scorpions and Armored Carids, stalling them so that Xiao Huo and Xiao Huo Long could bombard them with fire.
Even so, fire wasn't very effective against them. I guess it was because they were bug and rock type, which cancelled out the elemental advantage that fire had over bug. Fortunately, that was allowing my Little Anglers, Lantern Fishes and Lantern Sharks to utterly destroy the water type shellfish spirit beasts and cephalopods with their lightning elemental advantage. On the other hand, my fire and rock type Guardian Golems and ghost and wood type Tree Revenants and Pumpkin Wraiths didn't have such advantage against the dragon and rock type Giga Rexes. Um, wait, was dragon considered an elemental type? What the hell was I talking about now? Never mind.
The Giga Rexes were the most powerful of the bunch, so I had to pit my strongest spirit beasts against them.
Morten wasn't just a bystander. He was helping my King Crab and Colossal Crabs against the Velocity Raptors, and his kicks were devastating when they landed. The cunning spirit beasts had learned to avoid him, but he made use of his incredible speed to land amongst them and slay them outright with precise kicks that snapped their necks, or spikes that impaled them. A few of them pounced on him from behind, only to be brought down by my azure arrows or a pincer attack from my Colossal Crabs.
"Hey! Don't let the humans fight alone! This is our home! We should be defending it more fiercely than the humans who have come to help! Assist them!"
The elves, who were being routed by the dinosaur type spirit beasts earlier had rallied, and inspired by the fierce resistance my summonsed spirit beasts, my friends and I were putting up, they moved in to attack. I noticed that they weren't alone, accompanied by spirit beasts of their own. Spear and bow wielding elves riding on bipedal dinosaurs of their own to charge into the midst of the Velocity Raptors, Sea Scorpions, Armored Carids, shellfishes and cephalopods. Unlike the carnivorous Giga Rexes or Velocity Raptors, the elves' dinosaurs were gentle herbivores, but galvanized when spurred by their riders to war.
A herd of Iguana Dinos galloped into the fray, their riders stabbing with spears into their targets. Cranium Dinos and Rampart Dinos charged forward, resembling large Pachycephalosauruses with armored, dome-shaped heads that they used to headbutt both Velocity Raptors and Sickle Shellfishes. Their riders also cut in with spears.
At the back, gentle giants like the Titan Lizards or Thunder Lizards lumbered slowly, ferrying entire squads or companies of elves bearing bows. They fired shuriken rounds from their bow guns, enchanted projectiles that were shaped like razor discs spinning around to cut apart targets at the molecular level. Even though the Mystic ranked spirit beasts were too sturdy and powerful to be felled by such small rounds, the smaller spirit beasts were cut down swiftly. Only their speed allowed them to evade, and the Velocity Raptors veered off to engage with the new enemy, relieving the pressure on my own summoned spirit beasts.
There were even armored spirit beasts at the back that looked like a cross between a turtle and an Ankylosaurus. Terra Tortoises, if I remembered correctly, with a tree growing out of the armored shell on their backs. Damn, but they looked really cool. They had riders as well, and I wondered if I could get one of my own.
While we clashed on the branch and outskirts of the enclave of Springwood, Sigmund and Ricowen fought furiously almost above. Landing on the ground, Ricowen thrust his spear forward, only for Sigmund to deflect it and counter with a riposte. Spinning his golden lance about, Ricowen parried the silver sword and the two combatants sprang apart in a shower of sparks. Behind them, a tree toppled over, cleaved neatly at the base.
Even though it was a distance away, it still couldn't withstand the exchange between two Earth ranked warriors.
The two of them charged once more, trading ferocious blows that reverberated powerfully throughout Springwood. More trees were felled, and even a single wooden hut blew up when it was unfortunate enough to be in the vicinity of the shifting fighters. So powerful were their exchanges that each clash between their weapons sent shockwaves and tremendous tremors throughout the trembling branch, despite it being the size of an island.
Ricowen twirled his spear about, deflecting Sigmund's slash. Then he countered with a thrust that the black swordsman parried to the side and answered with a riposte. They closed in once more, slashing and cutting, flames burning brightly across the length of Ricowen's golden lance to contrast against the cool blue gleam that wreathed the silver blade of Sigmund's sword. Another retaliation forced Sigmund to a retreat, but he managed to fling Ricowen back, only for the crimson spearman to flip himself about and land gracefully.
A thin line of blood dripped down Sigmund's face, but he wiped it with his gleaming gauntlets. Shaking his head, he sighed in amazement. "I didn't think your attacks would be able to penetrate my Dragon Armor, which makes me impervious to all but the strongest physical attacks."
"I'm more impressed by your tenacity," Ricowen replied with a slight nod of acknowledgement. "Each blow of mine is enough to shatter a lesser warrior's bones and pulverize their bodies to mush, yet you withstood over a hundred strikes of mine. You truly are an opponent worthy of my respect."
"It's a pity we are on opposing strikes," Sigmund conceded before kicking off the ground and slashing. Ricowen replied with a thrust of their own, their collision igniting an explosion that gouged a crater into the shaking branch of Yggdrasil.
As both of them staggered past each other, they whirled around. Fireballs combusted around Ricowen before streaking toward Sigmund with meteoric force, but the latter simply unleashed an azure tide of destructive energy from his sword that took the form of a dragon. Roaring silently, the azure dragon consumed the colossal fireballs before detonating with near apocalyptic force. Leaves rustled from trembling trees, and both elves and spirit beasts were knocked over from the resulting shockwaves.
Even Sylvie and Silvia's barrier rippled and flickered violently when it was buffeted from the explosion. The fairy sisters gritted their teeth and infused the protective screen with more mana to reinforce it before it could collapse. Not that they needed to, given that our foes were also knocked off their feet and only now clambering back, dazed.
Only my Guardian Golems remained unmoved, their incredible defense an overwhelming advantage in such a situation. While many of the Giga Rexes remained in a stupor, having been floored, the Guardian Golems lumbered forward and struck them with fiery blows, burning through the armored scales with the sheer weight of their punches. The Thunder Lizards and Terra Tortoises too were relatively unaffected, and they continued lumbering forward. Their riders, protected from the shockwaves by their steeds, resumed their assault. In the wake of that, more Velocity Raptors and the agile spirit beasts fell to opportunistic shuriken discs fired from merciless bow guns.
Dashing through the inferno at such speed that he created a sonic boom, Sigmund's rush actually extinguished the flames that had only just started consuming the wood, trees and grass growing around Yggdrasil's branch in a single blow. Unperturbed, Ricowen met him steely, bringing his lance down to parry the glowing blue blade with a near indestructible golden shaft.
Oblivious to the war between mortals, Sigmund and Ricowen continued to clash. Sword against spear, their physical strength alone causing quakes along the thick, island-sized branch of the World Tree. Each blow was powerful enough to shatter an entire building, and yet they traded strikes after strikes without flinching. More bark disintegrated or flaked away, the World Tree unable to endure the violence of such superpowers colliding without restraint.
Or so, I thought, but after the two of them sprang apart in a shower of sparks, they paused for a moment to measure each other. Then Ricowen finally spoke up.
"Why are you holding back?"
"I could say the same to you." Sigmund glanced somberly at the scorched bark and ruins of the outskirts of Springwood. "If you wanted to, you could have incinerated the entire branch with your flames. I recognize your technique…the Chosen of the Sun God. You have been suppressing the true power of your flames."
Ricowen shrugged indifferently. "If I were to destroy everything, wouldn't I accidentally wipe out my own forces?"
"Since when do demonic mages care for the lives of the spirit beasts or monsters under their charge? They are but expendable tools for you to unleash upon the enemy and discard when necessary."
"As you pointed out, it's an unnecessary waste to annihilate my own forces here. I still have uses for them." Ricowen paused and studied the burning elvish enclave. "And I understand that you have no desire to accidentally destroy the very thing you have vowed to protect during an all-out battle against me, for that would defeat the purpose of you coming here to assist the elves. It is a pity, but I suppose we should postpone our duel for another day."
He moved his eyes toward me. As I expected, he was aware that I had an Azure Frost arrow pointed directly at him, ready to unleash the moment I saw an opening. He also scanned the battle and saw how decimated his spirit beast army was, and he sighed.
"Right now, I'm at a total disadvantage, so I'm forced to withdraw my forces before they can be annihilated. And I know that I'll be severely hurt if I continue the conflict. You have reliable allies, unlike me. I'm a little jealous."
"I hope we can continue our match another day, in conditions where we won't be interrupted, and where we can both unleash our full power," Sigmund said, lowering his sword. Ricowen nodded and cut another rift in the air before stepping through it. As if receiving a mass telepathic command, his prehistoric type spirit beasts began falling back and fleeing through the gap.
"You can't mean to let him leave!" One of the elves shouted to Sigmund when he didn't do anything. The black swordsman turned to regard the elf solemnly.
"If I were to force him to continue fighting, our battle will end up destroying Springwood. I do not wish to sacrifice your enclave as collateral damage, even if it would result in the defeat of an enemy of his caliber. And I do not believe you want to sacrifice the lives of your tribe for that purpose either."
The angry elf fell silent, recognizing the truth of his words. While the elves regrouped and cautiously watched the foe's retreat, I relaxed and let out a sigh of relief. Dismissing Azure Frost, I kept my Obsidian Drake and slumped against a tree to rest. Even so, I still felt the tension in the air.
Springwood might have survived, but now that the enemy had revealed itself, we were under no illusions how difficult it would be to save all of Yggdrasil.