The newcomers were small, avian spirit beasts that resembled young owls with round bodies and short legs. Their feathers were mostly a light brown, but their bellies and a good amount of their faces were white, along with a white and orange-brown stubby beak. One thing that stood out were their green tails, and what looked like leaf-green scarfs shawled along their necks, extending to a small portion of their wings.
…they were cute.
"Round Owlets," I said in wonder. They were nocturnal spirit beasts, which explained why they were so active at night. They were gliding silently through the night air at incredible speeds before they launched sharp feathers at the Vampire Bats, Ravenous Ravens and Goliath Bats.
Taken by surprise, a good number of the enemy aerial beasts fell, impaled and stabbed by the arrow-like feathers, before the survivors wheeled about to confront the approaching flock of Round Owlets. Though hurt, the Goliath Bats were still alive, and they were more than a match for the ordinary ranked Round Owlets.
"That can't be good," I murmured and shot down as many Goliath Bats as I could. Unfortunately, there was only so much a single archer like me could do, and many more remained. Also, I wasn't getting much help from my allies. Though my aquatic armada was launching lightning bolts at the flying spirit beasts, the rest of my friends had moved on.
Now that the Ravens and Bats weren't hurling themselves suicidally to stop him, Sigmund raced forward. Myria and Morten accompanied him, and the three of them began carving a bloody path through the desperate Kobolds and Lycanthrope Lords who were in danger of being routed. Sigmund had seen the opportunity to kill his way to where the Kobold King was.
Given the caliber of the enemy, though, I knew the Round Owlets wouldn't hold for long before they would be massacred. I signaled to my spirit beasts to support, and they moved excruciatingly slowly. Even though Sylvie and Silvia helped with their spirit arrays and spells to decimate the horde in front of them so that they could move into position, I was aware that we wouldn't be able to contribute much to the aerial battle.
I could only watch helplessly as the Ravenous Ravens and Goliath Bats braved through the barrage of deadly feathers to close in on the hapless but valiant Round Owlets.
Then salvation came in the form of Arrow Owls. Evolved forms of the Round Owlets, they had lost the cute, round shape of their precursors, and resembled sleek birds of prey. They were much larger, about three times the size of Round Owls, but had retained their mostly brown and white feathers, with a green plume that collared their necks. With flaps of their wings, they launched even stronger barrages of feathers that arrowed toward the approaching Ravenous Ravens and Goliath Bats, cutting them down in midflight.
These arrow feathers were far more powerful, blurring through the air like bullets and perforating the targets with astonishing ease. Even the huge Goliath Bats found themselves shredded by the fierce volleys, their bodies cut apart by the powerful arrow feathers.
Not only that, the Arrow Owls were no slouch in close combat as well. they closed in with the targets, their wings slicing through them like blades. I could see Shadow Wings unsheathed from their physical wings, the black wing-like blades cleaving the Ravenous Ravens and Goliath Bats apart.
With the sudden appearance of the inhabitants of Noctwood, the tide of the battle had turned. The Owl spirit beasts must have bided their time, and when they saw us humans and elves engaging the enemy, they thought this was the best opportunity to strike.
"Go!" I shouted, urging my own spirit beasts on. As if realizing that a breach had just been forced open in this area, the enemy began pouring reinforcements into our sector. While Sigmund, Myria and Morten sprinted ahead to embed themselves deep within enemy lines, Sylvie, Silvia, my spirit beasts and I formed the rearguard and kept the path open while ensuring they wouldn't be backstabbed from behind and finding themselves cut off from the rest of the human-elf alliance. However, I could see a spectral swarm heading toward us with screams and shrieks that leveled the forest, uprooting trees and blasting both friend and foe alike.
Shrieking Banshees. They were here.
Much like ghost spirit beasts, their phantom figures appeared almost immaterial, gliding over the ground at incredible speeds because they weren't bound by gravity, yet at the same time incapable of true flight like the Ravens, Bats and Owls above. They almost looked human, their black, doll-like faces resembling hollow masks with unusually wide mouths bereft of teeth, and long ghostly hair streaming down their heads like tendrils. When they opened their mouths to scream, I could see nothing but a black hole behind, almost as if the insides of their bodies were bottomless pits that sucked away every ray of light.
They reminded me of Muppets, with no hands or legs, almost a skirt-like body that dangled underneath that doll-like head. They continued their sonic assault, bombarding Sigmund, Myria and Morten with their screams to stem their progress, but they suddenly found their charge impeded by a new horde of ghost spirit beasts.
"We've been waiting for you!" I said almost gleefully.
Ghost Pumpkins and Phantom Stumps materialized in the woods around the stunned Shrieking Banshees, and they launched themselves with reckless abandon, striking with Phantom Force, Shadow Claws, Shadow Balls and other ghost type attacks. Apparently, ghost type attacks were super effective against ghost spirit beasts. Don't ask me why.
The Shrieking Banshees, being Mystic ranked as well, didn't falter. Even though I was setting up booster spirit arrays to improve the strength and speed of my ghost spirit beasts, the difference in realms was too much.
Fortunately, my Phantom Stumps and Ghost Pumpkins weren't the only ones in the mix. Tree Revenants loomed out, adding their Phantom Force and Shadow Claws to the slaughter, pulverizing the reeling Banshees. Pumpkin Wraiths darted out and weaved through the Shrieking Banshee lines, decapitating them with their leaf scythes and grass blades.
With the ghost portion of the enemy being crushed, my own ghost spirit beasts began slowly but surely joining up with my aquatic armada, Crabs and Golems, catching the foe in a pincer maneuver and gradually squeezing the life out of them.
But that was only the situation on the ground. Looking up, I could see that the aerial battle had coalesced to a stalemate. The Owls were battering themselves against the Bats and Ravens, and while they had taken the pressure off our shoulders, the skies would remain contested for a long while. I wished I could help them, but I didn't have any flying spirit beast except Xiao Huo Long.
"Xiao Huo Long, help them for a bit," I commanded, and he nodded. My Charred Drake took off into the air with a flap of his wings and began roasting whatever Ravenous Ravens, Vampire Bats and Goliath Bats within the range of his flamethrower and fire attacks. With the heat taken off him thanks to the presence of the Round Owls and Arrow Owls, I was relieved to see that he could wreak havoc among the aerial enemy lines without being mobbed instantly like before.
But the tide of the battle changed once more. something streaked through the night sky, almost catching Xiao Huo Long by surprise. A sonic boom followed, buffeting my Charred Drake, who struggled to stay aloft. Then I caught sight of an enormous four-winged bat soaring toward the beleaguered Round Owls and Arrow Owls.
The Crow Bat had arrived. Mystic ranked, just like Xiao Huo Long, it was much faster than my fire type spirit beast, and was moving at supersonic speeds that left sonic booms in its wake. Flapping its wings, it conjured a gale that howled and swept Owls, Ravens and Bats aside, not caring about friendly fire or the casualties it was causing among its own subordinates.
"Xiao Huo Long!" I shouted, mentally commanding him to challenge the Crow Bat. He was my only flying spirit beast capable of contesting the enormous bat head-on, and I wanted him to prevent the massacre of the Round Owls and Arrow Owls. Already a few of them had fallen prey to the Crow Bat, which was unleashing toxins in the air or supersonic screeches that caused their ears to bleed and disorientated them, a dangerous situation when they were in flight.
However, before Xiao Huo Long could intervene, a newcomer zoomed in. He wasn't as fast as the Crow Bat, but his ghostly shape cut through the night like a shadow, allowing him to tackle the Crow Bat before it realized what hit it. My jaw dropped when I caught sight of the green, white and brown blur resolving into a massive shape.
A Grim Owl. A ghost and flying type spirit beast, he struck a majestic sight with his huge wingspan that was almost as large as a small fighter jet. Green feathers formed a crown-like hood over his otherwise brown and white feathered head, and while his wings were completely brown with several markings, his belly and talons were white.
First, he raked his talons across the Crow Bat, leaving ragged tears across its purple belly as it screeched and floundered. For all of its speed, the Crow Bat wasn't very durable. It wheeled about to launch a sonic scream that passed through the Grim Owl's spectral form, and the avian spirit beast retaliated with a volley of ghostly feathers. Spirit Arrows, if I wasn't mistaken, the eerie projectiles pierced through the Crow Bat and left it plummeting to the ground.
The Crow Bat wasn't dead yet. Right before it crashed, it suddenly swerved up at the last minute to glide to safety. But it found itself staring directly at Xiao Huo Long, who simply opened his jaws and engulfed his target in flames. The charred corpse of the Crow Bat dropped like a rock, landing on the grassy ground of the wraith-like forest all crispy and unmoving.
And just like that, the remaining Ravens and Bats were routed. With the presence of both Xiao Huo Long and the Grim Owl, the smaller Owl spirit beasts were able to pursue and hunt down the fleeing Ravenous Ravens and Bats, tearing them apart with beaks and talons or shooting them down with deadly arrow-like feathers.
With the skies cleared and now under our control, we pushed on. By now, my ghost army had met up with my aquatic armada and we were following Sigmund and the rest into striking at the command post of the enemy. The dark elves pulled their Dire Wolves back into a retreat, sensing that a defeat was near, but more and more Kobolds and Lycanthrope Lords were hurling themselves at us, only to be felled by Sigmund's deft strokes or Myria's whip-like water sword or Morten's spiky kicks.
"Enough!"
At the thunderous voice, we all turned and caught sight of a titanic Kobold leaping from afar and landing in the clearing with an earthshaking impact. He snarled and rose to his full fifteen meters height, his thick, muscular fame adorned with trophies and a necklace where skulls dangled from. Claws gleamed from his hands and the nails of his bare feet dug deeply into the earth, despite the majority of his legs being clothed in dark leather. Black and silver fur bristled about him, and for some reason he was actually wearing a cloak befitting his status.
Immediately, I knew this had to be the Kobold King.
As always, Sigmund wasted no time with petty talk and launched himself at the Kobold King, eager to end this war once and for all. He swung his Balmung sword, blue draconic energies wreathing the great blade, but the Kobold King caught the blow with his claws before hurling the black swordsman back.
Sigmund flipped himself about in midair and landed on his feet, skidding to a stop. He prepared to charge again, but the Kobold King shook his head and laughed hoarsely, his fanged jaws slavering.
"I'm afraid your opponent isn't me."
"What?" Sigmund frowned, caught off guard. Then his eyes widened and he was forced to dive to the side when something slashed at him. Hitting the ground, he rolled and sprang back up, parrying the next blow with his sword. He blinked and gaped at the new enemy.
We all did.
Blue, disruptive energies crackled along the length of five curved blades that made up a single lightning claw. A humanoid Raven creature flapped his massive wings and gracefully darted across the air to slash with a second lightning claw from an unexpected angle, and though Sigmund somehow parried the blow, his shock caused him to stumble.
Gleaming armor covered the torso of the newcomer, and despite the weight of the metallic protection, his huge wings kept him aloft with ease. Long black hair streamed down a pale face, and eyes the color of night stared out from sunken sockets. Inky tendrils of mana snaked out from his sleek figure, the demonic wisps causing his shape to look almost demonic despite his humanoid features. I felt a chill run down my spine as I watched our new enemy, aware that his strength was at least Earth ranked as well.
"Corvus, the Raven Lord," he introduced himself with a thin smile before he delivered another devastating slash. "I'll be your opponent, Sigmund Krieg."