Astral woke up as the sun rose. He stared at it and looked among all of the people inside of the fortress that they had made. They didn't have enough proper defenses to be considered quite the counter to what they were likely to see. Astral stared out into the valley. It was a fish bowl, they would enter and be trapped. The clashing of the two armies would be insurmountable. Astral drew a map in the ground as he smiled. He had a plan. His clones could play a large factor in this. But he would want to do this himself.
During the night he dreamt of an explosion of colors and the crazy attack speed he could use. 'Why of last night was that the time to see that?' Astral stood still as he laid his weapons on the ground. Making notes on a wooden board of what to use and when. James looked at him from a few steps back as Astral looked back into the valley.
"Are you thinking of taking them all yourself? Your layouts are very accurate to what you need. And saving many is very telling to them that they think we are weak. Or this is a trap you have set for them." James looked at the dirt map on the ground as he put it all together in one cumulative moment.
"You understand it. Its meant to draw out what made the demons so attracted to killing humans. I will admit it, Sora will be planning it differently letting them come to us. But the weaker demons are manageable by you and the other hybrids." Astral opened a hole into his pocket dimension as he saw inside of it. "Whatever is restraining me, its bonds are weakening. I see a lot more of an arsenal. And the clones can take advantage of that. As much as I can."
"Do you have access to the enchanted items?" James squeaked out as he looked at all the items on the ground. Swords, spears, shields, and axes were spread out. James flipped a spear up and caught it with his left hand. It was a copy of his sisters.
"Whoever made these spent a long time with their craftsmanship. There is close to a million different weapons, and many sets of armor for each situation. Except." Astral grabbed the shoulder plate he still had as its marking showed of their alliance and the powerhouses still adrift aimlessly in space. "We can do this." Astral opened his hand up as all of the weapons vanished. "My armor is missing. That will be my next goal. Be careful of Sora and lead these people to safety. I will be leaving after this and return to kill the Crown Jewels."
James nodded in agreement. "Sora isn't going to like it when you leave. I don't like this idea, however; once you have your armor you will be unstoppable. I still am getting the ick from Sora. It's a trap. I can't say anything else other than the bond he shares with you feels so extremely similar."
"He feels similar how?"
"You two look similar and he smells like he has the same soul as yours. I don't know what it means on a deeper level." James stopped talking as the door opened in front of them. Lilac opened it as Sora stepped out. "I'll be wary." James slowly turned around and began to walk away.
"Aww, is the pretty boy pussy cat scared of me?" Sora scoffed as James stopped. "You don't like me, so be it." James jogged off as Astral kicked a bit of the dust around hiding his plans. "I came to tell you the plan, throw the beasts at them and help out from afar." Astral rolled his eyes as Tina emerged from her tent.
"No, I want to save as many lives as possible. We will let them charge at us and keep them at bay with bows." Astral looked past him as he waved at Tina. "So you can lead from up here, we have it covered. Sir" Astral stood a little straighter as Sora rolled his eyes.
"Fine, so be it." Sora waved Astral to go away and clung to Tina. "I need a word with the four of them being sent to support you." Astral flipped up his middle finger as he stepped off the edge of the cliff face down to the camp where most of the warriors were of the hybrids. He spread out his robotic wings and landed in front of the center tent.
Astral opened it as there were five of them all sprawled across the ground. All five of them were covered by one large blanket as Astral took a second and paused. "Bitsy, Errol, Sanguine, Evelin, but who is the fifth?" Astral stayed quiet as Bitsy's ears perked up.
Astral watched as the bat popped up from the rest of the crowd with no clothes on. Astral closed his eyes and covered them. "I am sorry to intrude, but I had a few questions to ask." Bitsy looked at Astral with confusion as James walked in behind Astral, Instinctually Astral put his other hand over James' eyes. "Don't look."
"Actually, you are the outsider on this one." James lifted the hand as he stared blankly forward as Bitsy was getting dressed in front of them. The rest all stirred awake after hearing the commotion. "Not to alarm you, but the Queens made it uniformly acceptable to be nude with other members when sleeping. To conserve body heat and strengthen bonds." Astral kept his eyes closed as he lowered his hand.
"Excuse my naivety. But Sora wanted to talk to the four of you who were going to defend Tina. As for the fifth one, I haven't met you." Astral tapped his side as he found his map of the area. Grabbing it and his wooden board of notes.
"I am Sugar! My momma was under attack by demons when she had me, and said my name was to be the sweetest thing. She died as the demons left me to die. Thankfully I was close to a body of water and blended in with the alligators for a while. Then James found me on a mission two years ago. He has taught me everything I know. Including my name!" Her scaly green tail was wagging back and forth as James chuckled. Astral opened his eyes as he saw her red eyes gleam at him.
"Your dad is so much cooler when you see him up close." She said under her breath as Bitsy and James started to laugh.
"So Sugar, you and James will prepare everyone for the eventual attack. I will be filling in my clones than be waiting up on the wall meditating till the sun is down." Astral smiled. "As for you four, you should just follow along with whatever plan Sora has in store." They nodded as Astral exited the tent. James stood silently as the other four left. Leaving the two alone in the tent.
"Sugar, the plan that we are going with. Its bold, and risky, its his talents that will let us get away with it however." James paused for a moment. "Prepare all the archers and help me assemble the best marksmen along the top of the wall. Once the moon rises we move into position." Sugar nodded as the two sprinted around the camp. Ready to see what Astral can do.
Astral stood on the wall as the ten clones of him stood next to each other. "You all know the plan, keep them off the wall and let me deal with some of the strongest. Once that first wave is done. Hop down and we can defeat them all. After this you all can go back." They nodded as they agreed. They felt like their goals were done. Astral sat on the wall and closed his eyes as he waited.
The moon crested above the valley as Astral opened his eyes, at the peak of the valley were all the demon soldiers. Astral opened his hand to the sky. "Launch." A small ball of green smoke launched upwards as that was his signal for them to begin the preparations. The skies were clear as the demons marched forward.
Most of them were smaller in size compared to what they have faced. But their back legion were all double the size of Astral as he gripped Muramasa. James climbed the wall and stood next to him. "You are right, Sora had a different plan. But the Hybrids will listen to me, and no others. Their loyalty is bound by the honesty of yours." Astral gave James a light nod as he stood on the edge of the wall. The archers took their place on the wall as the intermingled species held their bows ready to draw as James watched Astral stand vertically on the outside of the wall.
All of the forces watched in awe as the demons started stomping. It became louder as their rhythm became more steady. Astral wanted this as he waited for the apex of their sound. He knew these sounds would irritate the hybrids and make them irritable. Not perfect for a battle of this scale. James knew there had to be something as he looked to the surrounding peaks. The snow started to slowly shift as Astral extended his arms. 'I haven't created the elements yet, only sparks. This time there is no need. Its all in front of me.' Astral pulled his arms down as the snow began to run down from the mountain tops.
The snow instantly evaporated by the time it got close to the valley. The heat from the demons and their aura made it near impossible to stop them. Astral's face cracked a smile. "I KNEW THAT HEAT WOULDN'T BE ENOUGH TO STOP ME!" Astral condensed the steam from the snow as he turned it into one large slab of ice. Dropping it from above, crushing their front line of demons as he rested his hand on the wall below him and lifted his second to face the sky, shooting a yellow flare upwards as they all looked at it. The ice wall caught itself on two stone barriers that Astral pulled up as he felt the power surge through him.
Tina pointed her hand at Astral and muttered. "Run wild you feral man." Tina sent the dilation spell at him and let it connect as Astral launched himself from the wall deep into the demon's line. He created an opening deep in their line with Muramasa. Standing there as the demons closed in and swung their various weapons at him. All they heard was a slashing of a blade and a blur of cyan and black.
James watched from the wall as he saw all of Astral's moves and his skill on full display, despite forgetting most things and having a majority of the powers locked he still was otherworldly. "All archers, aim for their front line and fire, let's do our part and keep these people safe!" The mass amount of hybrids all cheered in unison as they listened to their leader.
Astral kept his blade close as he cleaved from the middle of the valley to the back as he was choked up on the sight of something. He had no way to describe it as two large dragons were on either side of the shadowy figure. He paused for a moment as he slid Muramasa away. Two demons saw this as a moment of weakness as two spears were fired to keep Astral safe while he took pause for just a moment.