"Astral, what are your plans for getting your last armor piece? Are we going to sneak through the town and grab it?" Tina hunched down and pretended to be stealthy as she opened her book. "We have spells to make us quieter and invisible." She slammed it shut as she raised her staff up. "Or we can barge in and ask for demands. They will have to listen to you after what happened to the other elves."
"Neither. My plan is just to walk in the front gate and have them hand it over." Astral's approach was direct. "You five could stand back and watch from above and safely on the walls of the kingdom. Could you manage that while being patient?" Astral gave a soft chuckle as he knew this was going to be more difficult convincing her than the fight would be.
"You can bet! I can't wait to support you with spells from above." Tina clapped in celebration before all the acts were to unfold. "This means the five of us will stay back and support you from afar with arrows and spells." She made her choice. "We will wait and watch to be called on and help." Astral smiled warmed all five of them as they left their supplies high in a tree.
The six of them marched to the outer gates as they looked at the walls that scaled high. The treeline covered the city from the sun as they watched and waited. Astral grabbed his blade with both hands as he approached the main gate. The archers on the side above it blew their battle horns as the entire city got prepared. Astral held his hand on his blade as the archers above him watched. 'We very well may level this city and kill an entire species, she holds her thoughts of destruction still close. I do not fret her choices. She will do what she thinks is right.'
Astral pulled Muramasa out of the saya as he looked at the door. "Fall." He slashed in one clear motion as the door was sliced in half. He rested his hand on the bottom as it fell forward. He walked under the remaining gate as he looked directly into a phalanx of elves all ready to kill him. "I ask for one thing, no violence needs to be shed or no blades to be broken. I want what you have of mine." Astral held firm as the archers from above launched two arrows at him. His armor fired to life as he raised his gauntlets and deflected them. His stern tone stayed. "I will not ask twice. Bring your council out for us to speak." They all froze for a moment as the entire army stepped back two steps. The archers from above fled the walls as the commanding officer blew into a horn with a different tune.
They waited for over an hour of a tense staredown. Astral rested his mind and his soul as Tina and the others climbed to be on the wall. Far from the initial battlefield and where the fighting would happen. Being out of sight and mind for the elves. Four elders dressed in moss green robes stood in front of their army, their hair all white and silky as they looked at Astral with their cloudy eyes. "Do you know why we banished magic?" the four elders asked Astral at the same time.
"I assume due to the queens of the hybrid kingdom." Astral crossed his arms as he waited for their response. Prepared for another trap. However, something felt different as he felt the air around the four change. "That was never the case."
"There was an era of mages that ruled this planet far before the queens arrived. They tried to erase our history. We four elders remember better than any." The four of them talked in unison. "The other elves all were alive as a civilization but no longer remember, only have the fear of the queens instilled in them. When the mages ruled the planet it was much safer, the demons were much less present and the elves ruled the planet. We made barriers capable of absorbing each and every attack that could be thrown at it."
"We however knew these thing may end at any point. When a mighty warrior took the animal kingdom over and imbued them with souls, conscience and magic. We protested and went to war, it was harsh as many mages, great and weak died on both sides. Of humans, hybrids and elves. They ran into hiding to not be purged by the likes of the human leader of the hybrids. Lesser mages weren't so lucky, in order to survive the ones who still hunt mages, we outlawed it to punishment of death to the outside."
"You have been teaching mages and building them up, preserving them for a moment like this? I love the move." Astral commented as he relaxed and uncrossed his arms. A magic missile struck his left shoulder as it blew it clean off. His arm hung by its skin as Astral was in shock.
"We elders were the only ones keeping them sealed. We have unsealed each and every one. Good luck getting your armor back." The elders all bowed as Astral was chained down for but a mere moment. "Your magic can only do so much, no outsiders can use magic inside of this barrier, only elves." Astral started to cackle as his arm swung from side to side. "We do not care to help the queens, this is for us. If we kill the one who shattered the universes balance. We then can defend ourselves for an eternity."
Astral pulled his left arm back up as his armor appeared and locked it back into place as it slowly healed. "Too bad for you. You won't get a chance to see the success of your mages." The chains on him shattered as he quickly drew his magnum, firing four rounds as each of the elves fell to the ground, brain matter staining the ground as the rooftops started to become covered in mages. "I don't have a full immunity to magical spells here, but I have all of my human parlor tricks." He put his magnum back on his right side as he charged forward closing the gap to the front line of the phalanx, drawing Muramasa from his side as he slashed them down due to the pressure of his blade, three screens appeared in his left eye as he flipped backwards to gain some spacing.
The three screens read as followed. 'Ally count: Five. Hostile count: fifty thousand.' 'Arm status, seventy percent healed.' 'Ammo count on magnum: eight rounds.' "Lets get started." Astral grabbed a small golden ball as it formed into a shield. He rested his blade on it as he charged forward. Magical spells were sent at him in waves as he avoided them in a dancing pattern. A blue and green aura slowly started to form around each elf on the ground. Being enchanted and boosted by the swath of mages as Astral took them head on.
Explosions started to ring throughout the town as the mages started to cast stronger spells. The warriors on the ground being immune to them as Astral had more than a hard time putting one soldier down. Their bodies reanimated and couldn't bleed. The only way to stop them was slashing their head and their heart at similar times. Astral felt constricted as he knew magic was being applied to him with hexes and curses.
"All systems are good to go." Astral's ear rang with a notification from his armor as he cracked the magical barrier's prevention of allowing his magic. He put his shield on his back as it deflected a light arrow from one of the mages. Astral summoned his scythe as he finally had two weapons he felt confident in.
Tina sprinted to the front gate as she stood on the wall and was able to watch the madness happen. Astral was a cyan blur as his armor protected him from minor spells. The mages stayed on the rooftops as they needed to stay away from him. The hybrids slowly followed Tina along the top of the wall. She listened to it all as tears were streaming down her eyes. 'Just a child still.' She fell to her knees as she started to take sharp and quick breaths. 'I will thank him for saving me later for now.' she kept her sharp breaths up as she readied herself to help him in every way.