Tsucko walked through his personal entrance with a dozen troops following. The Emerald Kingdom's forces were visibly shocked as his presence was not that of a Kingdom of Aces soldier.
" T-Thats the king." A caped soldier cried out. A group of ten soldiers standing a couple of feet away from the entrance looked at each other summoning courage within themselves.
The dozen troops surrounding Tsucko then dashed in beginning their attack. These were the elite of the Kingdom of Aces, while not as good as the Emerald Kingdom veteran soldiers or commanders, they could hold their own and made the battle more even.
A group of troops leaped at Tsucko from all sides swords drawn. Before they could land Tsucko waved 5 fingers and mana wire sliced through them severing limbs.
" Boom"
A bolt of lightning was fired at Tsucko and struck shaking the earth beneath them. Kalci turned toward the impact slightly concerned. However, his concern was more for the troops who surrounded Tsucko.
As the dust cleared Tsucko hadn't moved an inch. His defensive magic de-summoned and his eyes met the young True Mage who fired the attack. The young girl flew back a couple of feet and charged up another attack.
Tsucko kept eye contact the whole time as the attack charged. His unwavering blue eyes caused her to hesitate. A few foot soldiers charged Tsucko. He evaded each swing and counted with his mana wire.
" Boom"
From the top of the wall, a sharp chunk of stone was fired at the young girl piercing her chest. Tuscko then dropped any defensive magic he had prepped and went on the offensive. Using mana wire to cut through half a dozen troops in an instant.
The Emerald Kingdom's troops dashed away as he cut through them leaving him surrounded, but no one was willing to attack. They had seen their friends get cut into pieces in an instant, even if they all attacked...How many lives would be lost?
Tsucko seeing the hesitation of the enemy turned his focus to the wall where that attack had come from.
[" Commander Vulsu huh. Guess I shouldn't have doubted the leader of the True mages."]
Vulsu was lined up on the wall with over 70 True Mages raining fire down on the Emerald Kingdom's ground forces.
[" Right now...This is going better than I thought it would."]
Both sides of this war would be experiencing its harsh realities and the vicious nature it came with. The Kingdom of Aces was substantially weaker in terms of military power and personal strength outside of Kalci and Tsucko.
Tsucko expected this battle to be a sluggish one. Since Both sides would struggle to adapt to the realities of war. Tsucko also had to, to some degree at least. He had lived in a country involved with lots of wars so he understood more about its vicousness. But he had never fought in one. He thought this would apply to Kalci also.
Finally, the surrounding force closed in on Tsucko causing him to take action. They attacked from all sides but were mercilessly cut down. Tsucko was a master at maneuvering his mana wire now, with a simple flick of his finger he could cut down multiple troops.
[" Though I'm more skilled than them...Being surrounded is a problem."]
He was practically fighting in a ring. He had to watch every angle as more troops attacked. He could handle them but sooner or later he would be overwhelmed.
A soldier from his right dashed in with an incredible speed. Not speed gained by manipulating mana inside your body. More like a cast...Hereditary magic.
Tsucko was unable to manipulate his mana wire in time to block or cut him down. He had to use defensive magic and cast a thin layer around his body. He had been pushed into using a desperate move.
" Kachink."
The blade collided with the layer of defensive magic. Tsucko clicked his tongue as he felt the magic begin to break as it couldn't withstand the force. Multiple soldiers came from behind blocking him in.
" Shink"
The defensive magic broke. Tsucko leaned back and the blade narrowly grazed his cheek causing a small amount of blood to leak out.
" Tch!" He was now stepping into the attack of two other soldiers who had already begun to swing their swords...In their minds. They were celebrating the war's end already.
[" Enough!"]
An explosion of yellow engulfed the read surrounding him as he expelled a great deal of mana. So much that it felt like a massive gust of wind knocking his two attackers off balance and sending them sliding back.
As they recovered they looked to Tsuckos position...He's gone! The surrounding ring of soldiers had been spread out even more due to the blast even knocking a few unconscious...Somehow with all this space, they couldn't find hi-
" Above!!" A female soldier screamed out to them.
They looked up to find Tsucko seemingly hovering with mana wire shaped like a spider web. Their eyes widened as they realized what was coming.
" SHEWW!"
The web was fired down on them and moved quicker than they could move. The only one who escaped his shredding threads was the one with some sort of speed cast. The people below who were in his target range were torn to shreds.
As Tsucko descended he de-cast the mana wire in his left hand and soon after a fireball appeared. He quickly brought his left hand over his right shoulder, and with a swift motion fired a wall of fire down upon the soldiers.
Some were able to use defensive magic in time. Others were currently screaming as they were torched and slowly burned. The smell of burning flesh filled the air, just like in the village when the crusade started.
Tsucko reminisced on his beginnings as he descended to the ground. Yellow mana was visibly surrounding him as his output had increased.
[" I've come this far. Yet I nearly threw it away. There's no time for fun now. I've got to reach the end."] He was frustrated with himself. He had thrown himself into an unfavorable position and nearly paid for it.
The Emerald Kingdom soldiers looked on shocked. As the yellow hue surrounded him. They couldn't believe someone so strong could possibly output more mana...Their minds became full of doubts.
" Don't Hesitat!" Suddenly a voice cried out. A commanding, deep voice." Don't think about your life. Think about your friends whose lives have been lost due to this man. Don't give into despair or anger. Use them both and grow a hatred for this man...Don't let him live!"
Tsucko's eyes shot through the crown to the one speaking those words. The one who had just motivated these men and extinguished most of their fear.
" You," Tsucko spoke in a low tone no one could hear. The man standing in the middle of this crowd. He recognized him. He had a scuffed beard. And was dressed formally with a suit and tie, but with shoulder guards and wrist guards. With additional armor pieces strapped to his chest.
[ " That's one of the generals on the list. General Gallierd...Dumb name."]
The surrounding troops had their courage re-borne as they slowly began to come closer. With the general making his way to the front.
" Then....Come at me."
.
.
.
Further into the battlefield. Kalci was dancing between soldiers. Using his undetectablilty to dash in and out of combat slaying multiple soldiers at once with ease. He was a ghost on the battlefield.
He was also examining the troops while he did this. He had expected the battle to be sluggish. Due to the realities of war set in. The same could be expected of him. However, he was separated due to his hatred of magic users. As he fought, he had a made-up image of his father and what they did to him at the front of his mind...Ironically though, he was fighting for the kingdom that did those heinous things to his parents.
He was sprinting through the battlefield. He saw an enemy engaged in combat. He took his sword and quickly sliced him across the back dropping him to the floor.
A small group had seen him and was looking at him. Three of them, the front one took the first swing. Kalci leaped over him and landed a kick on the second soldier behind him. The soldier next to him threw a strike but was parried.
The first soldier attempted to strike him but Kalci leaped over him again. This time a sharp pain ran through the attacker's wast from behind as Kalci had sliced him quicker than he could react.
The last two charged him out of our anger making them easy to read. Kalci jumped back from the first attacker's swing. Then slid under the second's legs appearing behind him and piercing his chest. The first attempted a horizontal slash but Kalci dashed back and followed up by piercing his chest as well.
" Boom!!"
A massive wall of fire erupted from further into the battlefield. Kalci removed his blade from his enemy's chest and turned to face it.
Screams of pain could be heard as the wall stood taller than the entire battlefield like a volcano had erupted. A line of sight soon cleared.
Kalci narrowed his eyes as they adjusted to the brightness brought by the massive m=flame. Standing almost inside the wall of fire sat a cloaked figure with a staff. His cloak waved in the wind brought on by the massive eruption behind him.
Kalci wasn't good at mana detection or measurement, but even he could sense the massive amounts of mana being output from this man's body. Leaving him to conclude who it was.
[" General Neko...The Commander of the Emerald Kingdoms True Mages."]