Black hair, red eyes, a towering frame, and black and red attire, reminded Rapl of that faithful day, when his once small world, was expanded, "Master?" The soldiers and the people of Krome stopped in their tracks, as their Emperor, the Great Lich, Artefus, had come to save them.
But as the five apprentices stared at Artefus, their eyes began to be directed at the two figures next to him. Recognizing Edwin's golden hair and big hat, their eyes all locked on an unfamiliar figure, "Who's that?" Bok verbalized, causing one of the soldiers to approach him.
"That boy is the newly appointed Grand General Quix Veltor," the soldier explained. I heard he was stationed in the North of Zan; I didn't expect him to be here so quickly." Bok and Alex stared curiously as the boy, no bigger than Sevi, walked forward in front of Artefus and Edwin.
"Invaders of Zan," he remarked. Still, his voice was amplified, making the entire area hear what he was saying, "I am the Grand General of the Empire of Zan, and I am here with His Majesty the Lich, along with the Symphony of Extinction, this is your last warning, if you do not retreat immediately from whence you came from, by Zeroth law, champion or not, we will be forced to annihilate you all."
All breaths were halted as the army of Dyrin was given a conundrum: leaving with their lives meant leaving fifty-thousand lives behind, and all that they did was for nothing. Or they could fight and try to save as many people as they could.
Dyrin, who has finally come face to face with the Lich, held his knife tightly in anger, "I can't… I can't just leave," Dyrin said to himself as his golden eyes met that of the Lich's spiral red.
All noise died down, as the only thing that could be heard was the heartbeats of the warriors of Hulda. Their mana was not pulsing, the typical sign of danger, but it meant more, for mana not reacting to a being of this magnitude meant two things. One, the Lich was in complete control of his mana output, and choosing not to express it, or two, it was too much for their sensory mana, and its power made it think their vessel was already dead.
Artefus was getting impatient as still, none replied to him, so with a heavy breath, he asked Edwin to amplify his voice, "If you can't make a decision," he hissed with his terrifying voice, "Let me, convince you." Slowly he unveiled his covered hand, pointing his finger in the direction of the Huldians; and as he did, he bit his lip, causing a bit of blood to trickle out. The blood from his lips traveled towards the tip of his finger, forming a small ball, and as it began to surge, it began to be set a light, "Emperor's Command."
The ball shot out into a stream, barrelling towards Dyrin's army, but with pinpoint accuracy, it passed without hitting anyone. But as the stream hit a small hill protruding from the ground, it cut it, before exploding, causing a blast that reached the skies and made a shockwave in a six-kilometer radius, enough force to de-root trees and decimate hills.
Everyone was in awe at the magnitude of the explosion, to Rapl, it was the most destructive attack he had ever seen. To the Huldians, their resolve was shaken, "That was just a small drop," Artefus taunted, moving his finger ever so slightly so that this time, he would hit the Huldians if he were to cast it again, "Do you want me to show you what a river would look like?"
Yet again all breaths were halted, as Artefus' show of power completely murdered Dyrin's confidence and will, "Retreat," Dyrin commanded, leading his soldiers to stare at him in a questioning manner.
"Dyrin, we went all this way to free the Zanians, our own friends died for us to get this far," one of the soldiers protested.
"We can't win, do you realize it only takes a single spell to kill all of us," Dyrin sternly warned, his hands shaking, "They caught us, faster than I realized, we need to go back." But as Dyrin said this, many of his soldiers laid a hand on his shoulder.
"Dyrin, please, this is why we all came together in the first place, to free those who can't free themselves, and to inspire hope," one of them told Dyrin, as he went past him, "I RECKON!! TODAY!! WE SHALL FIGHT!! AND PUT OUR NAMES IN HISTORY!! EVEN IF WE DIE TRYING!!" A roar came over the crowds as they all began to chant in unison.
"FIGHT OR DIE!!"
"FIGHT OR DIE!!"
Dyrin, watching his army preparing themselves to die, began to panic, "NO!! DON'T!!" But it was too late, as more and more soldiers began to run at the Lich, Tuck, Verti, and Frieda all tried to assist Dyrin in stopping them. But even with it, they couldn't stop over nine thousand soldiers from running towards the Great Lich.
"Have they gone mad?" Artefus exclaimed as he brought his hand down. Seeing this, the Huldians began to cheer, thinking that their show of resolve dissuaded the Lich, "Quix."
But instantly that was taken away, as the smaller figure on the side of Artefus teleported only a few meters away from them, he held his knife out, revealing it to be made of a dark charry substance. He then put his axe at the start of the blade, and as he pulled his knife back, the axe shaved off specks of dust from the knife, "Gale."
With a spell, the dust was spread around the army, some soldiers even inhaled it, they were stopped in their tracks as they began to cough and choke, all whilst the Grand General put his thumb and middle finger together.
"Spark," he cast, sending a small fire to the dust, igniting it, before exploding everything near. Those who inhaled the dust combusted as most of the soldiers were gravely injured and disabled. Over a hundred were taken out by a single move.
The Huldians screamed in fury as they started to attack the Grand General, but with a swing of his axe, over thirty died as the Kutha was so strong it even caused the ground to shatter and break. But along with the strength, the Grand General would teleport around the battlefield, swinging as he killed hundreds with each flurry.
Some of Dyrin's champions tried to battle with him, but they would see their entire bodies cut in half before even unveiling their weapons. In a display of disrespect, the Grand General laid himself in the middle of the army, closing his eyes as the Huldians tried to swing at him.
But he would just dodge everything, over a thousand swings were directed to him in a matter of seconds, but none hit. Seeing his people die, Dyrin's heart ached, as his legs moved.
"DYRIN!!" Ja'Klei yelled as Dyrin rushed to the frontlines, "SOMEONE STOP HIM!!" Tuck, who saw Dyrin charging in, prepared to do so.
"Freeze." But with a single stare and command from the Grand General far in the front lines, the wind mage's body was paralyzed. Seeing Dyrin charging towards him, the Grand General scoffed as he prepared his knife.
Dyrin also prepared his blade as he focused all his heart's fire into it, "PLEASE DYRIN!! SAVE THEM!!" He begged himself as his blade blazed with flame, "FLAME-"
But as it did, the Zanian Grand General's knife raged with an inferno over twenty feet big, "Flame Shot," he cast first, hitting Dyrin square on the chest, and opening a massive burn wound that instantly took him out of the battle. But that was what The Grand General thought.
"FLASH!!" Dyrin replied, with his chest bloody and burning. But seeing it a mile away, the Zanian simply moved out of the way of the attack, "FLAME SHOT!!" Dyrin cast again, and yet again, the Zanian moved away.
"Your heart is admirable," the Grand General praised as Dyrin missed another hit, leading the Zanian to lift his axe and bring it down on him. But as blood came out, the Grand General's eyes widened as Artefus scoffed.
"The Unbreakable Spirit huh?" The Lich remarked, his all-seeing-eyes looking at the sight of Dyrin, his knife, and hand stopping his Grand General's axe from plunging deeper than it already had.
"You bear the strength of thirty men? Impressive," the Zanian commented, but he then saw the eyes of Dyrin, his golden sun-like eyes, "And the spirit of a thousand." But after that last praise, Dyrin was kicked in the stomach by the soldier, sending him flying for over a hundred feet.
Trying to get their revenge, the Huldians' fury escalated, but the Grand General was unstoppable, tearing into the army as they tried their best to land a single hit on him. Ja'Klei and the rest of Dyrin's most loyal champions stared in shock and horror as the people that they knew for years now were being slaughtered left and right, and all they could do was watch.