The Battle Begins

Back at the field, the two sides seemed to have finished preparing. As they both stood opposite to each other, separated only by a small field, the leaders, along with their bodyguards, headed into the center of the field.

“You must be really regretting what you said this morning Vera, but begging now won’t change anything. I’ll reconsider if you are willing to pay me 10 million gold coins.”- Lorcan taunts.

“Numbers aren't everything, a thousand cats isn’t going to beat a hundred lions.”- Vera smiles.

She glances over at a calm Velh. He is the only one here that she treats like a real threat.

“Where is Giza? Did he know that you are going to make a fool out of yourself and decided not to show up?”- Vera mocks Lorcan.

“I just deemed that his presence isn’t needed for me to win this battle, it will be a breeze.”- Lorcan confidently replies, even though he knows it’s a lie.

“Good luck, you’ll need it.”- Vera says, turning around and walking back towards her side.

She left before Lorcan could even give a response. He turns around along with Doppel and Velh, and heads back.

“Seb, what are the chances of us winning this battle?”- Lorcan asks Elqium’s second in command once he returns to his army.

“From my estimation, it's 55-45 with the odds slightly favoring us. It will be a close battle, but we will inevitably triumph.”- Seb replies.

Everyone holds their stance in nervous anticipation, with each side looking directly at the other. Both commanders positioned themselves behind the army, each knowing that taking the other out would mark an end to the battle. The wind rustles through the field, lit by the bright moon. The time has come, as chimes can be heard from the giant bell within the capital, signaling midnight. With loud shouts from both sides, the Warriors and Barbarians charge in. Sounds of swords clinking filled the field. Velh calmly walks through the battlefield, slicing whatever foes came his way. A group of Elqium’s mages can be seen chanting, casting a spell they used in their battles within the abyss, Sky Flare. Pillars of flames form in the sky, numbering hundreds, rain down on Sanc Gladius’s force.

“I got this.”- Garnet confidently says, running past Sanc Gladius’s mages.

“My will is unbreakable. Provide my protection to the motherland. STOP ALL DANGER THAT COMES IN MY WAY.”- Garnet shouts.

The sky above Sanc Gladius’s forces glows bright yellow. A giant magical shield, the size of a whole army blocks the giant flame pillars slamming down. Below the shields, mages from Sanc Gladius prepare a counter attack, shooting thousands of elemental spells towards Lorcan’s army. Spells rain down from the sky, hitting the forces.

“Are you kidding me? No wonder they call her ‘The Shield of Sanc Gladius!’ I need to prevent her from doing that.”- Doppel said.

“It’s time.”- He said, gesturing to his army of thousands to charge in.

With loud battle shouts, they charge into the battlefield. Reinforcing Lorcan’s forces and overwhelming the Sanc Gladius’s front line.

“Where are all of Doppel’s clones?”- Garnet wonders, trying to spot Doppel.

“Shadowsteps.”- Doppel casts, blinking across the battlefield.

Within seconds, he arrives past the Sanc Gladius’s frontline. Their backline is now in trouble.

“ARE YOU KIDDING ME?!?”- Garnet shouts.

Doppel throws a small flare upwards into the sky, signaling something to his army. Before he can do anything further, Saura appears, charging quickly at him. The two engaged in a quick knife battle, Rogue vs Assassin. The two leapt around the field quickly, so fast that Garnet could hardly keep up with where they were. As the two clash, they seem to be equal in strength, but Doppel had been taking some small hits.

“A strong fighter indeed, but there’s one thing I have that you don’t. I’m way more cunning.”- Doppel smiles, looking back at his army.

Saura seems to be confused, but she immediately realizes what Doppel meant. He was only stalling time for his cleric army in his backline to finish casting their miracles. He receives all kinds of buffs that increase his strength, speed, stamina, vitality, mana and weapon strength.

Saura leaps backwards, knowing that there’s nothing she can do, escaping back towards Vera.

“This battle is over! Underestimating me was your biggest mistake, Vera!”- Doppel laughs, casting his ability.

In an instant, hundreds of Doppels appear onto the battlefield near the original. Doppel has used his Clone ability, the difference this time is that they also all have the same buffs that Doppel have. Even worse is that they are also in Sanc Gladius’s backline. Intriguingly, Vera remains completely calm, still sitting on her chair even thought her army seems to be losing momentum.

“You aren’t the only one who has access to the back.”- Vera said.

A loud crackling thunder sound can be heard, a white spear flies down from the sky, right behind Lorcan and Doppel’s backline. A giant dragon roar can be heard, followed by a massive shockwave from around the spear, sending the mages flying. Zorgis landed down from the sky, leaping so high up that no one could see him. The famous dragon slayer of Sanc Gladius was behind Lorcan’s army, quickly wiping out their mages.

“Looks like it’s just a game of whoever does it faster.”- Doppel said, his clones charging fast at Sanc Gladius mages, taking them out.

With the battlefield becoming complete chaos, Garnet searches around quickly, looking for Velh.

“Where is that old man? He is by far the most dangerous one, I need to prevent him from getting to Vera.”- Garnet said.

“Is that so?”- Velh said, slamming his fists down into Garnet’s back.

She flew a few feet away, still standing.

“Oh ho? You do live up to your reputation. That punch would have taken out even a dragon.”- Velh laughs.

“I didn’t even hear him getting close. How did he get here?”- Garnet thought, preparing herself.

“You must be thinking how I got here. It’s fairly simple, I use an Assassin spell to go invisible and use the Rogue spell Shadow Steps to blink here. And if you’re curious, I used the Barbarian spell Meteor Punch to hit you just now.”- Velh smiles.

“You certainly run your mouth a lot more now compared to when you were at the Guild Summit.”- Garnet smiles.

“What can I say? Being on the battlefield is great!”- Velh explains, blinking immediately in front of Garnet.

She immediately reacts, casting Protection Shield. She glows green as a small protective barrier appears around her whole body. To her surprise, Velh didn’t punch, he instead casted the Warrior spell Shield break. He slams her with his shoulder, breaking her protective shield. He quickly slices her with his sword. It breaks the moment it comes into contact with her armor.

“You are still a few hundred years too young to take me on. So inexperienced.”- Velh said.

“She has the god’s Blessing of Shield I see, which prevents any weapons from damaging her.”- Velh concludes in his thoughts.

Suddenly, Velh saw a small glimpse of light in the distance. He immediately turns over to his right, blocking Zorgis’s spear attack. Zorgis noticed that Velh was fighting Garnet from all the way across the battlefield and decided to jump there to aid her.

“I’ll handle him. You go help us recapture the front line.”- Zorgis said, standing in front of Garnet.

“Gotcha”- Garnet said, turning around and heading towards Sanc Gladius’s frontline.

“Well if it isn’t the dragon kid. This matchup is certainly more exciting for me. Maybe it’s time for me to show you why I’m number 2 and you’re number 3.”- Velh said.

Sanc Gladius’s front line seems to be losing ground as they have to take on both Doppel and Lorcan’s frontline. At the same time they have to also withstand the spell barrages by Doppel and Lorcan’s backline, since Zorgis stopped his attack. As more of their members fell, the Warriors took their last stand. Suddenly, they felt a surge of energy through their body. Their defense has increased tenfold, the effect of Garnet being near them, as she is here to back them up. As the Doppel clones made their advances, they felt a cold sensation, something they due to his experience, as a threat was coming. As they halt their attack, they frantically search around for what was coming their way..

“Oh lonely flower of the night, bloom to your utmost beauty.”- Saura’s voice can be heard.

She appeared out of thin air in the middle of the clone army. In a calm and collected manner, she twirls around as if she was dancing to some melody. Her long black hair seems to grow all the way to the ground, her small knife now has grown longer into a blade. In an instant Saura disappears, all of the Doppel clones within the vicinity become cut, so fast that we can’t see what’s going on. She appears in the center once again, her blade now bloodied. The clones all collapsed on the ground, bleeding and slowly vanishing.

“That’s crazy, this woman was stronger than I anticipated. That cunning Vera has been hiding her guild member’s abilities!”- Doppel said, watching from a distance.

In a single move, Saura has prevented Doppel’s assault on the Sanc Gladius’s back line. The flow of the battle has returned to their favor.

“Damn old man! We were relying on him to turn the tide of the battle, now we’re at a dead even point.”- Lorcan said, looking over at Velh.

Velh is currently still engaged in a battle with Zorgis, with neither yielding ground. Even though Velh has way more abilities and wealth of experience, Zorgis has been holding up through his sheer incredible strengths.

“What are our odds of winning this battle now?”- Lorcan turns around, asking Seb.

“My lord, with the upcoming reinforcements, we’ll win this battle.”- Seb replies with a smile.

“AHAHAHA, you fools. You will never expect Doppel to split Alias United in half. Our numbers are even greater than you could ever imagine. Just a little bit more, once they arrive, Amber will be back at my hand.”- Lorcan laughs out loud to himself like a weird person.

“If only Giza were here, this battle would have been a breeze. Whatever, I’ll give him my complaints after our victory here.”- Lorcan said.

As his force was gaining grounds, one of the scouts from the reinforcement group arrives, and ran up to Lorcan and reported:

“Sir Lorcan! Sorry for being late, there was a landslide that completely destroyed the road on the way here. The reinforcement is taking a detour, they’ll be here in around 30 minutes.”

“Landslide? The road was in perfect condition this morning, there was no way a landsl…”- Lorcan freezes in a horrific realization.

On the opposite side of the battlefield, Vera can be seen laughing, she finally stood up from her chair and said:

“It’s about time they get here. Lorcan is waiting for reinforcements who aren't going to make it on time. You choose the wrong person to fight.”

Sounds of horses can be heard from a distance away, gradually getting louder and louder. A massive squad of cavalry reinforcements bearing the Sanc Gladius banner arrives on the left flank of the battlefield, heading towards Doppel and Lorcan’s army.

“REINFORCEMENTS?!? There is no way Sanc Gladius has that many members. Unless, THAT BITCH. She went to the king to request some help from the Royal Army. That timing! She delayed Doppel’s reinforcements!”- Lorcan flashes back during the morning when he passes by many royal knights on the road to the capital.

“Looks like the battle is decided.”- Velh said, standing still and looking over at the reinforcements that were approaching from a distance.

He and Zorgis both stopped their fight, the ground around them filled with massage craters formed from their battle. Both have sustained only scratches. Velh turns his back on Zorgis, walking back towards Lorcan’s army.

“It’s over, the winner is clear. That was an interesting battle, but maybe we’ll get to fight again someday.”- Velh said as he walked away.

“Sigh, that old man. Always so fun yet so annoying.”- Vera said, looking at him.

Doppel had realized what had happened too, smiling and sat down in place. He knows that they have been outsmarted. As Saura and Zorgis walked towards him, he put both of his arms up, gesturing a surrender. The cavalry squad arrived, completely destroying the left flank of Doppel and Lorcan’s army. Had their reinforcements been there, both sides would have still been even.

“The battle is lost, we need to escape.”- Seb said, looking at a shocked Lorcan.

“LORCAN, WE NEED TO GET OUT!”- He shouts.

That seems to have snapped him out of the shock, as Lorcan turned around to his right and said:

“THE BATTLE IS LOST, RETREAT!!”

The remaining Elqium and Alias United members scattered in a panic, all trying to run in Lorcan’s direction. As he was about to head out, Lorcan spots three Majoria members heading towards his direction.

“WHERE WERE YOU GUYS THIS WHOLE TIME??? THE BATTLE IS LOST, ESCORT US OUT OF HERE!!!”- Lorcan shouts in frustration.

“Orders were given by our leader: ‘capture Lorcan alive.’ “- One of the members replies in a calm tone.

“C-c-c-c-capture? Are you guys crazy? The old man is on my side, what you’re doing is treacherous.”- Lorcan said in fear.

“No, they’re right. I gave the order.”- Velh said, arriving at Lorcan’s location.

“You promised! You were on our side!”- Lorcan responded in shock.

“I was never on anyone’s side. I only help those that would benefit me the most. In this case, you are useless to me.”- Velh replies.

“I’LL REMEMBER THIS!!! CURSE YOU AND THAT BITCH!!! YOU’LL REGRET THIS!!!”- Lorcan shouts.

“Protect the leader!” - Seb said, ordering the remaining Elqium members to protect Lorcan.

They were unfortunately quite outclassed by their opponent, with Doppel surrendering. It was only Elqium, a rank 5th guild versus Sanc Gladius and Majoria, ranked 1st and 2nd respectively. They stood no chance despite their effort, Lorcan was captured by Velh. As the remaining members were surrounded, a loud beam sound could be heard.

“Oh ho? What’s this?”- Velh said, looking to the far right.

“EVERYONE MOVE BEHIND ME!”- Garnet shouts, running to the right.

“My will is unbreakable! Provide my protection to the motherland! STOP ALL DANGER THAT COMES IN MY WAY!”- Garnet shouts once more.

A giant glowing shield appears, protecting the army behind it. Within seconds, a giant black laser beam strikes the shield. The energy of the attack is incredibly high, surprising Velh and Vera. With all of her might, Garnet maintains the form of the shield, holding back the attack. “BOOM” a giant explosion occurred as the attack ended. Garnet has managed to protect everyone. She collapses in exhaustion, with clerics rushing over to her.

“Something interesting is happening in that direction. It’s too far for me to tell what it was though, that’s certainly from the South of the Capital.”- Vera smiles.

Seb has taken that chance to escape along with the remaining Elqium and Alias United members. Everyone was so occupied with the sudden laser attack that they forgot. Velh noticed, but he decided that it wasn’t worth his efforts to capture them. They have the most important pieces in their custody, Doppel and Lorcan. The battle has finally come to an unexpected end, with big casualties from both sides. Of course one side suffered way more than the other, Alias United is no more as Doppel was captured. With the way that the guild runs, missing Doppel will prove to be fatal. Most of it decimated in the war, the remaining members, without Doppel would just be multiple B tier parties. Elqium also suffered, losing Lorcan, their leader, along with many of the members in the battle. Most were captured, some managed to escape along with Seb. Vera left the war a victor, gaining immense leverage by holding Doppel and Lorcan up for negotiations. Sanc Gladius have gained further notoriety, boosting their reputation among the Adventurer Guild, solidifying their first place seat. Velh, along with Majoria, was a major catalyst for the conflict, yet they were barely involved in the battle itself. They gained a portion of the profit Vera will make. Most importantly, the impact of the battle will be felt across the world. Rank 4th and 5th spots are now empty, the new guilds that will arrive to replace them will once again change the political situation. The Kingdom of Alexandria will feel the changes within the next few weeks.