Living trees opened the northern gate from inside, revealing the crimson bloom of the red burning flames within. A smile surfaced on my lips, but the cruel thoughts that lingered within my mind, made that smile come out cold and cruel.
“The demihumans are allies! Those who surrender, capture them! Those who fight, end them! Go!” I led the horde through the gates while I swung Flamberge from my shoulders.
“Don’t let the goblins leave you behind! Onwards!” The araneae, Nikea, said from the darkness.
Fire spread to the trees, dyeing the elven village in the red hue of the flames. It seemed it wouldn’t be long before the flames burned everything.
“At this rate, the village will…” Some elves spoke among themselves anxiously.
Unfortunately, we don’t have the leisure to hold back. The enemy forces are at least twice as big ours. On top of that, they’re outfitted with superior equipment. We have to fight like this if we are to win.
“Defeat the enemy quickly, then extinguish the flames. If you’re worried about the village, then defeat the enemy first!” Fei told the anxious elves.
His words were reckless, but they were agreeable words.
If we don’t defeat the enemy here, setting the village on fire would have been for naught.
“Let us settle things here once and for all!” Fei said.
With that his men finally showed some resolve.
As the elves picked up their bow and sword, I ran after Fei and ran alongside him.
I thank him for getting the elves in order, but he shook his head and said, “It wasn’t for your sake. Someone had to tell them, and we couldn’t possibly push that onto Master Shure.”
He nocked an arrow as he ran, barely stopping even as he shot it toward the elves.
A worrywart for his master, huh.
“WooOON!” Cynthia, a daughter of the fang tribe despite being born away from it, led the pack of gray wolves to the south ahead of us. Behind her were the giant gray wolves as they made their way for the Fang Tribe.
“”Gi Jii Yubu! Move your forces from the north to the west! Limit the enemy’s escape route!” I commanded.
“As you command!” He responded.
The battle demon, Gi Jii Yubu. He has grown enough that I can now feel at ease leaving one side of the army to him. The newly evolved rare goblins, Gi Ah (One Who Encroaches into the Divine Region), Gi Ii (Explorer), and the Ferocious Gi Ba are with him as his assistants.
“Gi Ji Arsil! Move your forces to the east and stop the enemy at the south! Don’t get caught in the fire!” I commanded.
“As you will!” He responded.
Ru Rou and Hal from the tribes are with Gi Ji Arsil. The araneae chieftain, Nikea, is with him as well.
I’m a little worried, but he should have more than enough firepower to take down some panicking elves.
“Rashka, Fei, Gi Za Zakuend! Lead your forces and follow me! We’re going south!”
“My fists will make songs out of their skulls!” Rashka said.
“Very well!” Fei said.
“Exactly as I was hoping for!” Gi Za Zakuend said.
Like that we followed after Cynthia.
Our army consisted of elves, normal goblins, and even druids, which the shaman, Gi Za Zakuend, led. The wind magician, Gi Do, and the water magician, Gi U, are under him well.
Rashka is following me because I couldn’t think of anyone else he’d be willing to follow. As a member of Gaidga and their chief, his power as a duke class is something to fear.
Gi Jii has just recently become a noble and Gi Ji has only started to get his feet into commandership, so since I couldn’t leave Rashka with anyone, I decided to just take him with me instead.
As I ran while giving commands, Shumea ran up to me.
“Boss, let me go too!” She said.
The distant fire illuminated Selena’s face, who was behind her.
“Sure, I don’t mind. Though it sure is rare to hear something like that from you,” I said.
She wasn’t the type to seek battles out on her own.
—Oh I see… It must be because of that person Selena is looking for.
“Don’t worry, we just have some errand to take care of!” Shumea said as she took Selena with her and left, spear in hand.
She could have asked for my help, and yet she didn’t. She probably considers it something personal.
But I did promise to help…
“Fei, can you send someone to go with them?” I asked.
“Would 5 be enough?” Fei asked.
“Yes!”
At Fei’s behest, 5 elves followed after the two girls. I couldn’t send goblins, as they might end up causing needless battles.
I thought the strong winds would blow the fire, spreading it even more, but it seems the roads and the wide plazas in the village have kept them from spreading.
Well, that’s alright. We have more than enough chaos.
“To victory! Onwards!!”
I led my army to meet up with Mido in the south.
◆◆◇
Fires rarely broke out in elven villages. One reason was because they hadn’t fought wars in a very long time, and another reason was because of the forests’ barriers. Besides, how could fire be likely to occur in the elven villages, which were blessed by the wind and water gods themselves?
But unfortunately for the elves, their unrest had changed the barrier.
That was especially true for Sinfall, where the elves had built gates and walls with living trees to make a fortress of sort. Of course, the alterations made wasn’t enough to affect the barrier spanning the whole forest, but it did affect the arrangement of the giant trees. And that was enough to alter the blessings of the wind and water gods. Like that, the elven villages, once impervious to fire, became fuel for the red blooming flower that was fire.
Fortunately, they had a central plaza, which separated the southern and northern districts, keeping the flames from spreading too quickly. But to the elves who weren’t used to fires, that was irrelevant.
When the elves saw the billowing smoke and the red burning flames, many of them chose to flee. Those who couldn’t fight fled to the north, while the warriors, despite being intoxicated, moved about haphazardly as they looked for their platoons.
Of those elves, the ones who fled to the north faster than the others ended up clashing with Gi Ji Arsil’s forces. With the fire yet distant, the ones who ruled the darkness and fought ferociously were Nikea and her araneae.
By grinding a subspecies of glowing moss, and then using that as medicine, the araneae were able to see despite the darkness and were able to put up threads around the area, allowing them to intercept the fleeing elves.
“A mere swing of our blades will not suffice to thank the Forni elves for all that they’ve done!” Nikea said.
At that, the araneae used the threads they’d set up to run the village’s outer walls, raining attacks on the unsuspecting elves from above. In no time at all, the fleeing elves were subjugated.
The elves had run as fast as they could, not even bothering to take any belongings with them. Because of that most of them didn’t even have any armor. Their bows were all that they had.
With their sharp claws and their nimble bodies, the araneae made short work of the elves. Yet even scarier than the cluster of araneae was Nikea, what with her claws dripping with poison and her threads that entangled the elves.
The araneae weren’t the only ones attacking the elves, however. While the araneae were attacking the elves, Gi Ji Arsil and his goblins aimed for the elves’ throats from the darkness.
After failing to infiltrate the human fortress and meeting the orcs, Gi Ji learned the importance of number. And so, after returning to the Fortress of the Abyss, he requested for normal goblins to be given to him.
He trained those goblins during their march here, and somehow he managed to make it in time. This war would be their first battle. Lurking in the darkness, they jumped for the throat of the weakest looking prey from the flock.
Gi Ji and his group of specially trained goblins used their short swords to attack the elves from the shadows. They picked them off one after another, leaving the panicking elves as helpless as sleeping kittens. The resulting mental strain from fighting an opponent one couldn’t see was even greater than the actual damage dealt by Gi Ji and his gobs.
“Surrender! Or else you shall all die!” Hal declared on rider-beast-back as he led the Paradua goblins.
“Show the chief our strength! Onwards!” Dashka said as he led the goblins. Rashka’s participation in the battle had greatly roused his spirit.
“Don’t hit your allies! Remember, we have our own battle!” The young Ru Rou of Ganra said as he led the lone archer unit of the goblins.
Like that Gi Ji Arsil’s battle at the east gradually moved down to the south.
At the same time, the elves to the west were also being pushed back by Gi Jii Yubu.
“Gi Ba, take 8 groups of goblins to the front, and stop the enemy! Gi Ii, take 10 groups with you and take a detour from the right. Gi Ba, take the enemy head on!”
Gi Jii Yubu gave precise instructions as he led the rare class goblins.
“Boss, enemy, many coming,” Gi Ah reported after returning from his scout.
“So the main force is coming here? It seems we will be getting the tastiest part.”
Closing his eyes for a bit, Gi Jii thought of the terrain and their forces, then he struck his iron spear into the ground.
“At the behest of our lord, we shall drive the enemy to the south! Gi Ah, speed up the extermination of the enemy. Take 12 groups with you and attack the enemy Gi Ba is fighting with from the flanks!”
“Understood!”
As Gi Ah set off, Gi Jii set off as well.
“Pale Symphoria, was it? I think it’s about time I paid you back for all those defeats.”
As Gi Jii looked toward the south, he said those words. With resolve, he went down further south.
