Caesar and the fox-kin men stared fearlessly at the enraged trolls just a few dozen meters away from them. They had presumably just figured out that the entire fox-kin stronghold was empty and rushed back, only to find their kingdom subjugated.
Zul"thar was located in the front of his army with his veins nearly popped out of his forehead and his skin turned abnormally red. Even a fool would be capable of understanding that Caesar had killed or imprisoned the people left behind at the troll-stronghold. Some of them were important advisors or ministers, while others were talented young teenagers.
Seeing Caesar"s wide smile through the iron gates, Zul"thar took a few steps forward and bellowed, "You dishonorable sc.u.m dare to commit such atrocities? Do you not fear the wrath of the G.o.ds?" he asked whilst shaking in rage.
His words caused Caesar to chuckle and simply raise his arms overhead, "FIRE!" he ordered, and the archers atop the walls shot a wave of arrows. The trolls were a bit too far for the arrows to be of much threat, however, some excellent marksmen still hit their target.
Enraged, Zul"thar was forced to back his army up by a few meters so that they were out of the fox-kin archers" radius. This pleased Caesar and caused him to laugh mockingly, "are you, the prideful king of the trolls, Zul"thar, afraid of my meager amount of troops?" he asked loudly.
Fortunately, Caesar"s provocation worked and Zul"thar began preparing for a siege. He placed the tall ladders, Ceros, and heavy infantry in front and ordered them to slowly march forward.
The trolls with heavy armor and thick shields marched fearlessly and pushed down the thick brush with every step.
Since they were moving in a formation similar to the phalanx, it would be pointless to mindlessly fire arrows at them, thus, Caesar removed his helmet and leaped atop the walls. He spread both of his long arms out wide and a cold mist formed behind his back.
A bone-chilling cold suddenly a.s.saulted the nearby fox-kin and a few dozen spiraling arrows made out of ice floated in the air above Caesar"s shoulders. They slowly started to congregate into one tremendous arrow that created a huge gust of wind with every spiral.
The heavily armored trolls could only stare in awe at the huge ma.s.s of mana slowly forming in front of them. Sweat trickled down Caesar"s face as he ground his teeth and expertly utilized the mana within his body.
He transferred the abundance of mana that was located in his abdomen through his body, veins, and skin, directing it toward the congelation of ice in front of him, enlarging it by the second. He wanted to disrupt the enemy formation before they were capable of reaching the walls.
The troll army, however, didn"t just stand there and watch, the heavy infantry started to run forward in an attempt to reach the walls before getting attacked. As such, their formation turned into shambles and the fox-kin archers started to rain down arrows.
The Ceros creatures were set free and they also charged forward, forming an excessive amount of chaos. Arrows constantly rained down on the trolls and the gust of wind generated from the spiraling arrow pushed down the nearby gra.s.s.
Caesar"s eyes gleamed and time seemed to stop as his surroundings turned red and slowed down. He viewed the chaotic enemy formation with disdain as he finally completed the huge arrow of ice, but right as he was about to heave it downward, it once again broke apart into hundreds of normal ice arrows.
Shocked, the troll army wanted to once again move into formation, however, it was far too late. The hundreds of ice arrows and spikes coursed through the air at an unavoidable velocity and smashed into their ranks.
Blood spurted from their impaled bodies and the fox-kin started firing arrows at will, not giving the enemy trolls any time to rest. The large Ceros creatures, unaffected by the arrows, charged into the stone walls, shaking the foundation and disrupting the balance of a few archers.
"Use your fire magic against those creatures, nearly all animals are afraid of fire!" Caesar ordered and surveyed the nearby terrain once more. He could see that even though the enemy formation was disrupted, their sheer numbers were still a huge threat.
Unfortunately, even after killing a large number of enemies, they still fearlessly charged at the gates. Some of the lucky trolls even managed to get a few tall ladders connected to the walls, which were quickly kicked down by the archers.
Seeing this, Caesar briefly closed his eyes and listened to the loud wailing, roars, and arrows streaking across the air. The strong scent of blood and smoke a.s.saulted him and the others, even some parts of the forest had caught on fire.
The sky seemed to darken, resulting in booms of thunder and strikes of lightning occurring every now and then, further solidifying the chaotic atmosphere. Both forces fought with desperation, anxiety, and even fear… all of them wanted to win, no matter the cost.
Every man and woman that Caesar commanded, possessed a family, and every death generated more sadness and anger. The fox-kin fought with everything on the line, while the trolls fought for everything they had lost.
n.o.body could possibly determine the outcome, however, it didn"t matter who won, for the damage was already done. Unfortunately, there was no one to blame, greed and war are in the nature of all intelligent creatures.
Caesar suddenly snapped his eyes open as he chuckled to himself, his armor shaking with his body as he laughed loudly at the sky. The laughter striking fear into the trolls and causing them to look toward the top of the walls.
They bared witness a fully armored man laughing manically toward the sky. Even though people were dying all around, he could still laugh. This caused the trolls to slightly shiver until finally, the laughter abruptly stopped. Descending the entire battlefield into silence as they anxiously waited for his next move.
In response, Caesar took a few steps forward and once again raised his arms into the air, a cold mist following behind him. Even with the responsibility of an entire race resting on his shoulders, he would not cower in fear.
He once again dabbed into his already nearly empty mana reserves and transcended his limits, once again formulating a colossal amount of ice in front of him. His very body turned ghastly cold and the menace in his eyes caused his enemies to tremble before him.
Even if it meant dying from overexerting himself, he would gladly do it. As such, a huge shadow suddenly covered many of the trolls. A huge meteor formed above them and was moving downward at a slow pace.
Although it didn"t cover the entire enemy army, it was enough to strike fear into all of those present. Two small trails of blood escaped from Caesar"s mouth as he tapped into the mana from his surroundings. His already whitish skin turned even more pale, with a shade of blue.
"What are you looking at? The war won"t stop until the enemy is no longer breathing… FIRE!" Caesar ordered crazily at the fox-kin who were just watching with their jaws dropped. His shout brought life back into the silent battlefield and both forces scrambled.
The fox-kin shot their arrows, while some of the trolls prepared to stop the meteor, including Zul"thar. His muscles expanded as he twisted his large halberd around his body, "I APPLAUD YOUR EFFORTS, BUT IF THIS IS ALL YOU CAN DO, THEN IT IS FAR FROM ENOUGH!" he roared and leaped toward the meteor with his ten commanders. Each wielding their weapon expertly to crack the huge ma.s.s of ice in the sky.
They moved through the air and strange, greenish electricity seemed to coil around their bodies as they consecutively struck with their weapons. Like a dance, they moved in a strange formation, forming some sort of circle.
In response, from the cloudy sky, a huge beam of lightning struck down in the middle of ice meteor, halving it. Both sides fell from the air and Caesar lost control over the mana he had already utilized.
The halved pieces of ice heavily fell to the ground and injured a decent amount of trolls, but it was nothing compared to the damage it would have done if not stopped. Distressed, the fox-kin warily glanced at Caesar, who was breathing heavily.
"Since you are a worthy opponent, I shall now answer you in full!" Zul"thar, who was slightly tied, announced, and he, with his ten commanders, rushed forward. His reserve forces charging in response as well, effectively skyrocketing the troll morale, while severely injuring the fox-kins morale.
"Akari, Ebisu, Falthor, hold the gates and fend off the enemy forces, I"ll handle the troll king" Caesar ordered weakly and hopped off the walls. His orders shocked the three clan heads behind him, they were tragically aware that the troll king was nearly Musashi"s equal.
And Caesar, who was evidently exhausted, dared to fight someone of that strength. The three could only bite their lips with reluctance while a single tear fell from Akari"s eyes, however, unbeknownst to them, Caesar had no plans of dying.
He forced his manless body forward and the troll army seemed to dodge him on purpose, forming a strange gap in their formation. Zul"thar then walked in front of him with his halberd resting on his shoulders.
"As the respective king of our forces, no one else is worthy of fighting us… as such, I shall meet you as an equal," Zul"thar stated and moved the halberd from his shoulders. He was fully aware of how much mana Caesar used, and it was due to this fact, that his confidence was overwhelming.
In response, Caesar chuckled with his palm placed on his forehead. After a few moments of laughing, he finally stopped and took his scythe out from his storage ring. His muscles were sore and his mana reserves empty.
"You seem to be confident of victory," Caesar whispered with a b.l.o.o.d.y smile, his eye-lids barely remaining open.
"Haha, I"m not merely confident, I am certain of victory… even though you, yourself are strong. You cannot win the war alone, alas, I admire your tenacity" Zul"thar spoke with a hint of regret as he took a step forward.
"You are correct, winning the battle alone is impossible. But you seem to be misunderstanding something, I have never been alone" Caesar said through tightly clenched teeth as he strengthened his back and fully opened his eyes.
"From behind, I have those that I must protect, those that have died because of me, and the entire fox-kin clan. I have one of my great friends and father-in-law behind me, a step-daughter, and of course, the love of my life," Caesar whispered slowly as he trod forward, the resolve in each step unwavering.
"It is not that I cannot lose, I refuse to," Caesar said with a slight smile as he finally made it a few feet away from Zul"thar. His hair fluttering in the wind and two streams of blood falling from his mouth.