CHAPTER 486
INVASION (III)
Rio shuffled his halberd sideways, piercing a flanker and skewering him up before tossing him over upfront, dragging down four men with a simple move. His feet surged with sudden acceleration as he shifted sideways, evading a storming arrowhead that blasted past him, piercing a skull of someone behind him before they even had a chance to cry out.
Whistling out in relief, his eyes glanced toward the source; a woman clad in silver armor was hidden behind the squadrons of shieldbearers, donning a majestic-looking, golden bow, shooting arrows freely, each more deadly than the last.
Cursing inwardly, Rio reoriented himself, finding his place on the battlefield. It wasn"t terribly large, yet it was still enough to host over forty thousand men altogether. The feeling was incomparable to any other one might experience in life; when all inhibitions are let go of and men charge in a maddened desire to live, it creates the sort of perfection that cannot be replicated elsewhere.
Swayed by the roars and cries, Rio charged as well, determined to at least draw the woman"s attention so she wouldn"t go about shooting his men freely. He threw himself directly at the charging vanguard of storm-clad lads, blue lightning tracing over their limbs, creating chaotic, web-like strangles of lightning. A few bolts pecked at him, causing him to wince yet not to stop.
Halberd ablaze, he swung downward in full throttle, piercing the tender earth beneath and spraying rock upwardly in a frontal cone, bolts of fire mingling with the mud. The squadron of men separated, forming a crescent encirclement made up of six people, each donning the exact same armor -- gray iron tempered with lightning, blue capes fluttering in the invisible winds.
The dust settled as Rio charged, pushing Qi into the halberd as the already ma.s.sive weapon expanded all of a sudden. He swept in a full circle, stirring a temporary whirlwind of fire around him. The outburst unsettled the men as some sc.r.a.pped to retreat, two failing to react in time, devoured in the consuming winds and fire.
Rio jostled himself sideways, evading another arrow that piercing the point where his feet used to be less than a breath away. A cold sweat broke out of his back as his eyes veered up once more, meeting the woman"s -- they were violet and violent, the storm of anger raging inside her gaze. Rio pursed his lips as he realized the source of anger wasn"t that he was felling her men -- no, it was that he had caused her to miss twice. She must have taken a huge hit to her pride, he mused, withdrawing with a spin and explosively thrusting the halberd, driving it through the chest of one of the men.
The dancing lightning ceased, extinguished like candle"s fires in the rain, as the limp body fell off the halberd, plumping onto the earth in silence. There was no way a single thud of a body could ever make a volatile sound that would make it echo in such a ma.s.sive battlefield; all sounds were blended together, making it nigh impossible to distinguish which of the fallen were friends and which were foes.
Discarding the depressing thoughts, Rio ran sideways as per instructions, toward the meeting point; there, he suspected, Xia should be arriving any second now and he couldn"t be lagging behind.
Despite cutting across the frontal line of the battle, he evaded expertly, occasionally helping a group of soldiers push back. His halberd danced freely, its tip expounding coral flames ever so often, the sounds of the shaft whizzing through the air drowning out all others for that singular moment. He felt at home, Rio realized, within this chaos; his eyes saw every flaw he could exploit, his ears heard all that could threaten him, his body moved freely, like a fish in the ocean.
He"d spotted Xia almost immediately once he climbed over a hill and into a dipping valley; the Mountain Pa.s.s was huge, yet the mountains surrounding it were even larger, casting perpetual shade over the pa.s.s. She, however, shone within that shade, like a resplendent star in the already brilliantly lit sky. She heaved the ma.s.sive greatsword, even larger than Rio"s halberd, over her shoulder and struck at the earth; though to others it may appear brutish, lacking grace, in his eyes, she was at her most graceful when she was swinging that engorged thing about -- she was like a tempest, a terrible storm sweeping through the ranks of the army as though they weren"t even there.
She cut over ten men in a single swing, the blood spraying out and dousing her. She pushed out without even blinking, dragging the sword behind her and pulling it over her shoulder once more, swinging it in a downward trajectory. Each one of her strikes caused the earth to tremble, cracks to spread, men to shake and shudder.
Her blood-red hair blended perfectly into its surroundings, unchained, fluttering in the storm. The black eyes of death stared down the opposition with the loftiness that couldn"t be faked; Rio found himself coming to a halt, his lips agape, admiring. Was he even necessary? Hardly. Though he"d recently learned the Art of Duality, mastering both Laws of Ice and Fire, Xia didn"t need such tricks -- she had her body and her blade, and even still nothing could stand in her way.
She rammed through a group of twenty in a row of two hundred, breaking open their ranks, finally reaching the bowmen and archers firing from behind. Without even stopping to catch her breath, she threw herself over into the firing squads and swung -- swung so freely and melodically she seemed to be writing a song. A masterpiece.
The earth trembled in fear, the skies shook in respect, and all those who met her blade were cleaved. Limbs and body halves strut through the air, the disemboweled guts spraying the earth in the decaying odor and color.
Men began fleeing, their Wills decimated; that sword didn"t just cut through their bodies, but through everything that they were. She was an unstoppable hurricane -- the death invoked in the times of war.
All settled a few moments later, the first front on the pa.s.s closed. Xia stood at the center of the carnage, pulling her helmet off. Sweat on her forehead glistened beneath the rays of the dawning sun, her posture dignified.
Once more, feelings of shame surged within Rio. Though he"d promised the Empyrean himself he would profess his feelings, he had failed to do so. His feelings were not worthy of her. How could he possibly measure up to someone like Xia? In no time she would surpa.s.s him, bounding the ladder of success. She might even get into the Lord Empyrean"s personal force -- her talent seemed to have no bounds. She might even be personally instructed by him, by the man who withstood the world with his body alone. No tricks, no arts -- defiance of the flesh alone.
He descended the hill and entered the shallow deep, walking around and over the corpses, moving toward her. The surviving soldiers of their side either regrouped and moved to support the other fronts, or tended to their wounds, temporarily withdrawing. As always, she seemed to hold no expression. The only time he"d ever see her in a different light was when she was fighting; wild, unbridled, smiling, shining. He may have felt he belonged in the war, but she was born into it. Of it. By it. It was incomparable.
"... hm?" she mumbled softly as she heard the footsteps approaching her, turning her head sideways, spotting Rio. "You are late." she said simply without a change in the expression.
"Sorry," Rio smiled meekly. "It seemed, though, from my point of view, I"d be more of a nuisance if I tried to help you."
"The plan was to storm the front together," she said. "We could have done it more efficiently if you were here."
"... could have we?" Rio mumbled lowly, into his own jaw.
"What?"
"Nothing," he quickly shook his head. "Sorry, I"ll take the blame. Don"t worry about it. Are you fine?"
"Yes. Just a tad bit tired. After a minute or two, I will be ready to return." she nodded, taking out a few pills from her void treasure and swallowing them in one go.
"It shouldn"t be necessary, I think," Rio said, glancing toward the still-open fronts. "Bit by bit, they"re withdrawing. I think they"ve realized the sneak attack will no longer work and are simply trying to withdraw with the fewest possible losses."
"Even still," she said. "Us joining means fewer regular soldiers dying."
"..." that was the difference, Rio realized, biting his lip. While he selfishly only thought of her, she thought of everyone. She certainly wasn"t flawless -- the winds and the skies can attest to that -- but she was... better. Brighter. At the very least than him. "True. You got stronger again."
"Hm." she nodded simply. "I got lucky."
"... I"ve a feeling you"re not long for the ranks of a General," Rio chuckled bitterly. "If you keep progressing like this. Perchance, in the near future, you might become my commanding officer."
"You can rise as well if you apply yourself." she said.
"... yeah." could he? Perhaps. However, he didn"t wish to. Even becoming a General was a mistake. He was not made to lead the men; it was too tiring. Too big of a burden lay on his shoulders, too many cracks in his heart each time he"d lose some men in a charge. He longed for a simple life, where he was one of the soldiers, charging, trying to make a name for himself. Well, he did. And now the regrets seeped in.
"But you don"t want to?" Xia tilted her head sideways, her black eyes examining Rio"s expression with curiosity.
"Not... particularly." Rio replied honestly.
"Why?" she probed.
"... why? Hah, plenty of reasons, I imagine." Rio said. "The first being that I"m not that well-suited for high command."
"..." she remained silent for a moment as he met her eyes; the h.e.l.l be d.a.m.ned, she"s truly beautiful... "I think you would make a fine Commander, Rio. You respect your men, and you always charge in front of them. You lead by example. And I have seen that your men respect you too." Rio"s heart fluttered for a moment, his stomach contracting. It was too much for him to receive such open compliments from her.
"... how do you deal with it?" he asked all of a sudden.
"With what?"
"With losing them," he elaborated. "Settling after a battle, waiting in your tent for the report on how many of your men were killed."
"... I make a promise with myself," she said almost immediately after. "That the next time, fewer would fall. And the time after even fewer. All the way until I manage to come to a zero."
"... knowing you," he chuckled. "You might just achieve it."
"... I am recovered," she said following the short silence. "We should join the others." she took a brisk step forward, pa.s.sing him. In a moment of strange, alien courage, he spun on his heel and grabbed her arm, surprising her as she turned and met his hardened gaze. "Is everything alright?" she asked in confusion.
"--" Rio found his lips stiffen; what should he say? I love you? It seemed too grand of a gesture. May I court you? Too curt, heartless. I wish to make a cabin in your heart? He was hardly a poet, a marvel with words. He was a fool for letting his body overcome his mind. He couldn"t say anything. "N-nothing, sorry," he lowered his head in shame, biting his lower lip. "I thought I"d seen something strange. Must have been a reflection."
"Oh." she nodded, seemingly not seeing through his lies. He let go of her arm, his fingers slightly bruised from violently grasping thick, sharp steel of her arm guard. "How can it be, Rio?"
"What?" he asked, looking up in surprise. Her expression seemed to have hardened somewhat, black eyes staring at him sternly.
"You brave the front of the Origin War, yet cower here."
"... you know?"
"Even the deaf and the blind know," she said. "We are not children anymore, Rio. Not trainees in an army. I do not need a man looking at me from the hills, feeling unnecessary, unable -- no, very able but unwilling to aid me. Not an admirer from afar who thinks me too holy for him. I cannot change the insecurities of your heart, and, quite frankly, I do not want to be burdened. I do not mind you lacking ambition, but I do mind the meekness accompanying it. I am far from the holy woman you make me out to be in your mind; until you see that, I cannot reply to your heart. I am sorry."
Stunned, Rio watched her climb back up the hill and vanish from his sight. He couldn"t move, his lips slightly agape, eyes like saucers, timid wind grazing his flushed cheeks. His heart beat madly, his legs feeling wobbly yet seemingly cemented into the earth itself, like a statue. He couldn"t hear the sounds of the battle anymore, couldn"t see the majestic dawn creeping up on the horizon, could feel the thirst for the battle surging in his veins.
"Heh," he let go of the breath he was holding lethargically, his shoulders slumping, shaking his head. "Pathetic," he added, taking the first step toward the hill, climbing slowly. I suppose, he thought, I can seek early retirement after today. Go to the outskirts, perhaps become a farmer. There must be some doll-eyed girl out there who might fancy a hardened soldier. Aye, there should be. There should be...