"Horizon's Wrath."
"Zenith Judgment."
These were the ultimate techniques of the Radiant Legion and the Sunblade Legion, respectively. They were trump cards reserved for the most desperate of moments.
From the radiant grand commander, five golden arrows, each two meters long, were launched into the air, trailing dazzling arcs of light. With pinpoint precision, they located five outliers.
They snapped out of their previous shock, releasing roars and immediately forming defensive postures to block the spears; however, it was all for naught.
The spears pierced through their defenses, and with wide eyes, they watched it pierce their chests. Upon impact, their bodies disintegrated into ash, and violent explosions followed.
BOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!
Outliers nearby screamed in agony as searing heat washed over them, amplifying the previous burn. Flames licked their skin, and their formations scattered in disarray.
Before they could even regain composure, the Sunblade commander stepped forward, his sword burning with blinding white energy. He swung down, and a colossal arc of light cleaved through the battlefield.
This sword attack trumped even the combination from the six legion commanders, and it reached its target.
BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!
The ground erupted. Jagged rocks flew into the sky. A dust cloud veiled the sun as shockwaves surged outward. The impact left a massive crater, wide enough to swallow entire battalions.
When the dust settled, silence reigned for a moment.
From thirty-one, now twenty outliers remained.
Only eleven of them had fallen, and their cost was also steep.
It went to show just how tough their bodies were and how strong they were. The majority of the surviving outliers were barbarians.
And now, the aura reserves of the grand commanders were critically drained.
Fury burned in the eyes of the surviving outliers. How had this turned against them? They had laid the trap. They had the numbers. So why were they the ones being decimated?
Screaming in rage, they abandoned all coordination, charging blindly at their enemies in reckless abandon.
The commanders and the head of the Darkan Legion raised their swords. They knew.
One of them was going to die. They had already admitted that fact.
The outliers were only meters away with blazing rage, when a voice then rang out across the battlefield:
"Solar Cataclysm."
The commanders, without hesitation, retreated immediately. They didn't need their instincts screaming at them to warn them. They knew what it was.
Then it came.
A small orb appeared behind the charging outliers—a miniature sun. No larger than a fist, yet impossibly bright. It pulsed once, then exploded into a tidal wave of golden fire.
The firestorm consumed everything.
In mere seconds, the twenty were reduced to fifteen.
"You were about to die there," a voice called. The commanders turned.
Standing at the edge of the scorched earth was the grand commander of the Pyre Vanguard—Wastin Ploot. He was bloodied, his armor cracked, and his breath labored. He had just unleashed his ultimate, so no one asked.
"Why are you here?" the Sunblade commander asked, eyes wide.
Wastin frowned. "I heard we were walking into a trap."
He glanced around the devastated battlefield, worry etched on his face. The Radiant commander then narrowed his eyes.
"Did you come alone?"
Before he could answer:
RAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!
KILL THEMMM!
GOOOOOOOOO!
Over a hundred thousand soldiers thundered forward on war horses, their war cries shaking the sky. Pyre Vanguard reinforcements had arrived.
The 6th-star warriors among them broke off, joining the fray while the rest surged toward the main battlefield.
The Sunblade legion had been struggling very much in this battle.
They were the elites. Their movements left fire behind, and they cleaved their enemies with burning swords, however, the numbers of the enemies were too discouraging. With every five kills, another ten replaced them.
With the way they threw their bodies without regard for their lives, the Sunblade legion, though elite, had been buckling under the sheer number of enemies.
The Radiant archers had been holding position, cautious not to strike allies. Their precision had cost them speed.
Then there were the dragon knights. They focused on the gathering points where the outliers were either coming or running towards. They couldn't just attack randomly if they didn't want to kill everyone.
The healers, unable to enter the chaos, could only support the archers from afar.
Now, with the arrival of the Pyre Vanguard, the tide shifted. They punched into the enemy lines, slaughtering outliers in their wake.
The commanders looked across the battlefield at the 7th-star outliers. Their expressions were filled with anger, but they no longer rushed.
They had lost too much from their previous recklessness.
The lull allowed the grand commanders to consume recovery pills and begin restoring their aura.
...
In the 6th-star battlefield...
A dragon knight and a Radiant commander had fallen. Their numbers were now three while the enemy remained above a hundred.
The lull lasted ten minutes—long enough for soldiers to recover their breath and regrip their weapons.
Then, another long fight for survival took place.
In both commanders' battles, they just kept running, avoiding close calls and returning to the beginning. In between, the enemies stopped to think of a new way to attack while the army recovered their aura.
And just as the 6th and 7th star battlefields were about to stir to life once more...
RAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!
CHARGEEEEEEEEEE!
GOOOOOOOOOOOOO!
A new wave of reinforcements appeared, dragon knights riding in perfect formation.
Wastin Ploot's eyes widened. "That..."
"Weren't those people under you?" Darkan's eyes scanned the incoming group, and a slight smile tugged his lips when he saw his daughter
"But... they're not supposed to be here," Wastin said, confused.
"What do you mean?" the Sunblade commander asked.
Wastin quickly explained the situation.
The Radiant commander shook his head. "Then they weren't meant to be here."
They turned to watch.
...
"Legion commanders, we're taking the 6th-stars," Baines declared. Mark and Justin nodded, passing the order down the line.
Above them, Tasha and her dragon knights spread their wings.
"Circle formation!" Baines roared.
Knights shouted with excitement. They knew what was coming. The formation that had turned the tide once before. Now, it was to happen again.
...
"What are they doing?" the Sunblade commander asked with a frown.
Immediately this new group entered the battlefield, the 6th star's commanders deserted their fight and joined the attack.
Tasha also rallied the dragon knights and began taking formation.
Thousands of allied soldiers fell, and the 6th star outliers advanced directly into the center of the circle.
The Darkan's head couldn't understand what his daughter was doing.
"We should watch for a while, maybe this is why they were able to reach us this fast." The pyre vanguard commander said.
Then, the bizarre spectacle began.
Dragons soared upward, spewing flames into the sky. The Sunblade troops attacked the ground.
The grand commanders nearly moved to stop it, were about to rush in and slap the one giving the commands to death, however, the 7th star outliers wouldn't miss the opportunity if they moved, so they could only watch as it happened.
Arrows began to rain down.
Now that allies were no longer in range, Radiant archers let loose, their arrows falling like silver rain.
Then the battlefield changed.
The ground trembled violently. Rocks jutted upward, knocking outliers off balance. Arrows struck true.
The sky darkened, clouds swirling above, charged with electricity.
Baines raised his hand.
"NOW!"
As one, he and his troops poured aura into the sky, connecting with the clouds. Then, they pulled.
BOOOM! BOOOOOM! BOOOOOOOM!
Lightning rained from the heavens, striking the trapped outliers.
The circle had become a cage.
And inside it, the outliers were being exterminated.