The plan was set. A million soldiers surged forward, charging straight toward the towering wall of flame.
Alongside them thundered armored vehicles, each bearing massive rods crackling with volatile energy. Their engines roared like beasts as their heavy wheels tore across the shattered earth, hurling dust and debris into the churning air.
With a sharp, ripping motion of her hand, Merza unleashed a surge of Eidra that cracked through the flame wall. The barrier groaned as it split apart, a jagged opening forming just wide enough for the soldiers and vehicled to pass through—revealing the battleground beyond.
The soldiers started to pour in the hole that Merza made, the silhouettes of soldiers and vehicles passing through the massive breach Merza—swallowed by the orange haze.
As the soldiers pressed forward, a low rumble from the west reverberated through the ground, causing the Battlemasters to shift their attention.
Their eyes narrowed, their senses sharpened as they scanned the horizon.
The atroxian horde is coming.
"It seems they've noticed the gap I made," Merza muttered, narrowing her eyes as she scanned the horizon.
She turned to Merilyn, a smirk playing at the corner of her lips. "Your turn, sister."
"Mhm." grabbing the stick strapped to her chest, Merilyn twisted its handle—turning it into a glaive.
"General, the Axtroxian horde is heading our way!" a commander shouted, rushing to Evaan's side.
"It looks like they've caught wind of Battlemaster Mezra's breach!" he continued, eyes wide with urgency.
Evaan's gaze shifted sharply left and right, scanning the battlefield.
His focus then landed on Merilyn, standing confidently with her signature weapon—Zaepherax—crackling with crimson energy.
"Maintain phase!" Evaan replied as he pointed at Merilyn.
"Merilyn has got it handled!"
With a fluid, practiced motion, Merilyn spun Zaepherax before her, the blade singing as it cut through the air. She drew in a deep breath, channeling as much Air Eidra as she could, the weapon humming with the growing energy.
Crimson gusts began to spiral around her, whipping the dust into a frenzy. Like the eye of a storm, Zaepherax roared to life, its aura burning brighter. The very air around it shimmered and twisted, the pressure rising with every passing second as the winds began to howl in response.
"Gaelstorm," Merilyn muttered under her breath.
With a decisive flick of her wrist, she unleashed the fully charged Eidra within Zaepherax.
A spiral of crimson wind erupted from the weapon, its howls filling the area with resounding might.
The Gaelstorm surged forward with a steady yet powerful approach, its roars were powerful as it began to tear across the battlefield.
With a powerful howl, the attack made contact with the horde—the atroxians caught in its path were lifted in the air, their spindly limbs flailing as their armor heavy bodies dropped towards the ground with a collective and loud thud.
The pressure of both victims and wind cracked the ground they stood upon and sent shockwaves that rippled through their collective.
Yet this attack wasn't over.
With a sharp twist of her wrist and a surge of focus, Merilyn clenched her grip around Zaepherax—igniting the Gaelstorm mid-flight. The winds twisted violently, compressing, then erupting outward in a cyclone of razor-edged pressure.
It shrieked like a wounded beast, the crimson tempest that Merilyn primarily sent, morphed into a thousand slicing current—each one carving through atroxian flesh and armor alike.
Limbs flew, blood misted the air as the horde was diced into fragments before they could even scream.
"Well done." said Mezra as she put a hand on Merilyn's shoulder. "That should buy us enough time." her other hand sizzled with crimson eidra as she continued to maintain the gap that allowed the soldiers to pass through.
As the soldiers continued to pass through towards the other side of the wall, multiple beeps resounded in the air as the datapads attached to the commanders caught abnormal Eidra signals.
"What's happening!?" exclaimed a commander.
"Eidra signals are going haywire—contact the general!" exclaimed another.
Merilyn also noticed it—her eyes shifting towards the device attached on her forearm.
"Mhm." she muttered under her breath. "It knows." her eyes narrowed.
===
After some time, the army of soldiers and vehicles combined had fully crossed the flame wall, the last soldiers rushing through—along with the rest of the battlemasters that were the last to enter.
With a flick of her fingers, Merza released her hold towards the breach—sealing it.
The flame wall roared shut, just as the second upcoming horde of atroxians arrived—unable to pass through.
Just as planned, half a million soldiers stood ready behind the flame wall, forming a relentless firing line.
Energy artillery and cannons lit up the air, unleashing wave after wave of destructive force through the living fire wall—each shot tearing into the advancing Axtroxians beyond.
While the barrage continued, Merilyn and the other Battlemasters advanced, leading the second wave—another five hundred thousand soldiers—toward the designated location marked by the scouts, where the Hive Queen was believed to be.
As they drew closer, a high-pitched screech tore through the air, sharp enough to rattle teeth. The ground quaked beneath their feet, each tremor growing stronger with every step.
Undeterred, the army pressed on—until they reached the designated location shown in the map on their devices.
Here, the trap would be set. Specialized artillery units moved into position in a circular manner, ready to unleash a barrage meant to draw the Hive Queen from her lair.
The Rods of Jivrel, a specialized vehicle unit where they carry high Eidra density rods that could be used to shock whatever beast that resides beneath the ground.
"The rods are in position!" a commander shouted, prompting Mezra to raise her hand high—then snap it down in a decisive motion.
At her signal, the machines unleashed their payloads with a thunderous bang. High-powered rods fired from their housings, slamming into the earth with thunderous force.
Each one was saturated with concentrated Eidra, designed to send relentless shockwaves pulsing through the ground.
The earth beneath them groaned and buckled, trembling as if a storm raged just below the surface. Waves of dense Eidra energy roared outward, their vibrations rising into a deafening crescendo that seemed to shake the very air.
"Now—we wait." Mezra's arms crossed.