Chapter 273: 3.30 TLOC (20)

Author's note: This picks up where the story left off when it started, before the introduction of the twin versions. Chronos always has a headache!

Sora and Mina made it to the forest before the final chime, which allowed them to use Vitality to regain the energy they used sprinting over.

"We are going to be quite the surprise flank force. We can't let anyone sneak out and return to the humans, unless it is us, to inform them of what happened." Mina said.

"Damnit. We should have thought of that earlier. If we leave no survivors, maybe we should suggest returning undercover stating it was a close battle and many elven lives were lost?" Sora suggested.

"Let's focus on this battle first. We can already hear the ground trembling below our feet."

Chime.

"Fifteen minutes sister, what's the plan?"

"When they arrive, cast Fang of Justice behind the enemies and see how much it drains you. This won't give our location away."

"What are you planning to do?"

"Depending on if they have horses, heavy weapons, or are just all on their feet, I will cast Entanglement or Sprout in the center of their forces to divide them."

"Good thinking. Let's do this. I already feel more powerful and we've only leveled up twice. After I cast Fang of Justice, I will also use Entanglement on their forces."

<><><><>

Back in front of the castle, Xavier and Stefania finally received their horses.

Xavier's horse was named 'Ace', a stunning black stallion with white feet and a white line along its back, all the way down his head, straight to his nostrils. Ace always showed love to his Master, but showed affection to very few.

Stefania's horse was named 'Belladeon,' an elegant white horse with a playful temperament, until it was time for battle. She loved her Master, but she also loved the attention she received from other elves.

The two recently had a baby, 'Eclipse' who was six weeks old, had a mixture of black and white for its coat and shared the playful nature of his Mother.

As Xavier and Stefania mounted their horses, they readied the men, ensuring the archers were ready.

"On my command, archers fire! After the second round of fiery arrows, we will send in the main force, head on. Shortly after, the men we have stationed to the East and West will flank and remember, we have two allies hidden in the forest about a mile away, to the northwest!"

"Hoo-Rah Hoo-Rah Hoo-Hoo!" The men chanted, loudly and proudly.

"They're approaching, they have catapults!" Eric yelled from the top of the wall, where he used a device, like a handheld telescope.

"How many?!" Xavier yelled back.

"Four! Orders, sir?" Eric yelled back.

"We stick to the original plan! I trust our new allies will make the right decision on targeting the catapults before they are able to fire! As long as we deal with those, with our swords, bows, magic, and the blessing of Eden, our sacred god of Nature, we will win this battle!"

"For Eden, for the Fang Family, Hoo-Rah, Hoo-Rah Hoo-Hoo!

"Please bless us with minimal casualties and a victory," Stefania prayed.

Meanwhile, in the forest, Mina and Sora noticed the catapults.

"You summon the wolf and I'll use entanglement to deal with those. If you still have energy, use it to focus those catapults. We can't let them get a shot off."

"Copy sis, I haven't been this excited to battle since the Demon King!" Sora said with a smirk.

"Me neither," Mina said and fist bumped her brother.

"The elven chants are cool. I'd scream them myself if it didn't give our position away," Sora said.

"They are, let's make sure they're able to chant another day!"

"What are those large slingshot things? They look like they pack a heavy punch." Sora asked Mina.

"I have no idea, but I'll focus on those first. Do you see the large boulders on carts? It looks like it's taking 10 men to pull each."

"Why are Xavier and Stefania and the four human Commanders trotting their horses to meet in the middle?"

"I'm guessing they're going over the terms of battle. The humans will probably offer peace if they allow them to take over."

"There's no way Xavier and Stefania will fall for that, right?"

With a laugh, Mina agreed.

Meanwhile, Xavier and Stefania had met with the four commanders in the middle.

"Elves. Please surrender and allow us to take this kingdom. We will ensure your people's safety and you shall move to a new land," an older looking, stocky Commander, with several scars across his body and face, demanded. He appeared to be the General, based on the amount of feathers on the crown of his helmet.

"Ha. Ensure our people's safety as you persecute us into extinction. What fallen Elven Kingdom do you come from?" Xavier shot back, eyes glaring at the man.

The four Commanders laughed rambunctiously, testing Xavier's resolve to stay patient and calm.

"What does it matter? All of your little Kingdoms belong to the Empire of Humanity, under the noble Emperor Hanzo Yen and his beautiful wife Rina."

"Well, it seems like we are wasting our time here, we will not agree to your surrender. Is the noble Emperor here, or did he just send a bunch of fodder to do his bidding?" Stefania scorned the Commanders.

"Your funeral, we have 7,500 of our finest men and the weaponry to counter your little Elven magic," one of the Commanders mocked the Prince and Princess as they rode off, back towards their troops.

While riding back, Xavier and Stefania couldn't help but laugh at the arrogance of the humans.

"I've never seen you so angry sister. That was a good one about them being fodder. Let us pray the gods shine down on us today, especially for our new friends."

"It felt good to lash out, I'm sick of them persecuting us and pushing us around"

<><><><>

"Men, they asked for us to surrender and hand over our Kingdom but we refused their treacherous offer! Prepare for battle! Light the torches! Archers, ready up!" Stefania shouted.

"HOO-RAH HOO-RAH HOO-HOO!" the army chanted.

The human army began to push forward, and when they were in range, Stefania yelled, "Fire!" and the sky became a sea of flaming arrows, piercing through the human's armor with ease.

"Those screams. They remind me so much of the war against the demons. Let's make this quick. 'Fang of Justice!'" Sora said and a black wolf formed 200 meters in front of him, outside of the forest and North of their location.

A giant, all black spirit wolf, standing around 11 feet tall, immediately began charging the humans and ripping their heads off with ease. When the humans tried to attack the wolf, their swords simply went right through the beast.

"Excellent placement, brother! Now it's my turn!"

Mina took a deep breath and focused on the first catapult.

"Entanglement!" Mina said and her arms automatically did the circle with the left hand and arm raise with the right hand motion for the spell.

Vines sprouted underneath the catapult, knocking the humans down who were loading it. The vines crept up to the catapult base and eventually, they constricted and shattered all the wood and the catapult began to collapse.

"Do not move from your formations! Load the catapults. Everyone else, charge!" the General yelled.

Paranoia was sweeping through the humans. Their catapults were being destroyed one by one and only one managed to get a single shot off.

Unfortunately, it did strike a large group of charging elves, crushing them instantly. The Prince would have been caught by the boulder had Ace not noticed and forced Xavier to safety.

"Thank you Ace, good boy." Xavier said while patting his horse on his head.

Stefania signaled the flankers from the east, and 100 elves began casting various types of Earth magic, easily cutting through the human army.

After the scare with the boulder, Xavier finally managed to signal the west flankers, who ran into the battlefield with swords drawn.

<><><><>

"How are you feeling? How much do you have left?"

"I feel good sis, I feel like we should join the fight. We are masters of weapons after all. You got my six?"

"Roger that. Be careful, don't do anything too heroic. We seem to be winning this war lopsided."

It was true, the elves had suffered minimal casualties while the humans had already lost over half their forces and their catapults.

Now with long swords in hand, Sora sprinted out of the forest and began slicing through human after human, and anytime someone had a clean look to strike him, Mina, using the Endless Quiver skill, shot arrows to protect her brother, as well as other elves, from injury.

Xavier and Stefania were now engaged with the four commanders, and Sora and Mina didn't like the fact that it was 2vs4. Mina finally sprinted out of the forest, still shooting arrows and finally cast, "Fang of Justice," and much like Sora's, a giant, shadow type wolf formed, this time it was white and around 10 feet tall.