Steel and Mana

Chapter 554 – Ignis (4)

Facing the fiery horizon, constantly being bombarded by artillery fire, most, if not all, of the Avalonian soldiers stood in strict formations behind the barricades and trench lines made to funnel the beasts if they ever reached their lines, designed to slow down their approach as much as possible. Of course, it was also devised so that, when overwhelmed, they could retreat back to the Pride and make their last stand atop its walls. But until then... it was about fighting and trimming their numbers. Most of them held their weapons at the ready, waiting for the moment to activate their magic through their tattoos and face their enemies as they always did.

But they weren't alone, and there was another layer ahead of all of it, most of whom were standing almost as if they were statues and not even living people. Of course, those were the Vasa warriors, who many times managed to be even taller than most Avalonian troops. Their bodies were, as always, covered with their own armor, their crimson mixing well with the black ones of the Avalonians when looked at from above. Even further ahead of them was another line, belonging to the Vasas' monsters and their riders, either standing atop their heads or hidden inside them, waiting patiently until the horde managed to break through the constant bombardment.

"Soon, they will smash their way through it," Pion said into his helmet's radio, watching the frontline, and it wasn't surprising when he heard an unfamiliar voice answering him. "Prepare to hold our lines, soldiers! Make me proud!"

“Try not to die." Ur'Tokh chuckled, suddenly joining in on their frequency, "And try to keep up.”

"Listening in on our comms is still an affront to our protocol, Vasa," Pion snorted under his breath, “And try not to fall behind, hm? We’d hate to embarrass you in front of your own people.”

Around him, chuckles rolled through both sides, although the Avalonians couldn't hear the Vasas; at least they saw how their unmoving figures finally shifted in their stance a little. Then, as if answering Pion, feeling left out of the conversation, the Vasa monsters began moving forward. He could see how their bodies lined up, their heads raising a little, and after their mouth opened wide, they began spewing magic, just like the artillery on the Pride's wall, aimed at the limit of their ranges. Theirs were not as precise nor as far-reaching as the Avalonian cannons, but they were powerful as multiple curtains of fire rained down on the beasts that finally managed to slip through, only to land in another wave of magic.

As if not wanting to be outdone, the Avalonian mechs, multiple dozens of them, also began firing, standing ready behind the ground soldiers, their shoulder-mounted cannons much louder and aggressive-sounding than the monsters' spells.

"Vasas," Lucca's voice came in the open channel, knowing they were listening, "When the big ones arrive at range, focus on them. Leave the small-sized horde to us."

"Naturally." Ur'Tokh answered at once, "None will reach the wall; we will stop them before they can try and break through."

"We only need to keep them back until Ignis appears," Lucca explained earnestly, "We must show a strong front, powerful enough for her to come and get close to the line... We somehow need to force her to land at the right spot. Focus on that."

"Even if not," Ur'Tokh chuckled, "Just use the spell with your own mages... Don't worry about us."

Lucca didn't answer, because it was indeed something he was considering, knowing that if everything fails... They may do just that... Sacrificing all the Vasas... But if there is a chance to fool that monster and keep to their plan, however shaky it was, they will try to do it.

In the end, no matter how many bombardments were falling on the top of the heads of the countless beasts, the small creatures, hundreds of them, sprinting on all fours or more, scrambling over the shredded corpses of the others or anything that stood in their way, were finally locking their eyes onto the Avalonian lines. A moment later, they crashed into the soldiers, biting, clawing, swiping with their tails, using anything that their bodies could provide them as weapons.

Even so, they were simply cut down or turned into mush, with no chance to ever escape that fate. Either it was a Vasa or Avalonian soldier who, with a wave of their swords, turned them into a smoking carcass, or it was that one of the Vasa beasts stomped down, squashing tens of them in one move. Still, even after that, they just kept coming, climbing up on the Vasas' beasts, trying to bring them down.

In answer, one of the Vasas lifted his palm after cutting a creature leaping at him in half, his hand raised ahead of him, and released a cone of crimson fire that washed over a dozen other beasts, turning them into ash that scattered into the wind in just a moment. One of the others, just as he was done, moved like a blur, his weapon carving half-moon arcs through his fire, the wind not only causing the flames to explode before winking out, but his wind kept flying forward, bisecting more of the monsters behind it. Seeing the destructive power the Vasas were demonstrating once again, when creatures leaped at them, the Avalonians were not to back down, unleashing their own weapons effects, causing a similar, albeit smaller-scale, wave of spells washing the foremost battlements.

“…Strong,” One of the Vasas murmured, genuinely impressed when witnessing what they were doing while also kicking down beasts from one of their own.

"They are on their way to be like us," Ur'Tokh answered, not only fighting on the ground, but his own monsters were still spewing spells towards the horizon. "Only, they can do it without becoming a beast... So in a way... they are even better."

"Good," the Vasa warrior answered, his head turning slightly, "We can indeed leave the small ones to them... our true targets are arriving."

"Make sure that Ignis feels our wrath..." Ur'Tokh nodded, then glanced towards their back, watching as the Avalonian mechs were also beginning to move, their lines readying to stride out and meet the actual weapons of Ignis's army.

Not waiting for the mechs to get into position, a dozen of the Vasas' beasts strode out, spreading their formation, marking the big ones that were getting closer and closer, one fiery breath of theirs being met and cancelled out by a spell from a controlled, Vasa creature. The explosion that it caused in itself was violent, toppling and tearing apart smaller ones who were caught under it... a collateral damage that was very much welcomed.

"I don't like them taking our credit!" Tiburon groaned, his bulky, blue mech doing its best to walk faster, stomping on beasts in the meantime, heading towards a lumbering brute with four tusks, rushing towards him.

"I wouldn't worry," Edrin chuckled, his mech still at the far back, his weapon firing, its projectile whizzing past Tiburon's Leviathan and hitting the tusked beast, tearing off two of its four weapons, just as they began glowing and gathering their magic.

"Hey! That's mine, find another one!" Tiburon grunted, picking up speed, yet before he could arrive, Corinne's Shadow whizzed past him, its sword already out, cutting off the rest of the tusks before beheading the creature.

"Too slow!" She chuckled, "Including you, Tiburon! Damn... these beasts feel stupider than usual, not even defending themselves!"

"Fuck you, both of you!" Tiburon yelled at them, but Corinne just moved out of the way as another beast was already rampaging towards them.

Seeing it coming, Tiburon just slammed forward at full speed as the ground buckled beneath its machine's weight. In the end, its shoulder ram crashed into the creature’s body with force so brutal it cracked half the beast’s frontal armor as the monster skidded backward, tearing up the ground, rearing on its hind legs to retaliate. Yet before it could do so, Tiburon grappled it without question, the CC blades rotating at full speed within its gauntlets, tearing its flesh off, and dismantling the creature into chunks of flesh.

Of course, by then, they were not the only mechs in action. All around the frontline, dozens of the Avalonian Knights were already in battle. Still, from the hundred or so, half of them remained behind the main lines, their long-range weapons hammering the beasts in the far distance, while those that managed to get through were now in a brutal and destructive melee with the Vasas and Leon's Knights.

Including his own son and his wife.

At the left side of the battlefield, a serpent-like beast, easily sixty meters long, slithered around a captured Vasa monster, squashing and breaking its scales and body, killing it while lightning crackled along its spine, its massive mouth gulping down the controlled creature's head, biting it off like it was an afternoon snack.

"Disabling, now!" Lancelot yelled as, instead of slicing at the creature, he used the Trojan spell built into his gauntlet to disable the electricity, surprising the monster, even in its mind-controlled state.

The moment the flashing lightning was gone, the same that made the Vasas' creature unable to move and fall prey to it, Jila had strode in for the kill. Her mech grabbed the snake-like monster's head, pulling it backwards, squeezing, not even bothering to throw or lift it... she just flexed her fingers, and the thing exploded, killing it as if it were made of clay.

"I got a core~!" She giggled, holding it between her fingers that were dripping with blood and gore.

"Leave it!" Lancelot yelled, his machine moving and slashing, as there was another beast rushing at them on all fours, seeing Jila's open side... which was only visible because she was with her husband... who she trusted the most.

With a slash of the sword, affixed to his machine's arm, the creature toppled, not even realizing its legs were no longer part of its body. Yet before it could try to stand, Lancelot had stabbed through its head, finishing it as quickly as possible, not wanting to give more of them time to flank them.

"We have ample to harvest after they all die," He said, watching as more and more of them were coming, and he could see no end to them.

"True," Jila said somberly, "Let's go, they are stupid and if they take the bait and rush at me... You can rack up your kills pretty fast!"

"I just want it to be done," Lancelot sighed, following his wife who was already bulldozing towards another group of beasts, "And go home to our son..."

Back at the Pride, Lucca was focusing his mind on his own spell, surveying the battle from above.

"Should we send out the new mechs?" Seltana asked, and after a brief thinking, Lucca shook his head.

"No. We will need them to threaten Ignis." He answered quietly, "They are easily the most vulnerable machines, and their pilots can exhaust the quickest. We will not use them yet."

"But we will need to slowly shrink the frontline..." Seltana said, biting her lips, "Even with how well we are doing, their numbers are..."

Just then, a loud whistle came from behind the Pride, and before Seltana could go and see what was happening, Lucca's lips formed a smile as he saw it in his mind's eye, watching the battlefield from above.

"Our allies aren't late from the party, after all."

Just then, Ishillia's signature ship, the Judgement, had arrived above the walls, while a massive, long train came to a halt, mechs already stepping down from the carts, almost fifty of them.

"We came just in time?" Mirian's voice echoed through the comms, her own machine dangling below the Judgement.

"Pretty much," Lucca answered, opening her mind, "I can see it's not only you, Empress Mirian."

"No." She answered as the new machines began marching, while Seltana was ordering the Pride's gate to be opened for them. "Emperor Attila and the Atuvian machines are also here... We are allies; it's time to act like one. Where do you need us?"

"Everywhere," Lucca answered with a smile, "But let me find you the best position to join in on our final battle!"