Chapter 31 - Rocky Wyrm Battle

“Tell me, what happened yesterday?” with a smile the youth seemed to not care “Nothing much, just some fool who wanted to ploy me”.

“Were you attacked?” Falven observed the inquisitive and worried face before him “Yes, sneakily at that. But worry not, I managed that. Unfortunately I had to kill the aggressor to avoid being too outnumbered, this created a bit of chaos. I’ll just need to prove how awesome I am in the secret realm, then the elders would die to groom me!” the youth claimed, half jokingly half seriously.

Sayri had already been informed about the events of the day before. She couldn’t decide if he had truly been forced to kill or this was a sign of his ominous nature. Staying with him made her feel well, not alone anymore, as if now there was another person to rely on. She felt they both had their secrets and burdens, even without sharing them they could support each other, but… her secret was that maybe this person was the calamity she had been warned of.

Sayri needed to be sure before taking action, surveilling him was her duty. “Do you have a team for the trial?” “Of course I have, actually we have” Falven confidently smiled. “The elegant Princess Unbroken Sayri, the proud rising star Roaring Lion, the unquestionable prodigy of her family clan Gentle Waters and the public enemy future savior of humanity Fate Destroyer! Could you imagine a more formidable team? Two core disciples, two core elder’s direct disciples, the others would tremble in fear before us, we won’t even need to fight” Fate Destroyed laughed.

The girl smiled, his joking stile hid his confidence, a confidence she could see and clearly understand, although she knew things were going to be much more difficult.

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Their powerful legs propelled them up to the mountain, swiftly running through rocks, in narrow paths and caves. Their human shaped bodies were taller and more robust than humans, with scales covering parts of their bodies.

Nearing the exit of the cave a masculine voice whispered “We’re almost arrived”. On his side the girl followed attentively. Soon the light of the dawn welcomed them on the side of the mountain, while below them a narrow path was swindling around high cliffs and stone boulders, outflanking the mountain they were in, passing in the middle of two high mountain cliffs. This land was full of rocky mountains, passes, caves, a true maze for strangers. The path was called the Rocky Wyrm or also the Wyrm Pass.

On the rocky path an army was orderly marching, a long column thick three experts per row. They were all well built and tall with bluish and dark skin, wearing similar armour in red and grey colours. A high insignia in red highlighted golden letters “VIII Legion”.

“That’s the contingent of demons from the Eight Legion, they really dare to come here!” Rage and hatred changed the face of the youth. “Their hubris will be their ruin. It’s their plan to find a path through these mountains to start a pincer attack against our citadel, blocking our communications and retreat route”. “As if we left them free to come, today we’ll avenge our brothers!” “Remember, we’re not even supposed to come here. Let’s learn from our seniors, just stay put and observe the battle”.

“Yes, senior sister” the youth answered, rage still filling his glare. His sister had always taken care of him, but she still treated him as a kid. He wanted to prove his worth, but even more he wanted to fight against the enemies who slaughtered so many of his brothers.

ROOOOOAAAAAAAAAAAR

A deafening roar echoed through the mountain range. Stones, spears, rotating blades and any kind of projectiles rained on the demon army.

The commander of the contingent shouted “Defence stance!” and the legionnaires quickly took position, raising their shields, shoulders against shoulders, back against back. Although the sudden attack caused casualties among the demons, the legionaries managed to smoothly take their stance, keeping the ground and preventing further losses.

“Damn! A surprise produced so little effect, these fuckers!” the draconic youth angrily exclaimed. “They should have come prepared, taking into account the possibility of an ambush… no wonder the legions are the best war formations of the Heaven Races” the girl stated.

The rain of projectiles from above didn’t cease, becoming even fiercer instead, but with no avail. The demons had raised their shield, closing all the gaps. An horizontal wall on their heads stopped all the incoming attacks.

Demon chi empowered the shields formation, chi flames were weaving around the shield rims. The legionaries were trained to work in independent formations coordinated together. All the troops were divided in teams of nine demons, they knew how to place themselves and how to activate their demon arts in a consistent way to exert the most power from the formation. Each formation was a piece of the overall contingent formation, which leveraged the power of all the demons to exert an incredible defence.

This extraordinary coordination and defensive power resisted against all the attacks of the draconic experts, no matter which incantations or profound arts they used. Captivating runes sizzled on the shields, chi demonic flames swirled around them repelling and resisting the enemy.

Another powerful roar echoed through the mountain path and an explosion ensued. Draconics had always preferred to fight independently and prove their strength by frontally facing the opponents, but they had learned to cooperate and use underrated tactics for their own survival.

Chi explosions brightened the sky, fire and energy waves ravaged the cliff the stony path was swindling around. Huge stone blocks drenched in raging chi crashed on the shields “Stand your ground, don’t break the formation!” the commander roared.

While the frightening boulders were crashing against the shields and the projectiles started raining again from the mountains, draconic experts stormed out of caves hidden in the proximity of the path.

The narrow pass didn’t allow for more than three experts to walk side by side, this pushed the demons in a thin a long column. Because of this unfavorable position they couldn’t maneuver their formations with ease and their responses were limited. But the commander didn’t give up “Veteran formations on the side, everyone else hold tight!”.

The demons diligently exchanged their places. The long column of demons was actually formed by three columns of one man, the veterans switched place fo occupy the left column. They stopped supporting the shield formation and lowered their shields against the attack on the flank. They fully trusted their brothers and let them defend their head from the projectiles assailing them from the sky.

The burden on the legionaries supporting the defensive formation increased because one third the of demons stopped supporting it, but still no spear nor rotating blade could get in.

Each formation was formed by nine demons, eight legionaries and one legionary captain. The one man row who gave the back to their brothers faced the draconics’ charge. If even one only point of the line was broken and a draconic breached the defensive formation all of them would die under the falling boulders and the rain of attacks.

“Shield Wall!” the commander commanded, “Shield Wall!” the veteran formation captains roared staring at the approaching draconics.

The veterans of this contingent of the eight legion frontally raised their squared shields, creating a defensive line. Powerful demon chi flames penetrated the shields, projecting ominous pillars.

The draconic experts crashed against the pillars, many got injured, but they continued the brutal attack careless of the damage to their bodies. The draconics needed to win this battle, if the eight legion managed to reach the other side of the mountain range their citadel was done for.

The Holy Drake Saurn Forest extended for many killometres, covering hills and valleys. The Beastmen who acted as the explorers and vanguard of the Conquest Expedition had searched this place for long before finding hints that lead to the draconic citadel. Where the hills started rising until becoming mountains, the citadel was finely hidden, covered on two sides by high and steep rocky mountains. The main entrance and most guarded side was the hills side, where rivers, hills, and ditches made it difficult for an army to approach. Behind the city lied the Stony Plateau of the Wyrm Pass, it was only reachable via the Rocky Wyrm. Demons’ plan was to place their legion there to start the siege and attack from a more favorable position the citadel, keeping it in check with a pincer push.

Heavy swords lights lacerated the earth, fire punches incinerated the air, violent chi techniques and powerful draconic blows pushed the defensive pillars back until the demon chi was dissipated.

“Daevic Eagle Formation!” The veteran captains roared, stimulating their demon arts, ready to fight until the end.