CHAPTER 461: BATTLEFIELD SURPRISES

Ever since I reincarnated as a Devil, I never had a day of respite. Not when I was fighting for my life through the Blood Sea, not when I was chased by a horde of Zombies… anyway, it was a hard journey. But ever since I came to the Shadowhunter Clan, my fortunes had taken a significant turn for the better. Not only had I gained a godmother, I was now half the owner of the entire Dark Elf race. That was why I had been acting rather arrogant recently. But was I really to blame here? I was, after all, at one point a sacrifice waiting to be offered before I suddenly became an object of worship instead -quite a drastic change in attitudes.

But everything in life had its ebbs and flows. Just because I was suddenly thrust into such a lofty position didn’t mean that this fortune would last forever. Just as I was entertaining thoughts about starting a biography about the heroic adventures of a certain Fallen Angel, life would teach me a lesson along the lines of ‘the only constant in life is change’.

Other than the thousand or so Blood Drake Riders led by Zurnalin, the rest of the army were foot soldiers. Naturally, they wouldn’t be able to travel at the same rate as us. Furthermore, the Murlocs weren’t able to leave the water for too long so we had to plot a route that was nearby water. At times, we had to take an otherwise unnecessary detour, resulting in a belated arrival at the battleground.

Even so, our location was only ten kilometers away from the forward post. Zurnalin had already sent out the Assassins ahead of us to scout the situation. By all accounts, they should be back soon.

Unfortunately, it was now two hours and ten minutes since they left. Their scouting trip was supposed to have taken at most two hours. While this was only a ten minutes delay, every minute and second mattered in war. Being the professional Assassins that those two were, they would have at least sent a letter back if they weren’t able to return in time.

Lest one forgot, these were Dark Elven Assassins of the Shadowhunter Clan, not just any old Assassin you would find elsewhere. If they were late, there was only one possibility: something had happened to them.

By this point, the entire army had marched a staggering 40 kilometers without rest so everyone was tired, especially those Murlocs lying on the floor right now like a bunch of infuriating dead fishes.

These fishes were the very definition of lazy. Even before the first kilometer was finished, there were already Murlocs complaining. Had it not been for my decidedly black face being discovered by the Murloc Shaman, leading to him punishing those who dared complain, we might have already had our first wave of fishy deserters.

As the saying went, you are only as strong as your weakest link. Had it not been for the Murlocs holding us back, we would have already reached our destination. Even so, there was no reason to give up free cannon fodder just because of that. Especially since we weren’t the first batch of reinforcements to arrive. Prior to us, another army had gone to reinforce the forward post a day earlier. Their numbers might not have been as many our own, but it should at least guarantee that the lines will hold before we arrive.

Finally, Zurnalin gave the orders to assemble and march onwards. The situation with those two Assassins were a concern, but we still had to proceed in the end.

However, before the entire army could assemble, an incident happened. A signal flare burst into a blinding glare ahead, bathing the otherwise darkened caverns in white.

Beneath its searing illumination, the vague silhouette of a horde of Minotaurs could be seen roughly two and a half kilometers ahead in the mushroom forest. With their brutish force, they pushed aside the obstructing mushrooms with a beastial howl and charged in our direction. These Minotaurs were all roughly three meters in height. Each wielded a heavy weapon that looked to be about 180 kg each. Some wielded a giant warhammer, a giant axe, a giant mace… essentially, they were all gigantic. Despite that, their speeds were alarmingly fast, covering a kilometer in a mere minute.

High above, a flock of Harpies began to break over the horizon. Each Harpy had a wingspan of around three to four meters, and in the typical fashion of their race, they had a rather fetching human face but an eagle body that was anything but.

Where did that signal flare come from? And why are they here instead of fighting the forward post? Has the forward post fallen already?

Fudgecakes, looks like things have gotten complicated…

“My riders, hear my command! Assemble! We are under attack!”

The moment those monsters appeared in our vision, Zurnalin hastily yelled out that warning to the rest of the army. Thanks to her quick reactions, the rest of the units began to quickly form up as well. The Blood Drake Riders all hopped onto their Blood Drakes, spear in hand, and formed up around Zurnalin.

“Master…” Unlike Zurnalin, Jezsere was already frightened to death by the sudden appearance of these enemies. She tried to duck into my arms for cover but I placed her on Mo Ning’s back instead. I then instructed Mo Ning to look after her.

Mo Ning herself did not mind our resident timid girl all that much. She nodded her head and quickly went about her work.

I started channeling mana into the summoning bracelet on my left hand, the Lion’s Majesty. Immediately, the three Fire Elemental Cores lit up with a fiery glow as the first hints of mana began to flow into them. I had invested over half of my mana into those three cores, only to receive a weak response from the bracelet. Still, that was all I needed. “In my name, come forth and scorch the lands! Emissary of flames!”

As I spoke the summoning words, three three meter tall Fire Elementals materialised out of thin air before me. Each of them had a vaguely humanoid shape that shimmered from the flames they gave out. Even from where I was standing, I couldn’t make out the definite features on their bodies or faces. Based on their aura however, I could sense that these were bonafide Seven-stars.

It was at that point that I realised why Ferti’nier had this summoning bracelet made for me in the first place. Because my mana had the unique ability to impart consciousness, the three Fire Elementals summoned through the bracelet would benefit from this trait as well. Simply put, these Fire Elementals weren’t just your normal puppets that required controlling, they were able to function independently like my Shadow Demon!

I pointed at the charging Minotaurs. “Stop them, don’t let them get any closer!”

Upon receiving my command, the three Fire Elementals exchanged a look with each other then nodded wordlessly before sprinting towards the Minotaurs. With their help, we should be able to buy a significant amount of time. As for the Harpies above… Well, that’s a problem for the Archers and Mages. I wonder if it will help if I tell them that I have a Harpy Witch as a fiancee…

On Aishael’s part, her reaction wasn’t much slower than Zurnalin herself. Even though she was still a young girl, she was deathly calm right now. “Half-Elves, I want Archers and Mages on those Harpies right away. Second division will provide cover. First division, gather on me!”

These two thousand Half-Elves might have seemed like a ragtag army at first, but it was an undeniable fact that each and every one of them had gone through life and death situations together. In terms of experience alone, they had probably gone to war more often than the Dark Elven army. They knew what a battlefield was like and what the battlefield required. Even when resting, all of them kept their weapons at the ready in case of an ambush.

Thanks to the timely orders by Aishael, the Half-Elves were able to form up their long-range units quickly. Volley after volley of spells and arrows rained down on the incoming Harpies, never giving them an inch without first taking a mile from them.

Using the time bought by the Archers and Mages, the second division of the Half-Elves formed up a basic defensive position around them. As long as any Harpy tried to come close, they not only had to contend with projectiles flying their way, they had to guard against the weapons of these warriors as well.

At the same time, the first division of the Half-Elves had formed up around Aishael. Their mission was to hold off the unstoppable charge of the Minotaurs. It was at that time that a few Harpies noticed this new division that didn’t seem to have any long-range units guarding them. Realising that this might be an easier target, they swooped down in hopes of perhaps procuring a new toy for their nest.

(TL: 40km isn’t that far…)