563 Sunrise

Hearts rising in tempo, the morning birds quiet, the knights clad in armour ready to embrace another assault of blue. Drummers at the ready, ready to encourage and supplement the army's adrenaline, battle-fever and mindset towards feverous aggression. Rather than shouldering a shield and standing amongst the vanguard, Rosemi was once more positioned upon the defensive walls in wait of dawn. The majority of experienced, trained and skilled swordsmen were already defeated, leaving only the freshest recruits, men who were injured but healed, and even the labourers and engineers to man the shield wall down below.

The long awaited time arrived, crimson flames transformed the dark blue sky into an ocean of fiery red. The first rays of sun light pierced through the clouds as the rising sun continued to rise without a care for what it would initiate. With shaky boots and heavy swords, the men mumbled their own prayers as they hoped to see another day, to eat another loaf of bread, to see their loved ones once more.

Raising the first flag up high, which caught the sight of the drummers and men who clutched trumpets and war horns close, the anthem to war began to fill the men with heat. With bass slamming into their chests, waking the desires of the heart of many and the loud and sharp noises cutting short their worries and desires to break ranks, Oliver, Gary and Lucy began to smile as their groups started to whisper reassuring phrases repeatedly.

"Don't worry, the commander has a plan. Just hold on for a little while longer, trust me." They repeated, rustling the desire to live, to survive, to not surrender even if their body's yearn for it.

The first of the dekans appeared, just as the human's did, the top of their food chain were observing from the top of their annexed walls whilst the weaker and younger of the lot were marched out through the ruined gates with dual sided spears and glaives. A few evolved were marching and barking out orders, reminders that their lives were meaningless without their king's orders.

Whilst the two armies would usually both march out and fight for ground superiority, in efforts to reach the opposing stonewalls and to breach it, the human alliance remained steadfast as they dug their heels into the ground, planted the shields tightly together and primed their swords through the gaps in wait. Believing their lacklustre army to be filled with only cowards, and those that awaited death, the dekans roared in laughter as they began to sprint over the spacious ground.

Rosemi continued to gaze from her vantage point as she muttered prayers towards both the goddess Loha and Thrud the dragon, she waited with bated breath as her heart pounded from within, the sceptre within her hands growing in weight as her worries equally grew in size. 

Scanning her blue eyes across the walls, in search of the threat that was prophesized to be her undoing, her eyes finally landed upon a single evolved dekan. Just seeing the fangs, the horns, the blade like bones that protruded out of its body, shivers and cold sweat covered her back as both her desire to face the strong, to overcome it, and her urge to run were threw into a conflict from within. Upon each claw, each finger nail, decapitated heads of both humans and dekans were plunged on them like a BBQ skewer. Seeing the jet-black dragonoid feast upon the flesh of his own like a passing snack, Rosemi had to force the rising stomach acid back down as she steeled her nerves in wait.

..

"Fuck my life man. Seriously!"

Gary grit his teeth as the first of the opposing vanguard crashed into the shield wall. Pulling, pushing, bashing and even trying to climb the shield wall, the dekans violently bit, scratched, punched, kicked and dived into the wobbly mixture of wooden and steeled shield wall. Shredding shards of wood sporadically and throughout as their innate bloodlust and desire to conquer the lesser races drove them onwards, regardless of the swords, spears or arrows that sliced their larger torsos up.

Jin, the elven knight who was missing his right arm frowned as he was benched from the vanguard, being relegated to the back as a last resort with only a elven-short sword within his left hand. Besides him were his less enthusiastic party members who were also quite injured, exhausted and fatigued to the point that they were also benched. Being ordered to stand around at the back to only bolster and inflate the image of the human army's numbers, a mental tactic that delayed their enemies from breathing a second rejuvenating wind from believing they had won.

Forced to watch as yet another platoon of men were slaughtered, another man had his shoulder chomped and eaten, another soldier failed to evade the claws that slipped through the ever emerging cracks between the shields. Another human, another elf, another dark-elf fell as the lights flickered off from within their eyes.

Throwing their gazes away from the bloodshed, the rear shot their eyes upwards, towards their commander in prayer that whatever her plan was, that it would succeed.

..

Rosemi de Lumix watched as hundreds of her men died, however much she desired to be blissfully ignorant, she forced herself to watch as she understood it was upon her orders that they would stand their ground, and die.

Seeing the spacious grounds between walls fill by the second, the dekans had flooded 80% of the ground as a sea of sharks, as more of their kin shoved funnelled in, shoving one and another by the backs as they literally had no way out. Rosemi finally raised a golden flag that depicted the celestial dragon.

The hundreds of mages still able to cast their spells roused their mana in synchronization, chugging what little mana potions they had left and throwing the recovered mana immediately into the fiery mixture within their palms. A desperate attempt, a literal last ditch effort as their hearts raged and roared as their mana pools depleted, leaving them cold and wracked with seething pain.

The music the small band played shifted from a war anthem to a holy hymn, gentle crescendos clashed and rose in spirit, as Rosemi banked every single point of mana on her newly acquired skill, an untested skill, one she could only imagine.

[Dragon Ignition] !

Her usual healthy complexion instantly paled, her eyes bloodshot, veins peaked from every segment of her body as her heart suddenly consumed its entire mana pool in a single shot.

Above the human alliance, above the mighty stone walls, above the regent appointed to be humanity's bastion, a colossal dragon's head materialized as its crimson skin and eyes emitted steam and fire.

Seeing such a sight, the literal divine-being they worshipped devoutly, the dekans couldn't help but falter, pausing and bumping into each other's shoulders as their lizard-like eyes were trapped, locked upon the massive dragon head that looked just like Thrud's.

It's giant maw opened, without warning, dragon ignition sent streams of sunrise red flames out that covered the entire ground, turning the landscape and walls beyond into a scene that thousands mistook as hell. Increasing in intensity, embracing the emotions, the desires and wrath of its caster, the flames ignited into violent azure fire, incinerating every dekan that had marched on through the gates.

Timing the magic their commander had cast, the hundreds of dark-elves fired their skills up and into the skies above. Allowing their spells to volley over like an erupting volcano would with magma, crashing into the opposing walls and sending fear into the hearts of even the most devout of dekans.

Believing the crimson dragon to be descending upon them, hundreds of dekans began to flee, as mass panic spread throughout their ranks. Which due to their larger size, horns, spikes and claws, led to many of their numbers being trampled to death by their own.

To the humans below, they almost pissed themselves until they recalled the words that were spread, that the magic was something their commander had planned.

..

Back upon the wall, Rosemi's consciousness faded as her heart bottomed out, out of mana, out of nitro, her body went limp and almost crashed. Thankfully, Miku and Mimi both tightly supported the girl from behind, hidden in [Hide]

From such a far distance, the lone dekan who had witnessed such annihilation befall his army, who had the balls to stand his ground and watch, finally faltered as the human commander appeared to be unyielding even after casting such devastation. Having seen enough, and in fear of Rosemi casting yet another, he finally turned tail and joined his army in retreat. Persuading himself that he wasn't actually running away in fear, but delivering vital intelligence back to the homeland.

Seeing the entire enemy gone, and the human-elven alliance advancing and ensuring their retreat to be conclusively genuine, Miku and Mimi finally allowed Rosemi's lethargic body to lay down, to rest, as her lungs were barely inhaling any oxygen. Just as Asai had repeatedly done, the woman had gone above and beyond, and was thus subject to an enforced coma that prevented her from placing further stress upon her weak beating heart.

Unable to enjoy the cheers, the roars of joy, the screams of relief, Rosemi had fulfilled her duty to the kingdom. The very same nobles who had once slighted her for being a women, for being a pretty flower and abusing her connections to the queen for such a lofty position, they all knelt one by one, showing their utmost respect as her unconscious body was carried down back to her private tent.

Whatever complaints the duchess would voice, they all swore to counter them, as they knew full well that such results were simply impossible if the pressure and call of duty were placed upon their shoulders.

...

"Shouldn't we chase after them? It's easiest to cull an army during their retreat right?"

Gary pondered out loud, as he sat upon his helmet like a stool, downing the last remnants of beer available to him.

Oliver chuckled, as he swiped the blood away from his face, his eyes glanced over to find Lucas' party to having miraculously survived, and Jin moping around as he still wanted to prove himself useful.

"With what army do you suggest we chase with? Just reinforcing, repairing and rebuilding Thrud castle will take all of us..."

..

[Rosemi de Lumix: Lvl 90->91]

[HP: 150 MP: 100]

[Title: Dragon Priestess]