Chapter 198: The Imperial Elites

Anteris knew that utilizing his Fire Element Mana would only be useful in neutralizing Regis' Lighting and Fire Element attacks, since Regis was also a Fire Element individual, and was at a similar level to Anteris, Anteris' Fire Element attacks wouldn't do much damage to him.

This was due to the fact that a person's Elemental Affinity was based on which Element they were innate resistant to, and as their Mana Core's grew in power, so too would their own resistance.

Against Regis, Anteris would have to utilize his aura to its fullest extent, solidifying his mana in order to be able to do any real damage to Regis.

Regis, on the other hand, had no such concern, he could rely on his Fire Element to neutralize Anteris own, and his Lightning Element Mana would be more than enough to damage so long as Regis could break through his aura.

Both of their initial attacks were as powerful as they could muster, and since they had similar fighting styles, relying on brute strength and powerful attacks rather than speed and strategy, they met each other head on, flying as fast as they possibly could, Regis' fiery broadsword, crackling with lightning, slamming into Anteris' flaming halberd. Regis; purple aura clashing with Anteris' red aura,

Boom.

There was a deafening explosion as they collided with each other, and Anteris was sent flying backward, it was clear who had the upper hand.

Regis had a vicious grin on his face as he prepared another attack, this time cloaking his entire body in the fiery lightning, which utilized both his Mana Cores.

Anteris had no choice but to prepare another attack, even though he knew that Regis would easily blast through it, chipping away, slowly but surely, at Anteris' aura.

While Anteris exchanged blow after blow with Regis, Nevus and Tam were locked in fierce combat over the palace.

Tam had slowly but surely drawn Nevus toward the towers of the Imperial Palace, knowing that they would effectively neutralize his Lightning Bolts. Unlike Regis, Nevus could not utilize the elements on their own, since he had fused his Lighting, Wind, and Water cores. 

Fusing the three cores had given him the ability to manipulate the weather, but it meant that he didn't have the same capability to imbue his attacks with each element, instead he had a melded turquoise mana that wasn't very destructive in its own right.

This meant that he specialized in utilized his aura, most of the time, this meant that Nevus had the upper hand, but unfortunately for him, he was up against Tam, an elementless fighter who solely relied on aura.

The pair of them were evenly matched, Tam's most powerful diving attacks unable to be used since he had to remain below the level of the palace towers to avoid the lighting.

They traded attack after attack, Nevus only able to utilize the wind and rain so long as Tam remained below the level of the towers. 

Nevus used the wind to keep up with Tam, and Tam constantly stayed on the move, all of the lightning bolts that Nevus used missing, striking the tip of the palace's towers instead.

But even though Nevus wasn't able to harm Tam with his attacks, he was able to affect the battlefield as a whole.

The enormous clouds that he had summoned hung over Aznur, torrents of rain falling all over the side, as well as strong gusts of wind that constantly battered the advancing Ursten soldiers.

Nevus' manipulation of the weather gave the remaining soldiers the opportunity to withdraw to the palace, where they could shelter behind the shining white walls, which were a miniature version of the great wall that surrounded the Inner City.

Below, amongst the streets, the commanders of the Ursten forces had begun to withdraw, on their way to reinforce those soldiers that were defending the main street of Anzur, they knew what the arrival of the Storm Generals meant.

The elites of the Imperial Army would soon be arriving.

-----

"Here they come, Rufus! We're just going to watch and wait, for now, keep your head down. Once they've properly engaged our forces, we'll sneak down and attack their back line." Docara yelled to Kothar, struggling to be heard above the howling wind and the constant rumble of thunder from Nevus' storm overhead.

"You got it Docara. Are they elites really so dangerous that all our forces need to be waiting to engage them like this?" Kothar was confused, Boson, Serena, Slate and Shale were already lying in wait for the elites, but now even the bulk of the army, which had charged in to the Inner City, were turning around to face the elites.

"Of course they are, these are the men which allowed the Empire to dominate the south. The Storm Generals may be powerful, but in terms of experience, they're babies compared to these men." Docara shook his head at Kothar's lack of understanding.

"These were the fighters who pushed the tribes back in the Empire's war against them. Few of them are probably below the Intermediate Rank, if any." Docara yelled, his tone serious, he knew that the few thousand men rapidly charging toward Aznur had the capacity to turn the tide of the entire battle.

Kothar watched as Boson led his shock troops toward the border of Aznur, it seemed that he wanted to intercept the Imperials outside the city.

[That'll do a lot to break down their momentum.} Silane observed, as they watched the column of Imperial soldiers charge across the plains outside the city.

"Men and women of Ursten! Let us show these Imperials what the people of Ursten are made of! Steel, blood and fury!" Boson roared, raising his axe high into the air, a green glow surrounding him and his axe. 

Boson swung his axe down, and the column of five hundred heavily armored men and women began to charge, on a collision course for the two thousand Imperial Elites charging in the opposite direction.