[Rank 1 King Guard Level 50]
This was the man who would lead us should the emperor be unable to do so.
Well, he'd lead the emperor's army, as I and my teammates were given the freedom to do whatever we wanted.
My team and I were merely external help, but that didn't mean we planned on causing trouble because of it.
If our help was needed and we were in a position to offer it, then we would. Freedom was just a bonus for us in this war.
As I thought about this, I turned to look at my surroundings. The air was tense—very tense—but this tension was only apparent on our side.
Our side remained very quiet, while the ogres on the other side were roaring, shouting, and doing everything they could to make noise.
It seemed the ogres were relatively more excited about this war than our side was.
This didn't mean the emperor's party was scared of providing a fight. It was just that, unlike the other side, who seemed to consider whatever happened next as potentially fun, the emperor's army was fighting for more crucial reasons.
Shifting my attention back to the ogre army, I spotted another massive figure among their ranks making his way to the front.
This particular ogre had a formidable build that surpassed the others in their race but was still inferior to the ogre king who had left with the emperor to another location.
This might be their second in command I mused as the ogre reached the front and fixed its gaze on our side.
Unlike the other ogres, this one wore a relatively serious expression and stared intently at the emperor's army.
I couldn't see the face of our own second in command, but his posture indicated he wasn't backing down from the stare-off.
But that wasn't all.
Simultaneously, the two second-in-commands of both opposing armies raised a hand into the air.
Moments later, everything immediately quieted down as everyone adopted a more serious stance. Even the ogres on the other side started warming up.
What are they doing? I wondered.
But before we could catch our breath, more projectiles began hurtling our way, thrusting Blue and me into a relentless evasion, lest we be brought down from the skies.
Rocks of varying sizes materialised out of thin air, catapulting toward us with alarming speed and precision.
Blue's keen reflexes matched my own, dodging each projectile with a graceful dance in the sky. We twisted and weaved through the storm of rocks, each movement calculated and executed in perfect synchrony. The rush of wind, the frantic beating of Blue's wings, and the whistle of the projectiles created an intense, chaotic symphony in the air.
While the situation wasn't overly dire for us, it did catch us off guard.
After a tense few moments, we managed to evade the onslaught.
"Who threw those boulders at us?" I muttered, certain it was the ogres, but I was more intrigued by their method.
Their motivation seemed to be centred around driving us out of the sky.
Turning my attention to the ogre army, I finally spotted the source of the barrage and couldn't help but be taken aback.
It was a human, an elderly one.
Observing the wand in his hand and the massive rocks hovering around him, it wasn't hard to deduce that he was a mage.
Yet, I was curious about something else—why was a human assisting the ogres?
*******
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