Divine Beast Ascension

614 Prodson vs Iron

Heart beating at a thousand krin a second, Yoren ground to a halt while turning to flee from his speeding son. Instead, he started a mad dash toward the Prodson troops.

And before Yeter could ever reach his long-lost father, Yoren felt the expected turmoil of his soul begin.

Frrrip…

Suddenly, Yoren glanced to the side. He spotted the Shadow Drake from earlier, stabbing Yoren’s side. But no further attacks arrived. Just a single stab.

“HOW COULD–!?”

“Yeter, calm down!” Ania, Fontu, and Chief Hollen shouted in unison.

A strange, unexpected pain raked against Yoren’s soul. Yoren collapsed to the ground, spasming and twitching. He couldn’t fall completely unconscious, but the single explosion of soul force that Yoren had anticipated never came.

Without delay, the drake shared a glance and nod with Ania before racing toward the incoming Prodson army.

Two seconds before impact, and the leading line of beasts had already reached the branded stallion.

.....

“YETER!!” Hollen shouted in hopes to bring his grandson back to reality.

“FONTU!”

“Yes, my lady!”

The one-armed gorilla threw the stallion over his shoulder and leaped away from the imminent collision, fulfilling Ania’s intent.

Yeter blinked and realized what was happening. But by the time he was alert and ready, the battle was underway and unstoppable.

A spear was thrust forward by a Prodson troop, aimed for Yeter’s head. But a stone wall appeared first, defending Yeter as Hollen leaped over his grandson and into the enemy army.

The rest of the commanding line did the same thing.

Karos doused himself in lightning while streaking through the enemy ranks mercilessly. But his goal wasn’t to kill people. It was to stun and slow as many as possible. So the lynx raced by while evading attacks and pumping out electricity in every direction possible.

Eila was shrouded in shadows, looking demonic under the fresh light of dawn. She ripped through the front lines, leaving blood splattered on every troop she passed.

Ania retrieved her hammer and smashed through enemy lines, bending and breaking all mortal-grade armor in her way. And the dozen gorillas directly behind them followed the example of their clan’s mistress. Each of the apes plowed into the Prodson ranks with vigor, proud to disrupt the Prodson advance and their formation.

As the rest of the Iron army rushed into the stalled Prodson troops, they did something unexpected for simple, savage beasts.

While the Prodson troops opened a spot in the center for the battle of commanders, the Iron army never stopped dividing and separating. The gorillas and chiefs were practically left behind as the rest of the army spread into two forces. And, with Prodson already adjusting to the advance of the gorillas and chiefs, those two bestial forces raced down the sides of the Prodson army to fully surround them.

The Prodson army hurried to adapt and stop the beasts’ advance. But both bestial forces made it halfway around the Prodson troops before meeting proper resistance.

“PRODSON!!” “REPEL INVADERS!!”

“FOR IRON!!” “IRON WILL NEVER FALL!!”

Cries from both sides rang out, either to rally nearby allies or to raise a soldier’s personal determination. Nearly two hundred beasts, of only elders, had successfully fallen upon the army of more than four hundred adept and elder humans from Prodson.

Scoffing while testing out his opponent, Commander Ephar spat out, “Why can’t I kill my defiant steed?”

Mertin smiled. “Am I not threatening enough to warrant your full attention?”

“You’re a low-perennial, how could you warrant my complete attention,” Commander Ephar replied, “But you’ve got skill, so I can’t let you loose on my men. I’ll give you that much…”

Noticing the commander’s wandering eyes, Mertin asked, “What’s wrong? Are you mad that we’re using perennials against your army of elders and adepts?”

“Savages. We expected as much,” scoffed Ephar.

Ch-chting! Cra-crunch!

Shrugging and sidestepping around Ephar, Mertin stated, “Well, you started it. You sent assassins doing the same thing, even with overwhelming numbers. And Prodson sent a perennial to chase down our mortal drake.”

Ephar frowned. “Impossible! Then your drake would be dead already!”

Crunch! Ch-Crack!

Ephar’s axe hacked into the ground where Mertin was standing. But Mertin had already skated to the side with frost radiating from his feet. And Mertin’s sword of tiny, swirling frost blades reached for Ephar’s side, only to be blocked by the other end of the commander’s battle axe, covered in thick earth essence.

“Why would the drake be dead?” Mertin calmly asked. “All he had to do was lead the perennial into the woods, where our perennials could finish him off. Is that hard to believe?”

That’s when Ephar glanced at the drake, watching the beast rip and tear through the Prodson troops with ease. Some troops had barely been touched and they still fell to the ground in defeat.

So Ephar changed the subject and raised his axe once more. “If you know so much, then tell me already. Why can’t we kill our rebellious steeds?”

“You can only blame the cheap soul binding scrolls that Prodson provides,” Mertin chuckled. “And your bad luck of running into a soul assassin capable of disrupting souls without killing his targets.”

Ch-chting! C-c-crack!

As Mertin’s blade was thrust forward, Ephar knocked it downward. So the icy chainsaw hacked into the ground for a moment before getting pulled back. And Ephar was somewhat surprised to see how much damage Mertin’s simple thrust could do in just a split second.

“You dare to admire my work while claiming I’m not a viable threat?” Mertin scoffed and raised his sword. “If that’s so, I guess the feeling is mutual.”

Frowning and glancing at the wildebeests on the hillside, Commander Ephar shouted at the top of his lungs, “SEND WORD TO THE CAMP! EVACUATE NOW!”

A messenger was rapidly dispatched from the rear of the Prodson army after a few seconds of passing the order down the line of command. It was an elder racing off in a flurry of wind to reach the not-so-hidden passage as quickly as possible.

Nodding slightly, Mertin said, “At least you catch on quickly. But I doubt you’ll save everyone.”

“As long as we save enough, we can still put down these savage beasts and you traitors to humanity,” stated Ephar, more determined than ever.

Ch-ch-CRUNCH!

A heavy swing of the battle axe reached for Mertin, falling toward Mertin’s shoulder. And Mertin effortlessly parried the blow while skating aside. When the ground cracked open from the blow, destroying the frost on the ground, Mertin just skated to the other side to create even more frost.

Mertin shook his head, unfazed. “If you want any chance of winning, you’d better finish me off fast. Or you won’t have an army left to save.”

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