by John Nest
"They're coming," said Smoke, pointing towards the invaders.
"You could see them from here?" asked a surprised Chrys.
"Of course! Can't you?" added Trottel, also looking into the direction where Smoke was looking at. However, everyone there could tell that he saw nothing.
A red flare shot up in the air, as the Orks activated Eleve's early warning devices.
Then, two more red flares exploded. They came from the obstructed directions of the red and blue mountains. Smoke could not see the other sides, but he could already imagine the same frightening scene. He was certain that the varying colored mountains had all turned to a monstrous green.
"Sound the alarms," calmly said Eleve to one of the silver Warrior Guards. "And send the notifications to the Sonstwelters that aren't here."
Eleve then looked down on the white tents outside the purple walls. "And make sure those tents are ready."
Posthaste, the Warrior Guard left and ran to comply the Prime General's orders.
She then turned to her Vice-Generals. "It is time," she said and bowed down to them.
The Prime Wizards and Smoke bowed their heads and walked some distance away from the 16th Magietrois Florissant.
"May the justice of the great god Tlaltezin protect you this day," she said and showered them with red flowers made of flames.
+ Received Tlaltezin's Blessing.
> 30% increase to HP
> 30% increase to MP
> 30% increase to DEF
> 30% increase to MDEF
"Tlaltezin teaches us that only the strong survives," said Eleve. "So, let's show these Orks how weak they truly are!"
With that, she pointed her palms at them and teleported them to their designated posts. All, except for Smoke, who was left standing in front of him.
Smoke looked around, confused. "Why am I still here?"
"Your unit is well hidden, the Orks won't find them," began Eleve. "Before you go, I want you to see the benefits of being given the title of Vice-General."
Less than half an hour later, the green monsters towering over two-meters in height, got off the foot of the brown mountain. They entered the scattered pomegranate forest patches, only to decimate its trees. Fallen trees were left in the wake of the Orks' arrival.
He estimated that the Orks on this side numbered at least a hundred thousand. Not even the sight of all the gathered Brandals could compare to this.
'So, this is an Ork Horde!' he thought and shook his head, slightly intimidated. 'And the same number can be expected on the other sides of the city as well.'
Staring down at the gathered Orks, he used his Telefax Vision and zoomed in on them. He focused on one who sat on a large dirus wolf. He appeared to be the one in charge.
From this great distance, Smoke could not hear what the Ork was yelling. But he could see him pointing at the white tents below.
At once, the Orks behind him charged for the tents. The same ones where Smoke and the rest of the Kingdom's Generals met two days before.
From above, Smoke waited for them to run across his pit traps and activated them.
Dozens of Orks fell into it, and more bumbling giants followed through. There were those who tried to stop before the pit, but were still pushed into it as well. The momentum of the green monsters behind them was to strong to suddenly stop.
"See? I told you it would work," said Smoke to Eleve.
While the other Orks bypassed Smoke's pit traps, the ones who fell inside climbed out seconds later. Their life bars barely reflected any damage.
"That's why I said that it won't," replied Eleve. "Orks are heartless monsters, but they are amazing climbers."
In only two minutes, the charging Orks reached the white tents, smashing everything in sight as they entered it.
KABOOM KABOOM KABOOM KABOOM
A series of strong and loud explosions erupted from within the tents. Several dismembered body parts of the Orks flew out. Numerous severed limbs landed beside the burning debris of their previous meeting ground.
At the sound of Eleve's trap, a rain of elemental spells fell from the skies. Fire, Lightning, Wind, and Earth attacks bombarded the Ork Horde.
As the Orks scattered and surrounded the city from all directions, the Breathtaking Ballistae fired out large flaming fireballs at the invaders below.
BTOOM BTOOM BTOOM
Numerous Orks were blasted up in the air by the Breathtaking Ballistae, as the massive fireballs struck them. Yet, the green giants marched on, unperturbed by their ranged attacks.
Only a few minutes after the start of the Ork Horde invasion, and the early morning sky was filled with a grandeur of colors.
Smoke watched in awe, as several Sonstwelters simultaneously logged back in, and immediately went into action. The thirty-meter thick wall of the city was soon flooded with its defenders.
He observed that the Mages were enjoying themselves, safely casting their spells into the air. This created an arc which struck the Orks below.
However, Smoke could also see the tension of the Warriors and Knights guarding the top of the walls.
'Right, those monsters are sure to climb here,' he thought, after having seen them easily escape his pit traps. 'If they can't stop them, those Mages are sure to die.'
Seven more minutes went by, and Smoke still did not understand why Eleve had him remain there with her.
Eleve created a massive casting circle in the sky. Smoke then noticed that several such casting circles were constructed on the other sides of the city. Then, a large comet fell out of it, and crushed several of the Orks on the ground.
'Right! I've got that ability now,' he realized, all excited. He tried to cast his own Comet, but even then, his Flame Master stopped him.
"Wait, just stay there and watch," she said.
As more Comets fell from the heavens, an unexpected notification window popped up in front of him.
+ Level UP!
You have 10 stat points ready for distribution.
Your HP has increased by 6,700.
Your mana has increased by 6,700.
Fame has increased by 1.
His life bar and mana bar glowed, indicating that it had been refilled to its new maximum capacity. Smoke looked at the window in disbelief. "But I didn't even do anything?"
"That's right, you gain experience by simply being here," explained Eleve. "So, make sure that you don't die."
She grabbed Smoke's shoulder and said. "I know that you were planning to risk everything, even at the cost of your own life. But this invasion is also a great opportunity for you to grow."
"How did you know?" he asked.
"I may not have fondled you," said Eleve. "But I am your Flame Master. Besides, you look like the type of person who gives out great advice but doesn't take it himself."
Smoke fell silent and respectfully lowered his head. He remembered what he always said to his private army members, to not take unnecessary risks and to protect their lives at all costs.
'I really can't die here,' he reminded himself, imagining the levels he could gain. 'But then why did she assign me that special unit in the middle of the—'
His musings vanished as he suddenly felt his insides tingle. He was being teleported.
"I thought we were still—" were Smoke's last words, before only a fiery afterimage of himself remained.
* * * * * *
On the southern side of the amethyst city, Ouragan hovered over the invaders. He scrutinized the advance of the Orks, and could see that despite their ranged attacks, these green giants kept on coming.
"Xantana, Chouchou, tell your fellow Fire Mages to direct their spells through my casting circle!" he shouted to the two Pyro Mages below him.
Xantana and Chouchou were assigned to work under him. They were originally allocated to be under Trottel, but a sudden change of paperwork brought them here instead.
The LightElf and tiger Lioumerean led their fellow Flame Mages. The power couple casted their s
pells with burning intensity, that it encouraged others to give it their best.
Due to Ouragan's amplifying magic, the damage of their flame attacks increased by 200%.
However, the Orks still kept on coming. Even with hundreds of Mages raining down their spells, there was still a gap in between them.
Especially with abilities such as the Comet. The long casting time alone, gave the Orks the needed opportunity to reach the city's enclosure.
Ouragan had to reduce his amplifying casting circle to one, as his left hand targeted on the Orks scaling the purple fortification.
He sent wind-cutters at the green giants clawing their way up.
"To the walls!" cried out Xantana, and they walked past the Knights, Warriors, and other melee fighters.
The few city Archers fired at the Orks, but their arrows did little to no damage.
Chouchou stood next to one of them and launched his own fire-arrows. He targeted the green giants' heads, and got in a few lucky shots, which struck the Ork's eyes.
"Hey, can you enchant my arrows with flames?" asked one of the Archers.
"Sorry, but I don't have that kind of magic," replied Chouchou.
"Less talking and more attacking!" yelled Xantana and let out more fireballs.
Despite their focus-fire on the climbing Orks, the number of incoming green giants still grew.
It was then that Ouragan stopped casting his amplifying magic and flew down towards his division.
"Everyone, back away from the wall!" shouted the old HighElf.
He then flew towards the invaders, and created four large tornadoes right outside the eastern walls. The Orks tried to grab hold on to the city's fortification, but pull from the turbulent winds was beyond their strength.
Ouragan looked down, and saw that there were still Orks hanging on to the walls. The ones who were blown away were just the ones that belonged to the MoriHai tribe. The mighty UrukHai Orks still continued to crawl up, as more UrukHai Orks walked past his tornado.
"Everyone, brace yourselves! The Orks are coming up!" shouted Ouragan. "Mages step back! Knights and Warriors, hold your ground!"
The sound of clanking armors and swords erupted. Ouragan studied the melee fighters' faces, and he knew that he had to use his other Beggar abilities.
He switched his magic wand for two enchanted swords. One had strong winds surrounding its blade while the other was made of pure ice.
The old HighElf stepped in front of the fighters and shouted. "There's nothing to fear from these monsters! Watch this old man kick their asses!"
As soon as the first UrukHai climbed up, Ouragan vanished like the wind. He sliced off the UrukHai's right arm with his wind-blade. Then, with his ice-blade, he froze the green giant's legs. After which, he pushed the Ork back down.
"Remember, we don't have to kill them," said Ouragan. "We just have to kick them out of the city!"
With that, more UrukHai Orks climbed up. The Warriors and Knights charged at the Orks, while the Mages standing behind them fired pin-point spells, always careful not to hit their melee comrades.
* * * * * *
With the Ork Horde surrounding Votl City, Smoke stood outside his hidden cave. He watched the battle for the city from on top of the red mountain. His Cunning of the Dire Fox sensed no enemies nearby.
'Maybe Eleve had me stay behind, so that the Orks won't notice me and my Knights,' he came to realize.
From his vantage point, Smoke could not see the side of the city where Eleve and Ouragan were defending, but he felt confident that those two could handle things on their own.
He then focused his attention on the two sides clearly visible to him, the northern and southern sides of the amethyst city.
Several elemental spells fell down on the Orks, but one element stood out above the rest. On the northern side, it was Trottel's Lightning Strikes. Even from where he stood, Smoke could hear the deafening sounds of thunder.
'As a person he is really pathetic, but it seems he's leading his men well against the Orks,' observed Smoke.
Looking to the western side, Smoke saw a flying green-robed Wizard attacking the Orks by himself. There were several magical spells coming from his side of the wall, but Smoke could tell that this part of the city was less organized.
'He did just become a Prime Wizard,' reasoned Smoke, in Chrys' defense.
Chrysopelea released a green cloud over the Orks, which Smoke assumed to be poisonous gas.
'I don't think that would stop them at all,' he thought.
With a whistle, he called out his dirus wolf. "Freifahrt, time to go!"
A large dirus wolf over four meters in length walked up next to him. The mount which he left behind in the sequestered seminary, grew twice in size and now had flaming red fur on its paws.
"Looks like leaving you behind there proved very useful," he said to his dirus wolf.
Mounted on top of the large beast, Smoke rode his steed outside the cave. There, he summoned forth his legions of his special unit.
"Legions Isa, Duha, Tulo, and Upat, fall in!" yelled out Smoke.
Straightaway, two-meter tall Iron Knights equipped with claymores responded. Moving in complete unison, they began to march out of the cave.
"Automaton Knights, stick to your assigned legions." reminded Smoke. After double-checking their formations, he shouted. "Move out!"
He ordered the 40,000 guardians of the Florissant Seminary to action.
Despite them being lifeless soldiers, the Automaton Knights moved with great speed. They easily kept up with Freifahrt who left fire-paw prints on its path.
Attacking from behind the Orks' formation, Smoke was free to pick out his target.
Suddenly, his train of thought was derailed, as another pleasing notification window popped up.
+ Level UP!
You have 10 stat points ready for distribution.
Your HP has increased by 7,300.
Your mana has increased by 7,300.
Fame has increased by 1.
Since both his life and mana bar were untouched, they only glowed. Thus, indicating that it had been refilled to its new maximum capacity. He had gained another level. It had only been an hour since the Ork Horde invaded, and he had already increased his level by three.
Closing the good news window, Smoke focused on what he needed to next.
"Igniz, I need eyes from above," he said to his symbiote hidden inside the metallic orb on his chest.
Without delay, the dark ember sprite flew out and soared over the Orks. Although, Chrys' poison cloud slightly obstructed the view. By using his Symbiote Vision, Smoke spotted the Ork giving out the commands. He saw an UrukHai riding on top a massive dirus wolf, who wielded a giant double-headed axe.
Igniz then glanced at the southern walls of Votl. Through the eyes of his ember sprite, Smoke found that the purple fortification had turned green with Orks.
Normally, anyone would hesitate to lead his own army into a poisonous green cloud. Yet, Smoke charged in without a care. During the Magi Gagnant Tournament, he had proven that his Poison Resistance could handle Chrys' green cloud. Meanwhile, the Automaton Knights were impervious to such ailments like Poison.
"Chrys!" called out Smoke, as he entered into the horde of Orks. "Get back to your men on the wall. I'll deal with the ones on the ground!"
A surprised Chrys looked down and spotted Smoke charging towards the thousands of Orks.
"Are you sure?" called out the green Prime Wizard.
"Yes! Now, go!" cried out Smoke and pointed his right palm at the Orks in front of him.
Sixteen earth-spikes launched out from the ground and pierced through the smaller Orks.
'These are just MoriHais,' surmised Smoke, as he led the charge further into the swarm of green giants.
From his brief aerial view, Smoke estimated that there were at least a hundred-thousand Orks in this side of the city.
'Four against one,' thought Smoke, thinking up plans on how to counteract the unfa
vorable odds.
SHING SHING SHING
As the Automaton Knights drew out their weapons, sharp sounds of claymores echoed around him.
"Legion Isa, take the left flank," ordered Smoke. "Duha Legion, block the right."
Both divisions hurried to their designated sides. They engaged the Orks that they encountered along the way. Despite their long claymores, it still took two Automaton Knights to engage one MoriHai Ork. Unfortunately, they were already badly outnumbered in the first place. As they advanced, the legions of Isa and Duha began to thin out, as more of the mechanical Knights were left behind to fend off the Orks.