New World - A New Beginning

ASTHIA DARCK'S POV:

The first figures appeared on the horizon, their numbers multiplying as they began to obstruct my view. The heavy sound of thumping footsteps like a crazed stampede filled my mind, shaking the very earth below me.

I remained completely silent with my sword implanted in the ground. The soft breeze began to scrape against my skin, my nerves no longer perceiving the wind as soothing.

A chant arose from the opposing army as they began to show themselves, a neverending flood of metal dominating the scene.

My pupils expanded slightly upon seeing the first individual that I recognized:

Ares Hearth.

The S-rank looked down on me, his eyes void of all emotion as he observed the opposing force that he would soon clash against. Moments passed, and finally, I saw them.

"They have Archmages," I muttered to myself, the colored robes of adventurers contrasting with the uniformly silver tone of the Dwarven soldiers. I could feel their auras from hundreds of mels away, the mages not attempting to conceal their powers.

The waves of Dwarves finally came to a halt, the army in all its grandeur standing right before us. Their numbers seemed to be ranging in the hundreds of thousands. I felt my body retract slightly, but I willed myself to keep standing strong. The terror from the soldiers behind me was lingering in the air around me, and as their leader, I had to make sure I didn't falter.

Minutes of silence followed as the armies observed each other. I immediately understood the source of Ares's hesitation to launch an attack. He was unaware of Jay's position.

I was able to make out Ares's words from the movement of his lips as he finally came to a decision, his order spreading across his army with a howl of confidence:

"Crush them."

The thousands of soldiers began their approach, their slow march transforming into a light sprint as the defenders readied themselves.

I raised my arm, understanding that we were obligated to use our strategical position and range to our advantage if we wanted to defeat the enemy. It wouldn't be long until the enemy's archmages would be able to rain down hell onto our fortifications...

"Fire!!!" I roared, low booms of energy erupting alongside my words. Dozens of projectiles fired off towards the enemy's advancing soldiers, their shields becoming obsolete as they were eradicated from the condensed meteors of bind.

The enemy picked up the pace after losing hundreds of frontline soldiers, the adventurers using neutral bind to shoot ahead of their regiments in an attempt to pressure us.

I remained calm, realizing we had time for one more bombardment.

"Fire!!!" I yelled again as another volley of elements shot from our backlines onto the oncoming mob of soldiers. Their yells echoed across the battlefield, but to our troops, it sounded like music.

I wrenched my sword out of the ground and raised the weapon. Captains across the regiments mimicked my physical order, a sudden golden shine illuminating across the valley.

I felt my body surge with power, every muscle in my body yearning to unleash the newfound energy upon the enemy.

"Thanks, Diana," I muttered, still not understanding how the girl was able to buff thousands of people without collapsing. It seemed like the Princess of Imania was a lot more than she let out to be.

I dropped my arm, pointing my weapon right at the enemy.

"Attack!!" I cried out, a unified roar exploding throughout the Allied forces as waves of black and white-coated soldiers stormed the oncoming wave of Dwarves.

I bent my legs slightly, twirling my sword and finding a suitable position before locking my sights on one of the leading adventurers. I launched myself right into my target, his reflexes just managing to block my strike with his own sword.

We remained locked in a clash, but the confidence in the adventurer's eyes vanished as he realized what it meant to be the leading vanguard of an army. Thousands of soldiers crashed onto our position, allowing me to slip underneath his defense and plunge my sword into the Dwarf's back.

I didn't have time to celebrate the first dent that we had created within the Dwarven army as an endless wave of troops crashed into our position. I evaded the strikes aimed toward me, vaulting over and under the clunky Dwarves who were clad in armor before disintegrating them with infernal bind.

I glanced at Ares amidst the chaos. The S-rank stood his ground firmly, not moving so long as he didn't know the location of his main priority. My goal was to force the man to leave his tactical position surrounded by adventurers before Jay arrived.

A chain of deafening roars suppressed the cries of pain and the clashing of metal as wyverns took to the skies. The enemy's archmages immediately got to work, chanting spells that would allow them to blast the creatures out of the sky.

BOOOOOOMMM

Streaks of bright red flames scorched the surface of the earth, the fresh grass and all living creatures that stood on top of it being disintegrated within seconds. The screeches of Dwarves that were turned to ash resonated across the battlefield.

I looked around, realizing how the Allied forces were dominating the Dwarves with ease. They outnumbered us, but our superior individual firepower and weapons allowed us to reign death and destruction upon the unfortunate Dwarves.

Thousands of cries played repeatedly within my head, my mind hearing the wails of pain across the battlefield. Even so, Ares refused to move as he sent forth more adventurers to halt our advance.

I prepared myself, feeling the strength of multiple AA-ranked adventurers approaching my location. Flames swirled around my body, dancing like it had a mind of its own before sinking into my blade. Lingering sparks from the flames circled my body, creating an aura of burning heat that protected me from attacks.

I leaped into the air, timing my attack so that I stood above the adventurers right when they crashed into my previous position.

"Dragon Dive," I muttered, crashing back into the ground with a fiery explosion.

The three AA-ranked adventurers defended themselves with bind just in time. I watched in slow-motion as the two A-ranks slowly vanished from the world, their bodies being consumed by the flames and graying out their silhouettes before inevitably turning to ash.

I stood up straight amidst the inferno, my eyes burning brighter than all the explosions that were erupting across the field.

I had never tried taking on an AA-ranked adventurer... let alone three. I let out a small smile at the thought, taking an offensive stance with little-to-no protective capabilities.

It seemed like my experience was lacking compared to Jay's.

"Real arrogant of you to think you can take us all simultaneously," said one of the adventurers as he drove his weapon into the skull of a Dragon soldier.

I watched the body fall to the ground as blood covered the lime grass, my eyes meeting the killers' with a cold stare.

"You'll regret that."