My Reincarnation As A Chicken

Chapter 35 - The Kings

The East's army rampaged through the forest. Some of them had already been caught by the traps that the enemy had set up. The pit holes filled with night vipers certainly caused them only a few allies, but they pressed on without caring. The next problem was the strong invisible steel-like threads that cut through their armor and killed most of them. The soldiers had to buff themselves up and slice at the air to cut the threads. This drastically slowed down their progress and to top it off, rat men would just pop out from beneath the ground or emerge from tree tops to cut up the soldiers then disappear. Then there were the weird poison puddles and magic projectiles just shooting off at them from the cover of the forest. The very trees fought them and little devils stole their weapons and hurt their eyes, noses and mouths.

What the hell was happening? In an all-out fight, the West would normally stand no chance, this time however, the East was playing in the West and as such, the weaker creatures held the home-field advantage in this battle and they weren't going to waste it. They didn't plan on losing to the East.

Similarly, the East didn't plan on losing to the West. They had seen the kind of things that would happen to those who tried to retreat. They didn't want to have to go through that. So they would push through no matter what. They didn't care what happened to them here. Be it they lose a limb or an eye as long as they managed to live through this, they were satisfied. And after seeing the example from earlier, the most likely way to do that was to crush the West.

So, they pushed through the traps and ambushes. A rat man jumped down from the trees, but the ogre swiftly turned around and cut him in half. They began to slaughter the ambushers and push through the invisible threads. They couldn't do much about the poison puddles, but they would run over their fallen comrades' bodies and move. The magic projectiles, they simply defended against by broadening the mana sensing abilities and dodging or raising up shields and weapons. They were quickly adapting to the battlefield due to fear. A fear the ogres were all too accustomed to. They had fought in too many wars led by their tyrant for such simple party tricks to shock them.

"Let's hurry up! Krull-sama isn't a patient man!"

One of the ogres screamed. But then, the ground began to shake. Unfortunately, the soldier couldn't notice it because of the heat of the battle and those who did notice it, naturally thought it was because of how they thunderously marched over the lands. If they had realized what it was, there might have been less casualties.

BOOM!!

The ground exploded and water gushed forth like a geyser. The force alone from the eruption knocked some of the soldiers away, let aside the boiling hot water that caused some of the soldiers to scream in agony.

"AAAAAGGGHHH!!!"

BOOM!!

Another explosion, a pillar of water erupted into the sky.

More pillars of water erupted from the ground, throwing the enemy forces into disarray. This was the handiwork of the nymphs and guppies that had been preparing the ambush while inside the tunnels.

"AAAGGGHH! They have magic casters on their side!?"

"Damnit!"

The soldiers of the East began to retreat, but then one of them remembered what happened to the trolls that retreated earlier. Fearing such a fate, he yelled

"All of you wait! They can't keep this up forever! As soon as the pillars of water drop, move in! Or do you want to die by Krull's hands!?"

The soldiers also remembered the incident from before and straightened up.

"Sir, No Sir!"

"Very well then! Remain here!"

"Sir, Yes Sir!"

__________________________________________________

Timber Wolf Cave, Close to the Wolf Hills.

In the deepest of a cave that harbored about sixty timber wolves, a white wolf laid in sleep. Her ears kept perking up at the sound of loud yells and her sleep was being interrupted by the shaking of the ground. The white timber wolf was starting to get annoyed, but decided to ignore it. Soon it would all be over. The West would lose and the East could do whatever they wanted. She didn't care as long as her race didn't die. She was the lord of the Timber wolves and as such, she felt it was her responsibility to keep her members safe. If turning a blind eye to the fight could give her what she wanted, then that was all she would do. A kind, wise and powerful leader. A fit replacement for their old one. That was how the wolves saw their king.

However, she wasn't the only one suffering to sleep under those circumstances. The timber wolves were creatures of the night, so they used the day time to sleep. They had planned on sleeping past the invasion just like their king had ordered. Still, they didn't expect things to get so noisy. At most, they ȧssumed the invasion would be swift with simple corpses littering the ground and providing meals for her people for a while.

BAM!

A slab of rock fell from the ceiling and landed on the ground, causing a ruckus. A timber wolf that laid there had to jump out of the way and this drew the attention of some the wolves.

"Ah! What the hell is this!? Simple sleep too they won't permit us that!"

The wolf that complained had mid-night black fur and a scar across his eye. He was the second-in-command amongst the wolves.

"Calm down, brother. Let us ignore them."

The white wolf passively said and the black wolf felt enraged.

"Sister! I have listened to you ever since you became our leader. In fact, when it was your turn to become our leader, I said nothing and simply let you do so. However, even I know that sitting out of this fight is a fool's move! If you do not do something-"

"If I do something, some of us will die."

"Kuhahaha! You think we are so weak? Don't get a big head just because you were called a king in this forest! I used to beat you before your enthronement lest you forget."

"Tch… Brother, calm down! I never said you were weak, however accidents do happen. They could also out number us and kill us. I'm not willing to take that risk."

"Ah? What kind of cowardice is this? Let us head out into battle! Let us show them the might of the timber wolves. Let us dominate this battlefield."

He roared for all those in the cave to hear.

"Kufufufu… Funny you say that when you lost to a chicken."

She mocked him and the wolf's rage seemed to disappear. His voice was calmer now.

"Tch… All the reason why we must do this. You chose me as your champion in that fight and I lost. You have to at least grant the chicken the favor she asked for."

"We shall remain here, period."

The wolf king gave a her final say on the matter, but then,

"RAAAARRR!!!"

The black wolf charged at the white wolf who easily moved out of the way. She looked at her brother with an agitated expression.

"What are you doing?"

"Haha! I challenge you to a Xyerina Danke! You have to listen to me when I beat you, remember?"

He ċȯċkily declared.

"You know you have no chance against me now."

"I guess we will see! Do not ȧssume after a little borrowed power, all your fights are easily determined."

"Come on! Fight back! If you do not this fight will go nowhere!"

"I will not fight you."

The black wolf began to circle her while throwing around comments.

"What? Are you too scared or something?"

"Say whatever you wish to."

"Tch… you are a coward. You even made us flee territory we have owned for decades now. The complete opposite of our father."

"I would appreciate it if you did not compare me to him."

"Why? You are scared to realize how much you are not like him? You are lacking in a lot of areas, o pathetic king of wolves."

"That is not what this is about."

"Haha! You do not wish to acknowledge how much of a better leader our father, Achack, was!"

"Keep quiet!"

"Oh? Is it because our father actually got a name and you did not? Proof that Solarine does not truly accept you as her champion?"

"Silence! Do you wish to die here?"

She used her [King's Aura] and her body glowed with a red light. The other wolves recognized this as danger and could only whimper before her. The black wolf however, was unfazed by this. In fact, he was starting to tower above her. The white wolf was starting to feel it. The overwhelming sense of authority her brother sometimes possessed out of nowhere. Moments where one would suddenly feel dread in his presence. This was not a skill. It was just something about him that would make one just turn quiet in his presence.

"Weakling! Resorting to intimidating your subordinates when things are not going your way? Ha! Father would not even need to do that. Do you know why? Because no one would have questioned him! You are too weak a leader!"

The black wolf continuously taunted her.

"Ah! Our father died a pathetic death at the hands of the Tyrant of the West. What chance do we have in a battle against a beast on the same level as her? You are right! I am not even as strong as father was. What would you have me do!?"

The black wolf internally smirked. He had achieved his purpose by breaking his usually reserved sister's psyche. Now he could manipulate her to get what he wanted.

"If you can beat me, I will tell you."

He charged at her again, this time however, she jumped back at him and toppled over him. It was not really a fight. More like a playful tussle between siblings, even though it was a very serious matter. The wolf king won.

"Hahaha! You wanted advice on what to do? Fight in this war. I overheard some goblins say he was going to reward them with names for participating. If you participate, he will have no choice but to give you a name in gratitude. Simple, no?"

"Fu… I forgot how much of a fox you could be at times."

"What do you mean? I am a proud timber wolf."

"Tsu… never mind."

"Wolves! Get ready! We are going to protect our territory and our pride!"

The wolves howled in joy when they received the orders to prepare for battle from their king.

___________________________________________________

Just as was predicted, the pillars of water that erected from tunnels in the ground eventually died down and the ogres and orcs were able to move forward. Behind the pillars was the army of soldiers on the West. They were nervous since they had suffered some blows to their fighting force from the trolls alone. When they saw the pillars emerge, most of them prayed that it would be enough to wipe them off, alas, it was just wishful thinking.

The ogres and orcs let out war cries as they forged forward.

The rat men, goblins and insects also let out their war cry and they charged straight ahead.

The two armies clashed and it soon turned into a one sided beat down. Sure, the West had numbers on their side, but that wasn't enough to over overcome the power gap between them. Quality overruled quantity in this battle.

A bee charged at an unsuspecting orc with its stinger fully prepared, but then a spear was flung at it, impaling its head and the bee fell to the ground lifelessly. The rat men weren't suited for open-combat so everything was going poorly for them.

An orc was furiously slashing at insects, but then a rat man jumped on him from behind. He managed to throw it off, but another went for his legs. He stabbed that rat man, but more and more the rat men appeared, jumping on him and tripping him. The rat men with their quick hands removed his armor. They clawed at his face and stabbed at him with their stone daggers, killing him.

The rat men tried to use this strategy against the soldiers by ganging up on them, however, this was time tasking and it gave the ogres and orcs time to kill them since they had gathered at one specific spot. As long as the orcs and ogres threw spears at them, they would kill them without much problem.

"AAAGGHH!! My arm!!"

A goblin yelled in pain, just before his head was cut off. The hob-goblins who were supposed to be the strongest from the West, were having problems.

"This is not looking too good!"

The leader of the Krav village said, just before he smacked an orc's head in using his hammer. Under normal circumstances it wouldn't have worked, however all the hob-goblins had their powers boosted by the old hob-goblin from the Tak village was boosting their physical abilities to that of C- rank creatures, so the orcs would be no trouble to them. The ogres on the other hand would make quick work of them.

"Ah! Do not falter!"

Gorm yelled as he parried a spear that was headed for his head. He took advantage of the opening and stabbed his opponent's neck. He was an absolute beast on the battlefield, cleaving and cutting through the orcs like mud. It put fear in his heart and the orc tried to avoid him if at all possible.

The other hob-goblins were no joke either. They wanted revenge for their fallen comrade and were mercilessly cutting down orcs. Truly a smart decision to minimize the orcs before bothering with ogres. However, this obviously wouldn't last.

"Gorm! Look out!"

The Krav leader yelled and Gorm could only slightly tilt his head as the halberd came down on him

THUD!

The orc that had attempted to kill Gorm had lost its arm to the poisoned laced daggers of the leader of Stamp. Before it could even make a sound, the leader of Zamp stabbed it in the head with a sword he found on one of the enemy's corpses.

"What the hell are you doing Gorm? If you do not fight with a straight head, how will I get my reward at the end of all this?"

The Stamp leader complained

"Tch."

This enraged Gorm and he was about to punch the hob-goblin for what he said. However, there was a dark wave that spread quickly throughout the goblin ranks. None of the races could feel this, but all the goblins suddenly froze and dropped their weapons.

The other races saw this as odd, but nevertheless, the east continued with their vicious attacks. The other creatures in the West had their numbers dwindling like crazy and they were all trying to retreat. The old-hob-goblina was the only one still able to move.

She looked at Oda who was releasing a dark purple aura. A sinister aura that seemed to be laughing. She had been preparing for this day. That was why she tried to kill Oda several times in the past, with the excuse of "Training" her. She would always put up upsurd training regimens, beat her up and insult her, but Oda was a genius. Through the methods, she had learnt different magic skills. She had learnt how to control her mana. She had learnt how to engage in physical attacks. She even learnt how to talk back to the old woman herself. She would have killed Oda immediately the moment she evolved, were it not for Gorm. She made a mistake, now it was too late.

The Wicked Witch of the West was returning. After ten years, she had been born again. This was bad news.

Gorm finally managed to move through the terrifying pressure he felt. He was confused and looked back only to see the leader of the Tak village was panting heavily and sweating profusely. She had exhausted what little mana she had. All the goblins were frozen in place and were being slaughtered. He could only see fallen brethren.

What had happened? A shadow loomed over him. It was an orc, raising its sword above him. It was physically impossible for him to react to this movement. His body ached and his limbs went numb.

'Damn it. Why now?'

The sword came at his neck. He wasn't making it.

CRACK!

Gorm could hear the sounds of bones cracking. He looked up and saw the Krav leader holding up his mallet and receiving the blow in Gorm's stead. He felt the intense pain of having one's arms broken and he let out a yell in pain. The sheer difference in strength knocked him to the side. He dropped his blade and struggled to get up. He managed to turn over to the side and coming towards him was the very sword that had knocked him away. The Krav leader was also under weakening effects. What was causing this?

"So in the end I was useless, huh?"

He dropped his head and awaited his death. He shut eyes and could feel a shadow looming over him.

"Hehe, Dorm-san. Looks like we'll be meeting each other once again. Please teach me the ways of the afterlife when I get there."

Gorm gave his final words as well. Now the two awaited their deaths.

CLANK!

They heard a loud noise and opened their eyes. Gorm was shocked to see that the shadow looming over him was not that of the ogre's, but rather a large leg connecting to a huge body with three sections and seven other legs.

"… So I'm not meant to die here?"

The thirty meter large spider began to go on a rampage, mowing down the ogres and orcs alike without mercy.

"MUWHAHAHAHA! Fall before my might you mongrels! I have arrived to finish this! You thought you were going to fight these weaklings, but your actual opponent is I, the Spider King!"

At the sound of "king" the orcs and ogres shivered. They all beheld the massive spider that was thrashing about and throwing away their forces like they were toys. Normally, ogres would fear not, seeing as they would be able to swarm a king and kill it. However, with that size, the amount of strength it should bolster definitely weren't child's play. And it could cause more damage easily, especially in such an open field.

"T-that's the spider king!?"

"B-but that size! It's huge!"

"AAAAGHHHH!!!"

"Fallback! It's too damned strong!"

"Where are Zod-sama and Dulk-sama!?"

Such things could be heard from the soldiers of the east who received a huge blow from the appearance of the spider king.

'Damn it, you fools! I'm standing on the giant spider, I am not the giant spider!'

She thought to herself. Letting out a sigh, she looked at her children that were torn up and injured severely and was angered.

"AAAHH! My children! I'll kill every last one of you East Bastards! Go forth my servant!"

The giant spider gleefully continued its onslaught on the East, changing the tide in battle drastically.

_____________________________________________________

The troll king had been stomping the ground furiously after he saw soldiers being flung into the air by the massive pillars of water that erupted from the ground. He wanted to know what was happening over there. What kind of strategy had the West come up with that caused his soldiers to run from the battle? He wanted to fight the person who came up with such a plan. Surely that person was strong.

But then he looked at the War monger. The war monger was just watching the events passively, almost as if he didn't care. This piqued the red troll's interest. If it were the normal Krull he would have gotten angry and charged over there to finish off the West. So… why? Why was he just standing there with no reaction?

Was he… scared? No. There was no way his liege would be scared of a simple chicken, right?

He slapped himself with both palms and shook his head. What was he thinking? If Krull could read minds he would have already been dead. Now he just needed to get ready for the moment Krull ordered him to go into the fight. With the way things were going, he was certain the War Monger would tell him to move in very soon.

Dulk let out a smoke filled sigh when he saw his soldiers flying in the air and falling to their deaths. Truly, what kind of humiliating situation had they ended up in? When the ogre tyrant had called them for a war, he immediately questioned the reason for it. Krull refused to tell him, however, he told them to bring only a tiny number of soldiers that they trusted.

Of course Dulk questioned his reasoning for this. If they were going to war wouldn't they need a bigger number? He asked the ogre king this, and his response was, "Did I say a war? I meant a massacre".

Naturally Dulk felt confident after hearing his master say that… so how did things end up like this? How were his men being flung into the air like toys? What kind of creature were they up against that Krull's army was suffering such huge blows. Of course, if Krull himself participated, the fight would be over quite easily, but this was just sad. He was certain Krull was angry. However, when he looked at the ogre, he was surprised by how calm it was. He wanted to ask why Krull wasn't reacting in anyway whatsoever.

It couldn't be. But what if. What if Krull had expected the army to receive such huge blow? If that was the case then there was nothing to be feared. He just needed to focus on how to get the chicken for his proposal.

The two kings had their own thoughts on the matter and how Krull was feeling at the moment. If he could put what he was feeling into words, he would say that he was angry. He was so pissed he wanted to charge into the battle and kill every single one of them and make them aware of what it meant to stand up to a tyrant, still, he couldn't. He remembered the words of his daughter the previous night and even though he would never admit it, he was shaken. Shaken to the point where he was making decisions he normally wouldn't. At first he believed it to be utter nonsense, even the West's supposed great army was nothing more than just a few hundred E rank and D rank monsters. He laughed at them at first, but now, his army was getting thrashed about. He knew that if he participated, it wouldn't even be a fight. His only problem would be the chicken. If the chicken had more power than what they were saying, then indeed, this battle would be a humiliating defeat for the ogre tyrant. Still, he wasn't going to back down because of a little set back.

He still had his trump cards in this battle. He glanced at his kings from the corner of eyes. To his left was the inquisitive but hardworking Dulk. To his right was the muscle-headed and violent Zod. They were beasts in their own respects, however if those two were brought together, who knows what kind of chaos they could wreak. It took a while, but after a bit, he sensed that the West had already sent in their king. That satyr. Derbyshire, was it? He had told them that the West was unable to bring the other king to their side and they might've failed with the other.

'Tsu… So they managed to get one king on their side? I shall make quick work of them. '

He thought.

"Zod!"

The troll looked at his master in his response.

"Dulk!"

The orc let out a smoke and glanced at the ogre.

"Show the West what it means to go against the East."

"Finally!"

Zod jumped cheerfully

"So you decided to end this quickly."

Dulk put his heavy axe over his shoulders.

Having received their orders, both of them ran towards the battlefield with haste. They couldn't show it in front of their master, but they didn't like the idea of their men being killed left right. If Zod liked that, then there would have been no reason to have united the tribes in the first place. And if Dulk didn't care, he wouldn't have stood up to all the races that threatened them before. To be very honest, the both didn't like Krull. They were only fear driven, but this battle was slowly alleviating this fear. If Krull lost here, that meant it was possible to beat him without another Tyrant. Still, they wouldn't intentionally lose here.

If this chicken could truly defeat Krull, they would need to do it at the East's best. Truly, these two were very alike to the point it sickened them. For now, they would keep their thoughts to themselves.

"Oi! Coward! You thinking about something?"

The troll asked the orc as they charged through the forest.

"Hmm… I want that chicken."

"What?"

"You know, that chicken that's causing this entire mess."

"Oh? I know how you feel, but won't that be Lord Krull's kill?"

The orc let out a smoke then stopped talking entirely.

"Coward? What are you planning?"

"Heads up."

They reached the massive field where the two armies clashed and were surprised by the sight. A huge spider was attacking the ogres and orcs. Even the ogres and orcs that managed to land blows on the spider only got to see their weapons bounce harmlessly off the spider's armor.

Dulk let out an annoyed sigh and Zod jumped in happiness.

"Yes! This is it! An actual battle! That's a king!? Hahaha! I'm going to fight it. Don't interrupt me."

"Trust me, you can have it all to yourself."

"Good!"

The troll kicked off towards the spider, letting out a war cry.

"Yaahooo!!!"

The spider king had been having a blast, knocking out ogres and orcs without even having to lift a finger, until,

BOOM!

The former spider king let out a loud pained yell.

"Oi! What's wrong with you? Servant!?"

'I've been hit!'

The spider complained. Groaning and mȯȧning in pain.

"You've been hit? What the hell could they do to you? You're as strong as any king out there if not stronger!"

'Another… King! AH!'

The spider shook mightily and collapsed on its underside.

"Ah!? Is this how strong you are?"

The spider king could hear a very energetic and powerful voice call out. A red troll clothed in nothing but rags jumped on to the head of the spider. It was smaller than the other trolls, but she could tell that it was stronger than them. It was constantly releasing a powerful aura. She wondered who it was.

"Zod!"

"Zod!"

"Zod!"

'A named creature? What the hell!? That's why he was able to topple this big guy over. Ah… I stand no chance in a fight. I better hide myself.'

The spider made to run away and hide herself, but the troll noticed her before she could accomplish this.

"Oh you there! You are the king?"

'King? I don't know what you are talking about. This big guy here is the king. Not me.'

"Hahaha! You can't fool me. I can tell that you are stronger than this one!"

'Oh. You don't think that maybe we could talk this out?'

"Ha! For trolls it's strong rules the weak. If you want me to listen to you then beat me."

'Battle crazed morons are just the worst!'

She let out a sigh then yelled.

"Aaaaaggghhh!"

She shot acid to the troll's eyes, but it blocked with its arm. Quickly, she started to randomly fire magic attacks at the troll. [Water Magic: Water Ball], [Water Magic: Water spear], [Earth Magic: Stone Daggers], [Intermediary Water Magic: Water Canon], [Lightning Magic: Lightning bolt] and [Poison Magic: Poison Muffle]. The troll either withstood the attack or punched his way through it. Whatever it was, he was making a point of not moving from where he stood.

Noticing this, she quickly fired a web at its arm and moved around it quickly, trying to entrap it. The troll just smirked at her actions and let himself be wrapped up. He was going to just brute force his way out of this one as well.

"Hahaha! Cute trick, but I'll have to break it now!"

He said once she was done. However, the spider was confident in her webs.

'Sorry, but that's going to be impossible for you.'

"Ha! You're pretty confident. How-ever… I… UGH!"

The red troll tried to break free of the webs but it couldn't.

"Oi! What is this? What have you done?"

'Muhahaha! I told you that it would be impossible! My threads are just too strong for you!'

The truth was that, she was constantly adding mana to the threads which made them quite tough and hard to break apart. She wouldn't be able to keep it up for too long. She was hoping Hinotori would be able to finish fighting the ogre tyrant quickly and end the whole thing.

'Hurry up, you damned chicken!'

THUD!

She froze when she heard something land behind her. She could smell smoke and she couldn't even move, because she noticed that thing was producing power on the level of both her and troll. Another king.

"Oi. Insect king. Would you mind letting go of that idiot?"

A low and calm voice said.

"AH! Dulk! This is my fight! Don't interrupt! I'll soon break out of these webs then crush her."

"Shut it you idiot! I just had to make a choice between my own goals and following lord Krull. I chose lord Krull, so I'm not in a really good mood right now. So insect king. I will say this one last time. Let go of him."

His voice suggested danger and the spider looked up at the Orc that had a massive battle axe raised above its head.

"S-sorry, but I can-"

The orc brought down his axe before she could continue talking.

"Not the answer I was hoping for."

He looked at the hairy body beneath him and couldn't find the spider. He brought up his axe and there was a black gooey substance on it.

"You damned spider!"

Zod yelled and Dulk looked in the direction at which Zod's voice was coming from.

'Go to sleep you idiot! You'll get me killed.'

She then used her skill [Electro Web], to produce 20,000 volts of electricity.

"AAAHHH!"

He passed out.

'Like I was saying. Sorry, but I can't afford to let this guy loose. You guys will ended up killing me and that's a no-no. I don't plan on dying twice.'

She let out a loud screech. It was a call for her children to come to her aid, but the orc didn't know that.

A bee flew at its max speed towards the orc, who just cut it in half without giving it a second thought.

"I see. We are both alike in that respect then. Because I don't want to die too and the only way to do that is by winning this war."

He used his [King's aura], buffing up his abilities then moved towards the spider.

"[King's aura], huh?"

The spider also began to glow red.

Dulk was about to charge at the Spider king, but then, he started to hear something buzzing violently. No. It was a lot of things buzzing. He looked to his left and he could well over a hundred bees and beetles buzzing in the air and charging towards him.

"Heh, you want to fight the great me? You are being too bold, don't you think? Very well, I will have my children crush you. At least be grateful I even talked to you."

"Tch."

***

The orcs and ogres let out yells of joy when the troll king arrived. They had been struggling to fight ever since the huge spider came about. However, Zod had managed to break its legs, felling the large creature. Now Zod had gone on top of the giant spider and was joined by Dulk, the orc king.

The East was ȧssured of its victory as soon as the first king appeared. Now that both of their kings were present, even Krull would not need to participate anymore. They could at least now ask for mercy after prolonging the fight to this extent.

"The Kings have arrived! Plow down the West!"

"Show them what happens when you fight Krull-sama!"

"OOOOHHH!"

The ogres and orcs charged forward with intent to completely destroy the West.

The West had been happy when the giant spider had appeared and was destroying the east's soldiers, but then a red troll appeared and knocked it down. To top it off, an orc with the same power as the red troll had appeared and both were now engaged in combat with the spider king.

Most of the insects that could fly left the ground and went to the giant spider, and now the East was charging with more vigor than before. All goblins were frozen in place and simply being cut down. The West was doomed and they knew it. This was the thought, until a dark wave spread through the battlefield and majority of the orcs, ogres and rat men collapsed on the floor.

A single body floated above the earth. This was Oda, glowing faintly with a dark purple aura. She slowly descended to the ground and her eyes snapped open. She looked at her body as if she was admiring it and flexed her fingers to feel them. A smirk appeared on her face as she let out an excited, cool comment.

"HAHAHAHA! Finally… My resurrection~"

The Tak leader looked at the Wicked Witch of the West. In Oda's body, her eyes were pitch black with cracks forming on the edges. Her hair turned grey quick and a dark purple miasma rolled off of her body.

"Hehe… I-I did not expect you to be back so soon."

She said and the Witch glanced at her. She ċȯċked her head and shrugged.

"I know not who you may be, but you possess potential. Though, this body is weak you still possessed enough strength to stand in my presence. You shall be my apprentice from now on."

The Witch commented and the old hob-goblin was shocked. So shocked she was left speechless. The Witch looked around the battlefield.

"Hmm, so there is an ongoing war? But from the scale of damage, this is bȧrėly a turf battle. A tournament of sorts? But creatures are dying so easily. And the match ups are unbalanced. This will be a pathetic defeat on the side of the weak creatures. Oh? I sense kings playing about here as well. And is this… a tyrant I see? Two? Oh my… and what do we have flying up in the sky watching? This… it can't possibly be… Hahaha! Two decades of sleep and I miss the unfolding of all of these events? Truly a shame. But I guess-"

"Oi! Oda! Get your damned head out of the clouds. Can you not see that Gorm is about to die?"

The Tak leader shouted, pointing to a struggling Gorm whose mind was being ridden with pain.

"Huh? Are you referring to me?"

The Witch asked.

"No, not you! You be quiet! I'm talking about you, Oda! Come out here, now! I did not waste my time raising a genius for her to die like this. Who do you think my damned heir will be?"

The Witch looked at the old hob-goblin, ċȯċked her head in confusion and after finally understanding the situation, she smiled. She slowly approached the hob-goblin.

"I see, I see. You are ȧssuming that, this "Oda" is still alive. And I see through why you want her to be alive. You want to make her come to life so you can then kill her and prevent my resurrection like you wanted to earlier, no?"

The Witch was already at the old hob-goblin's side at this point. The Witch lifted her chin up so they could look at an equal eye level. The Tak leader was scared to point of half-death after gazing into the abyss that was her eyes. The Witch craned towards the goblin's ear and whispered,

"You see, the spell I used was one that would only allow my proper resurrection once the soul of a compatible body had truly disappeared. So, do you know what this means?"

The Witch withdrew and let the old one fall on the ground weakly, as whatever resistance she had disappeared. She cackled maniacally and looked to the sky.

"I am back! I, the great and venerable, Dark Witch Zatana, has returned for good!"

Her [Dark Lightning] magic began to crackle all about her as she went on a rampage. She just shot random bolts everywhere. Just sending the orcs, ogres, rat men and others flying without a care. If that body ran out of mana, she would just call on Dark spirits to help her. In the first place, she normally never used her own mana for her spells.

"H-Hey… You… Bastard… C-Can… You… move?"

Two goblins next to each other just laid on the ground, their faces lying flat. They were the ones had asked Hinotori for her blessings the night before.

"N-No."

"T-Then… Get… Up! We… will… all… die… if… no… one… moves!"

"It… is…. Not…. My…. Fault…"

"Your… body… feels… heavy… too?"

"Y-Yeah."

The goblin's eye glinted as a thought passed through his brain.

'I-Is this it? Is this when the Warrior is weakened in his epic journey? If that's the case, the warrior must push through this, right? So I simply need to push through this and I would be better than ever! I will be able to win this and then, Gorm will be proud of me! AAAAGGHHHHH!!! PUSH THROUGH!'

He roared internally as he willed his body to move. Veins popped all around his body and it felt like doing so would just end up causing his body to snap in half, but he still tried. He did his best for what felt like hours. Without relaxing or giving himself a breather, he pushed forward, something the average goblin would never do.

After a while, he managed to stand, but what was thoroughly beat up and exhausted. Though, now, he couldn't feel the weakening effects anymore. Just his aching body. He looked at the goblin next to him.

"You, huff, huff, you should move too."

The goblin helped the other get up and the other goblin moved towards the coming army.

"What… are… you… doing? How… did… you… stand?"

"It is because… because I am a warrior!"

He exclaimed. He had sealed the image of being a warrior into his head and now it would be hard to make him think otherwise.

"Ah? Good… for… you..."

"Eh… now your turn."

"Keke… you… are… some… other… kind… of… stupid."

He then looked at the hob-goblins who were still fighting. Although it was left with only two of them still standing – bȧrėly. They were the leaders of Zamp and Stamp, the last people anyone would have ȧssumed would be up for so long.

The Stamp leader just cackled and his partner clicked his tongue. Both were the weakest hob-goblins, yet they managed to survive? Was this a message telling them that they were doomed? All around them, they could only see chaos and deaths. The Wicked Witch's rampage was vicious, not caring about any one. She simply struck down everything in sight.

Still, she would have to run out of mana soon and when that happened, at least she would have reduced all sides to the point where the east would be forced to go back. And if she took charge, not even the ogre tyrant would just waltz in to try to take over her territory. An S-Class party was the one to deal the final blow to the mad witch and an S-Class party wouldn't have any problem dealing with a tyrant. The only problem would be the number of S-Class parties in existence.

"Kekekeke! So either way, the West gets to be protected! Keke, after this, we just have to kill the Wicked Witch."

"Indeed, but please do not make it sound so easy."

"What are you two talking about? My reward senses are telling me that I'll get something sweet after this. I know for sure that I'm not dying today."

"Hahaha! Then I guess your supposed 'reward senses' need a check-up."

"Kukuku… My senses have never been wrong before!"

From their conversation and tone, one wouldn't imagine that they were battered up, suffering from several broken bones and internal injuries and on the verge of death.

"Let us earn a tale that will be passes down for generations to come."

Gorm's disciple balled his hands into fist after observing the display. This was it! This was what being a true warrior was like. Grinning and laughing in the face of danger. Braving the unknown and conquering it. An adventurer of the highest caliber.

"I! I wish to help!"

He yelled at them. The two hob-goblins noticed. They all had their various reactions to him, but one thing was certain. They were glad he could move.

"Ha! Only three of us, then? Shall we?"

The Stamp leader said, sounding heroic unlike his usual perverted creepy tone.

"Yes!"

The two responded with all their hearts, glaring at the witch.

There were a total of seventy ogres and sixty orcs still remaining. The ogres lost most of their allies to the water pillar attack, and the rest were done in by the massive spider. Now, the East that was once three hundred and seventy-five strong, was now one hundred and thirty strong. Such a blow was unexpected. Surely, they had underestimated their foes, but they could make up for that. They just needed to demolish them.

Just as an orc was about to cut down the weakest looking member, a goblin wearing only rags, he heard something that made him pause in his tracks. It sounded like a howl. No, he knew that it was a howl but he didn't want to believe it. In fact, it made the entire East stop and they looked towards a hill to the south.

"N-No way."

"T-They actually had more!? Other than the witch?!"

"Timber wolves at that!"

Standing on the hills, looking down on the battlefield valiantly, the furry hunters of the night bȧrėd their yellow fangs. Claws sharper than steel and glares deadlier than daggers. The sixty timber wolves of the Solaria Clan descended and the whole land turned into one of absolute chaos.

"Show them the might of the Timber Wolves!"

A timber wolf with mid-night black fur and a scar over his left eye ordered and the others obeyed to the letter. They showed the East the true terror of a pack of C rank monsters. Whatever chance the east had now, had completely disappeared. For sure, all their members present would die today. As if the sixty timber wolves were not enough, the ground began to sink and shake and this caused all the races present to look. A rat man emerged from the huge hole, and he raised a rusty sword to the sky. He was the leader of the rat men.

The East looked confused when they saw the lone rat man. In fact, everyone was confused, but then

"Rat Men! Charge!"

At the command, hundreds of rat men emerged from the hole behind him and ran towards the East like a tidal wave.

"H-How!?"

"Surprise after surprise!"

The ogres and orcs cried out in terror.

***

The spider king let out a screech and her children understood it as her order for them to charge.

"Bees! Don't falter. Let's not disappoint our queen!"

"Beetles! Full force!"

The commanders of both sections ordered and their subordinates obeyed. The insects soon swarmed the orc king, forming a tornado around him. Even with quality, he shouldn't have been able to surpass the sheer numbers of the insect army, right? But then,

"Is this your trump card? I expected more. Then again, I guess that's all you would need to beat that moron over there."

'Yea, keep talking big even after you are already caught in my trap.'

"Hmph."

'What's so funny?'

"It's nothing. I just remembered a question somebody asked me earlier. Would you like to know it?"

The spider remained quiet. She wasn't showing it, but she was feeling quite tensed. The mana threads she had created were taking quite a lot out of her. She was hoping to at least have been able to take down the orc with this, but it was taking longer than expected. The insects in the tornado would just flying around him, spitting poison or acid or stinging him till he died. He should have died already, so how was he alive?

"You don't want to? What a bore. I'll tell you either way. The person said 'Dulk, why do you always smoke'."

The insect king's eyes widened with the sudden realization.

'There's no way, right? He can't possibly be t-the Hell Orc.'

Just as she was thinking, Dulk clicked his tongue and the smoke ignited, causing a huge explosion. The explosion managed to wipe out most of the backs and those whose defense were high enough to prevent them from turning into charcoal fell to ground in agony.

Dulk then lifted his axe with was set ablaze. His eyes looked calm. The Orc from Hell, was his nickname. With a battle axe set ablaze with the flames of hell, the scent of gasoline he exuded and the unique horn growing from his forehead, this Orc roams the land, burning everything in a quest for power.

The spider king felt like this was the day she would die. Still, at least she went down in one of the dopest of ways. To a damned opponent with the name Orc from Hell. She could brag to the others in the afterlife.

He charged at the spider king who was running out of energy, then he swiped down at her.

CLUNK!!!

His axe bounced back after colliding with the claws of a white furry creature. He was a bit stunned when he stumbled back from the impact. It was a white timber wolf about his size, with dark violet eyes. The wolf king growled at the orc king.

"So the West was still hiding more?"

The orc sounded surprised.

'I suppose you are the spider king?'

The white wolf started a conversation.

'Yea. And you must be the wolf king.'

She replied weakly.

'Could you finish that guy off quickly? I'm losing a ton of mana right now trying to restrain this guy.'

The white wolf looked at the sleeping troll king then nodded. She didn't fully understand what had happened but she got the gist of it.

'In that case, you can leave that orc to me.'

Dulk looked at the wolf that was slowly approaching him. He was strong, but he knew that if he fought the wolf, he would lose. Something about her just made him anxious. He needed the troll's help, but that moron was sleeping. What a fool. He was so annoyed that he couldn't keep a calm expression.

"Oi, you moron! What the hell are you doing!? Get off your lazy ȧss and come help me."

The troll was still sleeping and the spider weakly laughed.

'Haha…. He just received twenty thousand volts of electric current. It's amazing that he's even alive.'

"Twenty thousand? What's that supposed to be worth?"

The orc asked

'Oh, that's right. You wouldn't know, would you?'

"Tch… Zod, if you don't wake up I'll tell Krull that you decided to flee from battle."

'That isn't going to wor-'

"DON'T EVER DO THAT!!! OOOOOHHHH!"

The troll suddenly woke and began forcing his way out of the threads.

'Wait! What!?'

The spider king was surprised by the sudden turn of events. She used her skill [Electro web] several times, but it only further angered the troll.

"Enough of that infuriating light! Let me go!"

The troll continuously pushed against the sticky yet strong threads.

"Ah! Dulk! These are just way too tough."

"What do you mean they are way to toug-"

The wolf pounced on the orc and he blocked with his axe but stumbled backwards.

'To have a conversation while fighting me, you must really underestimate me.'

"Trust me. I don't."

The orc charged at the wolf king and swiped at her, but she avoided it. She then swiped at him, but he blocked with his axe.

"Ah. Damn it. At this rate, I won't get anywhere."

________________________________________________

Larm was an unbelievably large forest, even possessing a mountain. Well, it was more like a forest surrounding a mountain. The mountain was more to the northern part of Larm, but it was still considered a part of Larm due to its bountiful resources. Behind the mountain was a huge ocean, connecting to endless nothing. No one ever traversed there due to it being the "No man's land" region. Just rocky shores and dangerous monsters waiting to kill.

In one of the caves, a woman with leafy green hair that reached down to her waist, walked through the deep cave, at her side were two other females. One was a child with mid-night black hair dressed in make-shift clothes made out of leaves and a metal collar around her neck. The other was a young woman with a short-cut blonde.

The woman with leafy green hair who was known as Diane, took a glance at the child holding her hand as they continued down the dark path quietly, without even a source of light. She was a bit stunned when she heard that a Dhamypr had entered the West and in day time no less, but when she looked at the girl, she realized why the girl hadn't already died from being exposed to the day light.

The collar that the girl wore was imbued with a magic that provided a layer of protection against the sun so the girl was fine. Still she failed to understand how the girl had lived her life before being captured. She must have had been wearing something that protected her against the sun. Because it was highly impossible to have found her in the Realm of Eternal Night. No person could go there and retrieve the vampiric species from there. Whatever it was, the dryad couldn't waste much time thinking about it.

She then glanced at the tree sprite who was next to her. The tree sprite had been shivering for a while now and the dryad could understand why. Tree sprites were extremely sėnsɨtɨvė to mana and could sense it a mile away, so as such, being in the cave at the very moment wasn't helping.

"I think you should go help Hinotori now."

The dryad suggested.

"S-She said she would call for me when she needed me. Besides, I cannot simply live you here all alone."

"What? Pay no mind to me. Right now I am very safe. Hinotori on the other hand will be in serious trouble if there is no one to back her up."

"B-but-"

"No excuses. You like her don't you? Just go."

The tree sprite looked at the dryad with grateful eyes. The dryad waved her wrist at the sprite, and a whirlwind of leaves encased her, teleporting her way.

"Shall we go now?"

She asked Ulva, who had been staring at the ground where the sprite once stood in awe. Ulva nodded and they headed off.

After a bit of walking, they stopped in their tracks. Ulva didn't know why, but she had always been able to see in the dark. She had always suspected that there was something… different about her and the rest of the children in the village. She was special… abnormal to be blunt. Some could even say she was… No! There was no point in thinking about such matters.

She managed to see that they had stopped right in front of a cave, and she could hear the sound of a gentle heart beat coming from in there. The smell of something inhuman almost blocked her nose.

"There is something in there."

She pointed at the cave and Diane nodded.

"Yes. You are right. Now please keep quiet for a bit."

Ulva nodded and Diane stepped forward. Suddenly, a yellow light lit up from the cave. No. It wasn't a light. It glowed like an orb, but it wasn't one. It was a large eye that was looking intensely at the two females.

"Who goes there?"

A very powerful and deep voice echoed throughout the cave.

"It is I, the Oldest Tree, Diane. I have come with urgent news and I need you to come with me."

"Urgent news? What is so urgent that you come and wake me up after six years of sleep?"

"There is a war happening at this moment."

"…. A war? Did humans invade?"

"No. It is between Tyrants."

"Between those Tyrants? Tch… it's just children playing."

"One of those tyrants has been selling our resources to the humans. The other tyrant is fighting against that, but the way things look, one of them might die."

"What!? Who dares go against Master's wishes!?"

"The Tyrant of the East, War Monger Krull."

"Ah? A ward of mine own choosing? Does thou have proof of this?"

"The evidence is being collected at this very moment."

"Hmm… Very well then."

The voice went silent and the eyes closed. The cave suddenly felt eerily quiet. But then,

TAP, TAP, TAP

The sounds of a figure walking could be heard. When the figure emerged, Diane went on her knee and Ulva could only stare.

"Welcome back, Lord Goliath."

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