In a world devoid of color, two figures stood facing one another despite being high up in the air. They stood as if they were on the ground and stared at one another. Neither moved.
One was an elf, the other a devil. Natural enemies, lifelong rivals.
The elf wore elegant robes which would flutter gracefully in the wind along with his long silver hair—had there been any wind.
The devil wore an impeccable suit. Something he had taken a liking to after seeing it amongst the Chosen. Some alterations had needed to be made to his wings and tail, but he believed it made himself quite dashing.
"I admit, I did not expect this." The elf said, and he did not mean Xelron's suit.
Avgi was not the only place that had been attacked. Shockingly, nearly all the neutral Origin Veins had been besieged.
The numbers being thrown into this were enough to bring down several empires. That it was being used on neutral locations and on people who normally refrained from supporting any side—at least in full... It was strange, to say the least.
The exclusion in this attack was the mountain holds of the dragons. And for obvious reasons. Attacking them would only invite ruin. Yet, the same could be said of making an enemy of so many Mythical races.
Should they fail, the entire war's direction was bound to shift. Which made sense that all the devil's might had been mobilized. Amnur had been stopped by Kilen. This was the last message Athtar had received before being blocked by Xelron himself.
"Yes, perhaps we could have continued as we were, but we've noticed that some things are different."
"Different? How?" Athtar asked, curious. Naturally, he had also noticed a fair number of peculiarities since the Chosen appeared.
And, now, despite many of his longtime friends fighting for their lives, he could not rush to their aid. Perhaps he should have drawn his blades as soon as Xelron arrived and created this sub-space.
Athtar, however, didn't have confidence in his victory. And more than anything, he wanted to know why the sudden shift of focus. The devils were making great progress in their invasion.
Their victory had seemed all but certain as long as a neutral force didn't come to the human's aid. Or the Chosen showed something even more amazing than their cannons.
Certainly, every Origin Vein was a massive boost to the side that can lay claim to it. Yet, inviting the fury of those defending them is simply not wise. The dragons might even decide to move to aid their distant friends. They might be distant and cold-hearted. But many were also rather emotional.
The Ryu might refuse to budge, but the young ones would certainly be enraged by this.
"The Chosen." Came the devil's reply.
"And what does their presence mean?" Athtar asked.
He, too, had attempted to investigate why they had suddenly appeared; and what it might mean. Sadly, his investigations had not come to any conclusive evidence. Though he had found many shocking rumors.
Most shocking was that their world was an artificial creation of humans. That the gods were little more than pets to these humans.
Athtar couldn't accept this reality. However, many players had let it slip. Despite there being a communication barrier that often prevented such words from being understood. The system was flawed; sometimes, it did not properly censor their drunken rabbling.
And the fact that such a system existed supported the rumors it tried to keep secret. As terrible as this truth seemed.
"And the gods." The devil continued.
"They have been much more active than normal, yes. I thought we might find ourselves in a Divine War; once again."
"Do you think they will dare?"
"Descending? Perhaps not. But they are certainly acting far more freely than in previous Invasions. So, what do these changes mean?" Athtar asked, again.
"That we need to prepare. We need to unite."
"Unite? For what? To face the gods?"
—
Back in Avgi, several hundred Fistallinii (Crystal Horned Deers) were facing a horde of goblins, orcs, kobolds, ogres, and much more. Along with the Fistallinii were several hundred Alepo, around eighty Lykos, and a handful of Unicorns.
Thanks to Eldrian's intel, they knew that the enemies here weren't strong. Only numerous.
Indeed, their numbers reached past ten thousand. A black blob moved on the weakened barrier as the sun set over the mountains at the defenders' backs. Making the scene look all the more ominous.
Distant magical trebuchets were launching constant attacks to keep the barrier from repairing any holes that had been breached. To the left and right, war continued. There, the fight had already been ongoing for hours.
The barrier was at its limit, thanks to the damage from the magical barrage and the side attacks. Now, even the weak fodder, such as goblins, could pass through it.
And standing to stop them was perhaps the weakest group within Avgi. While each individual was Tier 7 or higher. There were less than ten Unicorns, and only two Pegasi. The rest of their group consisted only of bloodline beasts.
The Unicorns standing in command of this group were quite peculiar, however. Their focus had never been on personal strength but on how to work best as a group with even weaker individuals. Such as those they found themselves with now.
They were the perfect individuals for the job. This was indeed clear when watching the enemy army. Already, chaos rained within their ranks.
Illusion magic, a difficult branch to master, was truly effective against those who couldn't divine mirages from reality. It wasn't even difficult; one simply needed the ability to see the mana in the area. Yet, the horde walking toward the forest lacked even this knowledge.
No, that wasn't quite right. The truth was that the illusions were so perfectly blended that simply seeing mana wasn't enough to understand it was fake. One needed to understand that the composition of mana was different from the real thing. Something that only mages would be able to understand.
And the Fistallinii who stood with the Unicorns had learned to weave their elements of light and dark to perfectly maximize the use of the Unicorn's illusion.
An illusion, alone, couldn't really kill someone. Perhaps if you were weak of heart, it could frighten you to death. However, that would never work on the horde advancing toward the forest.
Many had already faced far worse than the illusionists could even imagine. However, combining an illusion with a buff or debuff can make the effects much more severe.
Scare someone by having them see a bolt of lightning racing for their heart. Few would be able to reason it a mirage and ignore it. Most would move to avoid the attack.
And then, as they move, throw a buff to increase their strength or speed. And suddenly, they lose control of their movements. Causing chaos within their own ranks. Slow those who they will hit, and you might even claim a limb or life.
This alone would not give the picture of what was happening presently. No, that was thanks to the work of the Lykos and Alepo.
Mixing reality with fantasy was the most effective use of illusions. So, while the Unicorns spread confusion, the Lykos charged and tore through their enemy. The Alepo fired their spells, and the horde lost its head.
Strike at a wolf only to find it was but a mirage of light (and that is after it dodged dozen of attacks). Ignore a spell, and find yourself dead. React to an illusion, and find yourself attacking your allies and losing control of your body.
As such, the horde was whittled down to only a few thousand before they even reached the forest. Their counterspells never came to their rescue. Whenever a mage within their ranks showed themselves, the Pegasi would strike.
Had they any devils or demons in their ranks, perhaps things might have been different. And, in case of such an event, one Alicorn was waiting nearby just in case.
However, Eldrian's information was spot on. As can be seen from the pitiful sight of the horde.
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