[The Narrow Snow Valley, Alex's POV]
Behind Sam, where the black army and pigmen warrior army were locked in a chaotic battle, at the frontline, Alex too was doing his part.
Unlike Sam, he was fighting with minimum effort. After becoming a second ranker, his connection to his primal element had deepened, and he too had finally awakened his family's years-old lineage — The Serpent King lineage. With his skill active, Alex could command any body of water conjured by him like it was part of his own body. He was still in the beginning phase though.
Seeing Damian's enormous creation, Alex had also thought of a unique way of using his skill, unlike anyone in his family ever did. A shining layer of meter-thick solid dense water covered his whole body, over seven massive swords along with the big eighth one in this enhanced water body form's hand - Alex cleaved through the black army like an unstoppable juggernaut.
This water body form protected him from any possible attack — except the ice breaths, Those bastard emperor-ranked ones were throwing it around like it was no one's business. The water armor made his reach bigger, with over 8 meters of solid water body, inside of which he was using it like that steel suit of Damian's. The enormous, deathly sharp water blade sword in his hand was without any mercy.
Alex could use his skill with other structures of water.. But he was a swordsman, and this felt like a perfect fit for his talents. It was an armor that would never get damaged, as he could just keep repairing it and using it with his skill. The mana would be the most troublesome thing here, but even that was taken care of with two 5-liter mana containers strapped on his sides.
He could probably, slowly but surely, cleave through this whole army with that much mana and this skill. The only limitation now was his own willpower and the ability to focus.
[The Narrow Snow Valley, Evrin's POV]
The second attack started in the middle of the night. After seeing Sam and Alex, no one else questioned their decision to join the fight. They were even given full respect by the common pigmen warriors, alongside whom Evrin and Einar had marched to fight.
This world.. Evrin had the worst memories of. But she also remembered the warmth and love the small pigmen village had shown them. Evrin just wanted to remember that, and nothing else. Forgetting did not mean ignoring it, though.
She had learned a valuable lesson that day. All her life, she thought she was also just like Damian, Sam, and Einar — who had fought in the war and were talents of the new generation. Her age and vast time gathering and mastering various spells had made her feel like she was not lacking in any aspect in comparison, but that was not true.
The power one possessed, the talent one had, and the horrors of war in which they were expected to make use of such talents were completely different things. Her aunt had told her so, but she didn't take it as seriously as she should have. And then, like a child, she made Einar feel bad for taking such a brave step in securing the lives of them both.
Death was part of life. Natural death was a blessing — but not everyone deserved this blessing.
With sharp, determined eyes, Evrin looked straight ahead — thousands of pigmen, ignoring the spilled blood of the ones who came before, were charging at uncontrollable speed. There was no order in these black ones.. No mercy, no trace of life. Evrin only felt darkness from them — the darkness that should never be allowed to foster.
Already holding one spell after completing the chanting with her mana thread, Evrin started chanting for another spell, the container of mana open for additional mana to power the spells.
Before she could finish her second spell, several spears and arrows started coming from high above from the charging black pigmen. Before Evrin could even look at her trusted guard standing beside her, a figure — Einar, clad in crimson aura — rose high in the air, jumping and releasing one after another countless slashes from her shiny new pure white sacrium sword.
The launch of the slashes was normal and barely noticeable, but as they traveled, the aura around the slashes picked up fire, and the flames got stronger and stronger till each slash came alive, spreading wings and becoming birds of giant proportions — just one of which burned through all the arrows and spears, while the rest went straight for the black army, setting hundreds of black ones on fire, hurtling fire breaths from their beaks onto them.
Murmurs of surprised and excited voices echoed from behind Evrin. Even she herself could not help but smile. Her mother was right.. These people were monstrously talented. Just because they were humans and had limited lifespans did not mean they could achieve less than them. She couldn't back down either.
As the wave of black pigmen crossed 100 meters from her, Evrin finished her chanting and connected a mana thread to both her spells and the mana container. Powering the spells to the extent of mana she could handle through her body, she released them both.
The high-speed running black pigmen suddenly started rising high in the air, pierced by pitch-dark sharp spikes in a massive 500-meter-wide area, cleaving through the whole charging black army — making a thorough pathway of spikes and impaled, screeching black pigmen. It was only 30 meters wide, though.
The charge of the army, even though halting for a second, did not stop and continued on its path fearlessly, but still avoiding the spiked region. Suddenly, a giant 150-meter-tall towering treant-like guardian made of enchanted living wood, moss, and ancient bark appeared. It was a summoning spell called Verdant Warden. It defends its summoner, shields allies, and crushes enemies with immense wooden limbs.
Evrin had learned it long ago, but never possessed enough mana to really try it on an effective scale. Today was the time.
[The Narrow Snow Valley, Maelor's POV]
Seeing the quiet battlefield before him, Maelor just exhaled helplessly. The two teams before them had such ferocious skills and spells, Maelor thought they would be lacking in comparison. But he was proven completely wrong.
Maelor shook his head, seeing the scenery in front of him. Killing a few hundreds and thousands was still somewhat believable and expected from these monsters. But Lucian? She had shown something that even his eyes could not believe.
She decimated them.. Over 10,000 pigmen slaughtered single-handedly. The power.. The prestigious job.. Finally, Maelor understood the vast difference between normal pathfinders and a pathfinder gifted with a prestigious job his family often talked about, whenever the topic of the new generation's talents was raised.