In the hours following the fight, information of Ajax and Aurexions return to the field and the results of their training spread like wildfire through all nations. Reactions to what went down however were very different.
“Much as I hate to say it, we can't back out.” Xandor let out a sigh as he talked to his brother. “If we back out at this point we’re not just leaving the Republic to fall but also all the champions Brightstone and Sylvanthal sent there as well.”
“After this next battle the war will be all but over if it goes the way we think it will go.” The royal advisor mentioned, over the past four months his job has been getting harder and harder to the point where he needed to get two extra aids to keep up to date with all the information coming in for moves made inside the kingdom, changes in information coming from the war as well as the close eye the royal family was keeping on the Empire. “Thankfully the Empire has limited itself to trying to court Hourse Hearthbound into a marital tie, after news of this latest battle also reaches them I expect their already extensive efforts will amplify further.”
“We’ll reach out to the Council and talk about compensation for the risk they took with your lives.” King Gryndor reassured his son over the transmission enchantment. “They’ll still have our military support but you are to prioritize the safety of our people even over significant losses to the Republic. It’s only fair we treat our allies the same way they treat us.”
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“Your Majesty, has the princess arrived without issue?” Aranor asked.
“I got here yesterday Aranor and I am fine.”Aryanwyn said. “You should focus on the war.”
“I am hopeful the war will end after this next battle.” Aranor reported. “ Their last fight with Gryndor’s champions left a number of their champions wounded. The republic is trying to pincer their forces, of the three battlefronts the war has split into these last month two of them will be closing in and fighting it out. It will be by far the largest number of champions fighting in a single battle I have ever seen.”
“You will be one of their primary targets.” King Sylvanthal warned. “Along with Aurexion and Ajax you pose the single biggest threat in a battle that size, and of the three of you I’m sorry to say but it seems you are the easiest to kill.”
Aranor wasn’t pleased but he had to admit he couldn’t compare his durability or surivavability with that of Aurexion, and after Ajax’s recent demonstration he was also much harder to put down.
“I’ll take precautions but both their high general and their king is likely going to be part of the battle and that will make it difficult if they find a way to stall Ajax.” Aranor knew how deadly both the tiger and lion beastkin were. “I find it hard to see us losing this battle but it will most likely be a blood bath before the end. Not to mention the unfortunate plan for the peace talks.”
The plans for ending the war were very much not something Aranor, or most of the champions as a whole liked, they just knew it was the best way to actually end the fighting so each kingdom could focus on stabalizing the transition to the higheer statted children.
“Think positive, the high general might not survive to the first peace talks.” Aryanwyn tried to lighten the mood.
The whole plan for ending the war was to have the high general take over the throne along with some heavy penalty contracts the new united beastkin nation would owe to the other nation participating in this war, with a special emphasis on the Republic who lost the most.
“If he doesn't, all beastkin territory will likely split apart into a number of warring territories ruled by self-selected champion warlords that will be trying to kill each other to become the new king.” King Sylvanthal sighed. “Having this plan also be floated around could also cause doubt to form.”
Everyone who knew the high general knew how ludicrous such an idea would be, after all beside the tiger beastkin’s personal power and sharp mind his next most dominant trait was honor, of that loyalty was a big part of it. They could only hope that after a century of planning and keeping everything about this domination attempt quiet the lion beastkin’s paranoia might even lead him to doubt his right hand man and best asset.
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The days flew by as the Republic army along with Gryndor’s forces chased after the retreating beastkin force that was heading for another one of its armies that was also being pursued by a Republic force with Aranor, his fellow Sylvanthal champions, Shadow as well as a few other Republic Champions.The two republic armies were in close communication to ensure the beastkin couldn’t reunite their two armies and use that as the moment to turn on one of their pursuers.
All the champions on both sides took the opportunity to rest and recover before the big battle was set to take place but with Ajax able to use both Light and Life Mana as well as Holy Mana, all of Gryndor’s champions fully recovered over the course of a few days whilst some of the beastkin were still injured.
“They’re all gathered there.” Ajax said as he looked on.”Should we skip the formality of sending in the regular soldiers first?”
“They regrouped a day ago, they probably have traps already set up.” The answer came quickly. “Best we let the regular soldiers trigger as many as they can, once we join in things will get ugly fast.”
It wasn’t long until the regular soldiers started to battle, unlike the previous fight however the Republic’s troups were pushing to force the battle to escalate as quickly as possible. The less time the beastkin’s champions had to recover the better. Unlike the fighting retreat the Republic pulled off, the beastkins were already flanked on two sides where the two armies chased them and they didn’t want to retreat since they had prepared traps for the champions to use when their turn to fight came.
It took about an hour after the fighting started before the elites joined the battle and already it looked like Gryndor’s formation had changed, their soldiers focused more on defending their own lines rather than the army as a whole while they fought.
The fighting was fierce but it was clear the regular soldiers had no idea where the traps were placed as they triggered them by mistake. It was Ajax’s first time seeing ritual magic used for combat with the rituals placed randomly yet powerful enough to hurt a champion.
That champion was a known to all of them, while she wasn’t particularly strong she was one of the if not the oldest champion taking part in the war. A sloth beastkin that had invested her stats specifically for her odd ritual trapping fighting style and always went delving and to war together with a team yet her rituals were powerful enough to raise her to the level of a champion.
Taking the time before he joined the fight Ajax did his best to study the ritual traps yet despite him specifically scanning for them he could only get a brief glance at the magic working when the rituals activated.
“I don’t like that they had time to set up those ritual traps.” The prince said as he frowned towards the battlefield.
“Once we join the fight I’ll try and clear some of them out with [Mana Syphon],we might not be able to find them but if I drain their Mana it should expose them in some way.” Ajax suggested,getting nods from all around.
The one down side of that approach was that [Absolute Body Enhancement] wouldn’t be available while he used [Mana Syphon].
Their time join the battle came only fifteen minutes after the elites joined the battle. Ajax had never seen the lion beastkin with a scar crossing over one of his eyes before but he knew exactly who he was. The beastkin king was of a slightly smaller frame than his son but [Danger Sense] pulsed slightly despite Ajax not being engaged in battle.
A lot of the danger however wasn’t coming form the beastkin as much as it was coming from his weapon.
“That might be a problem.” Ajax heard Evelyn say as her gaze was also fixed on the weapon. “He didn’t have that before did he?”
“No he didn’t.” The prince answered as they all watched what had to be a level one hundred and ninety or two hundred level weapon that must have been extracted from the dungeon. The enchanted hammer in the hands of a physical fighter like the beastkin king was about to decimate their army, they needed to act fast.