In a hurry, Orion did his best to arrive at the border of the Frigoria Plains before it was too late.
While warping, he finished the white chocolate cookies Amelia gave him before leaving, and drank some water that Karteira gave him, knowing he needed it.
Just like he said, he arrived at the wall under an hour, but this wasn''t the area where the invasion was happening.
''I need to travel west now. I''ll arrive at one point.''
Going east would only lead you to the sea, so that was a waste of precious time to try going there. Instead, going west was the right choice.
Once he went west, it took him only twenty minutes to arrive. Warping between fifty to a hundred meters at a time made him able to travel a few kilometers per minutes, though, he needed to take long breaks to be able to continue.
It was a case of making tens of kilometers in one minute, but having to rest for five. In the end, it was still faster to travel like this, but it was excruciatingly exhausting to do so.
To avoid being tired once he arrived at the defense point, he tried to take more breaks, to conserve his magic to a certain point. The rest would have to get replenish during combat.
Saying that he was surprised to see humans fight so efficiently was an understatement.
''They all look strong, and I don''t see any dead humans. There''s only corrupted beasts corpses everywhere.''
That was the strength given by Eric himself, and the constant battle against this invasion over the years that built these people to a strong army with no flaws.
The only problem was that they were close to their limits. Some of them looked out of it, exhausted, or outright out of battle behind the front line.
Having an invasion holding up to the next day was something unusual for them. They haven''t been able to sleep, and at one point, even the adrenaline would wear off, leading to drowsiness.
And in a battle such as this, this would lead to horrible results.
''This is bad, if they fall, Triazils is lost.''
Orion opened a portal being him while releasing his magic.
The moment Amelia and Karteira walked out of the portal, many of the invading beasts turned to look at them, or more accurately, at Orion.
"Orion, we''re ready."
"What do we do?"
With Alcyone in his hands, Orion stared at the battlefield.
''We need to take some burden out of the soldiers. They have to rest, even if it is a few minutes.''
He nodded, and without looking at them, he pointed with his free hand.
"You two, you''re coming with me. We''ll fight together at the entrance of the plains."
"Oh, a rare joint attack? It has been a while."
Amelia looked happy. She hasn''t fought with Orion since the fairy realm underground event.
"Can we try what we''ve talked about?"
Turning to her, Karteira asked. With widened eyes, Amelia fell in deep thoughts.
"Are you sure you are ready about that? I don''t want it to hurt you."
"It should be fine. I''ll be careful. We''ve already got it close to perfection, so now I just want to try it on live targets."
"Alright. Do what you want."
With a shrug, she smiled and agreed to Karteira''s wish.
"You two ready?"
Orion was about to rush in, but he got stopped.
"Wait!"
"What?"
He glanced at Amelia.
"When we ask you to warp to us, do it."
"I''ll do that."
With that said, he ran with the girls to battle.
...
On the other side, the soldiers were doing their best. Luckily, there had been no casualties so far, but a lot suffered from minor to heavy injuries.
The lack of sleep was catching up rapidly, clouding their judgment. The only one fighting without this problem were Eric, Caroline, and May.
"This is going nowhere! Why are they coming non-stop at us?! I thought it wouldn''t last longer than a few hours, but we''ve been defending through the night until now!"
Caroline said, ripping a beast in half with her bare hands.
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"There''s no sign of it ending anytime soon! Stop complaining and kill them faster!"
Said May, melting a few beasts with a beam of fire.
"May! How''s your magic supply? Don''t you have to take a break?"
Both of their back touched, with Caroline jumping forward.
"HOT!"
"Don''t worry about me. Though, you are right, I''m starting to get low. I don''t think I''ll be able to fight any longer in an hour."
A corrupted bear ran toward both of them, trying to rip them apart.
"May, Caroline, go take a break in the back row. I''ll hold them off!"
Eric slashed the bear with his axe, separating the torso from the rest of its body. He pointed his gun, Balmung, at the two women, and fired.
The bullet flew between them, and lodged itself in the head of a reindeer beast charging at them.
"We can''t do that Eric, I''m sure your own magic is about to be depleted! If we walk away, how long will you last?!"
"Enough for you to rest. Now go!"
He ran past them, and continued the carnage, protecting his soldiers at the same time while dual-wielding a massive axe, and his gun.
"You know we can''t do that!"
Caroline clenched her teeth in anger. Not at her husband, but at herself. Her arms were sore, and she was slowly losing her strength at this point.
She through one glance at the redhead next to her, and gave up.
"May, let''s go. We can''t fight like this."
"But-"
As she was about to retort, they both forgot where they stood. Multiple beasts came for them at that moment, when they were vulnerable.
"May! Watch out!"
Caroline burned her hand pushing May away of the charging grey boar, and grabbed the tusks, forcing its charge to stop.
"Miss Caroline! Damn it!"
May recovered her balance, and noticed another boar charging from the side toward Caroline.
"No you won''t!"
She threw a beam of fire at the charging boar. Or that was what she was expecting, as nothing came out of her hand. Instead, she fell, planting her knees in the dirt.
To make the matter worse, her magic completely dried out, forcing her transformation to stop.
"No! Not now!"
Looking with terror, and expecting the worst to happen, she watched as the boar charged Caroline.
"I''m sorry Eric. We''ve messed up."
With a smile on her face, Caroline readied herself for the end. With one boar being held, she couldn''t do anything about the other.
"Ey!"
*FLASH*
A voice they never heard made her way through the massive charging boar. To be exact, she punched through it.
"Amelia! This is awesome!"
"Of course it is."
One of the woman had lightning sparking from her hands and feet. The other slashed at the boar Caroline was holding still with what seemed to be a dagger.
Under both Caroline and May''s shocked expression, the boar fell lifeless to the ground, sliced in two by wind blades.
"Orion, there are two flying corrupted in the air."
"Leave it to me."
*Bump* *Bump*
Two corrupted birds fell from the sky, a gap in their chest.
The exhausted women looked at the three of them, knowing that they weren''t part of their army, until it clicked.
''Orion... Amelia...?!''
Both knew from Eric. They needed to confirm it first though.
"A-Are you perhaps Orion and Amelia? The ones fighting the Apostles?"
"Hmm?"
Orion turned his face toward Caroline.
"Sure, that''s us."
"Are you alright? You don''t seem hurt at all, which is good."
Amelia went to look at Caroline, while Karteira helped May standing up.
"Can you stand?"
"Ah! Yes, thank you."
With a glance, Orion knew they fought until exhaustion. They reminded him of Amelia and Karteira when he was training with them.
"S-Sir Orion! Are you here for my husband?"
"Your husband?"
Not understanding, he tilted his head, before firing his crossbow at an incoming beast.
"Eric Layman. Are you here to kill him?"
He stared at Caroline now that he understood the meaning of her words.
''So she''s his wife. Good thing we''ve saved her then.''
Another opportunity to have an Apostle indebted in case something went wrong.
"No. At least not currently. We are here to avoid a successful invasion."
Caroline and May looked relieved, but then, became serious.
"T-Then! Could you go help him! He his at his limits too."
"Sir Eric has been defending everyone through the night! I''m sure he won''t last long like that!"
"Please!"
Both women bent forward as low as they could, not bothering about the battle anymore.
"Hmm."
Orion looked around. Turric''s soldiers were all fighting with the will to win and to return home. He very much liked their attitude.
''Eric''s men are still fighting, even though they are simple humans, with no magic abilities. This is different than what I had expected, but thinking about it, these guys have defended Triazils for years.''
''We can''t let any of them die. They aren''t corrupted either.''
He made up his mind.
"Amelia, Karteira. Go wild. Wilder than usual. Erase every single beasts from the surrounding and push them toward the entrance of the plains."
"Orion? But the soldiers?"
Amelia said, knowing that she would inevitably hurt or kill them.
"I''m sure one of you has the authority to make them fall back. Do that immediately."
"..."
May stared at him, pondering if she was to listen to this man or not.
''Can we trust him?''
She looked at Amelia, who looked worried, then, at Karteira next to her. She had that wild smile on her face, as if she was delighted to fight, which was a spot-on observation.
Orion continued to kill the beasts that came near them, until she gave her answer.
"Lady Caroline, let''s fall back. I will ensue the order to retreat."
"May? Are you sure?"
She nodded.
"I will take responsibility with my life if the worst came to happen."
Her gaze fell on Orion.
"I will trust your words. We are in dire need of rest, please help us."
Orion smiled. He liked honesty and determination, and this woman had it together.
"Then go rest, and watch from afar. We''ll get your Lord back to you alive."
May walked a little further away from the group, and opened her mouth, taking a giant breath of cold air.
Her hair changed color, using the little amount of magic that she recovered. Lifting both hands above her head, she expelled a huge fireball from them, who exploded in the air.
All soldiers instantly understood that it was a signal. The signal to retreat at all cost.
"RETREAT!"
Even Eric, who was fighting further, saw it, though he decided to continue fighting.
''Something important might have happened for May to do that. I''ll manage the frontline alone for now. Everyone needs to rest.''
The bulky and massive human that was Eric gripped his axe stronger, and destroyed every lifeform in front of him.
"Guh!"
Until his arm was unable to lift the axe. He stopped forcing his arm to hold it, and instead, focused on using Balmung, his gun.
That gun was very special to him. It was a blue revolver type of gun that used magic to fire icy bullets. These bullets were horrifyingly powerful, similar to an icicle falling at top speed.
Its piercing power was unrivaled, capable of piercing multiple beasts before the bullet shattered.
This weapon was a gift in battle, for him who could only use the earth element. With this, he was able to prioritize close range combat, while sparsely using long range attacks.
"I''m not done yet, you monsters! Come at me!"
The horde of beasts ran toward him, ready to rip his body to shreds. Sadly for them, it never happened.
*FUUUUSH*
A massive flame engulfed all the beasts in front of him, leaving only ashes behind once it stopped.
"It worked wonderfully! Karteira, how''s your tail?"
"It''s hot, but it''s fine."
Eric looked toward the voices, when he saw a woman on all four with a scorpion tail in full plated armor, and another one with her hands on the tail.
Lastly, he recognized the man coming toward him. With no beast alive behind him, Eric understood why all the soldiers were asked to retreat.
"Hi, young man."
With a smile, Eric dropped the arm holding Balmung down.
"Hi. We came to help."
Orion smiled back, his crossbow in hands.