Chapter 1996  Fodder


    There had been countless skirmishes and several larger battles between the two armies before, but never anything of that scale.


    There had never been a battle this great and this terrible in all of human history... at least not in the history of their world.


    But then again, this wasn''t their world. The Seventh Legion was in the most dire section of the battlefield — the very middle of the center, serving as the spearhead of the entire Song Army. The enemies they faced were not young Awakened who had become carriers of the Spell in the aftermath of the Chain of Nightmares, either, but the hardened core of the Sword Army instead...


    The seasoned veterans of the royal clan''s own storied forces. The Knights of Valor. They were like a steel bulwark that refused to be shaken or pushed back, repelling one fierce attack after another. The Ascended Knights commanded Awakened Squires, maintaining immaculate discipline and the indomitable will of the elite troops.


    "Snap out of it!"


    She flinched and tried to regain her composure. "Summon your sword. Things are about..."


    Before her teacher... Sunny... was done talking, a loud horn rolled across the stretch of the battlefield where the Seventh Legion was fighting. Rain failed to register what the unexpected sound meant, at first, but then shivered. ''It''s the Knights...''


    The Knights of Valor were being called to advance. She was currently standing on a toppled wagon, surrounded by fellow soldiers. Tamar''s centuria had participated in an assault on the enemy formation not too long ago, and then retreated to rest and lick their wounds while other members of the legion continued the frantic attack. But they weren''t that far from the melee. If the enemy threw all their power into an offensive push...


    ''Ah...''


    Rain dismissed her bow and manifested the Mark of Shadows into a black tachi. Tamar had already risen from the ground by leaning on her enormous zweihander. Fleur had been treating one of the soldiers, so Ray grabbed her and pushed her back to safety. The steel wall of fearsome knights suddenly surged forward, making the ground quake. They suffered a few casualties while toppling the pilgrims, then crashed into the soldiers of the Seventh Legion a few moments later. Instantly, the carnage and mayhem of the battle turned ten times more intense, with all remaining order evaporating in one harrowing moment. A deafening clangor arose, drowning out the sound of human screams. Before too long, the frontline of the legion was broken and pushed back, and the enemies were upon Tamar and her worn-down warriors. Rain jumped off the wagon, thinking that they were lucky. At least the enemies they faced were not the indomitable Knights of Valor, this time. Instead, they seemed to belong to one of the vassal clans... their cloaks were white instead of vermilion, at least, and many had decorated their armor with feathers. The world shook as countless Aspects were unleashed and raged across the battlefield, and the merciless sky continued to batter the two great armies with radiance and heat. Gripping her sword, Rain gritted her teeth and followed Tamar to fight the soldiers of the Sword Army. ...Her shadow followed too, of course.