The Exalt [Cultivation Fantasy]

Aerial battles differed vastly from the ground. Oscar reflected on his current battle in the second Ercanal. He led his hastily-formed battalion, maneuvered them into an arrow formation, standing at the helm to be the first striker, and struck into the enemy from below.

Oscar powerfully crashed into the gathering of enemies flying the banners of a red griffon and a black turtle. From the first blow, he opened the way further with an Eirin Shattering Wave, easing the path for the rest of his men in an arrow formation to plunge deep into the enemy's formations. Hopefully, they had the strength to fully divide the enemy in half for easy pickings and free up the rest of the defenders to mount a counter-offensive.

Back in the Burning Valley, the strange restrictions in Shattirma prevented Knight Exalts and above from taking flight unless they possessed special spells and abilities. All directions, up, down, left, and right became jumbled up, and the enemies had far more angles to attack. Instead of simple battlelines, the opposing armies fought in strange borders, constantly shifting as if a ball of oil hit a ball of water.

Rather than being split in half, the enemy troops spread out to contain them from the sides. It should have been impossible in a ground battle, but a simple move in the air. The enemy swarmed like bees on the attack, covering all angles possible, up, down, left, right, forward, and backward.

Oscar fought and slew another Greater Knight Exalt sent to stop him and roared, intimidating the enemy by tossing the dead Exalt at them. Behind his visor, the Prinstyct glowed and pierced through the veil of warfare. He shifted and separated each individual through the surging tides of spells and explosive Ein, a feat he could accomplish thanks to Elder Saul's insane training.

'There!' His men were faltering from the encirclement, and Oscar summoned his deer anima and mounted it. He fused his golden drills into its antlers, the Quartet Lance, and sped into a deadly charge across the storm of enemies. A flash of gold and blue blurred past, tearing apart the lesser Exalts and forcing others to fall back. Oscar suffered a rain of spells, his Edureisclad enduring as much as possible. In a single blow, he carved a path and came out the other side, halting before the other army of Drakken defenders, their figures worn down and armors battered and bloodied. Oscar scanned the army and locked gazes with the person in bright blue armor and an emblem indicating his rank as captain, a person wielding a large halberd and fighting off several foes.

The captain nodded to Oscar's appearance and rallied his forces, leading everyone, including his reserves, charging straight toward Oscar. Turning back, Oscar thrust another Quarter Lance to return to his forces, currently under assault on all sides. The exhilarated shouts of the captain and his men behind him grew louder, and his men shouted in return and fought on.

Oscar thanked Fenu for teaching him about warfare and tactics. Since his plan to divide the enemy with just themselves failed, he had to improvise and connect to the allies on the other side. Through this gap, they merged their forces, and the enemies became split for certain and began to falter against their combined offense.

Now it was the enemy's turn to be swarmed, one group after another falling before their trampling. Oscar rested and recovered portions of his Ein, feeding on Erden's supply to supplement his losses. He didn't need to worry about the battle of the second Ercanal-Five, seeing the combined forces push the enemy back and overcome the protectors with sheer numbers until the Ercanal-Five exploded into flames.

From the blazing fires, everyone turned to him, and Oscar raised his blood-soaked armored hand in triumph. They shouted and raised their weapons and Ein, a rousing cry that expanded over the battlefield. Oscar flew out, followed by the now-freed defenders, and set them loose upon the third Ercanal-Five. The battle was shorter than before, thanks to their overwhelming numbers, and Oscar fought without pause, vanquishing the stronger opponents with the aid of the other captains. These captains were strong in their own right, but Oscar worried about why there weren't any Grade-Eights on the enemy's side so far. Peering through the barrier, he noticed groups of foes still waiting outside.

"Is that it?" Oscar crossed his arms and observed the enemies when the fourth Ercanal-Five was destroyed. Some, red-faced, clenched their open teeth and glared with venomous pairs of eyes. But a few remained calm, watching as if they were at a theater or auction, not appearing concerned with their stoic expressions.

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'Something's wrong here.' He responded half-heartedly to his growing army, their morale at its peak from the many victories. At the fifth Ercanal-Five, defenders and invaders alike paused at the large army behind him. Casting aside his discomfort, Oscar waved his hand to commence the attack, and his army responded by crashing into the enemy with fervent ferocity.

He didn't join in the fray and left the battle to the swelling blue army. Oscar flew down and said, "Susan. What is going on here?"

"Os-!" Susan stopped her mouth when Oscar stretched his finger over his lips. She nodded and spoke softly, barely a whisper, "Why are you here? How did you break out?"

"There are eight Ercanals in total, we've destroyed four, and now this one will fall soon." Oscar readjusted his helmet to fit his head better. His ragged, bloodied brown robes flapped from the rushing winds of the explosion of the fifth Ercanal-Five. Before he could rally them for another attack, loud horns bellowed all over Drakken Port, and all the enemies started to retreat into the three remaining Ercanal-Fives.

The Ercanal-Fives detached themselves from the barrier and flew away. The enemies surrounding Drakken Port all fell back, disappearing into the shorelines. It was concerning. Oscar knew the enemy wasn't a bunch of fools to mount useless sieges like this. What was their objective? Oscar turned to Susan and back to his men, telling them to take care of the wounded. They, including the various captains, followed his orders without question and began to sort their respective armies.

"How did you break out? Your Ein was sealed, wasn't it?" Susan whispered while waving her staff around. Cold streams of starry water surged to several wounded and healed their ailments. She kept glancing back at Oscar, gazing expectantly.

"That is a secret. Right now, I'm wondering why the enemy fell back. They also seemed to put many of their powerhouses in reserve or as protectors in the far back." Oscar said, standing beside Susan like a stoic bodyguard.

"It's the usual….That's how they've constantly been attacking Drakken Port. I told you before that the battles were intense in the ten years, but recently, their attacks have changed." Susan sighed, wiping the sweat from her brow. Her Ein seemed strained, and her small figure was shaky.

"Changed?" Oscar habitually reached for his space pocket to give her an elixir but grabbed only air. He remembered his space pocket was elsewhere. Clicking his tongue, Oscar could only let Susan continue in her weakened state. "How bad is the situation?"

Susan grimaced and lowered her eyes, a dark shadow cast over her usually bright face from the black smoke spewing from the burning debris on the docks. She opened her mouth once, then closed, clasping her hand over it. Following a sigh from her covered lips, she raised her head and said, "We're cut off."

"Cut off? You mean to say–"

"It's just us. A year ago, the two empires of Black Tortoise and Scarlet Griffon attacked from both sides and successfully cut Drakken Port from the rest of our allies." Susan looked more tired, chuckling lifelessly to herself. "I haven't gotten any messages from my husband in a year. I have no idea how he's doing, and he has no idea about me."

"Surely, the Empire and Pavilion should be trying their best to break through the enemy lines." Oscar frowned under his helmet, clenching his hands on his crossed arms. What on earth were they doing?

"They are trying, from what I hear. We have also tried to set out to attack from behind, but they counter-siege the port. Drakken Port cannot fall, not with this fleet here and not when the path to the ocean is here." Susan stopped her healing waters, her weary figure lacking the Ein to continue. She descended down to the docks and rested on a barrel.

"So all of this is just to wear you out?" Oscar found a barrel and sat across from her.

"They attack several times a week, forcing us to defend and waste our Ein and resources. Slowly, we've been losing more people. Eventually, the barrier will run out, and we'll be so shorthanded that the enemy can waltz in and take the port. Meanwhile, they divert most of their attention to the other frontlines. We're all sitting ducks here, unable to leave." Susan buried her face in her hands. "The people living here think we're winning every time and are happy, but they don't know we're cut off, that we're running low on everything, even food."

"But you gave me a meal. Why didn't you save it for yourself?" Oscar asked, realizing how precious the meal she had given him earlier was.

Susan raised her head with a slight smile. "That's because you deserve a good meal for coming back here. I'm sorry. It may be a while until you reunite with the others. Maybe if you leave by yourself, you could sneak through."

"Why haven't you? Why hasn't anyone?" Oscar looked up at the Exalts, aiding each other and rebuilding the city's defenses. "No one is making a fuss."

"I don't know. But I'm glad to see it." Susan heaved a deep breath, relaxing her shoulders. "We all hold onto the hope that help will come. Maybe if this continues for another year, people will start to run away." She leaned back on the wet walls of the pier, exhausted and eyes closed. "I pray it's enough."

Oscar lowered his head to Erden, who crawled up his chest underneath the brown robes. He rose from his seat and pulled Susan to her feet. "Follow me."

"Huh?" Susan stumbled around before regaining her balance. She glanced in confusion and asked, "Where are we going?"

Oscar stopped and turned back to her with a wide smile. "To make a comeback. Drakken Port isn't on its last legs yet."

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