The Exalt [Cultivation Fantasy]

What was it? Oscar stayed put in the mess of the battle, peering beyond the scope of his tiny section of the battlefield to the others. Behind him, his soldiers acted fast and shouted to protect him, rushing past him and throwing their bodies and spells against the enemy. It was the same as usual, the same skirmishes that came in wave after wave, the enemy's strategy ineffective like tides on a cliff. His forces, currently split into multiple platoons, met against the enemy, with no ground gained and none lost.

'If you're going to stand there staring like an idiot, then retreat.' A mental message resounded in his mind, and Demon, in his Duality body, brushed past him, cleaving off the head of a Lower Knight Exalt with a single swipe of his hand. Demon reignited the onslaught and led the frontal charge to break the enemy division, and they scampered away into the marshes, unable to muster resistance against Oscar's main forces.

Though concerned about the strange tactics, he had no time to keep wasting as the two suns descended, nearly enveloped by the murky horizon. The night was nearing. His worries would have to wait until tomorrow. Oscar quickly called for the retreat, the drums beating fiercely over the battlefield, and everyone halted. He gave a stern look to those eager to continue fighting, accursed battle maniacs, and they reigned themselves in and gathered to his position. As his army regrouped, Oscar brought up the rear in case of an ambush, eyeing the marshes one last time before returning to his base.

"Alec, how's the rations?" Oscar unmounted Erden and headed to his tent, the large white one with two guards flanking the entrance.

"A new shipment of rations and elixirs arrived yesterday, but they're lacking. I'll have to lower everyone's shares." His usual calm smile fell, and Alec sighed heavily, scratching his temple, but the wrinkles along his brow stuck on. "The decision to abandon the outer regions has bitten us in the rear. We gave up so much of our farmlands. Hunting is viable, but we can't feed everyone."

"And the elixirs?" Oscar didn't enjoy receiving bad news, especially about their supplies.

"At least those are consistent. Our supply of fresh elixirs for meditation and healing has not dwindled in the past five years. But elixirs can't feed an army. Sure, everyone will be fine in Ein, but their stomachs will not." Alec carried over a crate and wrenched it open with his hands, showing the preserved meat, pickled vegetables in jars, and boxes of crackers. After some calculations, Oscar received a tiny strip of jerky, two crackers, and a small pile of pickled vegetables on the crackers.

"Really?" Oscar couldn't believe it. Everything fit neatly in his hand, barely filling his palm, and he had to call it dinner. Alec merely shrugged and started to divide up the rations, garnering the ire and complaints of the others. Oscar ate everything in one bite and retreated to his tent, resting his head on the small boulder he placed inside, the cold feeling of the stone relaxing his tense neck.

"Excuse me, Margrave Terr. May I come in?" A stranger's voice called out from the tent. His guard entered inside and said it was a messenger from Orbis. Holding in his grievances, Oscar hissed out a hateful sigh. He could never get a good rest. He ordered the guard to let her in, and the messenger swept in, quickly bowing while lifting a scroll sealed by wax. "This comes from the Pavilion Master."

"Thank you. If you wish to rest here, let my guard know, and we will accommodate you. Now leave me to read this message." Oscar waited for the messenger to leave before cracking open the wax seal and unfurling the scroll. Its contents were, as usual, the updates on the other borders. Every place so far was at a standstill. His grandmaster detailed the resurgence of the Emerald Hydra Empire and that they may soon be ready to enter the war again. It sounded alarming, but Arkenen City had already been rebuilt and fortified to withstand a large-scale invasion.

The rest of the report had nothing noteworthy until his eyes crossed the last section. Written in black ink, the paragraph spoke in great enthusiasm of the new generation of Exalts, born and developed under the blessing of the Divine Essence. The grandmaster believed they would certainly turn the tide of war and help outlast the last few years until Gilbert's return.

'Weird….' Oscar could get a good read of the enemy's intentions. Surely, they also knew about the new generations of Exalts being born and trained in the Pavilion. So why were they not rushing to settle the war beforehand? It couldn't be the politics or natural wariness of their allies. This war concerned their very existence and continued history. Oscar wracked his head for an answer and found none. The enemy was too quiet, and the New Dawn had been missing for so long. An insidious seed of discomfort was wriggling around the veins of his brain, an anxious tick that hammered in his skull.

"What are they waiting for?" Oscar went back to study the map on his round table. Erden kept the flames on the brazier while Oscar brooded over the possibilities.

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The next morning, Alec burst into his tent, and Oscar opened his eyes from his meditation, not having slept the entire time. Before he could ask what was happening, his strategist, covered in sweat, shouted, "Orbis is under attack by all enemy forces."

"All of them?" Oscar rose to his feet, nodding for Erden to follow. "What happened to the enemy forces along this riverway?"

"All gone. Scouts report the enemy encampments are all abandoned. Every single ship and Exalt is sieging Orbis. Similar reports have come from the other stations." Alec responded hastily.

"Black Aegis Order!" At his shout, everyone turned to him, and he banged his shield once. "Get the ships airborne. Orbis requires our aid." Every second counted, and his troops understood the severity of the situation, quickly dousing out the campfires and rallying themselves into formation. He joined up with Fred and Emily, soaring into the sky at the helm of his flagship. Glancing around, he saw everyone had formed up. With a wave of his hand, he shouted, "Move out!"

Orbis was not far from the station, only a few hours journey at top speed. Since the siege had just begun, he should be able to make it in time to join the other armies to free Orbis. As the fleet traveled in haste, Oscar felt the same discomfort as last night, the one that kept him up the entire time. Why now? Why would the enemy attempt a siege on Orbis now of all the times after five years? Tapping his chair, Oscar yearned for the answer, knowing that it was the key to this battle. Yet, everything the enemy had done seemed nonsensical and contrary to good strategy.

"We've arrived!" Emily shouted.

Outside the window, the enemy fleet blanketed the sky, firing heavy bolts of Ein onto Orbis. A shimmering barrier flared and rippled from the ensuing explosions, appearing like water yet as hard as the walls of the Pavilion. A sizable fleet spread around Orbis, tackling and ramming the enemy ships to prevent them from getting closer. The sky was clear as day, but the thunderous noises and rising flames kicked up a storm on the ground.

"Look! The Drakiri have arrived with their fleet. So have the others." Fred unsheathed his twin blades, ready to battle.

"A message from General Krauss. Orbis is holding for now, but we need to attack now." Alec relayed another message.

"Then we have no time to play around. Black Aegis Order, follow me outside. The rest of you stay within the ships and rain fire on the invaders." Oscar leaped down one of the ship's hatches and flew along the steel hull, surging far ahead. His Black Aegis Order dove down and followed him into the thick of battle. Erden transformed into his Meld form, and Demon appeared next to him in the Duality body, carrying forty percent of his strength.

Their Eins resonated with each other and combined into a full frontal attack. As he neared the enemy's wall, a sudden shiver ran down his spine, and it wasn't only him. The sky suddenly turned dark, and everything turned cold. Oscar stopped and looked up at the stormy clouds that appeared out of nowhere. Was it the enemy's work? Oscar turned to the front. No, even the enemies were gawking at the sudden change in the sky.

It was the perfect chance to cull the enemy while they were dumbfounded. But as he prepped to move again, a screech tore across the battlefield, his ears pounding and aching from the horrific scream. The sounds of roars and more screeches enveloped the air, and everyone looked around for the source. From the storm clouds, under the flash of lighting, several shadowy figures dove down, their wings trailing dark smoke.

"Beasts!" Someone cried out.

A ship blew up instantly as a winged creature burst from the burning wreckage. It carved out a bloody path, clutching many Exalts in its sharp talons and breaking their bodies with its beak. The wing sliced through several more ships until someone finally responded. However, it was not alone. Hundreds? Thousands? An uncountable number of beasts descended from the storm clouds and even more stampeded on the ground.

"Form up!" Oscar didn't know why these beasts suddenly made a move, but staying here was suicide. "Retreat to the airships, protect as many as we can. Fall back to Orbis!" The only way to survive was to retreat into the barrier around Orbis. Chaos erupted as both enemies and allies alike were torn apart by the beasts, all manners of resistance failing to counterattack successfully. Oscar let loose a Shattering Wave to blow open a clean path through the chaos, but his heart sank as a beast revealed itself, hovering over the battlefield.

It had six legs as thick as tree trunks, sharp and single-jointed. A hard shell or carapace surrounded every inch of his creature in the shape of an egg. Six eyes blinked, glowing purple, an ominous sign with the dark clouds behind it. Its dark color only heightened the menacing presence. The mandibles eerily clicked until it fell silent, and everyone fell silent at its presence, even the beasts stopping their rampage. Then its mouth opened wide, revealing a row of sharp, drooling teeth, and Ein gathered inside the gaping void.

"Run!" General Krauss shouted from his flagship.

A high-pitched scream deafened out all other noise, a rippling distortion expanding from the creature's maw. Everywhere this distortion traveled, destruction followed. Ships caved into itself as if sinking into a black hole and exploded violently. Beasts and Exalts caught in it popped like balloons, fireworks of blood spraying in the air. Oscar and the others who were not in its direct line of fire couldn't rest easy as the emanations from the distortion spread around, a hurricane of Ein and wind laying waste to everything else.

"Get out!" Oscar shouted, bringing Erden and Demon with him. The ships lost control, spiraling wildly, and rammed into each other, cracking open their steel hulls. He reached out for Fred and Emily, but the winds overwhelmed them. Direction was meaningless; thoughts were lost in the raging storm, and his body could not resist the flow.

He saw towers falling, the same towers that built up the mighty Orbis. From the very top to the bottom, everything tumbled down in a landslide of rubble, an avalanche of stone and dust. It was his first to see a great city fall like a bundle of sticks. What kind of madness befell Orbis? That was Oscar's last thought before he blacked out.

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