Spirit Game

Gnarlock and his 1,000 personal soldiers were resting in the Barren Wasteland when their scouts failed to return.

"Where are Frogo and Hrenrick?" Gnarlock growled, his eyes scanning the horizon. "They should have been back by now."

"General, do you think they might have encountered something in the south?" one of his captains asked, concern evident in his voice.

Gnarlock inhaled deeply, the acrid air stinging his nostrils as he exhaled like a blast furnace. Towering over his soldiers, he commanded, "Prepare to march. Whatever lies in the south, we will crush it!"

~YeEeAarRgH!~

The Hobgoblins' battle cry shook the earth as they began their march southward, determined to obliterate any threat to their king's grand plans.

Their march intensified, the ground trembling beneath their feet like thunder rolling over the horizon.

"Hmm . . . our soldiers seem to be in high spirits," Gnarlock commented with a boastful laugh.

One of the soldiers looked around, confusion evident. "But General . . . half our soldiers aren't marching yet."

Gnarlock paused, then noticed the rumblings intensifying from the east. An ominous thunderstorm was forming where the ocean met the horizon.

"What's going on?"

"Is it a storm?"

Gnarlock's eyes narrowed at the sight. A storm in the Barren Wasteland was unheard of.

"Since when do we get storms here?"

"Right now, idiot."

The Hobgoblins turned on each other, their confusion erupting into heated arguments about what was happening.

Gnarlock's eyes turned to slits as he realized what was approaching. "All soldiers, prepare for battle!" he roared.

Thunder coiled in the distance, accompanied by thousands of Ebizo soldiers marching with heavy armor and spears, led by none other than Lord Izumi himself.

"G-General . . . what's going on? There are Seadwellers here!"

"We have no intel on this! What's happening?!"

"Why are Seadwellers in this part of the wasteland?!"

"Why are they here at all?!"

"SILENCE!" Gnarlock roared, swinging his giant axe. "It doesn't matter why they're here! They stand in our king's way! They're slow, and our hammers and strength will shatter their shells! Crush them all and feast on their flesh!"

The Hobgoblins roared with renewed fervor.

Lord Izumi smirked. "You should have run at the first sight of us. MEN! Show them why we are feared on land and sea!"

~HuuUUrRaArgGH!~

"You think you can defeat us, you lobster scum?! You're far from the sea! This our territory! Kill them all!" Gnarlock roared.

The two forces clashed, the Hobgoblins charging forward while the Ebizo maintained their deliberate, steady pace.

"You're no match for our strength! RaArgh!" the Hobgoblins roared as their clubs, hammers, and giant axes smashed into the Ebizo soldiers.

Their brute strength crushed the Ebizo shells, boosting the morale of the Hobgoblins as they pushed their advantage, decimating the Ebizo soldiers left and right.

Rain watched from a safe distance atop a boulder, biting his nails in nervousness. Despite their numbers, the Ebizo were painfully slow and were being overpowered by the Hobgoblins.

"A-are they going to be okay?" Rain stuttered, his voice trembling with anxiety.

~Chi!~

Chi tried to calm him down and pointed at Lord Izumi, who wasn't the least bit fazed.

"If you come at me without a plan . . ." Lord Izumi's eyes narrowed dangerously. "You will be obliterated."

He thundered, "Mages, show them the might of our magic!"

A thousand Ebizo mages at the rear cast their spells in unison, summoning torrents of water that rose from the ground. The water coalesced into a massive tidal wave, sweeping up the slow-moving Ebizo soldiers.

The Ebizo soldiers rode the wave, tucked into their shells with spears poised outward. They spun rapidly as the wave propelled them forward, transforming into a swift, deadly vortex. They were like blades in a high-speed shredder, slicing through everything in their path!

"Grind them to dust!" Lord Izumi commanded.

The Hobgoblins pressing their advantage at the front couldn't escape the sudden attack. The waves were too fast, swallowing everyone in their path. The Ebizo soldiers' spears tore through the Hobgoblin flesh, leaving no escape. The water quickly turned red with Hobgoblin blood.

Rain watched in awe as the battlefield transformed, the tide quite literally turning in favor of the Ebizo.

"Whoa! Amazing!" Rain's fear quickly turned to glee. "Now I get it. He lured them in, pretending they had the upper hand, so they couldn't escape what's coming next! He's crushing them completely! As expected of Lord Izumi!"

~Chi!~

In the first wave of Ebizo's soldiers' attack, the Hobgoblins' army was quickly reduced to half. This struck fear into the hearts of the Hobgoblins, causing them to scatter in panic.

"Fall back!"

"Retreat!"

A thundering roar of defiance shook the earth as every fleeing Hobgoblin was met with Gnarlock's giant axe.

"No soldiers of mine will flee from battle! Not while I'm still alive! You either die on the battlefield or by my hand!"

"How did he survive that?" Rain questioned no one.

Gnarlock had strange markings covering his entire body when he reappeared from the waters, and with the red aura enveloping him and his bloodshot eyes, it was clear he had gone berserk.

"Typical of such an inferior race," Izumi muttered.

"Anyone who escapes will die by my hands!" Gnarlock roared again. "Their mages' spells are down, now it's time to attack!"

"You're too young and naive to think that way!" Izumi waved his hand, and another batch of mages appeared.

Waves of water rolled across the barren wasteland, but this time, the Hobgoblins were ready.

"That attack won't work twice!" Gnarlock's body pulsed and grew bigger, his axe expanding with him. With one mighty strike, he cleared the earth and a towering shield of rock formed in front of the Hobgoblins, crashing against the waves and breaking the Hobgoblins' strategy.

Izumi smirked beneath his poker face. "That's it. You have to struggle a little more, or else this would be boring."

At the side, Rain marveled at the intensity of the battle.

"T-this is . . . this is war," Rain muttered under his breath.

It wasn't a large-scale war, but he got a front-row seat of what it would be like when two armies of thousands clashed.

Strength and magic weren't enough; strategy was important too.

"With the Hobgoblins stopping the magical attacks of the Ebizos, what will Lord Izumi do next?" Rain asked no one in particular. "The Hobgoblins have the strength and speed, while the Ebizos have the numbers but are slow."

What would happen next?

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|| A/N ||

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