Point-of-View: Rion Xester

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  So, those are Sant's reindeer, huh? They're pretty tough, from the looks of it. I'd been sent to deal with the enemy group that was approaching from the south, which was led by a pair of reindeer. They had bashed through the barrier using their antlers and then shepherded their troops in to fight the monsters that Kuro had summoned.

  In each direction, north, south, east and west, Kuro had deployed the same formation……the first line of defense, a little ways inside the physical defensive barrier, were the monsters, a hundred thousand of them in each direction.

  And once their effectiveness wears off and the enemy begins to push back, Kuro will reverse summon them, and depending on the circumstances, summon them right back amidst the enemy's ranks to throw them into chaos.

  While that's happening, the second line of defense steps in to take out the strongest of the enemies in each group. The second line of defense consists of only a handful of people, a mix of our Destroyers, Archwarriors and Warriors.

  I was a part of the second line of defense to the south, along with Azeria, two of the Vampire Knights, Cleon Ramdir and Nezera Autumn, and a couple of High Dragons and Demons too.

  The third line of defense were the Troopers, split into groups of a hundred thousand in each direction, let by the Sentinels. Once we were done taking out the strongest of the enemies, the monsters would be withdrawn and we were to retreat at our own discretion.

  The surviving enemies could either retreat or push forward, and if they choose the latter, they'll run into our Troopers and Sentinels. Of course, we could just crush them with all our power, but Kuro figured that it'd be a good idea to have as many of our troops get some real battle experience as possible.

  Can't really argue with that, it's a good move. Though he did say that if it looks like we're about to suffer a high number of casualties, then those of us that are higher ranked will step in and eliminate the remaining enemies, backing up the Troopers and Sentinels.

  Anyway, at the moment it looks like the monsters have the upper hand right now, they're wiping out the enemy at a pretty quick pace, definitely faster than the rate at which the enemy were killing them……man, it's just like Kuro said, they're sending their weakest members to the front while the stronger ones hang back.

  Normally, you'd say that's a good way to utilize an army, but that's assuming that all of them are soldiers. That's not the case here, those at the front lines were just normal non-combatants forced into this……they may be our enemies, but I couldn't help but feel bad for them.

  I then noticed Nezera, one of the Vampire Knights, flying up towards me. I'd been hovering in the air all this time, watching how the first line of defense was progressing, while the rest of the second line of defense stayed on the ground, waiting for my signal.

  "Hey, what's up?" I inquired, as she reached me and halted.

  "Azeria is getting impatient and complaining a lot……do something about it," Came the annoyed response.

  "Typical Azzy……alright, I'll go talk to her, mind staying up here and keeping an eye on things for a bit?" I replied with a sigh.

  "Very well, I can do that."

  I then swooped down to the others, letting out another sigh as I met Azeria's gaze, a restless frown on her face while she was all fidgety and stuff.

  "Rion, can we fight yet? Simply standing around and waiting is irritating," She growled, before I could even say anything.

  "Okay, look, your enthusiasm is great and all, but be patient, just for a little bit longer, 'kay?" I asked her with a sheepish smile.

  "……no."

  "No? What do you mean no?" I sighed in response.

  "No means no, you idiot. I'm going in," She declared, taking a step forward.

  Crap, what do I do? When she gets like this, there's no stopping her, she's way too stubborn. What should I……oh, never mind, the monsters just disappeared, guess that's our cue.

  "Great timing, let's go!" I exclaimed, grabbing Azeria by the back of her neck and flying up, as the others flew up as well.

  "Let me go, I can move on my own!" She complained, struggling.

  "Bear with it, our target isn't their front line……we're taking our their rear, where the strongest of them are camping!" I reminded her, before swooping down as we flew past the front of the army, making a beeline for the reindeer……I'd measured them earlier, they've both got power levels of around 200,000, so based on that, we're at a disadvantage, only Kuro and Az have higher power levels than that in Abyss……that said, it's not like we're guaranteed to lose.

  Screams began ringing out from the front and middle of the enemy ranks, as the monsters reappeared right amongst them, catching them off guard and tearing them apart, taking advantage of the confusion to deal as much damage as possible.

  Azeria wrenched free of my grip as we began to near the ground, before unleashing her True Anima Mode and letting out a roar as she pounced at one of the reindeer……guess I'll take the other one.

  I opened my third eye to give myself a power boost and took my axe into my hands, swinging it around a couple of times before slashing it down at the reindeer, who sprang back to evade it and then raced up into the air, running past me and dropping down right behind me……damn, it's fast!

  I swiftly spun around and blocked with my axe as it fired out a blast of snow at me from its mouth, which struck the wide side of my axe, the force causing me stumble back……woah, that packed a real punch, I can't let my guard down for even a second against this thing.

  Azeria was having some trouble against the one she was fighting too, she was able to evade its attacks just fine, but beyond that, she was struggling to land an attack of her own, it was taking all she had just to dodge……I'm stronger than her but she's faster than me, so if she's struggling this much……

  I was snapped out of it as the reindeer I was fighting charged at me, its antlers pointed in my direction as it rapidly shot towards me. I braced myself as I got my axe in the line of the creature's attack……if it strikes, my axe will probably split its head in half. But if it realizes that, it'll halt and back away, giving me an opening.

  Either way, I……suddenly, without losing any momentum, it shifted from charging straight ahead to running up through the air, having been barely a meter in front of me before the shift. I instinctively leapt forward, tucking and rolling the instant it left the top of my eyeline, before quickly spinning around and firing out a black fireball at it.

  But it had already reacted to my evasion and had turned around, giving itself enough time to dissipate my flames with a concentrated blast of snow……heh, how about this, never thought an animal would give me such a challenge……well, not that this thing is any ordinary animal. My grip around the handle of my axe tightened as I felt a rush of excitement……alright, now this is fun!

  I channeled my Mana into the blade of my axe, coating it with roaring black flames, as the reindeer met my gaze and seemed to hesitate a bit, looking kinda wary. Heh, can't blame it, a flaming axe looks pretty intimidating, after all.

  Meanwhile, Azeria was still evading the attacks of the one she was fighting, but she was stuck on the defensive, while the reindeer didn't look nearly as restrained, almost as if it was toying with her.

  As for the others, the High Dragons and Demons weren't significantly stronger than the enemies they were fighting, but were handling themselves pretty well……it certainly helped that we'd thrown the enemy ranks into chaos.

  And as for the Vampire Knights……they were doing really well. When it comes to combat experience, Vampires are at the top of the table, they've been in more battles than any other species, monster or otherwise. They're really good at handling themselves even against stronger opponents.

  Back when they first broke out of their Forbidden Zone and attacked, we were lucky……this may sound like an excuse on their behalf, but they were pretty rusty back then, having been idle for two whole centuries. Living with them in Abyss, training and fighting alongside them, it became clear to me that, if they'd been in peak form, we'd have probably lost.

  Suddenly, a loud, frustrated roar echoed out, surprising me……it was Azeria. The reindeer she was fighting was charging right at her at top speed, but this time, it didn't look like she was planning on dodging.

  Instead, as it closed in on her, she braced herself as black and orange flames roared all around her, letting out a snarl as she drove her hands forwards, attempting to grab the reindeer's antlers. She managed to grab hold of them, but the force drove her forward as the reindeer kept sprinting, pushing her back at a rapid speed, but she managed to keep her balance, even with her feet deeply scraping and skidding along the ground.

  And then, the reindeer ran out of momentum, a huge dust cloud rising up in its trail, as Azeria's lips curved upwards in a slight, triumphant smirk……and in the blink of an eye, a massive amount of flames burst out from her, sending out a stifling shockwave of heat that washed over the entire battlefield, nearly everyone stopping in that instant.

  Her maximum output isn't that much above average, but it's the intensity of her flames that's her real weapon, she can turn a target into ash must faster than most others.

  Before the reindeer could react, earth spikes suddenly burst out and pierces its legs, eliciting a bleat of pain as she restrained its movements……and then blasted out an intense, scorching wave of black and orange flames from her mouth, the ground around her melting and turning to lava, the reindeer's feet sinking into it.

  Sweat poured down my face as waves of heat continued to burst out from her, stifling everyone in the area and commanding their attention……it was only for a few seconds, but it felt a lot longer, the heat making it hard to breathe.

  And then, a few seconds after she'd begun her attack, she stopped……as the reindeer had been turned almost completely to ash, the stumps of its legs sticking out of the ground, its hooves having sunk into the molten ground, which was rapidly cooling down and solidifying again.

  Woah, that was really something……heh, not bad at all, and I'm not going to be outdone by her. I shifted my gaze back over to the last remaining reindeer, feeling pumped up as hell……alright, time to……!

  Huh?

  What just happened? The reindeer……it suddenly just vanished. Did Sant reverse summon it? Aw, man……what a letdown, I feel totally blueballed here……

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  Thank you for reading, I hope you enjoyed this chapter! Don't forget to vote, and feel free to leave a comment, I appreciate any and all feedback and criticism!

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