Divine Beast Ascension

616 Scramble to Safety

With Hurman and Ocker going toe to toe, the rest of the Forell army was now on standby. They eagerly listened to Kuldar’s and Opal’s directions to adjust their formation. And the troops were kept in line by their superiors at the front line, keeping the open semicircle of space to a compact size. Reuben Mottz, Trantor Forell, and Fulkar Libarn were among those leading the patient Forell army.

Then, finally, the time arrived.

“Here they come!” Opal shouted, pulling her hands away from their ice barricade. “Get ready!”

Rumble, rumble!

To the amazement of the Forell army, the hill started shaking as if following Opal’s verbal cue.

But Opal didn’t care about that, apart from the massive smile now stretching across her face. And Kuldar, along with the other perennials present, felt the same way.

However, Kuldar didn’t let up. He shouted, “GET READY!”

Rumble! CRUNCH-CH-CH!! RUMBLE, RUMBLE!!

Before their eyes, a huge hole opened up on the cliffside. And the Prodson soldiers came pouring out with unusual enthusiasm.

.....

With terrified expressions, the enemy troops nearly trampled each other in a mad race to exit the tunnel. Then, just as their faces were filled with relief, newfound worry settled in before any of the Prodson soldiers could celebrate their survival. Like an infant promised a birthday cake only to have it smashed into their face, the Prodson soldiers were left confused and with declining morale.

The two low-perennials left behind by Prodson, though, maintained their wits. They shouted, “ATTACK!”

“NOW!” Kuldar yelled at that same moment.

As the Prodson troops mustered their courage and rushed into the semicircle left open to them, the flood of Prodson troops exiting the tunnel was still speeding up. So the Prodson forces quickly filled their small area and crashed into the surrounding sea of Forell soldiers.

However, some quickly made some space for the incoming Prodson troops.

With his blazing axe, Marsel cleaved through a line of Prodson soldiers, instantly attracting the low-perennials left in charge of those remaining troops. Then, before both low-perennials could race toward Marsel, Ceela cut one off with a rain of light-construct spears.

Both low-perennials were immediately pressed, especially the one who managed to reach Marsel before realizing his comrade wasn’t coming to help him.

“GENERAL!!” both low-perennials shouted, hoping to find some form of a reply, a ray of hope to guide them out of the clutches of the astonishingly untouched army suddenly trapping them.

“FIGHT HARD!” a reply quickly came, somewhat lifting the spirits of the Prodson troops.

But when General Ocker continued shouting, the morale started to decline even faster than before.

“DON’T STOP!” shouted Ocker. “Ephar will circle back soon! Hold them off while I deal with their general!”

Instantly, Prodson’s morale entered a rapid decline, despite Ocker’s optimistic tone.

And the Forell army never let up, regardless of how their enemies reacted or expressed themselves. Until complete surrender was announced, outstanding victory was the only other option.

RUMBLE!!

All while the hill continued to quake, to the point that the Forell army saw large cracks appearing on the cliff.

*********

Back in the chamber, before an exit had been opened, the Prodson troops weren’t too pressed for urgency. They continued carving a new tunnel but didn’t want to waste too much essence before clashing with the Forell forces on the other side.

“... Message… Evac… Message… From Commander… Evac …”

A distant shout echoed out of the back tunnel, surprising the three hundred soldiers still waiting in the underground chamber.

Both low-perennials left in charge were in the front tunnel, stalling the ice to keep the tunnel-digging team safe. So the peak-elder captains in the chamber were left to handle such business.

“Message… Message from Commander Ephar!”

When the yelling messenger was heard loud and clear, also somewhat visible inside the back tunnel, the lone, early-perennial captain shouted back, “What’s the order?”

“Evacuate!”

Every Prodson troop fell into a momentary stupor, incredulous to hear such an order.

But the messenger continued to sprint toward the chamber, yelling, “Evacuate immediately! That’s Commander Ephar’s order!”

The captains stationed near the back tunnel hurried to meet the messenger personally. The same captain from earlier asked, “What do you mean? We’re to evacuate? What about the front tunnel, or are we supposed to only go through the back?”

When the messenger finally reached the chamber’s entrance, he stopped and leaned his hands over his knees to catch his breath. “Just evacuate, now. That’s the commander’s order.”

The captain stared back at the messenger with a discerning eye. “... Prove that you’re a Prodson soldier and not just another Forell spy.”

“Wh-what?” the messenger gasped. “The order is to evacuate! We need to go now while Commander Ephar is fighting the beast army!”

“Prove yourself first, then I’ll rally everyone to push out the back tunnel since the front tunnel isn’t done yet,” that captain stated in a calm tone, never raising a weapon or activating essence. But the early-perennial captain was completely hooked by the mention of a beast army.

Glad to at least not be threatened, the messenger rapidly scanned his brain for a fast way to verify his identity.

… Rumble, rumble…

Suddenly, the ceiling overhead started to shake. And before the early-perennial captain could ask, the messenger shouted with all his might as an epiphany struck him.

“THE CHAMBER WILL COLLAPSE!! A platoon of wildebeests must be trying to cave in our camp instead of flanking our army!”

Rumble, rumble!

When the captain in charge saw the messenger’s face of realization and fear, paired with the louder, more powerful tremors overhead, the captain didn’t hesitate any longer. He yelled, “MOVE OUT! HURRY TO THE TUNNELS!!”

The messenger, on the other hand, sprinted back into the tunnel with his job completed.

Rumble, rumble! RUMBLE!

Small stones began to fall out of the ceiling and the tremors were now shaking the ground beneath the soldiers as well.

“MOVE OUT!”

“EVACUATE!”

Shouts from all captains rang out as they rushed to rally their soldiers together, leaving behind tents, supplies, and anything else that would slow them down.

When those shouts reached the front tunnel, the tremors were already impossible to ignore.

“Hurry! OPEN IT ALREADY!!” berated the low-perennials. Both of them stopped worrying about the ice and charged at the last section of stone blocking their freedom. “MOVE!”

Just as the ceiling began to crack open above the chamber, the remaining three hundred soldiers had mostly entered the tunnels. Two hundred soldiers escaped through the back tunnel, their nearest route to safety. While the last hundred ran into the nearby front tunnel with no plans to stop, regardless of whether the exit was finished or not.

At the same time, the earth-wielding low-perennial in the tunnel blasted the stone ahead with his strongest hammer strike.

Rumble! CRUNCH-CH-CH!! RUMBLE, RUMBLE!!

And the trapped Prodson soldiers had their path to safety. All to blink in hysteria the next moment as they fell into another trap of the awaiting Forell Army.