Soldiers gathered at the square with rushed steps.

A few hundred of them.

Each one was wearing polished emerald armor and weapons, branded with glowing runes that enhanced their unity and strength. It was a state of emergency. For the first time, the empire was being attacked, and it was concerning.

"I'll start the teleportation formation soon! Only the elite can come!"

Standing at the center of a massive formation array is an elf carrying the bearing of a queen.

Queen Shanaela was infusing the formation with nature energy. Since the Second Breath had come, the methods of the old can now be used again. One being this elven teleportation array, an advanced version of the teleportation formation the Clarentium Empire installed in their territory.

Unlike the teleportation formation, this one was connected to almost all forests in the entire continent.

And it can teleport more people with much less energy required.

An elven captain approached and saluted.

"Your Highness, we can only gather about one thousand of the elites. Others can't return fast enough."

"Then a thousand it is! Get them inside the formation, now!"

Just minutes ago, there was a report of an odd, mutated animal entering their forest.

It wasn't odd because of its appearance, but because there was a mark on its body. A silver star.

Some wanted to kill it as it could be dangerous—and a silver star doesn't always mean the Silverstars, but an elven captain decided to capture it and bring it to Queen Shanaela. And that was the was proven to be the right decision.

Surprisingly, the mutated animal, the dire wolf, indeed belonged to the Silverstar Pack.

Or at least was sent here by the Silverstar Pack.

A Shaman of Great Nature checked its memory, and she confirmed it.

It was sent by Lord Flunra.

Engraved upon the silver star mark was a mind message—a warning to Queen Shanaela that the capital city would soon be under attack. Other than that message, there were also the rough coordinates of where the enemy would strike from.

Her task was to thin the number using long-range attacks, and that's what she was going to do.

Once the army of a thousand elites was gathered, the teleportation array was activated.

Roots emerged from the ground and formed a dome of nature with the entire army trapped inside.

And when the roots retracted, the army wasn't in the Elf Kingdom anymore.

"Scouts! Scan the area!" Queen Shanaela brandished her hand imposingly. "Search for the horde!"

A dozen elven elites immediately spread around, leaping from one tree to another.

"Your Highness," An elven captain stood by her side—and looked around the forest they were in with an evident frown. Something in the air tells her that the enemies would be an overwhelming horde. "Are we making a stand here?"

"No," Queen Shanaela shook her head. "We're tasked to thin their number enough so the horde wouldn't heavily burden the Tigermen and the Dwarves who are building a buffer zone. We are not alone, too. In the message, Lord Flunra told me that the Orcs are going to be helping us."

Since the target was Dargena City, the horde would be passing them first.

Next would be the Dwarves and the Tigermen, before finally the Dark Elves.

No matter what, the horde must not reach the Dark Elves.

It was too close to the capital city for comfort if the horde reached them.

"Still," the elven captain looked at the horizon. "No matter where the horde came from, there are many dominions that would get in the way. Even in that direction, there's the Magma Rain Dominion. Anyone who went through there would be charred. I don't think the horde would reach far."

Many places had been enhanced by nature, turning into dominions.

Each one has a sentience with an ego that is generally hostile to those with bad intentions—and also a ruler that would be actively attacking anyone the dominion deemed unwelcome. In hindsight, there's no chance the horde could reach the capital city.

Not without a map.

Not without knowing exactly where to go.

"Do you think Lord Flunra wouldn't consider that?" Queen Shanaela raised a brow questioningly. Lord Flunra is very old, so there's no chance he would make that oversight. "And look above you. Right now, it's the Blood Moon. Anything bad can happen."

Werewolves under the Blood Moon would go mad easily; it was a well-known fact.

But other Supernatural races are also influenced in a similar way.

Queen Shanaela wouldn't be surprised if even the Order Beasts were influenced by the Blood Moon.

"Search for the Order Beasts nearby," She turned to another elven captain and instructed, remembering that using the Order Beasts against the horde would be quite effective. "Stay close to them, and when I give the signal, lure them to me."

"Yes, Your Highness," the elven captain pointed at a few others and then dashed away.

Swish—!

Queen Shanaela leaped onto a tree and stood at the tip, staring across the horizon for a better look.

Right now, she was inside a forest with a mountain behind. Northeast of her was a grassy plain, and as the elven captain stated, there was the Magma Rain Dominion not too far away. Its lava cracks were so severe that they even spread to the surroundings.

Just then, a few figures emerged from the downslope across.

It was the Orcs.

Unfortunately, the one leading the charge wasn't the Orc King, but a War Chief.

His power was nearing the early ninth-rank realm, weaker than Queen Shanaela, but it didn't matter.

At his side stood more than a dozen Orc Shamans—infamous for their devastating weakening curses. And from the aura coming covered by the slope, the army he brought seemed greater than the one Queen Shanaela had brought.

About five thousand-strong, if she were to guess.

For the next hour, it was silent. The calm before the storm.

Queen Shanaela—and the War Chief prepared their defensive plan while scouts monitored the terrain—guarding against distance and surprise. The army stood poised for the horde's sudden emergence. Ready for anything.

And then, the ground rumbled.

It was the shaking coming from a march, not a natural one.

"Where is it coming from?!" Queen Shanaela exclaimed.

She had sent out many scouts to monitor the area, and yet none of them reported back to her.

Boom—!

Just then, a massive eruption resounded.

Queen Shanaela climbed the tree again and gasped.

From the Magma Rain Dominion, volcanic eruptions clawed skyward. Several at once—a fiery chorus of destruction. It was a sign that the dominion was attacking something. But the shaking of the ground underneath her feet only became more intense by the second.

A sign that meant the dominion was failing.

"Impossible…" Her breath was stolen away. "Even the dominions can't stop its charge?"

No time to waste.

Queen Shanaela called forth an intricate bow, its limbs woven from the centerpiece of the Great Tree's living roots, which gave it a lighter color. A weapon befitting the Queen of Elves. She raised it skyward. Nature energy surged along the bowstring, forming a gleaming bow in seconds.

And with the breath of the forest behind her, she let it loose.

Swish—!

It was the signal for the other elves who had been stationed near the nearby Order Beasts.

Across, the War Chief and his Orcs unleashed a battle cry that slammed through the air hard.

Akin to a rolling shockwave that shook the air around them as they raised their arms and clanked their weapons together in a form of war intimidation. But this tactic doesn't work on a divine army. It didn't work on the horde.

Boom—!

Just then, the dome of the Magma Rain Dominion exploded.

Thousands of crimson creatures poured out like ants.

A sudden wave of heat slammed into Queen Shanaela and the elven ranks behind her. It was more than a mere temperature increase. It prickled the skin—and seeped deeper, stoking an unnatural anger that set their lungs heaving.

And woven through it all was the suffocating bloodlust.

Something utterly primal.

So thick that it began to manifest in the physical world.

A looming aura of crimson spread across the grassy plain and turned it into blood.

"Now, activate the array!" Queen Shanaela brandished her hand, instructing the Shamans she brought to activate the array that they had been preparing throughout the hour. She assumed the horde would be averaging at the ninth-rank realm, so they needed something to boost their powers.

Others had persuaded her that it wasn't the case.

No chance the horde would have soldiers averaging at the ninth-rank realm.

Thank Mother Nature that she didn't listen to them.

The horde didn't merely average at the ninth-rank realm, but at the peak of the ninth-rank realm. Without the array, the elves wouldn't have been able to shift them an inch. A chant rose, the formation flared to life, and the earth around them splintered with a deafening crack.

Dozens of enormous sunflowers clawed out, and their petals quickly opened.

Behind, the elven elites were separated into two sections.

Less than half of them would draw upon the array's energy to empower their bows, while the other half would pour their combined might directly into the sunflowers. Each bloom now surged—with the total strength of over a hundred elves behind it.

Queen Shaaela hovered above the sunflowers.

She was the sole controller of these plants, and her focus was directed at the approaching horde.

"Mother Nature, lend me strength!"

After unleashing a war cry, she pointed at the horde, and the sunflowers exploded with destructive beams of energy. Behind, a volley of human-sized arrows follows along, raining down on the horde—gathering more and more energy while in the air, using the forest as fuel.

Boom—!

Boom—!

Explosions erupted upon impact.

Greenish energy rippled outward in pulses, bringing the force that would shatter any kind of horde.

But as the beams continued, Queen Shanaela's eyes narrowed as a cold chill ran down her spine when the devastating explosions barely did anything to the horde. Most crimson wolves were only pushed a few meters aside.

A few were thrown away. Only a handful.

Despite the enormous energy within each beam, it couldn't even pull the crimson wolves' attention.

The horde endured the beams and kept going straight, ignoring the elves completely.

Across, the Orcs had a better result than the Elves.

The War Chief slammed his club into the earth repeatedly, each strike sending violent soundwaves that sliced through the air toward the horde. His growl rumbled like thunder, and his fist pounded his chest in a primal defiance.

Behind him, the Orcs mirrored the rhythm.

It was an energy-based taunt.

And it worked.

Unlike the sunflowers, the taunt worked as a hundred shifted and attacked them.

Knowing what to do next, the War Chief—and the Orcs retreated down the slope where their Shamans already prepared a trap for the incoming crimson wolves. A killing zone that would allow them to defeat stronger enemies.

'How is this possible?' Queen Shanaela gritted her teeth.

Her sunflowers aren't working effectively.

And with the speed of the horde, hundreds already passed her range and continued onward.

'And where is Lord Kyran? Lord Flunra told me that he was coming, too.'

SHING—!

Just then, out of nowhere, a colossal block of jagged, scorching ice erupted from the earth—sealing off the horde's advance. Crimson wolves slammed headlong into the frozen barrier; their momentum was shattered in an instant.

From the flank, a shadow tore across the ground—galloping on all fours and closing fast.

Queen Shaneala squinted her eyes and realized that it was Kyran.

He finally caught up and blocked the path forward.

Like a streak of lightning, Kyran tore past the faltering horde and surged ahead, hunting down those that had slipped through. Queen Shanaela bit her lower lip until blood welled, the copper taste grounding her.

It was up to her now. 𝕗𝕣𝐞𝐞𝘄𝐞𝚋𝚗𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗹.𝚌𝕠𝚖

Or else Kyran and the rest of the allied kingdoms would be in trouble.