The War Began

"Glok! We will help!" Teena shouted, coming closer. A blue magic circle was ready above her palm, making a loud noise and then spewing ice towards the ground beneath the Construct's feet.

The ground there was instantly covered by thick ice, causing the slippery-footed Construct to lose its balance and fall backward. A strong vibration occurred, accompanied by dust billowing high into the air. The wind blew hard, forcing them to protect their eyes with the backs of their hands.

"Are you okay?" Teena asked, quickly casting healing magic on Glok to restore the depleted mana. "Damn, that Construct took so much of your mana in such a short time."

Glok chuckled. "Yes. I think their Construct has become stronger than before."

Not far from there, Zayn grabbed Helbert's collar and pushed him hard against a tree trunk. "What are you doing!? You want to make them all our enemies!?" he shouted. But instead of being scared as usual, Helbert laughed and grinned arrogantly.

"So what? We will dominate the continent eventually. If it can be done quickly, why take long?" he challenged.

The furrow on Zayn's forehead deepened. "WHY!? BECAUSE THAT'S THE PLAN, YOU FOOL! WHAT YOU'RE DOING NOW IS DESTROYING THE LEADERS' PLAN!"

He could feel Zayn's grip tightening, making it hard for him to breathe as he was pressed harder against the tree trunk. Cracks began to appear there and slowly spread. "C-captain... The leaders are the ones who asked me to do this."

His grip weakened. "What?" he asked, in disbelief.

"The leaders changed the plan. They no longer want to wait too long. They asked me to do this," he explained, taking deep breaths. Helbert's hands clenched tightly as Zayn released him, realizing he still needed much more time before he could defeat Zayn directly.

"That's impossible," he murmured, recalling Leader Zola's words that they had to do this slowly, ensuring no mistakes, then strike when everyone was off guard. There was only one reason why the leaders would change their plan. "Damn, they've made their move."

"Zayn?" Veronica came closer, grabbing his hand and holding the now hot with anger.

Feeling the familiar grip of Veronica's hand, Zayn's anger slowly subsided. He then took a deep breath, giving Veronica a smile to assure her she need not worry anymore. "I'm fine," he said, then turned to Helbert. "If what you say is true, then our plan changes." He looked towards his confused subordinates. "Help the Construct destroy them and find a way out of here."

"That won't be necessary," Helbert said with a wide grin. "Reinforcements have arrived in front of Veyrain."

Zayn's eyes widened, realizing what this meant. A bitter smile formed on his face, and he laughed. "They've really made their decision..." He paused for a moment, then suddenly, a large black aura exploded from within him, spreading quickly to cover the entire field, startling not only those trying to escape but also the elders.

The knights, now alert, drew their swords, ready to receive orders.

"Destroy them."

With that command, they disappeared from their positions and reappeared around Glok's group, who were currently facing the Construct. Meanwhile, others appeared before the elders, hovering in the air with the help of new devices attached to their legs, allowing them to fully use magic for both offense and defense.

The elders clicked their tongues in frustration. Protecting those below was already challenging enough, and now they had to face the Copperhaven knights. They couldn't fathom what mistake had led them to such a predicament.

"Glok! Watch out!" Rako drew an arrow, enveloped it with mana in a red hue, and shot it at the Copperhaven knight speeding towards Glok. An explosion occurred, blasting the knight backward, with a black mark clearly visible on the front of his armor.

"Thank you!" shouted Glok, who was already dealing with another Construct's attack. Fortunately, due to the ice layer, the Construct couldn't swing its arms with full force and ended up falling forward.

They all had to dodge, moving away from there before the ensuing shockwave hit them.

Meanwhile, in front of the kingdom, Copperhaven's forces had arrived. The elves prepared their attack with expressions full of hatred. With the enemy reaching this point, it meant those who had been guarding were no longer alive. They don't even got a warning. 

Fortunately, the elders had ordered additional guards at the kingdom walls, anticipating that Copperhaven might seize this opportunity to attack. And sure enough, they were now in plain sight, numbering over ten thousand. In the middle ranks, three massive Constructs were advancing, wielding giant hammers larger than their own bodies to demolish the kingdom walls. It was unclear how much money Copperhaven had spent to acquire Mana Stones of such immense power to operate these Constructs.

These three Constructs were similar in form to the one in the blessings area. They were just a few meters larger, with thicker front bodies. These Constructs were specialized for frontline roles, serving as both the primary defense and offense.

The elves bit their lips, knowing their attacks would be futile against them. Their assaults would only strengthen the Constructs, making them even more dangerous and nearly impossible to handle.

"Commander! Your orders!" her right-hand man shouted.

The female elf commander racked her brain, trying to figure out what to do in such a dire situation. Surrendering might be a far better option than engaging in a futile battle.

She looked left and right, observing the determined faces of her subordinates, all committed to protecting the kingdom. A bitter smile formed, realizing she had been outdone by their resolve when she should have been the one setting the example.

A sigh escaped her lips, and then she shouted, "PROTECT VEYRAIN!"

Arrows were released, creating a rain of arrows that made the knights' eyes widen. Their commander ordered them to raise their shields high, but unfortunately, elf arrows were not ordinary. Each arrow veered around the shields, attacking from the sides with the same speed. The knights were too slow in lowering their shields, only able to watch as each arrow pierced through their bodies and returned to their respective owners.

The Copperhaven commander gritted his teeth, witnessing many of his soldiers fall lifeless to the ground. Blood pooled, coloring the beautiful grass and earth bright red. "Mages, attack the archers immediately! Bombard them with explosive spells!"

The mages began chanting spells, red magic circles forming, making every elf look towards the bright red glow in the back rows. They prepared to shoot another volley of arrows, but the mages had already finished their incantations.

Not even a second later, large fireballs formed and shot quickly towards the archers, who could only watch as death approached.

Explosions erupted, causing the knights to smile in satisfaction, believing their attack had successfully silenced those pesky archers. However, from the billowing smoke, silhouettes of green light emerged, swiftly moving towards the line of mages who began to fall one by one, killed by their arrows.

As the smoke cleared, a series of large green magic circles appeared right in front of the wall, slowly rotating with a glow that made the knights grit their teeth in anger. They had anticipated that attacking the elves would not be easy, but they hadn't expected it to be this difficult.

Unfortunately, the elves could not celebrate their success in surprising the Copperhaven knights. They still had to figure out how to prevent the three Constructs from approaching the kingdom walls. If the Constructs managed to absorb mana from the walls, Veyrain would undoubtedly fall today.

The commander observed the three Constructs, searching for a weakness they could exploit to hinder them, and her eyes widened as an idea struck her. "Immediately use explosive magic in the area five meters in front of each Construct! Use everything you've got!"

"But they will only—"

"Just do it!" the Commander shouted, cutting off her right-hand man.

The elves began chanting spells, forming a new series of magic circles above the wall, catching the attention of the knights who were trying to guess what the damned elves were planning next. They watched as flashes of red light shot quickly towards the Constructs. 

"Are they stupid? Their magic will only be absorbed—"

The knight's words were cut off by the massive explosions that followed, creating strong winds and powerful tremors. They couldn't understand why the elves were targeting the Constructs instead of them. That magic could have obliterated the frontline in an instant.

However, their attention was soon diverted to the three Constructs, which were slowly starting to tilt. Eyes widened as they realized what the elves were doing. The commander wanted to stop it, but it was too late. There was nothing to be done about the tons of copper now being pulled down by gravity.

Strong tremors shook the entire battlefield, the vibrations felt even by those within the kingdom. They had no idea what was happening outside, only able to hope that Veyrain would still be standing firm in the days to come.