Noah sprinted from the forest in a mad dash, followed by his best warriors. They made no noise, waiting until they were closer to the enemy. Looking like a humanoid dragon, Noah wondered if the enemy would think he was a beast as well. Of course, once the battle started, he supposed he might as well be one. They covered over half the distance to the back ranks before they were noticed; even then it was only a small minority that turned their attention towards them. Before the element of surprise was completely lost, Noah lifted his hammer into the air, in the agreed upon signal. With a single voice, they roared at the top of their lungs.
“For Rokar!” they screamed. Their pace picked up even faster, and within seconds, they were crashing into the enemy. Noah's hammer hit the first beast like a meteor and threw the creature to the ground. He didn't stop there and continued with another strike at the closest beast still standing. The ranks were filled with mixed types of creatures, some choosing to stand on two legs and appearing at least somewhat humanoid, while others still looked like their animal origins. The only thing Noah knew for certain was that they would all have terribly sharp teeth. Besides him, Recter impaled a two-legged lion through the chest before finishing it with another stab to the throat. Everything became chaos around him, and Noah was grateful that it was so easy to tell friend from foe. He began to swing blindly as innumerable beasts surrounded him.
He only hoped that his fellow tribesmen were faring better, as they didn't have the armor to take the blows that he was receiving. Noah yelled with each swing, and he realized he likely resembled the berserkers that the orcs loved so dearly. If he was smarter, perhaps he would have come up with a more skillful approach to battle, but at the end of the day, it seemed that he was a brute. He chuckled at that, feeling both foolish and self-aware. Noah's hammer collided with yet another skull, and for a moment, there was a break in enemies around him. he scanned his vicinity, looking for familiar faces, and was relieved to see several of his tribesmen working together in a phalanx nearby. He moved in their direction, taking the enemies by surprise. It only took a handful of blows to free his companions from their encirclement, and he began to look for the next group.
He couldn't help but notice a few bodies that he recognized among the many
beast corpses, but he didn’t dare linger long. He wondered how long they'd been fighting as there were a shocking number of corpses surrounding them. Nevertheless, the fighting continued on and they threw themselves back into the thick of it.
~
Across the battlefield, Jelene watched as the small group of orcs led by too familiar faces charged into the enemy ranks. She smiled as they collided with the opposing army, creating a visible ripple through their ranks as they were taken by surprise. She laughed as she saw many of the enemy’s forces jump in fear at the barbaric war cry that echoed across the plains. Noah was truly a barbarian if she had ever seen one, quite different than the company she liked to keep. though, she supposed that even barbarians had their place in the world, even if it was only to serve the purposes of those like herself. She had been unsure if he would respond to her summons, and even if he did, there was no way of telling if he could make it in time. Her forces were being pressed and would likely fall within the day if a major shift didn't occur. She had been just about to join the battle herself when the wonderful distraction had arrived. Over the next few minutes, she watched as Noah and his warriors expended themselves against the enemy ranks. She was shocked when, even after 10 minutes had passed, they still remained, clearing out a large swath of the opposing forces. She briefly wondered if he had managed to reach bronze, as he certainly looked like those raging tyrants as he threw beasts twice his size through the air with every swing of his hammer. No, she found it quite unlikely that he would have answered her call if he had already ascended. He was impressive, though, and she almost hoped that he would live through the battle, perhaps with that drakon of his as well.
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Finally, seeing the extent of his carnage, she decided that it was time to get involved in the battle herself. She moved forward, and the world began to twist around her. For a moment, it was as if the air had been filled with mirrors that spun in every direction, and then all at once, the mirrors disappeared. for those that have been caught in her trance, they saw themselves falling in battle, assaulted on all sides by their own companions. The entire first company of beasts fell into chaos as their own minds turned against them. She inspected the enemy ranks carefully, picking out those that had enough willpower to resist her spell. Her people knew to look for them as well, and soon they were being eliminated with deadly precision. She laughed as she watched the tormented beasts tear each other apart.
~
Noah heard a terrible cacophony of noise from the other side of the battlefield, as if every beast had turned feral and couldn't help but scream. The sound was enough to twist his gut, but in the heat of battle, it wasn't long before his mind tuned it out as well. His focus was on the enemy in front of him, and he only hoped that he didn't have to face whatever monstrosity had caused the chaos on the other side of the field. The enemies fell all around him, and though many tried to kill him or to pierce him through with their claws, they failed time after time again. His armor had proven invaluable as it seemed capable of stopping everything the enemy could throw at him. His body, however, was starting to feel the strain. Sure, he could run for days on end without sleep or food, but right now, he was fighting against the beasts with stats comparable to his, providing the kind of resistance that the mountain could never muster. He felt it the most in his arms as he was forced to swing his hammer with his entire strength each time. It had only taken one slip-up to remind him that he couldn’t drop his guard. The costly lesson had almost cost him his life, and if not for Recter intervening, it would have.
He had gotten the bright idea of conserving his strength by using part of his full force against targets that appeared to be less defended. It had worked on a few until it didn't. the strange snake-like beast had cackled menacingly as it shook off his blow and wrapped its body around him. His armor had done little to prevent the beast from squeezing the life out of him from all sides. Recter happened to be nearby and was able to easily disembowel the distracted enemy. Now, however, he was paying a different price as the hammer began to feel heavy in his hands. He wondered just how much XP he had amassed so far and determined that as soon as he got a moment to catch his breath, he would level.
Never heard a cry of pain some ways away, but recognized the voice of the orc. It was Zo’Kati. He took in a sharp breath and dispatched his current foe as quickly as possible. He began to move in the direction of her voice, but there was a sea of enemies between them. Nevertheless, he charged forward like a Raging Bull, and after minutes of Relentless struggle, he found her. She was standing, surrounded by a wall of bodies. Noah smiled in relief as he saw her and watched as she toppled to the ground. He lurched forward to catch her but was too late. He kneeled beside her and inspected her body for wounds, quickly finding that it was easier to see where she wasn't wounded. She had been pierced through, bitten, and bruised, and he was shocked that she was still standing when he had arrived. She had no pulse, even though she had just fallen, and Noah realized that she had fought to her literal last breath.
His heart ached as he stared at her fallen form, but he didn't have the time to grieve as a nearby enemy spotted him. In a blind rage, he leapt forward to meet the charging beast and threw him through the air as his hammer collided with its torso. Those nearby watched as a force akin to a natural disaster tore through the present warriors. The ones who caught a glimpse of the man at the center wondered if a demon had found its way onto the battlefield. to Noah, no such thoughts entered his mind; in fact, he felt totally blank as he faced beast after beast.
