Chương 486: Chapter 484 – One Remaining

From Ardnet's command center, Damion and Visault watched multiple auto-mapper streams relaying the course of the battle in Sostrad. The fighting had moved into the city, with the Iblis warships overhead flattening any building that looked like it was important. The blatant destruction of civilian infrastructure along with military targets made Damion uneasy. Part of him knew they had to win, but another part of him wondered how future generations would view their disregard for the rules of war.

If he were still a just a normal human, he might be able to pass off the worry and doubt with the simple fact that he would likely be long dead before he found himself painted as a villain. But with his ever-growing lifespan as a mage, he knew that was not likely to happen. He could at least say the Iblis were not wantonly flattening the city. But any offensive magic directed at one of the warships brough swift retribution in return.

It did not matter if such attacks came from a military facility or a baker's house. If they were attacked the Iblis attacked back, with no regard for proportional force. This approach was easy to consider as overreacting, but it also had the effect of silencing most resistance. In the beginning of the assault, many people fled to their homes and attacked the Iblis from within. Those homes were subsequently destroyed.

With each home destroyed the Alfar quickly realized that if they did not fight back, the Iblis passed them over. This resulted in many Alfar choosing to hide instead of fighting the overwhelming force.

"Why haven't they taken the bait?" Damion asked, looking to one of the live feeds that showed the null zone in the central ruins instead of the battle over Sostrad.

"They will," Visault assured.

"The Alfar are aware of what we are doing, just as we are aware of what they attempted before. But we have the advantage, they must send a force large enough to defeat us at Sostrad, if they do not, the city will be ours and it will shatter the alliance between the Matrons."

"So, you have said," Knight Straus grumbled. He was not overly thrilled with the plan, but given Damion had spared his life and later saved it, the former Justiciar had agreed to participate. Since Mage Teft was not the forgiving type, and a single A Rank knight would be next to useless in a large battle with mages, he elected to join Damion's small group.

"Can you be certain they haven't already taken into account the loss of the city? What if one or more Matrons want the alliance to break, so once the Iblis are defeated they can take over?" Damion's worry was shared by all, but Visault was confident in the plan.

"I wouldn't put it past a Matron to be that conniving, but don't forget, the three strongest Matrons forces are relatively balanced, and the weaker Matrons would never wish Sostrad to be destroyed, it is their only refuge should a stronger Matron make a move against them."

"I still think they may be planning to let the city fall. If they prearranged it with the intention to rebuild…"

"I won't say it is impossible, and the Alfar are callous about a great many things, but the majority of their population is male and Sostrad is the birthplace of the long dead Alfar emperor."

"You've never mentioned an emperor before," Damion said, confused why this subject was just now being brought up. This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience.

"Like I said, long dead. Gedrick was the only male Alfar to reach S Rank, and he kept climbing in power from there. He lived thousands of years ago."

"Before humans were exiled?"

"Not that long ago," Visault laughed.

"Gedrick was the one that united the Alfar factions that had been warring amongst themselves. And it has been put forth that the plan to let the ambient mana level of the Mother World continue to rise was his plan, to allow other Alfar to rise to his level. Though, I don't put much stock in that theory."

"So, if Sostrad was the home to this past leader, I can get why it would be considered important, but he was male, why are the Alfar ruled by the females now?"

"Before and after Gedrick's time the Alfar were ruled by the females. In part, because they are naturally stronger than Afar males, but also because Gedrick commanded it. As long as Sostrad is protected, the males are to serve the females. Now do you see why Sostrad will not be allowed to fall? If it falls, then the males, who have suffered for thousands of years under the brutality of the female Alfar will be released from Gedrick's command."

"Then why haven't the Iblis attacked Sostrad before?"

"We have tried, numerous times, but only after your auto-mappers gave us the ability to perfectly pinpoint the Alfar forces and their defenses did we possess a chance at success. The modifications we made to your design allowed us to find the exact location of all their defensive emplacements. The opening salvos of the attack crippled the defenses of the city greatly reducing our casualties and giving us a chance at success."

"Not to mention the number of Alfar that were diverted to other places because of the army they have waiting for us in the ruins," Damion added.

"Yes, the dispersal of three-quarters of the normal defensive garrison was a great bonus to our attack plan. By the look of how things are going, if the Alfar do not respond soon then Sostrad will be ours." Damion and Visault continued to watch the auto-mapper feeds, paying careful attention to the screen showing the central ruins. As soon as the null zone deactivated and Alfar forces began to move to reinforce Sostrad they had to act.

First on their to do list was alert Visneer and Mage Levine that the Alfar were sending reinforcements. Even with the Spatial null field it would not take long for the Alfar to make their way via Portal to Sostrad. As long as they were not caught unaware, there would not be much of a problem. The real struggle would begin once the two forces met.

Once the auto-mapper feed told them the Alfar had departed, or at least cut the number of their forces down, Damion would Portal himself, Visault, Mage Veers, Mage Parivar and Knight Straus to the entrance of the ruins for them to fight their way in. Visault would have been happier if they had a larger force, but for the assault on Sostrad to succeed, they needed enough of a force there that could handle everything the Alfar would throw at them.

It was obvious that once Sostrad was secured the Alfar would return to the ruins and since they had been there, they could Portal directly back. This left Damion's group at a disadvantage, so their only hope was to make sure the Alfar were kept busy. Their five-person team had to face down all the Demonic Beasts in the ruins as well as reach the seal before the Alfar were able to return. A challenging task, but since Damion's magic power was still increasing, he felt confident in it.

They just needed the Alfar to make the move to defend Sostrad.

"The null zone has dropped," Damion announced when he saw the empty area of the feed suddenly begin to populate. The signal showed tens of thousands of Alfar in the ruins. They were too close in on the map to make out their individual Ranks. Damion could have played with the monitor to zoom in and get more information about them, but he did not want to waste time doing so.

"I've sent the message to the attack force. We have to get moving," Visault said. Damion nodded and cast Portal in the predesignated area to allow him and his team to leave the command center. A moment later they were standing at the edge of a ruined building with Mage Parivar and Mage Veers. If they had stayed, just a few moments to watch the disappearing Alfar signals, they would have noticed that in the end only one signal remained at the heart of the ruins.