Chapter 404 - It's Time

"Step… back…" Ivan ordered, and Alinea's group stepped back a few meters away from the mouth of the cavern. 

Their eyes however never left the group of Cyclopes that now started to come out one by one. The procession of armed giants didn't end there. The smell of decaying corpse permeated the air as more giant elementals appeared. Following the Cyclopes were trolls, then ogres, all armed with clubs, swords, and shields. These giants were carnivores and sometimes practiced cannibalism. The strong foul odor came from the not yet dried skin of other elementals that they used as their clothes. 

The previous groups of elementals that rushed out of the cavern comprised of unintelligent ones. Those mostly followed their instincts and didn't use their brains. They attacked whoever and whichever possible hosts or food they encountered regardless that those were much stronger than them. 

However, starting with these giants before them, the level of thinking capacity upgraded. Of course, comparing the strength of Mavara and the harpies to these creatures were akin to the earth and the sky. But their size and berserker tendencies classified them to level C and some of them which acted as leaders were classified as level B or A. 

"Urgh, it's those disgusting giants again," Alinea ġrȯȧnėd as she stepped back and buried her nose against Ryuu's back. 

The Koutaishidenka on the other hand laughed. "What's the matter?" he asked as he reached out behind him to tickle Ali's chin with his fingers. He knew very well that she was using him to block the rotten smell. 

"Ali loves trolls. They're her favorite," Ivan suddenly quipped making Alinea snort against Ryuu's back. 

Fredek who was next to Ivan coughed to cover a smile, but when Ryuu looked at him, he explained. "The Princess was trapped by trolls during the Immortal War a year ago. She nearly had an accident if it weren't for His Majesty Alistair's timely bestowing of Aurel's seal."

Ryuu turned around making Alinea fall on his ċhėst. He lifted her chin so he could look at her eyes. "You nearly got beaten up by trolls?"

The way he asked sounded so incredulous. It was as if he couldn't believe she'd lose to inferior beings. As expected, the princess's feathers were ruffled. 

"Ya! Those were not the regular ones. Those were general grade trolls, okay?" Alinea explained with a pout. 

When the army of the other kingdoms ridiculed Ritz's troops before, Alinea felt it was her duty to uphold Alistair's reputation and had let herself be goaded into manning the frontlines. 

Ivan had found out about it because his third brother who joined the battle ran after the Ritz Princess and joined her at the frontlines because Ivan asked him to look out for her. The Kres Prince had begged Ali not to be impulsive but he was helpless and was not able to do anything but let the Kres Army be dragged to the frontlines as well. 

"Haha, Andrej panicked a lot but willingly got dragged into the front lines with her. It was an awesome first war for that boy," Ivan recounted in amusement. 

"You're so mean to find it so funny, Your Imperial Majesty. Prince Andrej might have been traumatized for life because of that," Fredek commented. However, the title was mentioned not as respect but as sarcasm. 

It was because normally, Ivan should be the one in charge of the Immortal War. If he were there, he would be taking the Kres Empire's troops to the frontline. But he was not available as Perun sent him to confirm news about Kresnik's whereabouts. Due to this, Ivan's second brother, Mikhail handled the palace, while his third brother, Andrej led the troops in the Immortal War with the aim to aid Alinea in battle. 

They were not supposed to be at the frontlines, though. 

"He won't be traumatized. The Goddess of Mischief protected him well," Ivan said as he grinned at Alinea who still hid behind Ryuu. 

Alinea turned her head to look at Ivan and pouted. "Can we do something about the trolls now?"

"Just let your uncle deal with them," Ryuu told her. He was still very much amused at his wife whose face had a tinge of green. It was as if she was starting to feel sick due to the odor. "How were you able to fight those before if you hated their smell so much?" 

"Pride and stubbornness," Alinea answered making everyone including some of the soldiers behind them laugh. 

Just as the princess said, she really hated the smell of the giant elementals. She just steadfastly walked into the battlefield for the sake of her brother's name. For Alinea that time, no one was allowed to laugh at Alistair! 

"Babies, smash!"

Gin's voice echoed in the battlefield as the giants swarmed out of the cavern's mouth and began to attack. This time, because they had weapons, the elementals on their side also moved. Due to the number of the dark elementals, even if they were not individually a match to any of the harpies or Mavara, they all had to move to fight. The only area they leave open and didn't move into was the one near the edge where the soldiers were waiting to attack the escapees and the area in front where Mavara continued to breathe his fire. 

Blood and gore painted the plane as the harpies went all out with indulging in the carnage. The giants, albeit stronger than the first waves of the elementals were still not matched with their might. The small elementals took advantage of this time to make a beeline towards the soldiers, thinking that they were easier prey. However, the lesser harpies who stood near the troops welcomed them with their talons. 

Cries of pain and death echoed as the enemies fell one by one. Those who were able to escape the harpies and Mavara were taken down by the soldiers' swords. This went on as waves and waves of elementals continued to pour out of the cavern. 

As soon as it seemed to tone down, Ryuu who stood in front of the group tasked to go to the second seal raised his fist as he turned to the others behind him. 

"It's time…"