GREED: ALL FOR WHAT?

Action creates an equal and opposite reaction. The impact of the collision is the reaction to his momentum. He had protection so he was safe from the impact. The angels on the other hand didn't fare so well.

As unbelievable and unexpected as it is, he had no choice. What else could he do? He wanted to pass but they made it so that he would have to go through them. He can't pass through them or phase through matter. He doesn't have that power yet. So he crushed them and trampled over their destroyed bodies. Nothing could stop him this time, their blockade did nothing to hold him back.

The thing about motion and friction is that once the initial friction against motion is overcome, it becomes easier to continue moving. Soverick had broken that threshold of force needed to overcome the barrier that they created with their bodies, so it became much easier to trample through them.

The spectating gods could do nothing as he rammed into their ranged weapons of war. One by one he destroyed the first lineup. There were still farther ahead. The gods had placed them in rows, just in case, something like this happens. They planned for their failure. So if he wants to destroy them all in one fell swoop, he will have to go deeper into the canyon without the support of his army.

"Another time then. I don't need to take them all out now." He said as he turned back.

Soverick felt unstoppable but he wasn't without caution. He chose to hold back and return to his soldiers. The remaining catapults are out of range too. Placing them that far back also made them ineffective threats. But he will need to destroy them before the attacking army moves into their range.

His soldiers had already begun to file out from the tunnel. They arranged themselves into their squads and ranks. They cheered when they saw the fast-approaching dust cloud that he left in his wake. They banged their blades against their shields in salute to their commander.

He stopped in front of them. Then he raised his hand and silenced them.

"It is time for battle. It is time for you to shine. It is time for you to show your determination to achieve victory. Some of you will die. But you will die knowing that you fought for the interest of the plane. You will die as heroes. Who here wants to die as a hero?"

"Heroes!" The army shouted once.

He continued, "As heroes, your names will be enshrined within the hall of heroes. Who knows, you might return in the future as a heroic spirit. Your tales will not be forgotten. But you have to make great tales first. Who wants to make history with me?"

They shouted and banged their shields in agreement. Battle sage monkeys are battle lovers. It is not by chance that all other species on the Virut plane with the smallest conflict with them have disappeared. Only races that they can't fight properly or can't eradicate remain with them on the plane.

It is not by chance that their GodKing has the domain of battle. It is also not by chance that they are not sages of knowledge, sages of strategy, or sages of peace. They are the battle sage monkeys. Their excellence is shown on the battlefield. So these people are anxious to do battle. It is simply in their blood.

"There is no rush. Our brethren are still coming in. We will move forward when we need to create more space for them. No need to hog all the glory for ourselves. We have enough glory to go around"

They cheered again.

"But if the angels are anxious and can't wait to enter our gaping maw then they can come. Glory is forged through the bloodshed of battle. So we will take as much glory as they can give us. We will stand strong. We will be unbreakable. We will be unstoppable." He raised the spear in his hand and shouted. "We will be victorious."

The army echoed the sentiment. "Victorious!" "Victorious!" "Victorious!"

Their voice rose up and echoed through the canyon. Their voice is the very sound of battle. Anyone that hears them will know that they are ready for battle. They are practically crying out loud for it.

"Shields up." He shouted and they obeyed.

Each member lifted their shield to protect themselves. The shields locked together and turned the army into a turtle in a shell. The rain of arrows clattered harmlessly off of the shield. If the projectiles had been giant boulders then the result would have been different.

"Hold it together. We have days to go at this." Soverick encouraged them.

The attackers did not intend to rush forward to meet the defenders. They were currently outnumbered, doing so will spell their doom. The fact that they will have to spread apart as they go further from the exit of the tunnel means that it will be easy to pick them off. So they will rather wait and advance slowly. They weren't in a rush. Holding their shields up like this will not be the end of them. Soverick had drilled them for weeks at a time without rest.

The angelic army also didn't tire easily. They could continue firing arrows for ages. Except that the arrows aren't working. They also didn't have unlimited arrows. Which left magical assault as a means of causing ranged damage. But that will mean moving closer to the attackers before their magical spells will enter the effective range.

Odds are that magical attacks won't work either because of the shielding, so they might as well engage the invaders. The other viable option is standing there and doing nothing until the attackers swell in numbers and initiate the attack themselves. That couldn't be allowed to happen. So they rallied and moved like a torrent hoping to smash their enemies apart.

"First ten-row prep axes," Soverick commanded.

"First row throw."

His shout marked the start of battle.