[Nightmare]

"Helix!? Calm down a moment!

Tell me what happened!" Elsa cried.

Her body and arms were already drenched in Tyrene's blood.

She worked frantically with her team to get everything under control.

However, she needed to know Helix's condition, or she couldn't think.

Marie took deep breaths to regain her composure.

Her puffy, bloodshot eyes were trembling.

"It was a mistake! A foolish mistake!" Marie cried.

"Speak sense, child! Start from the beginning!" Elsa snapped in anger.

"I-I went with H-Helix t-to help the t-troops make it… over… the chasm!" Marie replied between sobs.

"W-When… th-they got to… the launch s-site the S-Stalkwalker…."

Elsa patiently listened as she activated gravity magic circles to stop the bleeding.

"Gahhhhhhhh!" Tyrene groaned from the operating table.

Luckily, she was frozen into position with gravity to prevent her from moving and injuring herself.

"That's good! Stay with us!" Elsa cried.

Marie broke down into tears again.

Elsa set back to work cutting off Tyrene's armor and preparing her body for the surgeon.

She grimaced when she tried to grind it off.

The strike had crumpled the armor inward, and the jagged metal was puncturing her ribs.

If they removed it, her body might bleed out before they could stop it.

"We're waiting for the surgeon.

Marie, please continue. What happened once you got to the launch site?"

—

The troops roared at their War Goddess' harangue.

"Do not forget that your War Goddess is here with you!

While I won't be fighting to ensure you can earn your glory, I am watching your bravery!"

Battle cries followed her words.

"Some things feel impossible, but they are not!

I require contact with the earth to use my spells.

This chasm leads 100 feet underground, and my spell would need to travel that far to start moving to the battlefield.

However! Watch what humans are capable of!" She yelled.

Marie kneeled and put her hands on the ground.

Tyrene's eyes widened in disbelief.

She yelled from the north side hilltop with all of her lungs.

However, Marie couldn't hear her from over 100 meters away.

She wouldn't even if Tyrene was 50 feet away.

The deafening roars of the troops were drowning out the noise.

"Watch the power of humankind! [Earth Stake]!"

The earth around the soldiers shook, and the vibrations which started heavy became low rumbles beneath their feet.

The Colossus tried to push itself up after hearing the earth rumble and feeling it on its chest.

It lifted its head and looked at Marie with a bloodthirsty gaze.

It recognized her sent from the northside of the battlefield and knew her earth magic's might.

It looked at her in the eyes and bared its teeth.

A second later, a sharp pillar of earth smashed into its jaw and sent it rolling onto its back.

The soldiers watched in awe as the pillar sent the Colossus flying.

They witnessed the event in slow motion and saw the force used to hit the beast.

It was so great that the pillar had exploded upon impact and sent massive, jagged rocks across the battlefield.

A moment of silence fell upon the soldiers, who stared at the sight in disbelief.

However, their eyes did not deceive them.

"KEYYYAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHKKK!"

The beast howled in pain after its senses returned.

Then after one battle cry….

"YEEEEEEEEEAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHH!"

The roar from the soldiers fought against the pain of the Colossus.

"Now go! It's time to achieve glory!" Marie roared while unsheathing her sword.

"Prove to your war goddess that the impossible is possible!"

—

"Dr. Malka! Our war general is dying. We need you to perform an emergency operation!" Elsa yelled when a man burst into the tent.

"What is her situation!" He replied hurriedly.

Marie did her best to control her breathing as the two worked together to prepare Tyrene for surgery.

Once Elsa passed over the work to Dr. Malka, she rushed Marie out of the tent to give him silence.

She walked over to a waiting area.

"Please, child, speak. Is Helix okay?" Elsa asked.

Marie nodded.

"T-The last time I checked, he was." She replied with tears streaming down her cheeks.

Elsa sighed a breath of relief.

"Then please continue. You were at the launch site." She said softly.

"T-The beast was moving again after… t-the mages ran out of spirit p-particles… and the t-troops were scared…." Marie explained with her head between her knees.

She was sitting on the ground, curled into a ball.

"I-I followed Helix's example and gave the soldiers a speech b-but I went too far…."

—

After giving the speech, Marie gave everyone a brave nod of support.

However, on the inside, she was feeling sick and sluggish.

"I'm… going to go sit over there and watch!" Marie announced.

As she walked, countless troops moved out of the way with smiling faces.

—

"I-I over-exerted myself a-attacking the S-Stalkwalker… and… and it left me weak without s-spirit particles.

A-As a result, I s-sat down with the troops instead… of going b-back to safety." Marie cried.

Elsa frowned. She knew where the chasm was supposed to go and understood in an instant what Marie was telling her.

"H-Helix wanted to come h-help give me a… t-transfusion, but he needed to d-do his part."

—

"Marie…." Helix whispered.

His eyes were trembling when he saw her weakened state.

She had enough power for another spell, and he knew that because he had given her the transfusion.

However, the attack she released was far too absurd and ineffective.

He felt it was his fault for overdoing the speeches.

Charlotte's demonstration was effective, and he figured she was doing the same.

It was a masterful demonstration for morale, but it put her in danger, and his mind was cloudy, knowing she was so close to the battlefield.

The Stalkwalker would only have to move 25 meters to get into her striking range, and she was weakened.

"Boy, if you want to go get her, no one will stop you." General Lackbolt said with an empathetic voice.

"I… you heard her speech, right?

If she looks weak, we can suffer more losses." Helix chuckled bitterly.

General Lackbolt grimaced.

"General Tyrene has moved to the second northern hill and is watching Marie like a hawk.

The best thing I can do for Marie is not let that thing know a second person from the north is in the same location.

That would make her a target."

Helix gritted his teeth in frustration.

"You have a good head on your shoulders, kid." General Lackbolt asserted.

"Hey, is it true that you were weak as hell a few months ago?"

The man looked at Helix with a serious expression.

Helix glanced at him and then turned his attention back to Marie.

"Yes. Four months ago, I was weak, defenseless, and those women protected me every day." Helix replied with his eyes glued to the Stalkwalker.

General Lackbolt's eyes widened in disbelief.

"It wasn't enough. We were all weak." He continued.

The man's face was even more puzzled.

"They couldn't protect me 24/7, and the day before I planned to leave Alzeria to prevent an assassination attempt on my life, I was stabbed, and my lover died."

General Lackbolt's eyes filled with sadness at the news.

"Luckily, I did some crazy shit before I left.

When I woke up one month later in Kozen, Master Tyrene and Master Tilo were there to train me.

They believe I can fight the Mad Queen, so they have trained me and are now following me.

I'm not a better leader than either, but they're training me to be one." Helix continued.

The general's face lit up with a conflicted expression.

He now knew why the mysterious young man had powerful backers and was in control.

However, he was appalled that he was defenseless two months ago.

The man would consider that he was a physically weak leader, but Helix almost snapped his wrist a few days ago.

"Those three are all my partners and came to join me.

Now we're strong. However, we're not stronger than that thing.

We've hit it with innumerable traps and cataclysmic spells left and right, and it's still dangerous.

Now Marie is exhausted, and I can't save her without risking the operation."

General Lackbolt frowned.

"I will wait until the troops have moved across the chasm.

Once they're over, I'll move Marie if she hasn't been brought back by Tyrene or comes back herself.

So when that happens, take over, okay?" Helix requested.

The man nodded in assent and then fell silent.

He could tell that Helix was not in the mood for small talk.

"I wish they sent at least one combat expert to Kozen with me…." Helix muttered under his breath.

With Tyrene and Tilo offering to take Helix on as an apprentice, the kingdom didn't send combat tutors.

They sent a medical teacher, Timothy, a theoretical magic teacher, and a political mentor.

Timothy was Elsa's aid that got permission in exchange for offering teaching services.

The other two capitalized on his leadership skills and sought to improve his bizarre magic circle additions.

Linus was a scholar that wanted to exchange his teachings for Helix's access to knowledge.

As a result, while Helix emphasized their presence, only Timothy was useful.

Helix gazed at the battlefield to look for Tyrene.

The three were still on the hilltop, standing on scent masking circles they activated manually.

"I suppose they'll attack if she's in danger…. I'll need to trust them." Helix whispered.

"Just like everyone trusts me with my part of this operation."

—

Power stones and grammatical errors = more content. :)