Raidrise

"Everyone get out of here!" Helena called as the elves ran away from the fire and destruction that was slowly taking over their city. In the distance, their knights were fighting the invading orcs with the rest of the army but it wasn't looking good. The elven army has proven to be quite fragile in their capabilities, and the knights were stretched thin keeping the monsters from running amok. The princesses had taken it upon themselves to evacuate all the elves while taking out the orcs that had managed to slip through the elves' defensive line.

"Are you okay?" Corissa gasped as she helped a mother and child get up from the ground, "Please hurry and get away!"

The elves nodded and ran off towards the edges of the forest opposite of where the orcs had invaded from. Looking around, Corissa was struck by how much damage these orcs had managed to do in such short time. Buildings were wrecked and even worse, the homes built inside of trees were burning down in frighteningly intense fires. Corissa spotted a pair of elves stuck in the highest floors of one of these tree homes but Momo quickly arrived to pick them up and return them to the ground.

"Be safe!" Momo called as the elves she saved ran off.

"How's the evacuation going?" Kaguya asked as the girls all met up again, "Anybody remaining?"

"Well the city's gotten pretty quiet now." Helena sighed, "So I think we've gotten most of the elves out. All we can do now is keep the orcs from doing too much damage to the structures."

"Ummm..." Corissa yelped, "How do I do that?"

"Yeah, me and Corissa aren't exactly combatants." Kaguya smiled.

"Well, you can always evacuate." Momo chuckled, "You've done enough as is."

"But what if we're needed?!" Corissa yelped.

"For what?" Helena smirked.

"I...I don't know but still!"

"I get that you want to do something but you have to take care of yourselves too." Momo replied, "This is in the middle of a raid. You could get seriously hurt."

"Roko wouldn't leave!"

"Yeah but Roko's smarter than you."

"I've been studying..."

"Yeah hold that thought." Momo said as she heard the approach of a group of raiding orcs.

These monsters were laughing and cheering wildly as they went about smashing into the elves' establishments, breaking through sturdy rock walls with a single swing of their mace. They threw firebombs into the now empty homes, caring nothing for the riches or memories or knowledge within them in favor of the glee of destruction. And when these monsters noticed the princesses standing in the middle of the road, their cheering and hollering took on a perverse excitement.

"Women! Finally! Capture the women! Kill the men!"

Corissa hid behind Kaguya as Momo stepped up to face the monsters with a sigh.

"You orcs could stand to be a be more interesting than just being hedonistic."

"Look at this woman making up words! She won't be as wordy once I have my way with her!"

"I call the feisty looking one glaring coldly at us. I love breaking cheeky women like her."

"You're not taking a step pass me." Momo announced as she surrounded herself in various enhancement magics.

"Then try to stop us!"

The band of orc charged at Momo with their weapons, slobbering at the idea of conquering a woman. Momo disappeared and reappeared in front of them, impacting each of them with a strike that knocked each of the unprepared orcs into the air.

"Tch. Surprisingly sturdy bunch aren't you?" Momo massaged her wrist as the orcs landed not far away from her and just casually began to pick themselves up.

"Oh? This one knows how to throw a punch."

"Ha! We've beaten women and men stronger than her! We don't have to fear anything!"

"That's right! Who cares if she knows how to fight a little?! Let's take her down and have some fun with her already!"

The orcs began to surround Momo, now more cautious but no less confident in their chances.

"Hey, lady! Are you going to use that sword on your hip or what?!" One of them yelled.

"Well normally, I would." Momo crossed her arms, "But I apparently need to work on my strength a bit more."

"You trying to be strong? Why bother when you can just be breed by us? I promise it'll feel really good."

"Disgusting." Momo retorted, "If you loveless monsters think you can best me in combat, you better start before I tear your stem from its roots."

"You'll regret crossing us!"

The orcs charged in at Momo from all sides, their clubs slamming into the ground where Momo once stood. Momo had escaped into the air, jumping high above them as she summoned electricity around her fist.

"Lightning!"

A shining bolt of light blasted down on the group of orc. These orcs were instantly fried and charred black by the intense blast but they remained on their feet, refusing to fall and even twitching and moaning slightly. Momo landed back in the middle of this group, looking around with a disappointed sigh.

"You orcs may be sturdy but you're not worth much else are you?"

Momo reached out and flicked one of the orcs with her finger. The orc fell backwards onto the ground with a moaning thud as Momo spun around and kicked each of the remaining orcs with a sweeping leg, knocking them all through the air and crashing into the ground and buildings around them. All except for one orc who slammed into the body of someone much bigger than him. This figure gripped the unconscious orc with one hand and tossed him over his shoulder as he walked forward towards the princesses.

"Well well well. What do we have here?"

The orc in front of them was clearly different. Muscular. Unarmored. Dressed in simple furs and with no armaments on him. No swords, no clubs, no bombs. He was adorned with gold and jeweled accessories aplenty though. Fancy golden bracers, a lavish gold necklace, jeweled rings, even a slightly ill fitting circlet that almost bordered on being a crown. This unarmed but confident monster sneered down at the girls with a hungry look in his eyes.

"Finally, some spoils worth raiding." this orc said with a rumbling voice, "We've been low on some concubines lately. And you lot seem like worthy breeding pots."

"I'm sorry, I know you're probably the big boss and all..." Momo frowned, "But I really don't care for you right now."

Momo disappeared in the blink of an eye, reappearing right above the orc with her leg raised over her head. Her leg swung down, aimed at the orc's head but the orc simply raised an arm and lazily blocked the attack with the palm of his hand. Momo was stunned to see her axe kick caught so easily. The orc sneered and grabbed onto Momo's leg, dragging her around like a ragdoll as he slammed her into the ground again and again.

"Stop it! Ice!"

Helena fired an icicle at the orc which got simply caught and crushed in his other hand. But this opening was enough for Momo to call upon her lightning spell and smashed her other leg into the orc's wrist, freeing her and allowing her to retreat. Stumbling back to her friends, Momo fell to the ground.

"Are you okay?!" Corissa ran up to Momo and helped propped her up.

"Yeah." Momo grimaced, "My defense spell prevented most of the damage but my leg's feeling a bit...sore."

"I'll do worse things to your body once I capture you." The orc sneered.

"He's no joke." Kaguya frowned, "I don't think even Momo can beat him."

"...I hate to admit it but you might be right." Momo growled, "I could feel it when I hit him. Armament magic. That orc can use magic."

"Can orcs normally use magic?" Helena frowned.

"Not normally." Kaguya replied, "They're usually not intelligent enough to learn magic."

"Now, that's hurtful. I'm really quite the gentleman." The orc gave a mocking bow, "We just need to learn more about one another. For example, I believe I saw you using lightning magic?"

The girls' faces paled when the orc raised his hand and electricity began to gather around it.

"Something like this then? Lightning."

Lightning blasted out of the orc's hand. The sheer power of it was almost reminiscent of Momo's lightning spell when powered by amp. This blast thundered through the air towards the girls in an instant, large enough to hit all of them at once.

"Earth."

The ground in front of the princesses suddenly burst upward and blocked the lightning spell, blasting dirt and debris everywhere and rocking the ground beneath them but the girls remained safe.

"Well well well." The orc sneered as he looked up, "Look who's finally here."

Rivera the elf queen floated down from the air, a wooden staff in her hands.

"Waur." Rivera frowned, "Of course you'd be behind this."

"I just wanted to pay my old rival a visit." The orc named Waur grinned, "Rivera...will today be the day we settle out score?"

"Our 'score' would've been settled much longer ago if you did not keep running away like a coward."

"HA! I remember you doing your own fair share of running, queen!"

"I do not recall anything like that."

"Ummm..." Corissa spoke up timidly.

"You all did well humans." Rivera said, keeping her eyes on Waur in front of her, "You may leave now. Escape into the forest. I'll hold this creature off."

"But we can help!" Momo cried as she struggled to stand up, "I can help you fight at the very least!"

"No. As the elf queen, I couldn't possibly ask my guests for help. Besides, this is a personal matter between me and Waur."

"We'll watch by the side then." Kaguya said, "We'll only intervene if things get too dangerous for you."

"...Suit yourself."

The princesses all quickly moved to the side of the road as Rivera and Waur glared at each other. Well, Rivera glared at Waur. Waur watched the princesses with a hungry look in his eyes.

"Quite the fine looking guests you have here." Waur said as he stroked his bearded chin, "I thought you had decided to not take in any more foreign guests."

"There were circumstances." Rivera growled.

"That right? Well I appreciate you providing me some quality prizes. And once I defeat you, I'll start hunting your little citizens that escaped and enslave them. And you'll be no exception."

"Disgusting." Rivera scoffed, "You orcs are always the same. I'll end your miserable existence here and now!"

With a wave of her arms, Rivera summoned several boulders to rise from from the earth, hovering behind her.

"Always with the natural magic." Waur laughed, "Is the elf queen too old to learn any new tricks?!"

"I'm only 5000 years old!" Rivera cried angrily as she launched the boulders at Waur.

Waur grinned and readied his fists. As the first boulder neared him, Waur punched it, shattering it into several chunks that bounced off him harmlessly. Waur defended against Rivera's attack in this same way, punching each boulder into pieces as he slowly ignited his fists with fire. When the last boulder broke apart, Waur lashed out with his fists, shooting the fire at Rivera in large fireballs. Rivera waved her staff in a circle and summoned a curtain of water that evaporated each of the fireballs thrown at her. With another wave, the curtain began spinning into a spiraling disk that broke apart into smaller water disks. These disks whistled through the air as they were fired at Waur. Waur coated his hand in ice magic, using it to grab onto one of the disks of water, freezing it in an instant. The orc held this frozen disk as he ducked and dodged the remaining water disks before throwing his ice one at Rivera. Wind whipped around Rivera, pulling it around Rivera before sending right back at Waur. Waur smirked and summoned a bolt of lightning that destroyed the ice disk in midair.

"Did you think I wouldn't notice the wind disk that you hid beneath the ice one?" Waur sneered, "I already know all your old tricks, queen."

"For all your talk, you've still got no speck of decorum." Rivera retorted, "You orcs are a warmongering race are you not? Is this how strong their war leader is after so many years?"

"Oh, queen. You know I'm not much for magic. I've always been more of an...intimate fighter."

Waur raised his arms and charged towards the flying Rivera. Rivera scoffed and flew higher into the air, angling herself downward as she summoned spires of earth around her.

"Stone Rain!"

The spires all began to shoot themselves at Waur who tanked every one of them that hit him, the stone shattering against his armored skin. Waur pulled his arm up and jumped upward, swinging his fit up to hit Rivera. With her spell proving useless against him, Rivera ceased the stone rain and summoned a barrier that Waur's fist cracked into with such force that Rivera was even forced further upward a bit. Still, her barrier held firm and Waur was slowly losing momentum and falling back to the ground. That was when Waur sneered and fire erupted from underneath his feet, propelling him upward with alarming force. Rivera's eyes widened and she quickly tilted back as her barrier shattered and Waur rocketed up above her. As his fire ceased, Waur turned around in midair, looking down at Rivera with a wild glee as he pulled his next punch back. Rivera quickly summoned up another barrier, stronger this time but now electricity was starting build around Waur.

"Lightning!"

In a flash of light that could've illuminated the entire forest, a monstrous bolt of lightning descended on Rivera, engulfing her in light as she was blasted into the ground.

The princesses had covered their eyes to almost no effect as the light engulfed their visions for just a moment. When the light died, all that was left was a dust could and a small crater that had been blasted in the middle of the road. And as even the dust began to part, they could see the figure of Waur, standing over the fallen body of the elf queen.

"Queen Rivera!" Corissa cried out in horror but Momo and Helena immediately leaped into action, Helena firing an ice spell directly at Waur as Momo appeared on the opposite side, launching a kick on the powerful orc. Waur lifted both his arms, easily blocking Momo's kick and shattering Helena's ice spell with a swing of his fist, not even bothering to look up from the body of the elf queen beneath him.

"Get her out!" Momo called to Corissa and Kaguya.

The two princesses nodded and moved to rescue the elf queen before they saw water leaking out from Rivera's body. The water shot out and carried Rivera's body away like a river as the elf opened her eyes and began coughing a little.

"Are you okay?!" Momo and the other disengaged as they ran up to Rivera who stood herself up with her river spell, balancing unsteadily on her feet.

"I'm fine children." Rivera cleared her throat and pushed her hair out of her face, "I'm just a bit frazzled. His attack didn't managed to punch too hard past my reinforcement magic."

True enough, despite the devastating attack that Waur launched on her, Rivera was only lightly dusted with nary a scratch or injury on her.

"Amazing." Momo gulped, "I don't think even I could have avoided getting seriously hurt from an attack like that."

"You all get back." River patted a few of the girl's heads, "This duel isn't over yet."

"But..." Corissa protested but she knew fully well of her own helplessness.

"Hurry now, children."

The girls hesitated but Momo quickly turned to the others and nodded, gently pushing them back to the sidelines. Rivera's staff floated gently to her side as she dusted off the damage she had taken and turned to face Waur who was standing at the crater with an unimpressed look on his face.

"You need humans to defend yourself now, Rivera?"

"Don't be ridiculous, Waur." Rivera scoffed scornfully, "I did not ask them to do that."

"Perhaps you should ask for their help. You might be able to beat me that way."

"Foolishness, Waur. What little power humans hold couldn't possibly tip the scales in a fight of this level. Humankind has only recently begun to pick themselves up on their own feet. For a species like that, the best thing for advanced species like us is to watch without interfering."

"For you elves maybe." Waur grinned, "But us orcs? We'd be happy to put them to good use."

"You will not have your way, Waur." Rivera announced, "I will bring you down. Once and for all!"

Corissa watched in stunned horror as the two powerful beings began to fight once more. Waur firing off spell after spell that did as much damage as a bomb to their surroundings and Rivera flying effortless around the orc and hurtling spells at him with such grace and ease. This was a level of magic, a level of combat she had never seen before. And she doubted that even Momo had seen such pitched combat. Power like this felt unreachable. Even if she trained her entire life, it was hard to imagine a single human wielding such power. And yet, she knew it was possible for humans to be this powerful. A history of human heroes that fought against the dark lords of demonkind. Scholars of Magus Alterna, said to be dedicated solely to the experimentation and improvement of magic. Hell, all she needed to do was remind herself of her school's principal, Zadkiel, to find a human with power beyond her understanding. In the face of all that, could she really do anything to help? No matter how much her own helplessness pained her, she couldn't see herself fighting like these two monsters of magic. Not someone like her. Not a regular human like h-

Corissa's thoughts suddenly turned to Roko. Roko who was weaker than either of the two in front of her. Weaker than Zadkiel. Weaker than even Momo. But if he was here...Corissa couldn't see him doing nothing. And she couldn't imagine Roko ever losing even in this battle beyond her comprehension. If Roko could do it...if Roko could do something...then…