Chp.33: Crushing victory

Obviously, the one who had provided the ogres with the nullification rune could only be the 'third party' previously theorized by Fridya... that was of course Haku himself.

As already mentioned, fairies were not used to using the nullification rune in battle, since it was useless to counteract the ogres' fighting strategies. However, they used it a lot around their capital. It was excellent for keeping wild beasts or any possible attacker away.

Haku and his siblings had never dared go near the fairy city, but that was no problem for them. Dragon's sight was the most powerful ever existed in the world, much more even than birds of prey, and so they could clearly see the details of objects several miles away. It was enough for Haku to climb a tree tall enough to learn a lot of information about the fairy capital located five or six kilometers away. And since the nullification runes were carved into the trunks of trees placed in the outermost part of the capital, it wasn't hard to spot them.

When Haku understood what those runes were for, he was fascinated by them. If he could replicate them, then he would have had tremendous power! With them, he could have matched against any opponent, because the mana problem would no longer have been present!

Without mana, every creature throughout the forest and probably the rest of the world was powerless against dragons, even if they were still babies. If Haku and his brothers and sisters in terms of strength were more or less on the level iron, a newcomer without the ability to use mana didn't even reach the level copper. With the nullification rune, they would have become the dominant predators in the truest sense of the word.

But unfortunately, Haku found out that he couldn't use the rune. Even if after many attempts he was able to replicate it perfectly, it required an enormous amount of mana to work, forcing him to stay immersed in a spring for many days. It was too long and he couldn't expose himself that long. So, reluctantly, he had given up.

Of course, this had been before he had discovered the wonders of the dragon's blood. Had he realized earlier the extraordinary properties of his own blood, sacking the city of the Bolvek tribe would have been a breeze. With the nullification rune, he could have disempowered the ogre soldiers and exterminate them all by himself. There would even have been no need to send Sarpa out to reconnaissance.

In a way, there were many runes that he knew that could have made it easier for him to take the city, but that he hadn't been able to use due to the excessive amount of mana needed to make them work. Luckily now that he knew the power of the dragon's blood the problem was solved. However, at the moment he no longer needed the nullification rune… but it could have been very useful to Sarpa.

It hadn't been difficult for Sarpa to introduce the nullification rune into the ogre army: as with other runes, he claimed to have discovered it by accident while battling the faeries. This, combined with his current position, had put any suspicions to rest; after all, he was already known for performing prodigious deeds, so no one was surprised that he had a very good sense of observation. After all, he was the 'chosen one of Baat' for a reason. Sarpa knew what was being said about him and, although he had never confirmed these rumors so as not to fall into blasphemy, he hadn't even silenced them. Thanks to them and to his prestige, it had been easy to convince the ogre mages to engrave the nullification rune on the back of the shields.

Unlike dragons, ogres didn't have miraculous blood, but that wasn't a problem for them. Unlike Haku and his siblings, they could control the mana within their bodies and channel it into the rune. As soon as Sarpa had given the order and the soldiers had flipped their shields, each rune had been charged with the mana of at least five warriors. It was a very tiring process, but it was enough to activate the nullification rune and thus defeat the fairies. Once this was done, the ogres who had activated them retreated to the rear to rest after the enormous energy drain, while those in the rear moved to the front and charged the now helpless enemy.

It was a massacre, a real one-sided carnage.

According to Haku's hypothesis, the mana core was continuously absorbing mana. Consequently, even if a fairy or an ogre or any other living being were deprived of it, given enough time they would again have been fully able to do magic. However, it couldn't be too quick a process. Consequently, at least for the moment the fairies affected by the nullifying rune could no longer do magic, they couldn't fortify their bodies, they couldn't use magical weapons or enchanted objects. If they'd waited, they'd probably be back in full force in a day or two, or maybe even just a few hours… but the ogres certainly wouldn't have been waiting such time.

As mentioned before, a newcomer without his mana was no stronger than the level copper. That was therefore the current fairy level at the time. Conversely, even the weakest ogres were level iron, while most were level silver, and there were even some level gold. The disproportion of strength was like that of a mouse against a cat.

The ogres started tearing the fairies apart one by one. The faeries tried to scramble away using their wings, but the ogres' nets and ropes caught them and pushed them to the ground, and for those that managed to escape often one of the ogre soldiers would leap, channeling his mana into his legs, and so he flew to them. Some tried in vain to use arrows to ward off opponents, or to fight with swords and daggers, but now that even they no longer had magic they were like toothpicks against the mana-enhanced body of the ogres. Very soon, the forest floor was stained with the blood of thousands of fairies.

While most of the ogres chased and killed the faeries, Sarpa signaled to some of those who remained in the formation. They acted immediately and ran towards the trees, starting to hit them with hatchets. Under normal circumstances the fairies would have intervened to stop them, but now the fairy army was routed. The powerful muscles of the ogres tore the logs apart very quickly. Some ogres even knocked down trees with their bare hands.

The trees quickly began to collapse under their blows. That corner of the forest, previously completely covered by thick vegetation, began to clean up as the plants fell one by one. For each tree that fell, not only did the airspace become clearer, making it easier for the ogres to catch the fairies who couldn't hide behind branches and leaves, but also a piece of the enemy camp which was located above the enormous crowns of the trees tens of meters high collapsed.

The ogres were quick and tireless; within minutes that part of the forest had become a clearing and was getting bigger by the second. The falling trees crushed the fleeing fairies and the ogres slaughtered the remnant, who in the now empty airspace had no way to hide. Their only option was to fly as high as possible and hope the ogres couldn't reach them. But ogres were also skilled throwers, and when a fairy reached a height where it could no longer be hit by other means, she would be impaled with a javelin.

Fridya watched helplessly at that macabre scene. She'd been lucky enough to take cover behind a tree just in time before the nullification rune hit her, but she couldn't turn the tables on her own. There were others who had been able to shelter and could still use magic, but they were very few. She didn't know what to do. None of the strategies that came to her mind would have been enough to change things. Even though the battle was still going on, they had already lost.

Now there was only one thing he could do: try to save as many fairy soldiers as possible. To do this, the only solution was to distract the ogres. "All of you who are still able to fight, attack! Use any means necessary! Cover the escape of our companions as much as possible!" she shouted, and then she rushed at the enemy army. Many fairies came after her, but they were still very few compared to their enemies. They were just a few dozen against thousands of strong and armored ogre soldiers. They were like flies that tried to hurt a giant.

When they struck, at least they obtained the desired effect: many ogres abandoned the pursuit and concentrated on them. Luckily many of the fairies who survived were elite soldiers, and so they could fight admirably. The first ogres that tried to hit them were immediately hacked to pieces. This however only infuriated the others even more, who charged at them with such fury that the earth shook.

Fridya moved with incredible speed and her sword whirled through the air cutting off the heads of countless ogres. She aimed at those better armored or who appeared to be of high rank, ignoring the common soldiers; after all, the former were far more dangerous than the latter. She moved so fast that she looked like a lightning bolt with a life of its own, and behind her the earth seemed to be littered with mangled heads and bodies.

But suddenly, her sixth sense warned her of imminent danger and she instinctively turned to the right raising her sword. Just in time! A giant axe smashed against it with such force that the fairy was unable to maintain position and was thrown back several meters. Her shoulders dislocated, but luckily her sword resisted and it didn't break.

Fridya looked up and saw an ogre with his arm still raised, who clearly must have thrown his axe against her. She'd never seen him, but his appearance matched exactly the description the ninja spies had given her of the new ogre leader. It was him! It was Sarpa!

The ogre looked angry that his blow hadn't landed, but he wasn't discouraged: he got another axe from one of his companions and then he moved forward. The other ogres moved aside, letting him pass. Fridya wasted no time: she immediately used her mana to heal her shoulders and then fortified her arms and hands, ready to face her enemy.

Both of them took the initiative at the same time: both Sarpa and Fridya threw themselves at each other and their weapons clashed with enormous force. Countless times axe and sword crossed, generating sparks with each blow. Fridya was faster and more agile and she was constantly changing position, but Sarpa was bigger and more massive and he possessed a good defense. They were at the same level.

The clash seemed to be destined to last for a long time, but suddenly numerous arrows fell among them. Sarpa noticed them in time and dodged, backing away quickly and moving to a safe distance. He seemed furious that someone had interrupted their duel.

Four more fairies landed in front of Fridya. One of them turned to her and said: "General, there's no more time! You must retreat!"

"No! We can buy more time!" Fridya exclaimed. She was unwilling to flee, not if that meant leaving so many soldiers behind.

But the other fairy shook her head: "General, all those who could have saved themselves are already far away. Now you have to go. The survivors will need a guide to defend the capital!"

Fridya opened her mouth, but she immediately closed it again. It was true: as a general she had responsibilities. She couldn't just stay there and die and leave the army in disarray. Seeing that she seemed to have understood, the other fairy turned to Sarpa and shouted: "General, go! We will cover your escape!"

Fridya grit her teeth, then she spread her wings and flew away. She heard the clash of weapons and bodies being cut behind her, but she didn't turn even once. At some point her sixth sense alerted her again, and she dodged just in time to avoid Sarpa's axe hitting her. She turned back to the battlefield and saw the ogre commander standing over the corpses of her companions, glaring at her. Fridya just looked at him for a second, then she started flying away again. More weapons passed by, but none of them hit her. Very soon, she was beyond their reach.

Sarpa was angry. He had had the opportunity to eliminate the enemy commander and he had lost it. It would have been easier to conquer the capital without the fairy general to defend it. He tried to console himself: after all, he had obtained a crushing victory.

All around him was full of corpses, but only a few of them belonged to the ogres; all the others were fairies. There were thousands of them. At first glance, the fairies must have lost at least three quarters of their entire army. That feat could truly be considered legendary, indeed mythological! The ogre soldiers were cheering enthusiastically, prowling among the corpses looking for any survivors and taunting their now dead opponents.

Sarpa seized the opportunity and climbed one of the fallen trees, posing for all to see. The soldiers immediately looked up at him and shouted his name, cheering the commander who had led them to that extraordinary victory. Sarpa opened his mouth and screamed at the top of his lungs: "What did I tell you?", and he pointed a finger at the sun, which though it was already late afternoon was still visible now that there were a few trees nearby still standing. "I told you we would have destroyed the fairy camp before the sun went down... and behold, I've kept my promise!"

The soldiers gave an exclamation of delight and admiration. The chorus "Sarpa! Sarpa! Sarpa!" resounded through the forest again. Sarpa smiled and raised his axe proudly, enjoying all the cheer.