Elven Summoners

"…we chase them and wipe them out."

The demons cheered as they heard Ilya's decision, their pace quickening as they hunted the fleeing elves.

It didn't take long before they caught up to some of the stragglers and Ilya charged into the lead, her sword as fast as always, severing heads before the elves even registered her presence.

Behind her was Xaren who reduced gravity to make himself faster and doubled it on impact to increase the power of his flaming slashes and stabs.

Bjorn barrelled through their lines, his leopard claws ripping through throats as he shrugged off retaliatory strikes with his thick hide that he reinforced with demonic energy.

Kravok's Warhammer spun in wide arcs, the magic weight behind it brutally shattering elven skulls while Carack brought up the rear, his flames torching the feet of the running elves.

They continued moving like this until they reached the building connected to the bell tower, a four-storey structure where the elves had barricaded themselves inside.

Sadly, their barricade meant nothing before the power of a certain Gravity-manipulating manipulating High-Demon.

Ilya scanned the building with her eyes, surveying the situation and quickly devising a plan.

"Some of you should climb and break in from the windows when we burst through the main doors.

The rest, shields up and push the front!"

Just as she ordered, Xaren looked to the side and covered multiple large weapons belonging to dead giants on the floor with his magic power, before using Attraction and Repulsion to yeet them at the doors of the building.

The doors shattered and the first line of elves behind it were crushed by the giant weapons.

Immediately, the second line unleashed a barrage of magic spells, but the shield bearers of the troop absorbed the brunt of the magical bombardment, shielding them from fireballs, ice shards, and wind blades hurled from above.

Meanwhile, the climbers scaled the walls with ease, their claws and weapons anchoring them to the stone as they reached the higher floors. Within moments, they shattered the windows and poured into the building, taking the elves by surprise.

In the brief moment of confusion upon detecting the demons attacking from behind, the elven spellcasters hesitated and their barrage weakened.

Kravok seized the opportunity and leapt forward, slamming his warhammer into the ground and unleashing a powerful shockwave that sent tremors rippling through the entire building. Cracks split the floor, and chunks of stone and debris shot into the air.

"Xaren!"

Kravok called out but Xaren had already taken action. He used Repulsion on the debris, hurling the jagged stones at the elves. The projectiles tore through the defenders, smashing into heads, chests, and limbs, while Carack added a touch of flames to some of them, his magic igniting the bodies of those hit by the projectiles.

Screams filled the air as fire consumed the elves, their panicked movements only spreading the inferno further.

As the demons began the slaughter of the ground and first floors, Ilya used wind magic to boost herself further, scaling to the second gallery floor and slicing through the necks of the elves she encountered.

She left the floating souls behind without a second glance, focusing her attention on the structure itself.

With a powerful slash, she carved through the ceiling above her, sending chunks of the floor above crashing down.

The elves standing there plummeted to the floor she was on, and as they scrambled to rise, a sudden gust of wind burst forth from Ilya.

When the wind subsided, all that was left within a five-metre radius of her position were bloody body fragments.

The rest of the troop pressed the attack, systematically clearing floor after floor. Blood and ash painted the walls as they carved a path through the building.

Eventually, their pursuit led some of the fleeing elves to the Bell Tower itself. In the chaos, Kravok swung his hammer with reckless force, unintentionally smashing through the tower's outer wall and creating a gaping hole.

The team clambered through it, gaining access to the roof, where the remaining elves made their final stand.

More than a hundred elves lay dead by the end of the brutal skirmish, their blood soaking into the stonework.

The building was eerily quiet now, the groans of the dying replaced by the crackle of lingering flames and the distant sounds of battle still raging elsewhere in the city.

Ilya surveyed the scene with a narrowed gaze, before giving her next order to find the ones who fled from the windows and back doors.

As the troop temporarily dispersed, only Ilya, Xaren, Kravok, Carack, and Bjorn remained atop the roof.

Kravok broke the silence with a grumble, leaning on his hammer.

"All that effort, and I only gained one level."

"Same here. What a waste," Carack muttered, sighing as he cleaned his magic bracelet, wiping away the remnants of the battle while Bjorn, unbothered by their concerns, sat cross-legged, consuming the souls he captured.

Xaren wasn't too far from them, sitting on the rooftop as he surveyed the city's skyline.

Fires raged, smoke spiralled into the skies, and the sound of collapsing structures echoed in the distance.

He said nothing, his expression unreadable as he took in the destruction they had wrought.

'Am I cursed to be stuck in war or something?'

Just as he thought that, he and the other four sensed a surge of magic ripple across the city, and their gazes turned to source on instinct.

From their elevated vantage point, they could see it clearly—a congregation of elven mages in the city centre.

The elves were gathered in tight formation, chanting in unison as a glowing spell circle drawn with the blood of the giants and demons who had perished earlier materialized beneath them.

Surrounding the mages was a defensive perimeter of giants and elven archers, holding off the relentless waves of demons charging in from all directions.

Giants were a race renowned for their large physical bodies, and they had the strength and durability to match.

They also had race bonuses that significantly amplified their strength and durability, often beyond what their status boards reflected.

Yet, their large size, a symbol of power, was sometimes the cause of their downfall.

Due to this, some High-Rank Giants acquired size manipulation abilities and tended to shrink their bodies.

Xaren remembered a story he heard in his previous life, about an army division that had encountered what appeared to be a group of low-rank giants, their forms compact at a mere five meters tall.

Assuming an easy victory, the soldiers launched an attack, only to discover too late that these were high-rank giants in disguise. The entire division, numbering tens of thousands, was annihilated.

In their shrunken forms, these giants traded some of their immense strength for speed, but for higher breeds like Arch and Elder Giants, they retained their full strength while gaining agility, becoming far deadlier.

But the giants in the city centre were not of that calibre. These unranked giants, despite their intimidating size and brute power, were slow and vulnerable to being overwhelmed.

That was what was happening before Xaren's eyes.

Dozens of demons swarmed each giant, exploiting their sluggish movements.

Individually, these giants would probably win against the demons, but when dozens attacked simultaneously in such a confined space where the giants were forced to restrain their attacks to avoid harming their allies, they ended up being picked off one by one.

But despite the mounting losses, the giants and elves held their formation, refusing to fall. They put everything into protecting the elven mages at the centre of the circle.

Watching the scene unfold, Kravok gripped his Warhammer tightly and spoke.

"I don't know what kind of strange magic they're casting, but I think we should stop them."

The others nodded in agreement, and Ilya drew her sword silently, ready to act.

However, Xaren was of a different opinion.

"Wait, guys. I think we should let them cast it."

His words drew a chorus of incredulous stares, and Carack questioned him on behalf of the other three.

"What do you mean we should let them cast it? Why would you let your enemy cast their magic?"

Already anticipating this reaction, Xaren quickly explained his reasoning.

"It's because of the type of magic they're trying to cast. They're using summoning magic."

"Shumonning magic?" Kravok tilted his head, still confused.

"No. 'Summoning'." Xaren corrected him with a small sigh, his eyes still fixed on the magic circle.

Curiosity piqued, Carack temporarily withdrew the magic power he planned to use and asked.

"You recognize the magic? What does it do?"

"It allows them to bring reinforcements here instantly. Other elves and giants who are really far away would cross the distance in an instant and come out of that magic circle."

Hearing his explanation, the Demons remembered the spell that the High-Rank Demons had used to transport them into battlefields and they nodded, understanding that it was similar.

"How the hell do you even know it's summoning magic?" Carack asked, his disbelief evident.

Still watching the magic circle the elves were conjuring, Xaren responded.

"Don't look at me like I'm some sort of smartass. I only read it from a book I picked up from an elven mage I killed."