I Can Copy And Evolve Talents

Chapter 1357: Arrows of Light

The dark sky screamed with cacophony as thousands of lights fell to the ground like a holy, devastating rain. The heavens had finally decided to unleash their punishment upon the world beneath.

The light stabbed through scorched men and the soldiers who dared to stand against it alike. Raised shields did nothing. The light penetrated metal with a force that made physical strength meaningless, punching through steel and flesh and into the earth below. Each arrow struck as though some colossal thing beyond the clouds had wielded it with ferocious might and hauled it across vast distance, from somewhere none of them could see. Soldiers crumpled where they stood, some dead before they hit the ground, others screaming as light seared through limbs and torsos. It was with that fearsome force that each arrow of light bombarded the soldiers of the Empire below.

”Hold your stance! Spread, use your abilities! Defenders, take the front, I need a shield raised over here, damnit!”

A dark-grey haired man’s voice cut across the line of soldiers. He galloped through their ranks on his hell horse, the beast’s hooves crushing scorched grass and splashing through mud that had turned red. He swung a greatsword that looked like a gigantic spade above his head. The blade shattered the light arrows as it crashed against them, sparks of essence scattering with each impact.

He rode through the chaos to save what soldiers he could from the punishing downpour, but there was little he could do. For every man he shielded, three more fell beyond his reach. At some point he gritted his teeth and reined in his horse, the beast snorting and stamping beneath him, agitated by the carnage. He looked up.

’How could this be?’

Disbelief flickered across his face, mixed with something he refused to call fear. The tide of this battle had turned so easily with just the arrival of two people.

’Captain said they were powerless without their aerial forces, and their aerial forces won’t make it in time. The intel had been correct. There’s nothing about a man that shoots arrows of light... and a woman that uses a spear...’

He turned toward the south of the battlefield.

Between him and the southernmost point stood massive numbers of soldiers, some dead in the middle but many more still holding the line strong. The problem was the woman there, devastating the ranks with brutal efficiency, her spear carving through armor like parchment. Her beast supported her with breaths of shockwaves that scattered formations and sent soldiers tumbling like broken dolls.

These were people that no one had said anything about.

’Could Lord Pyrrhus have led us into a trap for his gain?’

Lord Pyrrhus was an ambitious man, tactical to the point of ruthlessness. But that was not the issue. This should have been something the Empire could handle.

The fact that they were stuck was what bothered him. He glanced between the man flying across the sky and raining down arrows and the woman dealing devastating blows to the front lines.

’How long can they manage...’

The Empire had numbers to spare. It was a cruel thing to think but it was the truth. Ten thousand soldiers stood ready here, and there were backups. Bodies could be replaced. Time could not.

The two of them were dealing heavy damage. Many were being swiftly taken out. But there were still many more soldiers standing, their numbers so surplus that they covered those who fell and made it seem like they weren’t reducing.

The rain of arrows was more devastating in that regard, taking them out too quickly, but Jerimoth wondered how long the man’s essence could carry him. No one could sustain this forever. The question was whether the gate would fall first.

He didn’t have to find out. His captain would kill him if he let this drag on.

Regardless of the fact that these two were fighting a losing war without knowing it, he still needed to act. The archers had to continue breaking down the gate from this distance, delivering the little nation the worst humiliation of their lives.

They didn’t just want to defeat Ryugan. They wanted to defeat them in the most pathetic manner possible.

They would tear down the gate and pull back while another force pushed forward and took the Kingdom. If the aerial fleet proved more troublesome than expected, they would simply involve the Empire’s own Skyswords, the Eighth Legion.

Jerimoth scanned the plain and urged his horse forward. The beast responded instantly, muscles bunching as it surged into motion, shoving falling soldiers aside with its sheer mass. Jerimoth swung his sword at every arrow heading toward him, shattering them easily, the impacts jarring up his arm.

He found it. A point on the plain where rock jutted slightly higher than the rest. High enough.

”Hyaa!”

Commanding the hell horse, he galloped toward the rock. As he neared it he released the reins and rose, boots finding purchase on the saddle, then stepping onto the horse’s back without breaking stride. The beast held steady beneath him, trained for exactly this. When the horse closed the distance, he launched himself off it, flying over soldiers and landing on the stone with a heavy thud.

As he landed, he locked his gaze with the man shooting arrows from the sky and drew his sword back. The weapon was massive, unwieldy for most men, but in his hands it moved like an extension of his will. Essence poured into the blade, cold and sharp, activating one of his talent abilities. The greatsword hummed with gathered power.

Then he hurled it forward.

The massive greatsword rolled across the sky with brutal speed, spinning straight toward Sael.

Sael had drew the Tideturner’s string, activating his ability, Luna Aria. Hundreds of arrows of light manifested above him, humming with gathered essence, when his peripheral vision caught the greatsword spinning toward him.

He shifted aim instantly, directing a single concentrated spear of light toward the approaching blade.

He never fired it.

A lance of pure radiance spun across his vision and intercepted the sword first, knocking it completely off course. A second later, Judgment dove through the air on her flying echo to catch her spear, already shouting.

”Focus on your meal! This one’s mine!”

Sael winced.

’Since when are humans meal?’

He didn’t voice the objection. There were ten thousand soldiers below, and his arrows weren’t going to fire themselves.