Infinite Paths: The Raging Phoenix

The shields and armor that Lotto forged had a prominent blue hue with a vivid and striking appearance. They were emblazoned with an emblem that depicted an unknown blue bird with its wings outstretched, a symbol that represented the nascent organization's ideals.

The choice of such an emblem was a bold and ambitious move, especially considering that the group had only just taken its initial steps. It was evident that Rain wasn't the sole individual with high expectations for the organization; the emblem symbolized the soaring aspirations of the group's members.

After equipping the armor and shields, the soldiers saluted and then left the area. Each group was going to watch an area of thirty kilometers each… the space between the mountains and both oceans was that big, after all.

During those two weeks, nothing major happened… Seara didn't show up either, but Rain could tell that she was nearby watching and waiting for things to happen with the sea generals… now that he thought about it… wouldn't they try to do everything in their power to stop the alliance since they hated him? Rain wondered if their loyalty toward the sea emperor was stronger than their hatred toward him.

In any case, while Rain was thinking about that and planning to send the next group to watch the areas beyond the fissures, he suddenly saw one of his wagon golems returning… it was a sign that the beast people showed up.

"The north, huh?" Rain rubbed his chin thoughtfully.

"Wait, Rain," Roan said while grabbing his son's shoulder and then pointed in the opposite direction where they could see another golem approaching.

"... A pincer attack, huh?" Rain muttered. "How smart of them."

"We will have to split our forces. How will it be done?" Jori asked

"They probably will use large forces on both sides, so this will be an all-out war," Rain rubbed his chin thoughtfully. "You guys will take everyone else and four hundred more soldiers to the north, and I will go with the remaining ones to the opposite direction. Take as many supplies with you all as possible, and this might take a while."

Rain didn't like that situation, even though he was expecting that such a thing could happen. While everyone was preparing to leave, Rain wondered what he should do about his kids… Terra will leave with the others, and while his grandparents will be there with Reca, he is a bit nervous about leaving them and not seeing their parents for a while.

"No… it won't be for very long," Rain thought. "I will crush those guys on a single day."

Considering the direction in which the golems came from, Rain calculated that they had some time… the golems traveled for a day, but the beast people would need two days to reach the nearest villages and farms. They kept their distance from the sea to avoid the crops from being damaged, after all. That was the reason why they had some time.

While Rain wanted to fly as fast as possible, he just jogged in the direction they were supposed to go with the captains and the recruits that were coming with him. Even in that situation, he had to build their teamwork, after all.

The group marched through one day and one night nonstop, Rain gave them the order to drink water and eat if they had to while moving. Rain didn't stop to do either and just kept going and showing his underlings his willpower.

At noon of the next day, the group finally could see some smoke in the distance… it seemed that they had arrived a bit late.

"It is the final push, men!" Rain shouted. "Show me your guts!"

Your next journey awaits at empire

Rain used Impulse and quickly disappeared… everyone was wondering how he still had energy to move like that, but at least that motivated them to charge with all their might.

In that situation, Rain couldn't risk letting the villagers die in order to build his teamwork with others. That would be very backwards, so he soon reached the village… just in time to see everyone evacuating and the fifty soldiers that he had sent in that direction holding back the beast people with something akin to a phalanx formation.

They had swords with them, but they were focusing on blocking the enemies and defending only.

"I guess I trained them all too well…" Rain thought when he saw that.

Rain couldn't complain even though he told them not to fight, but they were defending only to give the villagers the chance to retreat… still, the soldiers had the chance to breathe when Rain suddenly approached while using everything.

Impulse, Limit Breaker, and Magic Boost… in the next moment, no one saw what had happened, but everyone saw dozens of enemies in the air and then they saw Rain in their previous position with his palms pointed at them.

"A job well done," Rain said while clicking his fingers. "Now, let's wipe them all out."

Around five hundred of the beast people had attacked that village… and a group ten times larger than that was several kilometers behind them just watching… but when they noticed Rain's presence, they began to retreat immediately.

"She isn't here… is she in the other group?" Rain furrowed his eyebrows.

That sudden retreat was suspicious… Rain could only imagine that they did that in order to split their forces and focus on attacking the side that Rain wasn't in. Still, that was fine with him, because they never saw that his sisters were the ones who used the last two large scale spells.

The only problem was the possibility of the beast queen being in the other group… and if she was as strong as the previous beast queen… she could be a problem to the others.

Still, that was a problem for later. Rain and his soldiers began to run while they shouted toward the enemies… It was weird to see such a smaller force chasing a force that was more than ten times their size…