After Jay had called on the elves' situation, the alarms started blaring throughout the camps. And everyone was on guard. As the emergency floodlights were turned on, both Blake and Jay were more visible to each other.
Blake:
Why are you fighting alongside these monsters? Have you forgotten what they have done to us? To you? They tried to kill you multiple times.
Jay:
Why are you fighting with the Gods?
Blake:
Because unlike them, they are fighting for a righteous cause.
Jay:
NO, OH HELL NO. What they want is the destruction of this world. They are welcoming that damned wall to consume everything.
Blake:
My poor friend Jay. Where is McElroy though?
Jay:
He has right now taken a sabbatical. He'll be back.
Blake:
Look Jay, we have already taken huge losses today. If you come with me, we can change the tide of war together.
Do not fall for their lies.
Blake tried to convince Jay to switch sides.
Blake:
Many of your friends are fighting. I have met some of them and what they did the entire day was just search for you two.
They believe in you Jay. They believe that you will lead them to victory as you have in the Tower.
Jay:
My friends?
As they were continuing the conversation, Ray shouted in Jay's direction.
Ray:
If you have so much time to talk, help us.
Jay:
Oh crap. Um, we can continue this later ok.
Jay scooted off and kicked another elf in the liver. So softly that he also lost consciousness. If he had not kept restraint, he might have accidentally broken his bones, torn his skin, and split his body in half. That would have been extremely brutal.
And another one he knocked out by a calm and soft spinal tap on his neck. Jay was attacked by Blake just so he could keep the conversation going, as they talked while Blake executed one deadly attack after another. While Jay just countered it.
Jay:
If I had good friends then, I wouldn't have had to call you during the Tower matches.
Blake:
I know you had no choice. But thanks to you, I was blessed with this named weapon. That channels darkness.
Blake raised the blade high in the air and Jay was enveloped in darkness. Jay couldn't see, but his senses were active. He was able to sense where the attack came from. But there was never a need after one parry. Jay raised his hand above his head and used light magic to eliminate the darkness.
And Blake was revealed. And when he was revealed, Jay smiled like a dreaded being.
Jay:
Your blade of darkness is just useless against my light magic.
Blake:
Then my blade shall devour that light.
Jay:
Then my light shall kill the darkness.
Suddenly from the side there was a gust of wind which blew Blake away. Jay realized that the gust of wind could only mean one thing.
Fay:
I shall fight beside you.
Jay wanted to facepalm that his plan had failed.
Jay:
Do you have any leverage or something? Because you are kind of screwed right now.
Jay had assumed the worst. In these types of situations mostly the opposition has some kind of leverage.
Blake didn't answer anything. And his best strategy was to run.
That's when he got a message from Phoenix.
The message read to capture as many elves as possible.
And take their leader alive.
As well as other posts were also simultaneously attacked.
Blake was stealthy and fast as he used the dark blade to cast darkness upon himself and became invisible in the night. He ran through the woods, jumped from tree to tree, avoided triggering sensors and finally kept a rapid pace.
But Jay could already see greatly in the night due to some perks. Such as night vision and low-light vision. And using light magic heavily illuminated his surroundings such that a black shadow was left behind when he illuminated his surroundings.
Jay:
Got you.
Jay dived into the darkness with his illuminated light and caught him by his clothes and very softly threw him over as he crashed into a couple of trees and broke them. Which ended up with the broken trees falling on Blake. But he survived, unable to move because of the weight.
Jay:
Let's talk more. Since I've got orders to capture you.
Jay called Fay, who was supporting nearby troops, to capture him.
Jay:
Fay tie this man up. Don't let him get away.
Jay had left the responsibility up to Fay. And Fay began to drag him back to the camp. Using wind magic she moved the tree aside. And saw him gravely injured as he was bleeding from the abdomen.
Jay had a slight tendency to apologize but he soon realized his position and the surroundings he was in. Thus he didn't say a single word. Instead he called other sections instead to see if anyone needed backup.
Jay:
Hey Viva, how are things on your end?
Due to Viva's battle style it was very easy to overwhelm opponents who very frugally used mana and didn't have huge mana capacity. Whenever she landed a clear blow she pushed mana into the other person's body, thus pushing mana backward and due to the distorted flow it caused huge damage. But to cover the other flaw of this fighting style she made use of the entire arsenal available at the Foundation. Guns, rocket launchers, flamethrowers, mana bombs.
Her team was patching up the communication grid that had gone down in the southern region thus her area was not much guarded. But instead she was alone enough to overwhelm the elves. As they shifted their attention from killing her to causing as much damage as possible. But things changed once she saw the brand. She remembered the ruined future. Wrath welled up from within and she began ruthlessly killing to the point that she left no survivors. Even the ones who initially survived were then brutally slaughtered. As she uttered a single phrase.
Viva:
This is for a better future. Everything is for humanity.
Turning to other sectors, Roy's fights were over before they even started. He used his lightning magic to quickly overwhelm them. And their squad was wiped out. Phoenix was the same but he used his arrows frugally to prevent major forest fires. As after the fight was over he deployed water mages to put out the fires.
Vania the Queen of Ice froze her opponents to death before they could even touch her. And the King was monitoring the situation and he felt proud that his work was finally coming to fruition as not even a single sector was damaged.
He then received a call from Jay.
Jay:
Master I have captured the leader of the branded elves. Fay is bringing him in right now. He might be able to tell us something useful. Allow her access.
Meanwhile Fay was dragging Blake across the camp. She grabbed his clothes and dragged him with manual labor and saved her mana in order to defend herself if the time came. And the time did come that the assassins tried to take Blake back but before that could happen she used wind magic and struck them back. She summoned a huge tornado around herself. And the grass as well as chunks of soil, some already set up tents as well as the surrounding infrastructure blew up in the tornado as well. Along with the branded elves. And once they were high up in the air she stopped her magic and allowed them to fall on the ground and break their own bodies. And the debris fell on top of them.
Even more of them came for her but till then the camp was already alerted and defended Fay. They formed a defensive wall around Fay as she brought Blake to the King's tent.
With finally no choice they had to retreat. They hurriedly retreated as they fell into various traps which they had avoided before.
Jay:
Medical storage is safe. Package is on the way, please confirm.
Phoenix:
My sector is safe.
Viva:
Communications clear.
Roy:
Mine is untouched.
Vania:
Clear. Also I have many frozen corpses here. Send someone to clean them up.
King:
Good work everyone. Jay we have received the package. Everyone gather at the main tent. It's time for our righteous payback.
And so they gathered at the main tent. Jay as he walked noticed that they did cause some infrastructure damage. Many tents were damaged. Communication lines were broken. For some reason pots and pans as well as plates were scattered around the camp. He had a question. What did they come here for, to steal food? He asked around for the details and then he found out that it was friendly fire by his own team member as she was delivering the package.
Jay:
Goddamit. I should have asked someone else to accompany her.
He proceeded to enter the tent. And he found Blake tied to the chair as if that would do anything. But reassured there were two officers holding a gun beside his head in both directions.
King:
I was monitoring once the alarm went off. And I noticed a peculiar detail. Jay please catch others up.
Jay knew that this situation would definitely occur. He sighed and responded.
Jay:
Only those who have read my entire file remain here.
This condition excluded Fay and Vania who were also present there. And sadly they had to leave.
Jay:
Viva, please do the honors.
Viva somehow knew that it was going to come upon her shoulders.
Viva:
Sometimes I think, how did I tolerate beings like you.
Viva:
Both me and Jay as well as McElroy were once affiliated with the branded elves.
With her reveal, Roy and Phoenix were caught by surprise as well as the King who was distracted thinking about his payback strategy.
Viva:
This happened when we were attacked in Ramiere by the Foundation a few days before Roy rescued me and brought me to the Foundation.
Viva:
It seems that McElroy was friends with Blake, the leader of the Branded. As they met in Chroma. Their main base is the Spirit Forest, which is ever moving. Thus allowing us to hide from the Foundation as well as travel long distances in the north.
The King was angry that he didn't know this detail beforehand as both Viva and Jay failed to tell him. But he remained silent and rational as he grabbed Blake's chair.
As with a deep breath he asked Jay with his fierce eyes.
King:
Is there anything else you want to say?
Jay spilled the fact that he also summoned him during the Tower incident which is why he got his blade of darkness.
The King could understand about Jay not being in his faction before. But he was much more angry at Viva for forgetting such a significant detail.
King:
I want to hear the rat from him.