Arpious of the Planes

(Akito POV)

It's quiet. Very quiet. I could feel the tension in the air

I rode on top of my wave of blood by using [Blood Manipulation]. I was able to build up this blood wave by killing a few monsters on the way here. Just one swipe with my spear was enough to slash them in half, even without using my attack-related skills.

Mother Nature or her highness's newest wife, Treyni, was standing right next to me. Her usual cheery and bright smile was completely gone, and she had only a stern face while slowly summoning some new monsters that I hadn't seen before. Treyni introduced their races to me, which helped out since I still don't have [Inspect].

She first summoned Elite Dryads toward the back of my army. Then she used elite Trent's to fill the front lines as a form of defense. Finally, Hydra Chompers took the form of plants that you would normally see, but with massive razor-sharp teeth. These deadly abominations could walk as well, but they were used as cannon fodder in the front.

A few hours had passed, and the morale of the army was slightly dipping. Any longer, and we'll basically have corpses charging at the lowly humans. Even if we are stronger, they'll immediately get wiped out if they aren't mentally prepared.

"This is bad," Treyni mutters, also realizing the situation with the troops.

Slosh Slosh Slosh

Suddenly in the distance, there was the slight sound of legs wading through shallow water. My soldiers narrowed their eyes in the direction of the sloshing.

They slowly grew louder and louder.

A few hundred soldiers appeared through the misty red fog that coated the [Blood Swamp] through the spaces between the trees. A few minutes passed, and the few hundred soldiers then turned into thousands of soldiers.

I swallowed a gulp of saliva after seeing the thousands of soldiers turning into tens of thousands.

The army was about to reach the designated point that her highness had predicted, so we all silently readied our weapons.

'Stand down for now… we need them to get just a bit closer… Hehehe, they are already struggling from the harsh environment of the swamp,' I hear her highness's voice say as it rang through my mind.

Narrowing my eyes at the soldiers, I realized the soldiers were indeed struggling. The putrid smell of rotting flesh and blood was making most of the soldier's gag. The ones who had weak stomachs were emptying their bowel contents right into the blood-red water below.

We were about 15 meters away from the [Blood Swamp]'s edge, so we weren't affected by the putrid smell. But, later on, we will have to enter that environment slightly when we go ahead with the pincer attack.

I have already experienced the smell multiple times and so have some of the soldiers. This was another advantage we have over the fragile humans in front of us… I could… crush them with one hand.

I didn't even need [Inspect] to tell how weak they were… but suddenly, 6 figures appeared on an unknown monster that made me almost release my bloodlust.

They were strong.

I could instantly see why her highness deemed these humans as a threat. Their presence on the battlefield was amazing, and they weren't affected in the slightest by the Blood Swamps natural debuffs.

"Oh… this is going to be interesting," Mother Nature mutters to herself once again.

Four of the six figures were relatively easy to defeat, in my opinion. And then there was a cocky human with his mud-brown hair tied into a ponytail. He carried his ridged spear with no grace or care as it leaned against his shoulder.

Then there was a human with long blond hair and a serious aura. His presence was the largest of all the threats, and I could only assume this was the Light Hero. The description that her highness provided us with matches the guy exactly.

Also… I might not be able to beat him…

"But that's only if I hold back," I say with a smile slowly forming on my face.

"Calm down and wait for Arpious's orders," Treyni says, snapping me out of my blatant excitement.

"My bad,"

"It's alright-"

Mother Nature was cut off by her highness's voice which once again rang through our minds.

'Pincer attacks stay on standby. Assassin corps, bring out the tanks in 5… 4… 3… 2… wait… wait… NOW!'

In the distance, I see the human army being slightly pushed back. The tail and midsection of the human army were confused as to what was happening while the heroes all narrowed their eyes.

Scanning towards the front of the human army, I saw the tanks holding a basic defensive position that the humans tried to push through. The tank-based army that Richard was leading had massive soldiers that overwhelmed the humans easily… but of course, they adapted to the scenario.

The heroes gave out a few orders for the soldiers to split up and charge from the sides. The midsection of the human army burst out towards the side and started to overwhelm the tanking army.

'Pincer attacks, charge towards them now,' I hear a different voice say this time.

It was Mia, and she seemed fully recharged compared to her usual constantly tired form. Apparently, her highness has been helping her out with her work… which I don't approve of since the queen shouldn't be doing somebody else's work, but I can't go against her highness's decision.

"HEADS UP, EVERYBODY! CHARGE TOWARDS THE ENEMY AND KILL! KILL! KILL! KILL! NO MERCY WHATSOEVER! THE QUEEN HAS OUR BACK, SO DON'T FEAR DEATH AS SHE IS DEATH ITSELF! IF YOU DIE IN THIS WAR, KNOW THAT YOU WILL LIVE ON FOREVER AS A WARRIOR WHO SACRIFICED THEIR LIFE FOR THE KINGDOM! NOW CHARGE!" I shout at the top of my lungs, drawing some attention from the heroes and human army.

Through my body and the anxiety-filled soldiers, adrenaline pumped through us. We turned into bloodthirsty warriors as we all pumped our weapons in the air.

A blood-red aura wrapped around us.

The soldiers who had participated in the previous wars already knew what this was… her highness's very own buff. It is an honor to receive this buff which increases your overall power by at least 3 times…

A wide smile appeared on my face as we charged towards the puny humans. I raised my spear, and using [Slash], I wiped out dozens of humans in an instant. Blood splattered across my soldiers and myself.

I licked the blood and almost teared up from how sweet and delicious it was… I wanted more… this wasn't enough… I needed more…

The sweet human blood soon intoxicated me. There were only 2 words that filled my mind…

KILL KILL KILL KILL BLOOD KILL KILL KILL KILL BLOOD KILL KILL KILL KILL KILL KILL KILL KILL KILL KILL KILL BLOOD KILL KILL KILL KILL KILL KILL KILL KILL KILL… BLOOD BLOOD BLOOD BLOOD, MORE BLOOD, NEED MORE BLOOD, DELICIOUS BLOOD…

"IT'S SO GOOD! AHAHAHAHA!" I laugh sadistically.

'Akito, snap out of it. You are a commander, so lead your soldiers, you can do whatever you want with the blood after,' I heard a familiar voice speak within my brain.

It was faint, and I decided to brush it off as I used [Bloodlust Cape] and [Body Enhancement]. A wave of red air formed around my back, condensing into a long cape made entirely from blood.

I could feel my muscles flex, allowing my swings and strikes to kill more humans cleanly.

'AKITO! SNAP THE FUCK OUT OF IT!' I hear someone say something within my mind once again.

This time, I clearly heard it. It was the voice of her highness, and I just ignored it.

How could I do that? Am I an idiot?

I paused in the middle of the battlefield while taking a gander at the view around me. Human corpses already littered half of the [Blood Swamp], and our side, the [Forest of Poison], had very few casualties. Mixed in with the human corpses were the bodies of my soldiers.

My blood started to boil, and I seethed in anger.

"KILL ALL THESE PUNY HUMANS NOW!" I shout.

"ORAAAAAAAAA!" My army shouts back, pumping them with another dose of adrenaline.

A thick cloud of blood mist had formed over the battlefield, and it greatly hindered our sight. The humans took advantage of this to surprise attack them from the inside and slowly overwhelm my soldiers.

[Gust]

With another swipe of my blood-red spear, a burst of air cleared the bloody air of all mist. I could once again see the faces of the humans, and all I saw was…

"Fear… hehehe… disparity… ah, this is fun," I say, using [Gust] a few more times to clear the once again thickening blood mist.

"Akito, calm down, don't use up all your mana and stamina right now," Mother Nature says, patting my shoulder.

I didn't even realize I had entered another trance after seeing the fearful humans despairing in front of my eyes.

"Thanks a lot... phew, let's do this…." I say after letting out blood-red mist from my mouth.