Chapter 62: Chapter 62: Fighting against the odds
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General Kan actually recognized the fighter jets in the sky, he didn't know what they were exactly, but when they first attacked the city, two of those attacked them, and did some damage to their army.
Thankfully, when they came back, they were prepared, and their magicians had worked together to form a giant magical shield above their army, rendering those weapons useless.
The magicians didn't need an order to start weaving the magical shield, but Edward wasn't just going to let them.
His eyes hardened as the rage that had been bubbling inside him was finally let loose, and the world around him lost it's colours as the Kronans felt something press onto their minds. They tried fighting it, but they couldn't do anything as they fell almost in unison.
It was definitely quite the sight to see tens of thousands of three meters tall aliens fall at the same time, but this spectacle only lasted for a second as the fighter jets arrived.
Hell fell onto the unconscious legion of Kronans, decimating many of their members. Those in the back, who were too far for Edward's Royal Will to knock them out, watched under the magical shield as roughly half of their army was shred into tiny pebbles by the fighter jets.
Kronans were tough, but those jets threw everything they could throw at once. Only the back and the front of the army was spared, but those in the front didn't have the opportunity to rejoice, as they were unconscious, and some revenge was due.
Edward immediately passed by the nailed humans, they were still alive, unconscious, but they were not in much danger anymore, so he went for the few Kronans still barely standing.
General Kan growled at the approaching Edward, and used his mace as support to get up, while the mage behind him used his staff.
But as they expected Edward to attack them in close combat, he stopped not far from them, and crossed his arms. They looked at him weirdly, but as they were about to attack, they were suddenly attacked themselves.
Before they could comprehend what was happening, invisible claws attacked all over their body, and they barely had the time to cry in horror as they were shredded to pieces. Actually, not only them, but every Kronan in a ten meter radius was shred apart.
This was a result of one of the spells Edward learned since his encounter with the X-Men, the Demons of Denak. The spell summoned invisible claws, and it was the deadliest spell Edward had learned to this day.
Edward then rushed to the nailed people, and alongside a group of soldiers who appeared from the shadows, they quickly dragged they away before the soldiers in hiding nearby bombarded the remaining unconscious Kronans.
It was an absolute slaughter as the Kronans did not even know how they died in their sleep. Even if a few warrior Kronans waked up thanks to their will forged in battle, the magicians who protected them from the big weapons had lived pampered lives and couldn't wake up in time to protect them.
Cheers rung out from the 2000 human soldiers accompanying Edward to this battle, they never thought they would have wiped out half of that alien army so easily.
Among them, General Foss was smiling as he could already see victory. The aliens didn't know how many they were, and with how they annihilated half of their army, it would only be logical for any army to surrender.
Unfortunately, the circumstances were different. With no leader left to command them, the Kronans did not fall apart, but instead pressed on. It wasn't because they guessed the humans were far less than they looked like they were or because they knew the fighter jets wouldn't harm them, but simply because they had nowhere else to go.
Once again, they did not know the word mercy, and that applied to them too. On their home world, surrender did not exist, one fought to their death, as no prisoners would ever be made. You either win or die.
So as they saw the 50 000 remaining Kronans picking up the speed, intent on charging them, the soldier's cheers quieted down.
Edward expected that to happen though, so he raised both his arms to the side.
Hiding behind, General Foss saw the gesture with his binoculars, and ordered, "Light it up."
A few seconds later, two walls of fire appeared on the field, on the Kronan army's side, meaning they could only go back or forward now.
One might think Kronans wouldn't be scared of fire because their skin looked like rocks, but Saturn was much farther from the sun than Earth, and so they evolved on a cold planet for millions of years.
As such, heat was very uncomfortable for them. There was a reason they attacked Norway.
When Edward proposed to empty all their vehicles of their fuel and use it like this, General Foss and the others had obviously been outraged, and it took some convincing to have them follow his plan.
But as they saw the Kronans run away from the walls of fire and thin their front, they knew the strategy had worked. Now, they didn't have to worry about the Kronans going around them and attacking the camp while they were away.
Still, just to be safe, General Foss kept 3000 men at the camp, it didn't make much of a difference to have 2000 or 5000 men against 100 000 enemies after all…
Despite all their plans working out just fine, Edward and the soldiers weren't out of trouble just yet. The trouble known as the 50 000 Kronans Army.
The soldiers on Edward's sides fired at the incoming army, but the shield was still up, so their bullets only slammed against the barriers and burst into pieces with the impact.
Edward raised his fist, and although he was not their commander nor did they discuss of this beforehand, all the soldiers stopped shooting at the same time.
Edward lowered his arm, and after taking a deep breath, ran toward the incoming army.
Swift on his feet, Edward reached the Kronan army more than two hundred meters from the soldiers, and first met their barrier. With a single swing of his sword, the shield was sundered apart, and Edward met with the Kronans.
They were imposing on their own, and their numbers made that impression even stronger. However, he did not falter, for he was not fighting only for himself, but for something much bigger. He had no doubt the Kronans would be eventually stopped, the destruction they could cause before that was not something Edward would let happen.
The Ebony Sword seemed to sing as it swiped through the rocky bodies of the Kronans. Despite seeing no blood, it seemed happy to simply take the lives of those Kronans.
The Kronans were strong, but Edward was stronger. But he was also only one man. The soldiers behind him couldn't shoot without fearing of hitting him, and engaging the Kronans in close combat was suicide for them.
Moreover, they had another job, and it was to make sure all the Kronans surrounded Edward, fighting him and only him. It was Edward's own strategy.
He wasn't doing this for glory, he didn't want to die, but that was the best way to stall for the greatest asset right now, time.
The fight intensified, and as time passed, the Kronans tried to ignore the fierce human warrior, but every time they did so the other humans would block them. If they had their magicians available it would be fine, but everytime the warriors ignored Edward he would go for the mages.
And because of the fire surrounding them, they couldn't pass by him.
Edward had a great stamina, and could even be considered to have infinite energy by the average human, but as he fought against the Kronans for an extended period of time, the effects of fatigue started showing.
He was getting slower, weaker and less sharp as the minutes passed. Still, he held on, his Chi revolved madly around his body as he smashed and sliced the incoming Kronans, blocking them from advancing.
He had no idea how many Kronans he killed in the past two hours of constant fighting, but it had to be in the thousands. Unfortunately, it wasn't much when compared to the size of the Kronan army, and they too understood that.
As he grew weaker, Edward also was hit a few times, and the Armor of the Ancients had it's limits. Most of his body was bruised already, and he was bleeding from many places. The Armor of the Ancients hid his injuries, but the Kronans could easily see that he was getting weaker and weaker.
Eventually, they even stopped trying to bypass him, and simply tried to swarm him, just for the fun of it. The Kronans were getting decimated, but it took an even bigger toll on Edward.
Finally, three hours into the battle, Edward had reached his limit. One of the magicians threw a spell at him, and although Edward felt it coming, he couldn't muster the strength to dodge as he was sent flying out of the encirclement.
The spell was actually well thrown, just at the right angle for Edward to be thrown out of the mass of Kronans and land on the ground between them and the hiding humans.
This wasn't done out of pity or by a helping hand though, but to humiliate the humans. To show them that event their strongest Champion couldn't survive against them. And more importantly, because they wouldn't see his death if he was in their mass of warriors.
They didn't care about losing time, they didn't know the true strength of humanity, they thought they had been fighting against the strongest he could throw. After all, that's how wars between their tribes went on…
As for Edward himself, as he slammed against the ground, he tried to get up, but felt his body was unresponsive. He had long run out of Spiritual Energy, and his Chi was also dried up. His body tried absorbing more, but it had overworked itself.
His bones were broken in many places, his muscles turn apart, his mind tired like never before. Never had been so weak, not even when he withstood Thor's lightning.
Even his organs were starting to fail him, his breaths became shorter and shorter, while his heartbeat got slower and slower. He was on the verge of death, and the Kronans were coming to take their trophy.
Edward looked out, in hope of reinforcement coming, heroes always liked to arrive at the last possible moment in stories, stealing the limelight and saving everyone…
But as the Kronan entered Edward's Chi Sense, no one appeared. He was alone. He wasn't angry though, he wasn't angry no one came, he wasn't angry he wasn't strong enough. He didn't want to die, but in the end it was his own choice to be here.
His eyes moved to the incoming Kronan, whose blade was already ready to chop his head off. He wanted to fight, he didn't want to die, but he was feeling so, so tired.
His lungs stopped, and was quickly followed by his heart. His Chi came to a standstill, and his spirit started drifting away. As his eyes blurred, he could see a familiar figure, standing in the air, above the Kronan.
She was smiling at him fondly, it was a welcoming smile.
"There's no need to be afraid, all you have to do is to close your eyes, and you will join me."
Edward's eyelids grew heavier and heavier, and his body stopped working.
But as his spirit was about to leave his body, a ripple went through it. Death, whose hand was only a few centimeters from his body, stopped. Another ripple.
Followed by another, accompanied by a distant sound.
Boom.
Boom.
Boom.
Only Death could hear the sound, only she could hear the slamming sound coming from deep within Edward's soul.
Boom.
Boom.
Boom.
CRASH!
A much louder sound came to be as something changed. Edward's spirit returned to his body, his heart restarted, pumping blood all across his body. His lungs opened and spread the air into his blood. His Chi flowed gathered to the end of his spine, and there, a gateway stood. And it's closed gate, was broken open.
Edward opened his eyes.
Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone