Tzu watched as Gerald jumped off the edges of the rampart.
He'd seen the man jump of the walls before and even going as far to walk on them like it was solid ground.
But no matter how many times he saw it. It never got old.
Falling off the edge, Gerald's snowy white hair was pushed back by the wind in a controlled drop, as his large broadsword trailed behind him like it was weightless.
The man suddenly reeled back his body the moment the monsters were close enough as his boots hit the walls with a quiet thud.
The frame shifted perpendicularly, as Gerald stood on the vertical walls like it was horizontal ground.
Wisps of cold mist puffed from where his foot touched stone, causing ice to spread along the edges of his boots, anchoring him to the walls to defy gravity.
Tzu grinned at the sight.
"Show-off," he exclaimed.
Gerald pulled the broadsword that trailed behind over his shoulder before placing it in front his body.
The cold silver steel of the sword carved a single, shallow line across stone about fifty centimetres from where he stood.
The scraping sounds of the broadsword easily overwhelmed the growls of the monsters that were already clinging to the walls with claws and sharp tails, as they marched upwards.
Gerald moved forward with blade in hand as his foot stopped exactly where the line he draw was.
He glanced straight ahead to the hundreds of charging monsters and simply stomped his left foot on the start of the line.
Swoosh
Ice erupted from the point of impact as a thin, glassy sheet of ice spread out across the wall faster than Tzu's eyes could follow.
It moved like an expanding pool of water, coating stone and flesh in the blink of an eye.
The shadows and wolves like monsters climbing towards the top of the wall were all frozen in place.
Their mouths, claws, and legs went rigid in a flash but their tails lashed out simultaneously towards Gerald.
A considerable number of this serpent like tails extended like arrows towards the motionless Gerald.
But the attempt was futile, as the ice climbed faster across their torsos, all the way through the length of their extending tails.
In a matter of a second or two. All the tails turned rigid in mid air. Frozen in place with the closest tail stopping a few centimetres in front his face but exactly at the edge of the line, Gerald drew earlier.
The wall became like an exhibit of hundreds of creatures as Tzu shook his head at the sight.
He stared at the back of the man as it chorused in his mind even as Gerald spoke with a misty, cold breath.
"Ice Field."
Tzu had heard him say those exact words a few dozen times and they even left some scars on him back when they were in the academy together.
But till this day, the sheer range of the skill still gave him chills.
Gerald tilted his head to the side slightly, he moved away, from the serpentine tail that was blocking his view. As he lifted his right leg this time and stomped it on the starting point of Ice field skill.
"Frost Forest," He muttered calmly under his misty breath.
All of the ice shattered at once.
The frozen wolves and shadowy like creatures shattered into sharp shards that fell down from the wall like a deadly rain heading directly for the horde still on the ground.
As the shards traveled down, they suddenly began reforming as if the air was a catalyst, as they turned into spikes.
Tzu watched as the first spike hit the ground, missing the monsters that moved out of the way.
But the spike didn't stop, instead it grew into massive pillars of bluish-white spikes, that erupted from the ground, tearing through several of the creatures.
Blood sprayed, as the spikes branched out to cover a ten-foot radius and impaling everything within range.
Another spike landed and another forest of spikes was formed.
Then another.
And another.
The ground in the blink of an eye became a frozen wasteland. Creatures screamed as they were impaled and torn apart by pillars of blue and white painted by the red of their blood.
The organized horde began to scatter and reposition, but it was hopeless as the spikes kept falling and the frozen forest just kept expanding.
Tzu's body shivered as his ears flicked slightly. He wasn't Gerald's enemy but it didn't make what he saw, any less scary.
"This is what you get from a Legendary-ranked summoner, boys!" He muttered to the archers that were beside him.
None of the responded. They just stared with blank expressions.
'That sounds about right,' Tzu thought as his mane spiked up.
Gerald wasn't done. Far from it actually, as his eyes shifted to the monster at the stump.
Tzu had noticed it was well. Even in the carnage and chaos it didn't move. It remained crouched and watching with an expression that looked unbothered since the forest didn't get to its vicinity.
'That thing, it's–' Tzu thought.
Before he could could finish his thought process, his ears wiggled as Gerald spoke.
"You're quite the confident one."
Tzu immediately picked the edge in the commander's voice. That was his, "I am about to make an example of you" tone.
The commander's grip tightened on the hilt of his broadsword as he lifted it.
The sword should have been too heavy for someone his size or any size at all to wield, especially one handed.
But what should have been. Wasn't.
Suddenly a thin, glowing sliver of blue light slithered out from within Gerald's black armor, across his chest, and into the edges of the blade, making it glow.
Tzu leaned forward, his clawed hand gripping on the edge of the rampart.
'Here it comes'
Gerald stretched the sword forward with his left hand and swung hard.
What followed, was a massive vertical arc of starlight-blue energy that tore through the air with a single path aimed directly at the stump.
Boom
The impact was quick, as an explosion of ice and staralight rocked the stump. The ground cracked open as the area froze up instantly.
But when the screen of frost and light cleared. The creature was still there, in an upright position, with a darkened expression.
A green spherical forcefield covered about four feet of its surrounding, humming with restrained energy.
From where he stood, Tzu could see the cracks on the barrier. They were thin but they were there.
Gerald smirked.
The blue light at the edge of his sword retreated as it slithered up his body before turning to a snake.
The creature was small and beautiful. With scales that looked like crystals, polished with starlights.
That was Gerald's familiar. She was a Starlight Ice serpent.
"Aurora," a name that still haunted him since their teenage years at the academy.
The snake coiled and rested around Gerald's shoulders, as its head face him from the side before flicking its tongue.
"We go again?"
The snake hissed before it slithered down his hand and into the blade. Resting on the broadsword, the edges glowed brighter.
Bringing the sword across his chest. Gerald footing widened as he smirked while staring at the creature at the stump.
The creature raised its hand forward and the green barrier began pulsing as it cracks repaired itself even as its wings fluttered violently.
Then Tzu heard it.
Who was he kidding. Everyone heard it.
A melodious voice.
Then a chant.
His grin stretched as his hand on the edge of the wall cracked it.
"Finally."
<><><>
"From the crimson depths that scorches the unknown,"
The sky turned red. Tzu's wolf ears straightened up, as the archers dropped their bows and everyone looked up.
"...By the wings that carries ash and blood.."
A massive, red, magic circle appeared above the battlefield. Spinning slowly with arcane symbols.
Even as Leona hovered in the air with both her gray swords pointing downwards. Her eyes glowed as her hair in small bangs whipped against her face.
"--I summon the dread that ends all life,"
Her pitch increased.
"Grace us, oh crimson dragon of devastation. Rhaeys."
The circle exploded with light.
And a beam of concentrated red energy erupted downward.
This was fire compressed into a single wave of irresistible destruction.
And it zoomed downwards faster than eyes could follow, as it swallowed the creature at the stump, who raised both its hands, expanding the green barrier.
But the barrier wasn't enough. It didn't even come close. It was torn through completely.
The blast obliterated the stump and the creature, carving a scorching scar on the ground as the shockwave shattered the frost forest before slamming on the walls as Tzu and the archers braced for impact.
The moment of silence that lingered shattered as Rhaeys emerged.
The Crimson Dragon burst from the magic circle even as its wings spread out majestically, it roared, as the walls shook from its mere presence.
Immediately after it emerged, Rhaeys dove down towards the horde as a sea of flames emerged from its open mouth.
This wave of fire razed every creature in its part while it formed a wall that divided the horde.
On one side, the creatures screamed as they turned to ash and on the other side, they scrambled back, running for their lives.
This was exactly why sovereign and above familiars were highly prohibited within the walls. Their capabilities were simply outrageous.
Leona landed on Rhaeys's back as the dragon moved forward burning through the retreating horde.
Gerald stood on the wall with sword still raised as he looked up to the soaring Leona.
Tzu let out a breath.
"Leona owes you nothing, Gerald," he muttered.
Then laughed.