Unlike the leaders, who had yet to activate their other forms, a large number of the regular troops had quickly switched to their Meta Form as soon as the battle had really started. It was the only way most of them were able to injure the Uthid since the average soldier only had an effective magik level high enough to break through the armor and tough exoskeleton while in that form. Even in Meta Form though, many of the troops were still killed. For every two Uthid that died at the hands of regular infantry, three soldiers would lose their lives. Slowly but surely, humanity was losing the war of attrition against the Apleem. Nevertheless, the army pressed on bravely and continued to fight with all their strength.
Seeing the situation deteriorating, Emory flew up in the air to get a better view of the entire battlefield. As she did, she began surrounding herself with thousands of orbs, each the size of a basketball. Once she was high enough in the air, she waved her hand and released the barrage of attacks down on the Apleem. It looked like a giant meteor had split above their heads, and the remnants of it were raining down on the field. Explosions rang out through the air followed by concussive waves that separated sections of the incoming army from joining the fray. It also caught many of those in the frontlines off balance which activated renewed vigor in the humans to drive the enemy back. With this one action, Emory had turned the battle slightly in favor of the humans; that was until she looked into the distance and saw another large force of enemies gathered a couple miles away from the main battlefield.
The army itself didn't worry Emory any more than the mass surrounding them; it was the two figures in black and gold armor at the back. They were the two she had seen in her vision: Jahn and Murdock. However, what really concerned her was Shanna's vision which saw Emory fighting a Laxtros, and she saw no Laxtros on the field. This meant one of two situations. Either the Laxtros in question was still on the ship, or the Laxtros was leading the army on Vostea instead. With the situation as tenuous as it was, there was no way she could leave Temia without risking a complete loss.
Considering the stressful situation caused Emory to return to the ground and fight more fiercely than before. Her magik grew wild and outstretched far beyond her normal range, causing the rest of the human army to back away from her slightly. She continued plowing into the enemy army, taking out one after another. Because of her magik running wild, her attacks would have areas of impact instead of singular targets. This meant that with every blow, she was taking out multiple enemies. At first, this only helped those in her section by reducing the number of enemies they would have to fight, but as she continued, a gap in the enemy line started to open up. Then her group started to force the gap to open wider by surging forward with a fresh round of soldiers.
As the Apleem were forced to the sides of Emory's section, pressure increased on Shepherd and Tethys's groups. Tethys began setting up barriers to funnel the enemies into a woodchipper situation where they were caught between Emory's vicious force and an impenetrable wall of magik. Once they were trapped, Tethys's team quickly picked off those that were squished by the opposing forces. Tethys herself stopped fighting in close combat and switched to midrange attacks. Since her gauntlets rendered her attacks as invisible, the enemy couldn't even see the strikes that were picking them off. This only added to the chaos as her group began to exploit the panic and attacked with renewed vigor.
Meanwhile, Shepherd's group got a slight morale boost when Shepherd activated his Meta Form. Suddenly, there were ten Shepherd's at the front, wrecking the enemy with brute force. The Shepherd clones cut down swaths of enemies as he had no problems going toe-to-toe with Uthid in his Meta Form. Combined with a fresh batch of troops, Shepherd's group was also driving the enemy back. With his help, Emory's team finally broke through the ranks to open land. This was a major turning point in the battle as her group quickly pried open the gap and allowed them to move behind the Apleem army. Surrounded on three sides, the Mantoan began to scatter and to try to retreat. Like knocking over the first domino in a string, the Apleem army began to fall faster than before. What started as a massive but straightforward battle rapidly deteriorated to a slaughter.
Once the enemies had been dealt with in front of Shepherd and Tethys's section, they continued surrounding the enemies attacking the neighboring sections. It was complete pandemonium as the Mantoan tried to escape only to find their path back was blocked. They started to recklessly move to the open sides, running into the Uthid and leaving them undefended. The Uthid started using their tails to attack, but by this point, it was too late. In the end, running away wasn't possible because none of the Mantoan could escape the continued ranged barrage. In actuality, it made the situation worse for the Uthid because the piles of dead Mantoan acted as barriers that blocked them in. With enemies on three sides and difficult terrain on the last side, the situation for the Uthid worsened further.
By nightfall, the humans were cleaning up the last of the attacking force. The humans actually had to slow down because they were fighting in such close quarters that a stray attack could have a chance of hitting one of their allies instead of the enemy. In the end, Emory erected a massive barrier around the last ten thousand Apleem and commanded the army to disperse. The Apleem tried to break the barrier only to find it was hopeless. Even so, the Uthid continued to pound their fists against the magik walls, hoping that with enough force they could break free. Emory soared above them and began forming a ball between her hands. Her hands shook as she used more magik to increase the power of the orb without growing its size. Then she slowly moved the ball to face the enemies with her palms still outstretched. She yelled at the top of her lungs and released a beam of magik from the ball. The beam reduced every enemy it touched to ash as it went from one enemy to the next. In ten minutes, the barrier dissolved, and a cloud of dust whooshed out in a singular wave.
Emory's eyes fluttered as she fell out of the sky, only barely managing to land on one knee before the remains of the Apleem army. She panted heavily while a single drop of blood fell from her nose and splashed onto the ground below. A soldier rushed up to her and asked, "Commander, do you need any assistance?"
"Tend to the others; I just need to catch my breath," Emory wheezed.
Just then, Innes barreled his way through the army and put a giant hand on her back. "The first wave is done," Innes assured her, "You can catch your breath now."
Emory nodded without getting up, "Check on the critically wounded first. We might still be able to save some of them."
"We're already working on it," Innes answered, "Meanwhile, we've gathered those in the best shape to defend the front."
"Good. We'll lead the night watch in pairs. Once I've recovered, Shepherd and I can take the first watch tonight. I only need a few minutes," Emory coughed.
"No, we've already decided that Tethys and I will take the first watch," Innes replied as he shook his head, "Shepherd sustained some injuries and exhausted himself with Meta Form. You also need to rest after that last attack."
Emory glared at him as she rose to her feet, "Thanks for your concern, but I'm fine."
"Look, we both know you're the key figure in our success," Innes persuaded her, "So, I won't tell you to back down, but why don't you spend some time helping the injured if you're so insistent on helping? You may not have pushed your magik to the limit, but it's pretty clear your stamina is low."
"Fine, if you insist. I'll do what I can to help the healers then," Emory scoffed as her cloak reformed around her. She tried to hide her exhaustion, but Innes could tell how wobbly she was walking. Still, she immediately headed towards the group of soldiers that were going around and checking on the wounded. As she passed them, she tapped each one on the shoulder, transferring massive amount of magik to them. After she filled them up, she went to work using Life Sow on the less critical injured. Since Life Sow didn't require any stamina, she could pour out her magik again and again to do what little healing she could. When she passed another group of healers, she filled up their mana pools as well. A couple hours passed before all the wounded were taken care of and loaded into the outpost by the less wounded. Emory's body ached all over, and her eyes drooped from exhaustion. She moseyed into camp and flew above one of the barracks where she quickly lay down. It was only moments before sleep's sweet embrace took hold.