A wave of ranged bolts flew out from the trees, but mostly Mantoan fell in the initial wave. Still, the ranged groups fired on the enemy until they got closer to the rest of the army. Sam used her dire wolf form to howl and lead the charge as the two opposing groups collided. She stayed in this form which was roughly the same size as the Uthid at first, tearing into enemies and tossing them into other enemies. Thanks to her gauntlets and her bear claws, she slashed and kicked enemies in rapid succession, not killing them but wounding them enough to be picked off by others. However, when three Uthid surrounded her, she reverted to her normal form to fight them with her Arcane sphere instead. Since she was used to fighting as an animal, she formed her magik cloak like claws over her hands and sliced through the Uthid's throats. By the time she had defeated those three though, two more had joined the attack against her.
Elffin was stronger than the rest of the ranged attackers, but his main sphere didn't do a lot of damage. That's not to say it wasn't effective though, as his attacks would leave the opponents weakened for a short time. Due to this, he didn't focus his bolts on one particular enemy and instead tried to hit as many different enemies as he could. He focused his barrage against the front line of the Apleem, weakening them enough so that the melee fighters would have an easier fight. Still, as the fight dragged on, he was chipping away at his mana reserves bit by bit.
On the north battlefield, Tana was slicing through enemies with little difficulty. The frost body granted by her armor slowed down nearby enemies just enough to allow her to line up her strikes with deadly precision. Even those not fatally hit were frozen further by her blade's active skill which began freezing anything it touched. One by one, she cut down the enemy like a master swordsman. When two Uthid tried to gang up on her, she stabbed one deep in the stomach, not causing a fatal wound but hampering its ability to move. The other one slashed down at her with its dual scimitars, but with one fluid motion, she ripped the sword from the first one's belly and parried both blades off to her side. The parry led into another harsh swing that sliced the Uthid's head clean off before circling around and beheading the original one as well. Unfortunately, as soon as they were dealt with, a group of Mantoan pounced from her blind spot until a lightning bolt pierced all three through the head.
Gatrie was watching the front line instead of the back line with the rest of the ranged group. He would usually fire weaker bolts in rapid succession due to his gauntlet's skill to stun or paralyze enemies for the melee attackers to pick off. However, when he saw someone about to be overwhelmed, he'd switch to a focused bolt that stretched like a lightning bolt. These concentrated bolts were strong enough to kill a single Uthid as long as it hit the head or heart which most of them did. To Mantoan though, these bolts could continue going and pierce several with the same strike if they were lined up correctly. From the back, he rained down deadly and debilitating attacks that greatly helped the front line.
The west battlefield was doing the best against the Apleem, largely due to the two leaders there. Gwen was a phantom assassin on the field because of her gift, her speed, and her small figure. She would weave between enemies, launching strikes from the shadows and then disappearing from view. Since she would appear to attack and then vanish, Uthid had resorted to using their tails to try to hit her, only for her to maneuver out of the way and allow the strike to hit fellow Apleem. Chaos ensued as Uthid began to hesitate and leave themselves wide open to ranged attacks.
Perceval capitalized on the confusion by releasing torrents of vines from the back. At the least, these vines would inhibit the Apleem's movement, but as the vines wrapped around enemies, they would crush and forcefully dismember those that were ensnared. Once the enemies fell without their legs, it was easy for the melee attackers to overwhelm them. If an ally was getting overrun by the Apleem, Perceval would release a vine directly from his palm and fling the enemy off into the distance. Since he didn't tire, he could use the vines again and again without tiring or faltering.
Some of the Apleem would make the mistake of entering the forest which would mean certain death for them. Anyone who entered the forest would be wrapped in vines, bludgeoned by trees, and eaten by carnivorous plants. For the particularly strong ones, Myrrh herself would appear in her petrified wood body and dispatch them quickly. Despite the repeated attempts, none who entered the forests survived long enough to get around the human army.
Because of all the defenses and support, the humans were doing quite well, though not as well as they had against the mainly Mantoan force that had come before. Still, for every human that died, two or three Apleem would join them. Slowly but surely, the humans were winning this battle. Fighting continued into the early evening until a shiny metallic flare exploded from the far back of the eastern battlefield.
Suddenly, the Apleem on all three battlefields tried to retreat back to their dreadnoughts, but more than half of those remaining lost their lives trying to escape. When they got about halfway through the field, the human armies gave up the chase and returned to block the path back to the outpost. A cloaked figure walked onto the field from one of the eastern dreadnoughts. It was hard to see the figure as night was almost fully upon them, but the creature seemed to be about the same size as the Uthid. Then it outstretched its arms and formed a pitch-black ball the size of a large bus in front of it. The next moment, the orb was released towards the forest in the direction of the north battlefield. It ripped through the forest without a shred of resistance, carving a hole nearly thirty feet across through the trees. Everyone watched in horror as this one creature had done more damage than millions of troops in a matter of moments. Without a sound, the creature walked back to the dreadnought they had come from and returned inside.
Once the creature left the field, Sam immediately tapped on her wrist, called the other leaders, and asked them to join her on the west battlefield. When they all arrived thirty minutes later, she was shaking all over.
"Did the rest of you see that flare?" Gatrie panted, "The flare came up and caused the rest of the Apleem to recklessly retreat. Sam, do you know what that came from?"
Sam whispered, "I don't think that was a flare; I think that was a bolt from another enemy."
"Another enemy, huh?" Tana mumbled, "I'm guessing the same figure also tore through the forest just a little bit ago, right? What has that kind of power?"
"A Laxtros," Perceval sighed.
"That's the power of a Laxtros?" Elffin squeaked, "Not a group of them, but just one of them? How can this be?"
Gwen gritted her teeth, "That's the kind Emory warned us about. To think they had this much power. We Witches certainly were idiots to think we were the strongest out there."
"But why did it wait to show itself until the battle was almost over?" Sam questioned, "Surely it would have been more effective for them to come out right at the start."
"It must be the commander or general. Perhaps they don't care for the other races as much as we thought," Gatrie attempted to explain.
"Well, now that we know at least one is here, what do we do?" Tana asked, "We may have done well against the enemy so far, but this changes things. Should we let Emory know?"
Perceval answered calmly, "I believe we should tell her, but we cannot expect her to show up right away. I think we will have to deal with this enemy ourselves."
"Even with all six of us, do we even have a chance?" Elffin hissed, "Sam, you saw that attack; they acted like it was no big deal." Sam rubbed her chin as she tried to think of a plan.
"There are seven of us, remember?" Myrrh stated as she emerged from the trees behind them.
"Myrrh, are you okay?" Sam questioned genuinely, "That attack took out a decent chunk of foliage."
Myrrh shrugged, "I'll be fine, although it might be unwise for me to regenerate that portion right now. Still, an offense like this can't go unpunished. I say we fight them when they reemerge."
"I concur," Perceval agreed, "An enemy this strong will wipe out large swaths of our army. We can't allow this kind of enemy to fight our regular troops." Once they all understood the gravity of the situation, they all nodded in agreement.
"We need to change the teams slightly then," Sam said calmly, "Perceval and Elffin, since you two can't teleport, you two should stay here as they were seen here last. I'll swap with Perceval. When they emerge, I imagine the rest of the army here will take the path they created to join the northern camp. At that point, Perceval, you will alert the rest of us to teleport back here. Then we'll all fight them together."
Gatrie chimed in, "I think it would be best to camp out on the battlefields tonight. We can have the wounded taken back to the outpost to prepare for tomorrow."
Once they understood the plan, they all returned to their assigned sections of the army and conveyed the plan to the healers. Sam did what she could to prepare the wounded for transport back, but it was late at night before they finally finished. She propped her back against a tree and fell asleep almost instantly. They may have won today but not without a lot of work and a multitude of fallen comrades.