Within Arena City, the battle of the Pakals and Ragnors was still raging. Many Elvin Sub-families had joined into the fray, leaving the defence against the other attacking Planet to the main branch families.
At this point, the arena itself no longer held a semblance to a stadium. The seats and skyboxes that once held citizens and the highest officials of the universe were in ruins, the fighting itself had crashed through and entered the once barren streets, and neutral citizens could only helplessly flee or hide, trying to avoid the destruction.
To most, the outcome of this war didn't matter to them. They had no investment either way. Whether the Ragnors or the Belmonts ruled, they would still remain at the bottom of the martial food chain. Knowing this, why would they put their lives on the line?
The Sapientia, in keeping with their neutral and peacemaking motto, worked under the command of a shaken Connery Sapientia to help evacuate the citizens. As part of maintaining their outward image to the world, this was a necessary part of Connery's job as their leader.
"Ipsum. Enough people have died." The Patriarch of the Saeclum clan spoke impatiently. His partner in crime had supposedly said she would do her job, but hours had passed without a single change.
"This can only be done once. If it gets shot down too quickly, it'll be us who pay for it in the end because you won't have the support of me and my sisters anymore. Can you bear that, with your weak constitutions?" Matriarch Ipsum barked back.
If anyone familiar with the Ipsum and Saeclum clans saw these two leaders barking at each other, they would only sigh and turn their attention elsewhere. It wasn't rare for this to occur between them, for the simple fact that their clans were really one in the same!
The Ipsum clan was made entirely of females. The Saeclum clan was made entirely of males. Both clans shared outstanding soul talent. This made the Saeclums best suited to utilizing the Elvin foresight technique, while the Ipsums were highly suited to learning their artificial red crystal will. The only reason they were separated as they were was by design of the Ragnors. They liked to maintain the strictest order amongst their subordinates…
The Ipsums and Saeclums weren't allowed to marry. However, they were constantly cross bred… As though they were animals.
This was simply the way of the Ragnors. Exploitation. Manipulation. Abuse.
However, the Ipsums and Saeclums had no choice… And, for that matter, neither did any of the other auxiliary clans under the command of the main Ragnor Emperor God Clan. For the same reason Thor could never hope to escape, they were forever tied to the that evil family.
Patriarch Saeclum took exception to Matriarch Ipsum's provocations, but he couldn't help but admit that she was correct.
"Hmph," Matriarch Ipsum looked away, satisfied with the silent response of acceptance she received. But, she immediately did something that made Patriarch Saeclum's lip twitch. "Let's go Ipsum pillars."
Ten elderly women disappeared from their location.
'Tch,' Patriarch Saeclum nearly rolled his eyes.
The battle raged onward, completely oblivious to the shifting plans of the Ragnor auxiliary clans.
Unlike wars led by Dyon, wars of the martial world were strikingly different, especially ones that start almost spontaneously like this one.
Caedlum's eldest brother had taken the commanding position, but in terms of orders, he rarely gave any out. He led by example, storming through the sea of blond hair, blue eyes, and endless lightning with his reddened fists.
He had lost count for the amount of Ragnors that had fallen under his fists, but he was intent on making his way to Thor and Vidar – both of whom who were running nearly unmatched.
They were both surrounded by tens of saint level guards which allowed them to weed through to competition they could face. However, all of the Pakals knew how large of a blow it would be for them to take out two Faith Seeded members of the Ragnors.
Everyone knew that there was a massive taboo against stealing faith seeds. In fact, taking a Ragnor faith seed was little more than a death sentence to many – even if you were a part of the Ragnors. This was because the Ragnor had long since used special methods to control those who inherited these faith seeds… This was why despite being a sadist among sadists, Loki Ragnor never thought of stealing his son's nor Thor's Faith Seeds.
However, what everyone also knew was that there was a method to cripple a faith seed, causing it to take much longer to reincarnate as compared to the usual. If a faith seed was shattered before it could dissipate, it would take time to reform in the stream of reincarnation before it could be birthed along with the next genius.
That was the goal of Ire Pakal, Caedlum's eldest brother. If he could shatter both Vidar's and Thor's Faith Seeds, he would completely take out the number three and four most powerful faith seeds in Ragnor history! It could take upwards of hundreds of thousands of years for them to manifest again. By then, the Pakals could take advantage of the power swing.
The main Ragnor branch would normally never allow so many faith seeds to be away and in one location like this. Unfortunately for them, as fate would have it, both Vidar and Thor were born here.
Ire's eyes glowed a savage red as his muscles rippled. His every step left deep dents in the once sturdy stadium floor, and his strong back caused the warriors in his charge to roar with respect and increased morale.
However, before Ire could even make it to his goal, a blinding red light covered the skies, blossoming with it a complex red formation.
At each of its ten corners, stood a cloaked Ipsum elder, channeling their everything into this one moment.
The battles all seemed to freeze as everyone held their breath… Just what was going to happen?...
