Amelia and Ophelia: The Former Grand Duchess and Saintess.

A few days after Task Force Amber had done their job. 

As the 2nd Army marched southward towards their next checkpoint for the day, Amelia and Ophelia who had been marching alongside the front of the column, suddenly received news from a young communications officer who had run up from the rear of the column to deliver them the news. The expression on his face was that of exhaustion as he was able to finally catch up with the dual monarchs who paused and stood over to the side to allow him to give the message to them. 

"Your Majesties. Task Force Amber has reported success in their mission. The target is meeting up with the large army assembling further south of us" The demonkin officer said as he handed over a piece of paper to the two of them 

Opening it up, the dual monarchs smiled at one another before thanking the demonkin officer for his work. They then looked back at the column marching past them and decided that they needed to get them moving faster.

"Alright, everyone! Double time! The enemy is mustering just south of us!" Ophelia ordered as she created an earth mound that elevated her and her beloved above the rest as she pointed southward 

Upon seeing their dual Empresses and hearing the orders, the column switched from an orderly march to a well-paced jog as the soldiers began to move faster than before and all took a moment to face their monarchs and give them a salute before they continued onward, with an officer marching past them shouting out 

"For the empire lads!" 

"Huzzah!" The soldiers replied, with the banners of the empire raised high as they moved onward

As the column of soldiers moved past on a quick march, Amelia turned to her beloved and flashed a small smirk that was tugging at the edge of her lips earlier. 

"Can we participate in the fighting this time around?" She asked her beloved 

"Of course, hell, we will be leading the charge" Ophelia answered her 

"Nothing too flashy?" Amelia asked with a cheeky smile 

"No, you can be as flashy as you want. The army assembling is going to be the largest we have faced so far, so our soldiers will need help in thinning out their enemy's ranks" Ophelia replied with a smile of her own 

"Oooo, I like that" The blonde empress replied as her crimson eyes shone for a moment before returning to normal

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Standing atop a rocky outcrop overlooking a massive field that stretches out for a few miles, the dual monarchs watched as their forces assembled in the tree line right before the field, they were assembled into seven divisions with approximately 3500 soldiers in each division ready to go. The soldiers of each division were assembled into rows that would march out from the tree line and then attack the enemy, with soldiers holding up tower shields in front to cover those who wielded halberds and spears in the back. The last line of the row was occupied by mages who would fire away with their magic, once the row was close enough and if ordered, the soldiers before the mages would break formation and charge forward, leveraging their increased power rankings to crush the weaker enemies in a controlled and tempered melee that would theoretically crush the enemy force under their superior might, which was shown during the battles getting across the Great River. 

"So how many are we facing again?" Amelia asked as she looked through a pair of magi-crystal binoculars 

"About more than twice our number...48 to 50 thousand give or take" Ophelia answered her 

"That much?!" Amelia asked as she looked at her beloved, removing the binoculars from her face 

"Yep, that much...think you can handle it?" Ophelia asked as she looked at her beloved with a small grin 

"Of course I can...with you by my side I can handle anything" The blonde empress replied with reddish cheeks 

"Hehehe, Of course my love" The raven-haired empress chuckled as she kissed her beloved on the lips before looking back at the massive field before them

Out in the field, ahead of the tree line was a massive camp that was busy bustling with Hinterland soldiers getting ready for their expedition north to crush the monster horde that they were told was approaching. The little intelligence they were able to gather from this front was that the monster horde always left no survivors, with each army mustered against it being crushed and then failing to report back any success. This had gone on for about a month and a few weeks by this point and it looked as if the Hinterlands Confederation which was busy expanding to the south was now about to die from a monster horde they paid little to no attention to. This prompted High Chief Erland to pull out more than 50,000 soldiers away from the southern legions and directed them to assemble here on the plains of Allatanua to prepare to strike back, at least that was what he had told his soldiers that day when he arrived on horseback into the camp here, saying that the rebels nearly got him but decided to inform his command that they were to crush the monsters coming first before swinging around and pacifying the area of rebels. 

The Hinterland soldiers still kept to their doctrine of using small scouting parties to pin down and distract the enemy first before the main force rushed in, which was observed a week ago when the 4th Army encountered a Hinterlands force that they had run into before crushing it in battle with all hands lost, with the battle nearly exposing that the monster horde the Hinterlands Confederation thought it was facing was nothing but a cover for an invading nation perpetuated by spies who had already infiltrated the Confederation weeks prior. 

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Inside the command tent within the camp, High Chief Elran looked over a massive table covered with a map of the area they were in. He was still a bit mad about losing all of his advisors a few days ago in a rebel ambush but he had placed that in the back of his mind for now as he had received word from the scouts that a group of wyverns, were spotted a few hours ago flying in the sky, meaning that the Monster Horde that had so long advanced unimpeded was now approaching his area. From what little accounts there were, it seemed that the monster horde advanced on a broad front with several major prongs. Although most would chalk this up to nothing special, Elran assumed that the monster horde was moving further southward because of how easily it had crushed his armies, the thought of them being smarter than they looked completely out of his mind. 

"Once we crush this prong, the beasts will flee back north like the animals they are...all we need to do is kill them all" He mumbled to himself as he stared at the map

{!} 

Suddenly, his peace and quiet was interrupted as an elven soldier entered the tent, sweat dripping down his face as he just came arrived via running his ass off. 

"High Chief" He began as he tried to gather his breath 

"Yes? What is it soldier?" Elran replied as he stood up 

"The monster horde is almost upon us, scouts have spotted things moving in the tree line just across from us" The elven soldier told him 

"I see, muster everyone. We will not be taking our chances. Deploy everyone in a full battle line. We will charge straight into the monsters and use our numbers to slaughter them wholesale" Elran ordered 

"Understood High Chief. I shall tell the warriors of your orders" The elven soldier said as he gave a bow and then disappeared out of the tent

"So it begins" The High Chief mumbled as he pulled out a scimitar from its sheath and made his way to the assembly point for his troops 

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At the forefront of the troops assembled in the tree line, Amelia and Ophelia were clad in their respective plate armors that had matching colors, the main color was a menacing jet-black with crimson highlights along the gaps and corners of the armor for accents. The designs of their armor were also entirely different from the armor pieces worn by the run-of-the-mill Imperial Soldier and even the Black Guard who were accompanying them, their armor designs were sleeker but still kept the bulky plate armor feel as the plates while looking smaller were actually thicker than the standard, underneath the armor was also a layer of "Hardened Fabric" that could withstand blows that could probably pierce or punch through the armor. Finally, their armor was magically enhanced like the rest of the army but the monster crystals inside theirs were once the same magic crystal that was split into two for these two sets, a lover's attachment if you will. 

Crouching along with the rest of the front-most division at the edge of the tree line, Amelia and Ophelia saw the Hinterlands army before them had formed into one long battle line that faced them, with their eyes to the sky as the wyverns of the Halkare Air Force were flying above them as part of the distraction and deception of the Monster Horde. Behind the battle line was the camp of the army, also behind them but to the further right was a reserve group of 10,000 soldiers waiting for orders while on the left next to the camp was a group of 10,000 cavalry soldiers were suddenly moving to give chase to the wyverns that were flying overhead. 

"Alright. They took the bait, time for the main show" Ophelia muttered with a smile as she looked behind her and nodded to a kitsune officer who began pulling back on her bow and arrow, with others in the other divisions doing the same

A/N: Reference for your convenience

The archers and mages of the army all had their spells and projectiles ready, all of them zeroed in on the enemy force that was directly in front of them still looking the other way. The air of anticipation and the nervousness of the battle ahead had filled their souls but they knew that they had to perform their best as their monarchs were going to be fighting alongside them this time around and none of them wanted to be found wanting. 

"Fire!" Amelia's voice rang out as she gave the order to unleash hell 

{!} 

At her order, a storm of arrows, fireballs, ice lances, and lightning streams arced from the tree line and shattered the protective barrier that the Hinterland mages had set protection, much to the latter's surprise as the first arrow punched through the damn thing they thought was impregnable. With the barrier down almost immediately, arrows, fireballs, ice lances, and lightning streams struck down the first three rows of soldiers of the battle line, their screams filled the air along with the explosions of the fire and ice lances after striking true and the sounds of the lightning streams electrocuting and killing soldiers on the spot while arrows punched through the light armor of the soldiers unfortunate enough to catch them and impale them onto the ground. 

"All divisions! Advance!" Ophelia ordered as she stood up with her beloved and began walking out, with her orders followed by the deep rumbling of war horns 

"For the Empire!" The soldiers cried out as they got to their feet and advanced out of the tree line, the sights of their hulking armor leaving the already surprised Hinterland soldiers even in more confusion about what was happening. 

"Those aren't monsters..." Elran mumbled as he slowly got up from the ground, half of his body singed as a fireball from the initial salvo had exploded near him and sent him crashing to the grassy ground

"High Chief!" A soldier called out to him as he helped him to his feet

"Send your best warriors with me back to the camp, order everyone else to charge and destroy those invaders. Call back the cavalry. Buy me time" Elran ordered through sharp draws of his breath 

"Understood High Chief" The soldier saluted as he ran past him and towards the nearest officer, relaying his orders 

"You will pay for this you damn invaders" Erlan mumbled as he began to make his way back to camp, with seven other soldiers following behind him

Following the High Chief's orders, the Hinterland soldiers reformed ranks as best they could, leaving their comrades who were dead where they rested while the wounded were ignored as they were all listening to the orders given by the officers. 

"For the Hinterlands! Charge!" An elven officer shouted as he raised his war club and ran at the advancing enemy, 

"RAAAAAGH!" The rest of the soldiers roared as they followed him in 

{!} 

Upon seeing the enemy charge at them, Ophelia turned around and saw the other divisions quickly rush forward, forming a single line facing the enemy. The soldiers wielding the tower shields moved past the dual monarchs and planted themselves firmly on the ground as they raised their shields, all of them bracing for the enemy that soon crashed upon their metal wall like rain upon rock. The Hinterland soldiers fired off spells of earth lances and fireballs of their own that crashed upon the wall of metal before them, hoping that it had done some damage before they started swinging away at the tower shields once they got close, with their clubs, spears, and swords breaking upon striking the reinforced metal of the shield wall. After the initial charge, the soldiers of the Hinterlands all stepped back as they saw that their weapons were now destroyed, with some of them having shocked expressions on their faces as they saw that the enemy formation before them was totally fine and the shields while scorched from the fireballs, were still pretty solid. 

"Now! Charge!" Ophelia ordered as she raised her sword into the air

"Huzzah!" The soldiers shouted as they charged forward, ripping apart the nearest Hinterland soldiers with fine swings and slashes. 

{!} 

The countercharge by the Halkare soldiers had surprised the Hinterland soldiers who were left terrified by their enemy's strength and skill. Their morale collapsed as the officers who were in the front of the charge died in droves as the enemy advanced unimpeded by their attacks, arrows, magic, and all other types of projectiles they had available were fired from the backline, and all ricocheted or were absorbed by the enemy without signs of them being harmed by these attacks. 

The Hinterlands soldiers broke formations as the Halkare infantry advanced. In the back near the camp, the cavalry which was chasing after the wyverns from earlier were still on their way back after they received orders to assist in the fighting. As they were trying to get back, the wyverns they failed to engage came diving and screeching through the clouds as they belched out streams of fire that roasted horse and rider alike and killed dozens of them in each run. Their screams filled the air as many dismounted and tried to fire up at the wyverns and accompanying dragonkin that rained hell upon them. Even the reserves of the Hinterlands Army were now thrown into the fray as they joined the massive melee to desperately try and stem the tide of the enemy that was breaking their lines. 

Amidst all of this chaos, Amelia and Ophelia were in the thick of the fighting as well, their presence prompting the soldiers around them to fight hard and not be found wanting. The dual monarchs themselves were busy with their own melees as Amelia and Ophelia were individually cutting down droves of enemies that charged them. 

Amelia found herself being attacked from all sides by multiple Hinterland soldiers who had surrounded her and singled her out from the rest of the group their comrades were desperately fighting, identifying her as some sort of high-ranking officer. The first hinterland soldier charged at her with his broadsword, she deflected it to the side with her left dagger before quickly following up with a thrust from her right that punched straight into his head, the sounds of his skull cracking and churning filling the air for a brief moment before Amelia then rolled across the back of the soldier and once she was on the other side, chucked his corpse at another soldier immediately charging her, sending the soldier crashing onto the ground. Another soldier charged her from behind with a spear and thrust his spear forward, aiming to impale her from behind. But the spearhead shattered upon making contact with the armor, leaving the soldier in shock and allowing the blonde empress to quickly cut him down by dashing close to him and then slitting his elven throat that spewed forth blood as he fell forward. She then turned to another pair of soldiers behind her who both fired [Lightning Stream] spells that Amelia dodged by dashing in close and in between the two, replying with two quick thrusts to their hearts and then quickly moving to fight the next soldier attacking her. 

Meanwhile, Ophelia was simply crushing every hinterland soldier who attacked her, she stood still in the middle of a large group that had also singled her out and she simply smiled as they all charged her at once. The first soldier who reached her, unfortunately met her end as Ophelia simply dodged her thrust from her spear and then replied with a simple counter thrust from her bastard sword that impaled her all the way through, she then chucked the corpse at the nearest hinterland soldier before turning her attention to three more souls behind her. These soldiers fired off an arrow and some [Fire Blast] spells that the raven-haired empress absorbed through a personal barrier she had before her, and replied with a swish of her hand that made the shadows of these soldiers suddenly sprout out tendrils that pierced them all over their bodies before they dropped to the grass gurgling blood. Another soldier came in from above, shouting at the top of his lungs as he tried swinging his axe downward, it shattered upon her barrier, and as the kitsune landed behind her, she quickly grabbed him by the throat and then lifted him up, crushing his throat and then casually throwing his body aside. 

She then looked to her soldiers and her beloved and saw that the hinterland soldiers were breaking and now fleeing in a panic as their forces gave chase, a smile on her face at the victory that was seemingly at hand. 

{!} 

KRAAAWWWWW!!! 

Suddenly, there was a large cry coming from the camp of the Hinterlands Confederation, shortly followed by a loud growl and some explosions as fireballs blew apart the tents and wooden walls surrounding the place. The hinterland soldiers continued to run but the Halkare Soldiers and their dual monarchs stopped in their tracks and turned their attention to the burning camp. 

{!}

Suddenly flying forth from the burning camp were several massive fireballs, lightning streams, and even lances made of earth and fire that exploded upon a barrier quickly erected by Ophelia and Amelia that stopped these massive projectiles from doing any harm to their soldiers.  

"Ophie...what is that?" Amelia asked as she looked upon the sight of the figures coming out of the burning camp, her expression filled with worry

"A problem" Ophelia replied, her eyes narrowing and her fists tightening 

The dual monarchs and even the soldiers all saw emerging from the fiery camp were 8 figures, all of whom were deformed as some of their limbs were larger than the rest of the body and were now a sick greenish-grey color, with the skin covered in glowing patches of green and amber. Scanning them with their <Appraisal> skills, the dual monarchs saw a sight they were not expecting in the slightest. 

Name: Erlan Padan

Race: Elf

Power Rank: SS (Augmented) 

A/N: Here we go! And it seems our protags are now facing something they did not expect. Hehehe. Time to Fight!