The defensive line was shocked. They had remained here for many years without anything happening. No enemy had been attacking, and they also hadn't attacked. This defensive line was too powerful for a simple Striking Squad to make a difference. These core territories were just way too important, and no one dared to recklessly attack.
Yet, wasn't this what they were doing right now? Usually, the closest Empire gave the permission for a defensive line to attack, and then they would ready themselves for several days. After all, the input of the closest Empire was important.
Why was the input of the closest Empire important? The main reason for that was that the conquered territory would transform into a new defensive line. This meant that the space that the previous defensive line had stayed at would be given to the closest Empire to expand.
Of course, such a thing didn't come for free. The Empire had to pay for the new territory. This meant that the Empire had to reward the victorious defensive line out of their own pockets. Such a thing wasn't cheap. Yet, every Empire would still be happy if their Empire became bigger. Such a payment was demanding for an Empire, but the gains easily made up for the losses.
Normally, a defensive line didn't decide when to attack. Yet, the Commander of a defensive line still had the option to do that regardless. This was to protect against a traitorous Emperor that didn't want them to attack. With this setup, both the Commander and the closest Emperor would need to be traitors to stall a defensive line.
The beasts in the defensive line had remained relaxed and calm for so many years, but everything suddenly ended. They were going into battle!
Some of the beasts were fearful. Others were nervous, but most of them were excited. Most of the beast had felt stifled for so many years. Staying in this defensive line gave them Contribution Points towards their Empires, which allowed them to enter Law Comprehension Areas. Yet, after such a long time, they all craved tempering.
Aris, Cera, and Yersi were shocked that their father had made the entire defensive line move with just some simple words. They had often talked to the Commander and wanted her to attack, but she always refused, saying that it was too risky. Yet, with just some simple words, Gravis managed to convince her.
"I will only get involved if there is no way for you to win," Gravis said to the Commander. "This is your fight, not mine."
Yet, when Gravis said that, a crafty glint appeared inside his eyes.
The Commander nodded. "It's better this way. You are right. This is our fight!" she said with battle-intent.
All beasts readied themselves and waited for orders. After five minutes were up, the Commander appeared in front of them. "We will attack!" she shouted as she shot into the distance.
"RAAAAA!" a chorus of battle-cries echoed throughout the horizons, shaking the earth. All beasts immediately returned to their normal sizes and charged forward, following their Commander and Sub-Commanders.
Then, the entire defensive line moved as over 200 beasts, several kilometers tall, charged towards the north-east. The speed of the defensive line was incredibly fast. After all, even the weakest beast was a level four King.
In no time at all, the ocean appeared in front of them. A Kingdom with a level four King as their leader was here, serving as an outpost. Normally, an invasion with a weaker force would appear here to destroy this outpost, but this was not the case today. Today, the whole defensive line ran over this Kingdom.
"Slaughter them all!" the Commander said to her Sub-Commanders. The Sub-Commanders looked at each other to decide which one should give the order. In the end, the fourth Sub-Commander accepted the order and sent some level four Kings into the Kingdom.
For this Kingdom of the sea beasts, the apocalypse had come. Five level four Kings, each one as powerful as their King, had come to kill every sea beast. The King of this Kingdom felt fearful as they knew that death had come for them.
One of the level four Kings engaged the King while the remainder slaughtered all sea beasts they could find. No one was spared. Kings, Lords, Spirit Beasts, and everything weaker were mercilessly slaughtered. This was a war between two camps, not a duel. Everyone that wasn't a land beast needed to die!
Gravis wasn't the biggest fan of that, but that was just how war was. Innocents died, and that couldn't be stopped. Sure, if he wanted to, he could stop the slaughter, but why would he? It had nothing to do with him.
Well, if he hadn't been here, these beasts wouldn't die, but that was normal. By now, Gravis had accepted that his actions on his path to power would involuntarily destroy the lives of countless innocents. This was just how the world was, and he wasn't some hero.
The slaughter below the defensive line commenced brutally as they all still charged forward. After around a minute, they saw the first powerful enemies.
When Gravis saw the enemies, he smiled victoriously. 'I knew it!' Gravis thought.
What enemies did they see?
Two level five Kings and ten level four Kings.
Was this just an outpost?
No, this was the entire defensive line!
Gravis knew a lot about human warfare, and Gravis also knew that Orthar was the strategist for the sea beasts. This defensive line of the land beasts hadn't moved in forever because of their Commander. The indecisive attitude of the Commander had been noticed by Orthar. Because of that, they only stationed enough beasts in the defensive line to appear strong.
Yet, in reality, the powerful beasts that showed themselves from time to time were actually the entire defensive line. Meanwhile, the beasts that would have normally been assigned to this defensive line were sent somewhere else. Like this, they would have more Kings for the truly endangered territories.
Sadly, accidents happened. Orthar knew that Gravis could see through a lot of his careful planning, but he couldn't outfit every single defensive line with a counter for Gravis. Also, Orthar was still Gravis' friend. They might be in different camps, but neither of the two wanted the other one to die. Gravis wouldn't teach the land beasts warfare, and Orthar wouldn't send overpowered enemies at him.
Even if Gravis destroyed ten defensive lines, their dynamic wouldn't change a bit. Neither of the two had the goal to make one camp victorious. Both of them only wanted to ascend to the next world. Victory or defeat for either of the camps made no difference to them.
The enemy's defensive line was shocked and became fearful. They couldn't possibly resist such a powerful force! Weren't they supposed to be safe!?
When the Commander saw the weak defensive line, she felt disappointed initially, but then a smirk appeared on her face. In order to appear powerful enough to contest with this defensive line, they also had to show a powerful Commander. This meant that a mighty level five King was at the weak defensive line. Sure, her defensive line wouldn't get much tempering, but the Commander would get hers!
Aris, Cera, and Yersi looked at each other, deciding who should take the remaining level five King. Yet, surprisingly, none of them took the initiative. Usually, they nearly fought each other for opponents, but this time, no one wanted to. Apparently, Gravis' words had shown them that they needed to comprehend more Laws first.
So, in the end, the remaining level five King fell to the last Sub-Commander. The Sub-Commander had only sent some level four Kings to annihilate the Kingdom they had passed over, but they were still here. Seeing that the other three Sub-Commanders didn't mind, the last Sub-Commander shot forward.
The enemy's defensive line wanted to flee, but they couldn't. Among 200 beasts, there were bound to be some beasts with incredible speed. Because of that, the fastest beast of the defensive line got dibs on the opponents.
In no time at all, every enemy beast had an opponent. The other beasts just stood around the fighting arenas, looking on. This was tempering, and they wouldn't waste it by piling onto an opponent.
The watching beasts looked with envy at the fighting beasts, wishing they were them. They had come here, expecting to meet a powerful force, but they only saw this pitiful display.
None of the sea beasts managed to escape to warn the closest Empire. They were all caught, and the sea beasts didn't even know that their defensive line had fallen.
Before engaging the enemy, the Commander informed several level four Kings to inform their closest Empire. The enemy didn't know that their defensive line had fallen, which gave them a prime opportunity to also take out an entire Empire of the sea beasts.
Defensive lines didn't move often, but they moved from time to time. Yet, the falling of an entire Empire was truly rare. The main reason for that was the spies among their ranks. The sea beasts knew when an attack would come, which allowed them to protect the closest Empire and defensive line.
Yet, with Gravis' arrival, all of this had changed. The attack had come out of nowhere, and the sea beasts didn't even know about it.
After several minutes, the fighting had ended. A couple of land beasts had died, but that was to be expected. When a land beast died, another land beast would just take its place until all sea beasts were annihilated.
The Commander and Sub-Commander also emerged victoriously.
"RAAAAAA!"
A victorious cry echoed throughout the surroundings, and some minutes later, the closest Emperor of the land beasts also arrived here.
And when he saw the defensive line, he became visibly very angry.
'I fucking knew it,' Gravis thought.