In the heart of the once-vibrant forest, devastation had left an indelible mark on the landscape.
The towering trees, which had once stretched their branches to the heavens, now stood as charred sentinels, their twisted and blackened limbs reaching out like grotesque specters.
The forest floor, once a verdant carpet of life, had been transformed into a chaotic tableau of destruction. The ground was marred by deep craters, evidence of powerful magical clashes that had taken place.
Wreckage was strewn about, an eerie testament to the unforgiving violence that had transpired. Broken weapons, shattered armor, and scorched earth painted a grim picture of the battles that had been fought.
Amidst the desolation, a once-mighty mountain had been reduced to ruins. What was once a grand symbol of majesty and strength for the Ravenstein family had crumbled into a jumble of shattered rocks and debris.
The air was heavy with the acrid scent of burnt wood and the unmistakable tinge of iron—blood, spilled in the heat of battle.
The ground was littered with the grim remnants of the fallen. Some were adults, their faces etched with the final moments of despair, their lifeless eyes staring into eternity. Others, tragically, were children who should have had a lifetime ahead of them.
In the midst of this harrowing scene, battles raged on. Different warriors clashed with an intensity born of desperation, their weapons flashing amidst the ruins.
The clash of steel against steel, and the fervent cries of those who fought on filled the air.
On the east side of the camp, where a magnificent training ground once stood, two figures faced each other.
The first figure, towering like a titan, brandished a colossal earth made axe that strained against the mighty bulges of his muscles.
The fabric of his attire had surrendered to the sheer force of his physique, leaving tattered shreds clinging to his brawny arms. Behind him, a protective dome of compacted earth encased three trainees, protecting them from the chaos unfolding.
In front of him, a few meters away, stood another figure. His form bore the brutal marks of battle, completely battered, and his once distinguished attire reduced to tatters.
And his piercing gaze, which once spoke of years of experience and wisdom in the ways of the world, had dimmed considerably.
Their surroundings were in shambles, with the earth terrain completely changed, and the buildings around them were in ruins.
Hugo gritted his teeth in annoyance. He had never thought that Elias would be such a tough opponent. He had tried everything, but it always ended with him being almost killed.
The goal of the attack on the Raven camp had always been to eliminate the Ravenstein's youths. That was the entire reason the order attacked the camp. Since the Ravenstein family had declared war on them, they've lost a lot of resources.
Initially, they had wanted to lay low for a while so that the matter would die down on its own, but after more than 5 years, the Ravenstein family did not stop their rampage. During the war, the order had lost significant resources and personnel. They were getting tired!
So they decided to strike back; if it was war they wanted, they would give them war.
His plan had initially been to keep Elias occupied while Astrion, Malora, and Vorlock teleported to where the trainees were escaping, with the help of Astrion's bloodline, and kill them.
However, during the fight, Elias had come close to killing him several times. Fortunately, he had discovered some trainees hiding in one of the buildings as they fought, and whenever Elias was close to killing him, he had immediately attacked and used the trainees as distractions.
Without that strategy, he was sure he would have been killed by Elias a long time ago.
Elias turned his gaze toward the east, in the direction where Atticus and the rest of the trainees had escaped to. He had seen the azure light piercing the clouds all the way from here earlier, and his heart clenched when he saw it.
He had never expected that the Obsidian Order would have someone with a space bloodline.
Astrion and the rest had caught him off guard by suddenly teleporting away. He had immediately wanted to run after them, but he suddenly felt the presence of other trainees in the area and had to stop to protect them from Hugo.
'I have to finish this quickly,' Elias thought, desparate to go after Atticus and the other trainees as soon as possible.
With a burst of speed that belied his size, Elias dashed toward Hugo.
Different battles were taking place all around the camp.
In another location, Finn was engaged in fighting and killing various members of the Obsidian Order.
For Finn, this attack had been the most shocking experience of his life. He had never imagined that the Obsidian Order would dare to target the Ravensteins so openly.
The attack had taken everyone by surprise. The artifact that had disabled all the runes in the camp significantly reduced their strength and ability to fight back.
Many were unable to retrieve their weapons from their storage rings. Some had strong artifacts that would be useful in battle inside their storage rings but were unable to access it. What had cut down their strength the most was the inability to use their exo suits to fight.
The exo suits were designed to greatly amplify the strength of their wearers and were powered by runes that connected the user's mana to the exosuits, further enhancing their strength and agility.
The distribution of the exosuits was closely monitored and provided to every person entering the academy. As a safety feature, there was a built in remote shutdown mechanism managed by the alliance to disable the suits, rendering their users unable to utilize them anymore.
This measure was put in place to prevent terrorists and criminal organizations from misusing the suits.
As soon as an individual was tagged, they become unable to deploy the suits.