CEO in a Fantasy World 3

by Tristan H Brown

  Faust, who seemed to have the most authority in his respective group, raised his hand and lifted his thumb high up in the air, Signifying his groups' stance.

  Caesar nodded his head and also raised his thumb in the air, effectively signifying his group's stance as well. He waited a few moments to let both sides mentally prepare before shouting his next orders.

  "BEGIN!" he roared.

  Although Caesar's roar signaled the start of the battle, both sides stayed relatively still. An ominous breeze swept through the training grounds and fluttered their hair as they glared at each other.

  The moon perfectly illuminated the battlefield, making this moment almost look beautiful and serene.

  Both Musashi and Renee, who were spectating this battle on the sidelines, frowned. Although it was just a friendly bout, the stakes at risk were clearly much more than that.

  Caesar, who was at the forefront of his army, smiled, "remember never to turn around, nor get out of formation… neither sides have any separate clothing, so to discern sides will be tough if we ever get out of formation" Caesar spoke loudly enough so that most of his troops could hear, but the enemies could not.

  While Caesar and his men were still calm, the same could not be said for the other side, many of the clan heads were shaking with impatience. Because their leaders were impatience, many of the fox-kin soldiers on their side were also affected.

  Faust turned around and looked at his troops with slight disappointment before raising his fist in the air, "We will bring back this victory, for the fox-kin's honor!" Faust shouted in an attempt to raise his troop's morals.

  "OOOOOHHH"

  Some of the fox-kin on his side roared along with him. However, others who saw his look of disappointment, couldn't help but frown, none of them were briefed on anything, whether it was strategy, formation, pecking order, none of them knew anything.

  They were clueless!

  "CHARGE!" Faust roared and led the army forward. He knew that the longer they waited, the less chance they had of winning.

  The soldiers followed after Faust without a moment of hesitation. They surged towards Caesar in a scrambled manner, they were similar to wild beasts, and the only thing in their eyes was Caesar.

  Seeing this scene, Caesar's lips curled. Although fighting like beasts had its own advantages. Unfortunately, that only worked if the opposition lost their cool, however, with Caesar leading, it wasn't very likely.

  Caesar raised his right hand in the air, "Rakan, use non-lethal spells and projectiles to take some of them of these brainless beasts out," Caesar ordered with disdain.

  "CAPTAINS, ORDER TROOPS TO USE WIND OR NON-LETHAL FIRE MAGIC, AIM AT THE MIDDLE" Rakan ordered his captains right after hearing Caesar's orders.

  The captains swiftly commanded their squads, and in just a few moments, a few hundred spells were being cast in an efficient and organized way.

  Huge gusts of wind immediately attacked Faust's army and slowed them down. The fox-kin were not experts in wind magic, alas, with a few hundred casting it at the same time, it was enough to do the job.

  "KEEP IT UP, MAKE THEM WASTE THEIR ENERGY! ROTATE MAGICIANS ONCE YOU FEEL SLIGHTLY TIRED!" Caesar ordered, to which Rakan passed on his orders, and the process continued until it reached everyone's ears perfectly.

  The reason Caesar ordered them to use wind magic was mainly because if they used water, the fox-kin who were experts at flame magic would be able to contest the water and create steam, resulting in their entire army becoming masked.

  This way, however, their entire army would be slowed, and become forced to run through the heavy winds to reach them. Not to mention, they aren't capable of sending flame, water, or wind magic back in resistance.

  The strong winds quickly made the enemy soldiers spend a lot more effort, just reaching Caesar's army. However, this wasn't the case for all of them; strong soldiers such as Faust were hardly affected as they continued to push forward without a hint of hesitation.

  Seeing the powerful soldiers split with the weaker ones, Caesar couldn't help but form a mocking smile on his lips, their only advantage was their 13 clan heads, but now, their 13 clan heads are about to confront them while most of their army was left behind.

  "Rakan, continue to slow down the troops. Soka, take your soldiers and sneak around the battlefield to terminate all of the weaker troops that were slowed down by the winds. Then, I want you to pincer attack the remnants with Falthor and me," Caesar ordered calmly and took out a wooden sword from his spatial ring.

  Both Rakan and Soka solemnly nodded their heads and relayed their orders, soon after, Soka and his troops started to curve around the battlefield to sneak behind the enemy forces.

  With the strong winds, it would be hard to spot Soka and his forces. However, Caesar knew that it wasn't enough to completely mask them, so he raised his sword and turned toward Falthor.

  "We will grab their attention and hold them off for as long as we can," Caesar ordered to which Falthor nodded his head and relayed his orders.

  "CHARGE!" Caesar roared and led the charge, Falthor, and his men followed behind him, and both forces were heading straight for each other, all attention focused on these two points.

  Rakan and his magicians directed their magic to barely miss their allies and just hit the enemies, although it posed a challenge and was much more taxing, they still accomplished it splendidly.

  Caesar's charge effectively gained the focus of Faust and the other clan heads, they all clenched their teeth and prepared for impact as both forces inched closer and closer.

  All 13 clan heads focused on Caesar's tall figure and ran straight for him. They knew that if he fell, so would his army.

  Seeing this scene, Falthor looked at Caesar worriedly and got closer to him, to which Caesar just shook his head with a wry smile.

  "Don't worry about me, Falthor, direct your soldiers and take out the rest of their elites. I will hold off the clan heads by myself. Don't fret; I don't think it's possible for me to win singlehandedly; I am just merely buying time," Caesar said comfortingly and increased his speed.

  "As you command, please don't lose" Falthor spoke gravely and once again distanced himself from Caesar to command his troops.

  Soon, 13 figures dashed far ahead of the rest and were just a few meters away from colliding with Caesar. They coated their weapons with a strange flame and were not concerned about dealing Caesar with a lethal blow. Shockingly, they hoped they could kill him right here on the pretense of it being accidental.

  Caesar raised his sword and squinted his eyes dangerous, a piercing red light escaped from his eyes as his feet moved. 'My physique has not progressed since my last battle with Joe. Hopefully, I can gain something here…' Caesar thought inwardly as he got closer.

  A bluish mist escaped from his feet and within 15 meters Caesar, the entire terrain turned into slippery ice, the Clan heads didn't even have a chance to react before 13 slender ice spikes were heading straight for them at quick speeds. Their points were sharp and were directed at vital points.

  If the clan heads weren't worried about delivering lethal strikes, then neither was he.

  CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX

  The thirteen clan heads weaved the fire coiled around their swords and melted the slender spikes of ice stretching toward them. Still, they didn't stop there, with excellent coordination, all thirteen immediately condensed a semi-large ball of fire while also slowly floating in the air.

  Even the strong winds were not capable of stopping the large amount of mana the clan heads were utilizing, soon, 13 bright lights illuminated the surroundings. They caused everyone to shift their gaze to the middle of the training grounds.

  Albeit, some of the lights were much brighter than others; however, to the spectators, it looked as though 13 suns descended upon the world.

  "W-why would the clan heads use the 13-sun technique in a skirmish… against one foe, at that" a random onlooker couldn't help but mutter in disbelief.

 
; Caesar, who was surrounded by the enormous balls of heat could feel the temperature rising from where he was standing, the ice surrounding him started to melt, and steam rose into the air.

  His eyes madly rotated as he observed all possible outcomes, many different lines, possibilities, and weakness appeared in his line of sight. Caesar started to frantically test each method as if he was solving a tough calculus question.

  This may have seemed like a long time to Caesar. However, to the outside world, only a few seconds had passed. Most of the 13 clan heads had large beads of sweat trail down their faces, and their chests were heaving, it was apparent that this technique was taxing.

  "You should have never come here, outsider. It's a shame that this training grounds will be your burial!" the clan head with long, flowing green hair roared out crazily.

  Right after his words ended, Caesar didn't hesitate any longer and instantaneously created a path of ice directly toward the green-haired man. He jumped off the ground and ran up the slender piece of ice; if his assumption was correct, they still needed some time to cast the spell.

  Caesar moved like a shadow and quickly arrived in front of the green-haired man's ball of energy before anyone could even blink their eyes, he immediately jumped over the 'sun' and grabbed the man by the back of the neck.

  The abundant amount of mana dispersed, and the man's 'sun' disappeared without a trace. However, Caesar wasn't done yet, without a stand of hesitation, he flung the man's body directly towards Faust's fireball, the biggest one.

  The body arced through the air at a quick velocity; if one looked closely, the man with green hair had confusion written on his face, he clearly didn't even know what had happened.

  Faust scrunched up his brows and quickly dissipated the fireball in front of him, his muscles went taut, and the sweat on his body grew more abundant.

  Seeing this, Caesar smiled widely. He had assumed that dissipating the ball of energy would be just as taxing as creating it. Thankfully, destroying the weakest link worked in his favor.

  Both Faust and the green-haired man collided and created a loud noise, Faust caught the man by the shoulders, and they both fell from the air.

  "AZIR, YOU FAILURE!" Faust roared angrily.

  His roar brought the other clan heads back to reality; they shifted their attention back to Caesar and raised their swords in his direction.

  The once stationary balls of fire finally started to move, some of the clan heads continued to pour more mana into theirs while others didn't hesitate to throw their small sun at Caesar.

  Caesar threw his cloak to the side and took a step forward. He had quite a few options, such as going into enemy lines or just simply running away; however, this was the perfect time to show the fox-kins his power. He firmly believed that to shine like the sun, you must first burn like one.

  Caesar's slow footsteps slowly turned into a jog, and then into a sprint, soon, he was rushing straight at the huge balls of flame heading towards him. Caesar knew that his mana wasn't unlimited, and he also knew that his stamina would run dry sooner or later. He knew his limits, and it was because he knew about them, that he wanted to continue forward. To pass his limits, to evolve.

  The strong winds fluttered Caesar's long hair, and the bright lights perfectly illuminated Caesar's overly handsome face. The temperature rose by quite a few degrees as small droplets of sweat trailed down Caesar's face.

  He raised his right hand, and a bluish mist once again permeated from his body, the temperature around Caesar's body quickly dropped. The ground beneath him once again froze, suddenly, considerably large spikes erupted from the earth, much bigger than the ones he had previously used.

  Caesar could feel the mana reserves within his body drain at an expeditious pace. Nonetheless, his face was still calm. He directed the abundant amount of ice straight at the small suns. To a spectator, the clan heads clearly had an advantage.

  The giant ice spikes and the first small sun collided, causing a considerable amount of steam to rise into the air, and the ground beneath them to shake. Caesar furrowed his brows and continuously tapped into his mana reserves to drop the temperature even further.

  Within 30 or so meters of Caesar, no other soldier dared to enter, Falthor, Rakan, and Soka were all busy defeating the other troops. Still, all of them occasionally threw a worried glance in Caesar's direction.

  More steam rose into the air, and the giant ball of flame visibly started to dim and lose its heat, Caesar's ice was evidently superior. As both elements were the opposite, they could be considered to counter each other.

  Alas, that was only one of the 11 suns. Without letting Caesar rest, two more, that were larger than the previous one, entered into his line of sight. The temperature once again rose, and Caesar's ice was beginning to melt.

  "Tsk," Caesar clicked his tongue in annoyance and once again raised his hands, the light coming from his eyes became a deeper shade of red as hundreds of ice crystals formed around his location.

  He had to continuously use his ice magic, which he hadn't mastered yet. He didn't want to use his authority in front of all of the fox-kin; his race was only known to a select few trustworthy people. He knew that the more people that found out, the harder it was going to be to hide.

  The massive ice crystals that formed around Caesar were undoubtfully cold and beautiful, alas, they used up nearly half of his mana reserves. The rising temperature stopped, and it actually started to fall again.

  As if history repeated itself, the same scenario that happened last time, once again recurred, the two balls of flame collided with Caesar's ice, however, the ice slowly overwhelmed the small suns, releasing even more hot steam into the atmosphere.

  Right as the two suns dissipated, Caesar kicked off the ground and rushed forward. He knew that staying any longer would mean his inevitable defeat. Although he somewhat took care of five suns, eight more still existed, and they were stronger than the others.

  The enormous amount of steam slightly cloaked Caesar's figure as he madly dashed toward the other clan heads, some of Caesar's strongest traits, happened to be his speed, and stamina. Even Renee could attest to that.

  Caesar moved like a bullet, charging directly at the remaining clan heads. They were currently unaware of his location as they were waiting for the steam to dissipate.

  As Caesar was moving through the steam, a shadow of a sword suddenly caught his eyes, he raised his wooden blade in retaliation and barely blocked the sword.

  Both wooden swords struck each other, and Caesar could finally catch a glimpse of who had attacked him.

  "I think of you as my friend. However, I refuse to lose!" Faust roared and swept the steam away from their location, quickly grabbing the attention of the rest of the clan heads.

  Caesar, who was now encompassed by enemies, didn't have anywhere to retreat too. He had overlooked Faust, who had fallen from the air earlier.

  "Use the remaining bits of your power, who cares if you hit me in the process!" Faust shouted at the top of his lungs.

  "This is just a skirmish, are you sure?" Caesar asked quietly.

  "Haha, this is much more than a skirmish, our honor, no, our lives are on the line here…" Faust replied with a crazy look in his eyes.

  "Truly selfless, alas, your efforts are in vain… how long do you think it takes for a headless chicken to fall?" Caesar asked slyly, and right as his words ended, three figures appeared behind Caesar.

  As if time stopped, behind Caesar's tall back, Falthor, Rakan, and Soka, all appeared with sinister expressions, their few elites followed behind them.

  "Haha," Caesar gripped his forehead while laughing wildly. He didn't expect his troops to finish them so quickly, but they exceeded his expectations. The enemy soldiers without any leaders were pitifully weak.

  His ominous laughter entered into everyone's ears, including the spectators, if someone from Caesar's previous world were here to witness this scene, they would surely think. 'Why is the one that looks like
a villain, winning? Have the roles reversed?'

  Musashi, who was sitting on the sidelines, stood up and took a puff of his pipe, "it's over" he muttered.

  Renee stood up and looked at Musashi curiously, "what do you mean, grandfather?" she asked.

  As if answering Renee's question, all of the steam on the training grounds was blown away by the strong winds, and the many unconscious bodies littering the ground became visible to all. Those that were slowed down by Rakan, were all unconscious with near severe wounds, given by none other than Soka and his men.

  The rest were taken out by Falthor with the support of Rakan. The poor soldiers had no chance without their 13 clan heads. They were beaten in merely 10-15 minutes.

  Caesar's loud laughter abruptly stopped and was replaced by loud clapping. "Excellent job, Rakan, Soka, and of course, Falthor, I do hope you relinquish great rewards in the upcoming tournament. I would love to lead in you the real war against the trolls," he said with a sly smile, and his words paused for a second.