The battlefield spiraled further into chaos, a brutal storm of elemental clashes. Hax and Mystra tore through the united tribes' forces like unstoppable titans, their rampage sending shockwaves through every soldier fighting against them.
The Sand tribe struggled to maintain their ground as Hax's dragons blasted the desert with torrents of water, eroding the sand beneath their feet. Dune fought fiercely, using towering sandstorms and walls to block the attacks, but even his unyielding resolve was beginning to crack under the weight of Hax's relentless power.
The Aqua tribe, led by Queen Veyra, pushed back with their own water blasts, but the aquatic dragons' pressurized attacks overpowered most of their techniques. The battlefield was quickly turning into a chaotic mixture of sand, water, and smoke - a deadly cocktail of elements clashing endlessly.
On the other side, Mystra's bug army swarmed every tribe mercilessly. Her insects poured out from her like an unending river of horror, flooding the battlefield. They devoured anything in their path - shields, weapons, even elemental attacks that weren't strong enough to eradicate them. Soldiers screamed as the smaller bugs burrowed into their armor and flesh, forcing their comrades to burn, drown, or freeze the swarms off them.
Glacius gritted his teeth, his icy aura spreading as he froze wave after wave of bugs solid. But as fast as he encased them in ice, more would pour from Mystra's body. "This is endless," he growled, driving an icicle through a writhing mass of insects.
Beside him, Peggy darted through the battlefield, her fairy tribe moving as a coordinated unit. The fairies, though not as physically powerful as other tribes, were swift and precise - using their elemental fairy powers to release bursts of radiant energy, disintegrating small portions of Mystra's swarm.
Peggy hovered above the ground, her wings shimmering as she extended her hand and sent a blast of glowing light energy at the bugs closing in on a group of Nature tribe soldiers. The radiant pulse incinerated the insects, allowing the soldiers to retreat, but it was a small victory in an ocean of destruction.
Despite their efforts, the fairies were faltering. The sheer volume of Mystra's bugs overwhelmed their delicate magic, and with every soldier Peggy saved, another was dragged down by the swarm.
"Hold the line!" Peggy shouted, her usually calm voice now laced with desperation.
One of her fairy soldiers, bloodied and exhausted, gasped, "Mystra's swarm... it doesn't stop. It's like fighting death itself!"
Suddenly, Hax's dragons turned their attention to the fairy tribe. Seeing their radiant attacks making slight dents in Mystra's army, Hax growled, "These pesky fairies think they can burn my ally's soldiers?"
With a brutal roar, three aquatic dragons unleashed powerful water blasts, aiming directly at the fairies.
Peggy's heart stopped. "Move!" she screamed to her tribe.
But the water blasts struck hard - sending several fairies crashing into the sand, their glowing forms flickering and dimming as they hit the ground.
Peggy's eyes burned with fury. "Hax... you-"
Before she could finish, Glacius stepped in front of her, his ice erupting in a massive barrier, freezing the oncoming dragons' water attacks midair. "Focus, Peggy," he muttered. "If you fall, the fairies will fall with you."
Peggy clenched her fists, her glowing energy crackling around her. "I'm not letting them win."
The battlefield was now a swirling maelstrom - dragons roaring, bugs swarming, tribes unleashing their elemental abilities, and in the center of it all were Hax and Mystra.
Hax's water blasts shook the ground with every strike. His aquatic dragons roamed freely, battering soldiers left and right.
Mystra, her body a never-ending conduit for the bug infestation, stood at the heart of her insect storm, laughing softly as her swarm devoured everything.
The tribes - Sand, Aqua, Magma, Nature, Ice, Fairy, Thunder, and Metal - were fighting not just for victory but for survival.
As the battle raged into its third day, the intense clash of elemental powers had worn down every tribe. Despite the combined strength of Arson, Sylvia, Glacius, Veyra, Dune, Peggy, and the Metal, Thunder, and Aqua tribes, Hax and Mystra still seemed like unstoppable forces - monstrous in their endurance and raw elemental might.
Even with the Metal tribe's technology continuously draining their energy, both titans pressed on. Hax's dragon roars shook the earth, and Mystra's endless waves of bugs still swarmed the battlefield, though noticeably fewer in number now. The exhaustion was evident across all tribes, but the battle raged on.
Then, without warning, Hax staggered. His powerful frame dropped to one knee, his breathing heavy and uneven. A dark purple hue began spreading across his body - the telltale sign of poison. Mystra, meanwhile, found herself unable to summon new swarms. The remaining bugs that had once spilled from her very body now lay lifeless on the battlefield, and a sickly weakness coursed through her veins.
From the opposite side of the battlefield emerged the Poison tribe, Wine at the front, his signature grin plastered across his face. His soldiers - a blend of former members from the Fairy, Magma, Nature, Ice, Sand, Aqua, Thunder, and Psychic tribes - stood unified in their twisted "rainbow alliance."
Wine chuckled darkly, addressing the two fallen titans:
"You dragons roar too loud, and you bugs crawl too slow... we run for a reason. Stabbing from the shadows - that's our specialty."
He then revealed the truth behind their sudden collapse. While the other tribes kept Hax and Mystra busy, the Poison tribe had stayed hidden, silently firing poison darts at Hax. Thanks to his monstrous durability, the poison had taken time to take effect, the symptoms creeping in so gradually that neither Hax nor anyone else noticed until it was too late.
As for Mystra, Wine smirked as he explained how he had gathered samples of her bugs during the battle. From those samples, he had crafted a powerful bug repellent drug - a poison of sorts designed to counter her very element. By consuming the drug, the Poison tribe had been able to spread the repellent like a mist from their mouths, killing off Mystra's bugs and weakening her direct connection to them.
With her swarms eradicated and her numbers advantage gone, Mystra's strength waned, and she too fell to her knees.
Hax, furious but struggling to even lift himself, growled:
"Cowards... hiding in the shadows..."
But Wine simply laughed again:
"Cowards survive. And now... we win."
The battlefield, once a chaotic storm of clashing elements, now fell into an eerie silence - broken only by the slow applause of Wine and the victorious Poison tribe.
As the battlefield settled into a tense silence, the tribes stared in shock at the sight of Hax and Mystra - two of the most powerful leaders - brought to their knees not by overwhelming strength, but by cunning and poison.
Wine, still smirking, stepped forward, his voice calm but laced with malice:
"This is what true power looks like - not roaring like dragons or crawling like insects, but striking when you least expect it."
Hax's body trembled, a dark purple poison still spreading through his veins, but his rage was burning through the pain. He glared at Wine, teeth gritted:
"You think this makes you stronger than us? You hid behind others and struck from the shadows like a snake."
Mystra, her once-commanding presence now frail, coughed as she tried to summon a new wave of bugs - but none came. Her swarm was gone, annihilated by the repellent drug. She clutched her stomach, feeling the sting of Wine's poison, her voice hoarse but defiant:
"Killing my bugs won't kill me... I'll breed more... I am the swarm."
Wine's smile only widened:
"Not this time, Mystra. Your body is weakening. You're not a queen without your soldiers."
The other tribes stood frozen, their exhaustion mixing with disbelief. Arson's fists were still clenched, the steam from his weakened flames barely rising now. Sylvia's vines, once vibrant and full of life, were drooping, drained from supporting the Magma tribe for so long. Even Glacius, usually a pillar of cold strength, had frost that flickered and cracked from his fingertips - a sign of his own depletion.
Peggy, her wings slightly torn from battle, stepped cautiously in front of Wine, glaring at her brother:
"This... this is what you wanted? To tear them down like this?!"
Wine's expression shifted, his voice lowering to a near whisper, meant only for Peggy:
"They would have done the same to us, sister. I didn't build the Poison tribe for peace."
The members of the Poison tribe stood tall behind Wine - a cruel rainbow of defectors from every element. The once-Nature tribe soldiers, now wielding poison instead of life-giving flora, sneered at Sylvia. The Magma defectors, veins coursing with venom rather than fire, smirked at Arson's weakened flames. Even the Aqua, Ice, and Thunder defectors seemed to revel in the downfall of their former leaders.
Dune, his sandy armor cracked but still standing strong, finally broke the silence.
"So what now, Wine?" he asked, his voice steady despite the chaos around him. "You poisoned Hax, exterminated Mystra's bugs - does this make you king of the battlefield?"
Wine chuckled softly:
"Not king... but the true victor doesn't need a crown."
He then raised a hand, signaling his army.
"This war is over... for now."
But before anyone could react, the Poison tribe began hurling venom bombs into the battlefield - small, glowing orbs containing concentrated poison gas. Each bomb exploded in a sickly purple cloud, spreading toxic fumes across the war-torn land.
The tribes scrambled, the battlefield turning into a gas-filled haze. Queen Veyra, realizing the danger, quickly commanded her Aqua soldiers to summon water screens, hoping to push back the poison.
"Create a barrier!" she shouted, her voice fierce despite her own fatigue.
Sylvia and her Nature tribe tried to grow protective vines, but the poison's effect slowed the plants' growth. Arson, burning what little flame he had left, attempted to create heat waves to dissolve the gas, but it wasn't enough.
Hax, despite the poison, roared again - though weaker this time - and tried to summon his dragon flames, but his fire sputtered out. Mystra struggled to move, her body refusing to obey as the last remnants of her swarm dissolved into ash.
As the poisonous mist thickened, Wine's voice echoed through the gas:
"Let this be a reminder... the Poison tribe never fights fair."