“So what we’ve managed to confirm so far are the deaths of two of the stronger demon fourth tiers and eleven weaker ones,” Sir Marsten stated to the apparent delight of the assembled people in the base’s command tent. The announcement brought smiles – often melancholic – to dour and somber faces, which was quite impactful when one considered that most of those faces belonged to rugged, middle-aged military types.

At least Alissa thought so.

The mood was somber in the command tent prior to the announcement because while confirming the dead demon fourth tiers took time – it needed eyewitness reports and confirmations after all, since often the bodies were gone by the end of the battle – it was far easier for the humans to count their own dead. Which, unfortunately, was not a small number by any means.

They had lost six of their fourth tiers during the final battle – including Silvia – and out of the over fifty thousand soldiers that defended the fort, over a third had laid down their lives in the line of duty. Out of the survivors, a good quarter had injuries that would require some extended rest and recuperation, if they were even fit to ever return to duty once more. Nearly everyone had injuries of some sort from the fighting, though the rest got off lighter.

Alissa herself had some injuries on her body from her fight with the [Champion’s Retainer] who managed to put her on the backfoot after a third demon came up to join the fight while her spear was still stuck in the grip of the dying demon. She was the only one who managed to take down a fourth tier demon on her own during the battle, apparently, as most of the rest were killed by either Silvia or Sir Inolet.

As for the demon side’s casualties, it was difficult to count them up, but they lost at least three to four times as many soldiers as the humans did, even if most of those were low-tier ones. That the demons could even afford such losses with a shrug was testament to how they just had far more people than the humans did, even if many had difficulty reaching the higher tiers in their lifetime.

On the other hand, the fourth tier losses – especially the two powerful ones – would be much more felt. Sir Inolet had showcased why fourth tier combatants were the ones who decided battles even when it was between such large armies. Once he was on the loose, there was nothing the demons could do but to beat a hasty retreat as they had no more fourth tiers to keep him occupied.

A single fourth tier combatant with the right sort of skills like Sir Inolet could easily turn the tide of a battle as they shattered formations. Others who had less wide-ranged powers could often still do the same, by way of decapitation strikes towards enemy commanders for instance. All in all a fourth tier enemy on the loose when one side had nothing to counter them with was nothing short of a nightmare scenario for the strategists and tacticians of Ephemera.

If that fourth tier had been a weaker one, then massed higher level third tiers might be able to hold them off or even take them down, if not easily. However, nothing could do the same to the more powerful fourth tiers, and even if one wanted to use numbers they’d need at least several weaker fourth tiers to do so. Not an easy task when fourth tier combatants were so rare to begin with.

For all the tens of thousands of people involved in the fighting over the fort – over a hundred thousand counting the demons – There were less than a hundred fourth tiers in total involved in the fighting. Alissa, Ethan, and Joshua, as well as the rest of their party were already included in that number, with the three of them considered to be amongst the powerful, if on the low end of the scale still.

The consideration of a fourth tier combatant’s power was just that: Power. Their levels or class rarity did not matter, as long as they were able to show that they possessed more power than most of their counterparts. It was why some lower leveled fourth tiers could be considered as the powerful ones even if they lacked rarer classes. Some of them were just that good at utilizing what skills they had.

Silvia’s burst of power had granted her enough capability to downright dominate most of the weaker demon fourth tiers and even hold her own against the powerful ones. It was a drastic boost of strength, one that the girl literally fueled with her very life, but it showcased well why having even one more powerful fourth tier than what the enemy expected might be enough to turn the tides of a battle.

Since Silvia lacked the ability to cause mass destruction like Sir Inolet could, she had hunted down many of the dead demon fourth tiers and freed him up to go wild. The sudden loss of so many fourth tiers combined with the human fourth tiers mounting a counterattack was what broke the spine of the demon assault on the fort.

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Neither the [Mother of Monsters] nor the as of yet unseen buffer demon [Champion] had been able to turn the tides even as they turned their considerable power to the task, which forced the demons to swallow the defeat and slink off with their tails between their legs. The former sacrificed all of her undead abominations to buy time for the demons to escape, and even then they still took grievous losses in the process.

“I guess the girl sold her life dearly,” said Sir Inolet somberly as he made a gesture that reminded Alissa of the sign of the cross. Something she had not seen him ever done before. Sir Marsten had made it clear that he had little love for the Temple, and Sir Inolet likely had similar opinions regarding the temple, which made the gesture an unexpected one.

The faces of the Temple Guards present in the room brightened up, though, and they – together with quite a few others present – repeated the gesture themselves with solemnity. It was a gesture of respect from Sir Inolet to show that Silvia’s sacrificial choice was one that had earned his respect, even if he personally disagreed with such an approach.

It was a concession the old knight rarely gave.

“She did well. We might well have lost the fort if not for her sacrifice,” acknowledged sir Marsten with a nod of his head. The old knight was clearly uncomfortable with the idea of young people willingly sacrificing their lives like that while old veterans like them lives on, but he acknowledged it for what it was, and showed his respect as well as he repeated the gesture. “With this setback the demons should not force another offensive in the meantime. We should have enough time for reinforcements to arrive and to repair the fort as well.”

“How long is the estimate until our reinforcements arrive?” asked another of the fourth tiers present, a younger woman whose left eye was covered by still-bloody bandages since she had lost it during the fighting.

“The last news we received indicated that they should be no more than a day or two out,” replied Sir Marsten. The proximity of the reinforcements was likely known to the demons, who had their own spies in the Human Kingdom, which might have been why they pushed for the final offensive when they did back then. “They also sent another dozen fourth tiers to allow some of us to rest and recuperate, so you’re all getting some time off, in turns.”

“Now, before some of you will inevitably ask about it, this is mandatory. Get some proper rest, people. The battle is ongoing throughout the whole front. We’ll survive a week without you no problem,” added the old knight with a weary smirk on his face. He was clearly all too familiar with soldiers refusing to leave their post even when relieved after an intense battle, especially young ones. “This also applies to your party, Miss O’Connor, though again, you would have to take the break in turns.”

Alissa nodded at the old knight’s proclamation and upon hearing his words, thought about what she had been doing ever since she arrived in Ephemera. She realized that she had not relaxed at all other than for brief moments when they were still in the safety of the Royal Capital. Part of her cheered at the chance to finally do something on her own, but she kept it from showing on her features.

Something [Weather the Storm] was really good for, to say the least.

“Is there even a place close enough for us to take a break on and return within a short time, though? You hinted that we’d have a week of break earlier, Sir,” asked Alissa after the old knight finished speaking. She didn’t mind having to separate from the rest for a while, as fewer people would make it easier for her to try to find things out on her own.

It was easier to ditch two people than it was to ditch eleven, after all.

“Yes, there is. The closest town to here is called Clearridge, it’s around a day’s travel away by carriage, to the north-east. If you’re willing to go there on foot instead, with your capabilities you could likely cut the travel time by half or more so you can relax an extra day, but I’ll leave that choice to you when it’s your turn,” said Sir Marsten with a nod of his head. “It’s a quaint little town. The valley’s presence and Fort Ixlay meant that it’s safe there, so it’s a good place to rest when you’re tired. My people regularly took their breaks there so they know to expect us.”

“It’s not the biggest town, but it’s home to one of the better academies of the Kingdom,” continued the Old Knight. “Their library is known to have one of the better collections of books both old and new. I figure this might interest you, Miss O’Connor, since I heard from Henri that you are quite an avid reader yourself.”

“Indeed, Sir,” replied Alissa with a smile. “Thanks for the information.”

“We will arrange the schedules for who goes on break when by tomorrow and start rotating people in and out once the reinforcements arrive,” continued Sir Marsten without missing a beat. “Until then, I ask everyone to have patience and remain vigilant, just in case. We have driven the demons back, but they would likely still attempt to strike at us in more cowardly manners instead, so keep your guard up. It wouldn’t do to lose your life after winning the battle.”

Sir Marsten’s words brought the occupants of the tent back into a solemn mood. More than a few of them glanced towards the exit of the tent, where they could see the soldiers carrying and sorting out corpses of their compatriots. Corpses of people they might have broken bread with, sang and told ribald jokes with, or even cared for just days ago.

Most of the corpses would be cremated in a mass cremation ceremony. There was simply not enough room or time to opt for any other approach with the number of casualties they had taken. Though the cremation would be done en masse, the corpses would still be spaced out, so that their ashes wouldn’t mix together. The collected ashes would then be sent home to the Kingdom.

Much like the caravan Alissa’s group passed on their way to the fort.

A few more important people – nobles, commanders, and fourth tier warriors – would have their bodies sent back home for burial, but that was for the fortunate.

For a few, like Silvia, there was simply nothing left of them to send home other than a few personal effects they left behind at the base.