Legisvula quietly crept behind the demon sentry on the walkway atop the supply center’s wall. It was an easy task, even if he hadn’t possessed his stealth skills, as the demon in question had her attention occupied by the ruckus happening in the middle of the base. It was far too easy to notice the now-burning keep, so the Exalted One had clearly outdone herself with the “distraction” she was giving the rest.

Before the demon could react or make a sound, Legisvula had already reached up – he had to, since the demon was a Nevilosk almost twice his height – and covered her mouth with one hand, while his other hand brought his short blade, crafted from the scythe-like arm of an arachnid, across the demon’s throat, neatly slicing through her windpipe and blood vessels in one smooth motion.

The demon in question gasped and whimpered as her lanky body slumped down to the walkway’s floor, her struggles quickly weakening even as her lifeblood flooded out of her throat from the slit he just made there. Normally he would have used more of his skills to cover both him and his victim from sight, but in the present situation, the demons were too occupied to notice anyway.

He quietly deposited the corpse against the wall, where it was mostly out of sight for anyone looking from below, before he crept towards the next sentry and repeated the process. In his mind he knew that Dali, along with two of Lady Ani’s warriors were doing the same in different areas of the wall. One by one, the demons on sentry duty were taken out before they could raise any warning.

The silence outside of the ruckus in the center of the base was proof of how efficient they were at their job.

By the time Legisvula was done with his area – something he knew when instead of another demon sentry, he only ran into corpses neatly tucked against the wall – the fire in the keep at the center of the base had turned into a conflagration, and he could see the Exalted One walking out from the burning building, in her human-looking guise.

He was not the least bit worried about the Exalted one, as they had already checked and found out that there was only a single fourth tier present in the base. That fourth tier was most likely within the very building the Exalted One just exited from, and therefore most certainly dead, if that was the case. Other than that single elite, none of the rest posed any real threat to the group.

Not even to Iryl, who was weaker than the rest of them.

Legisvula quietly sent out the signal that he was done towards those waiting outside, and within moments, he heard scrabbling from the outer walls as the rest of the group assigned to his section – Val’Kasj, Tiesya, and two grizzled warriors from Lady Ani’s entourage – climbed to the top of the wall and vaulted over with ease.

A quick glance around showed him that the rest of their group had done the same on the other sections of the wall.

After a quick exchange of silent gestures and nods, the other four descended from the walls and jumped towards the unsuspecting demons below. Legisvula himself stayed atop the wall. He and the others were tasked to keep an eye for runners and escapees, as they didn’t want to let any survivors spread the news about their attack.

They were bringing their whole force and not just the humans amongst them, after all.

If the demons were to hear about a group of Old God worshippers being active and causing trouble in their territory, their reaction could be predicted. While the group could make use of such a reaction to distract the demons from the war effort, they felt that it wasn’t the right time as of yet, and that such a move should be saved for later.

Besides, to do so would likely cause the demons to hunt for any other hidden sanctuaries within their territories. None of the group wanted that, as that would likely lead to more tragedies like what happened to Navef. Like the very same tragedies that happened in their home village and turned the [Progenies of Yore] into what they were today.

It was the sort of pain that none of them would have ever wished upon another.

As such, Legisvula calmly kept his vigil atop the wall, keeping watch for demons attempting to escape – who he’d dispatch quietly from above – while the rest of the group went deeper into the base to slaughter the rest of the demons present.

Stolen content alert: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.

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Resitia felt that there wasn’t much resistance from amongst the demons they ran into. While her group – which included Mel-Ivas and Iryl as well as another of Ani’s people – were assigned to head into the base from the direction that would take them to the backside of the keep, there were still quite a few demons present in their path. None of the demons gave them much of a workout – or experience for that matter – though.

In fact, even Iryl took down the demons that got in her way with ease, while Resitia just casually stabbed through the hearts or throats of any demon that crossed her path. Mel-Ivas was to their side, the girl getting more used to the combative part of her role instead of just staying back to heal them like before. It was quite surprising how far she had come in the short time that had passed, though to be fair she likely had some skills aiding her weapon proficiency as well.

As it was, the group’s combat medic was easily taking on several demons at once – only one of them was even third tier, and low level at that – with her mace and small shield, and while she couldn’t take care of them as efficiently as Resitia or Iryl – both of whom had far more combat-related skills – she still took the demons out one after another with measured swings of her weapon and shield.

Mel was never shy about using her shield as a bludgeoning tool as well, after all.

There were a few demons – mostly lower leveled ones – that tried to run away from them instead of fighting. If the demons fled towards the supply center’s interior, then they just let them do so, while those trying to escape to the outside would soon meet with another of Ani’s warriors, a veteran scout who kept watch by the wall for the very purpose of intercepting such escapees.

None would be getting away from their end.

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On the west side of the base, Ilavakide took over the wall from where Dali had cleaned up the sentries. As an archer, she was particularly well suited to take care of escapees, and would be less useful in a melee anyway. On the other hand, Dali would be able to do more in the mess below, so it was a duty Ilavakide took to without complaint.

She took an arrow out from the quiver slung across her back and nocked it on the string of her bow, drawing her bow to its full draw length while aiming in the same, practiced motion before she let loose. The arrow tore through the air and pierced through the throat of a running demon, with enough force behind it to pierce through the heart of the female demon behind the first one as well.

Both demons slumped down to the ground as their life left their bodies, while Ilavakide just shook her head at the sight. The demons were probably lovers, or siblings, given the way the male one was half-dragging the female protectively behind him as they ran. Ilavakide had learned the hard way that there was no point in running unless one was strong enough to protect their loved ones, however.

As for their deaths, she felt little from it. She was all too aware of the task imposed upon them as the [Progenies of Yore] by the deities that they worshiped and gave them their power. If she felt squeamish from just killing a pair of demons, then she wouldn’t be qualified to help the Exalted One to end the world as they know it.

After all, to end the world would also end all life that existed upon it.

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“[Winter Has Come]” intoned Dai’Vasy quietly as she invoked one of her new skills. Lady Ani and the Exalted One had pointed out that the supply center’s defenders were unlikely to pose much if any threat to the group, so it would be a good way for them to test out new skills under combat conditions without risking much.

Dai’Vasy had taken that advice to the heart and did just that. Her new skill was one that was close to the concept of a domain, where it would create an area around her that she could control through her mind and magic. It was not quite one yet at the time being, but she expected the skill to turn into one upon evolution, more likely than not.

In its current state, the skills made an area around her far easier to affect with her magic, as she gave it a try by freezing everything within the range. Tents and buildings were suddenly covered by sheets of ice, whereas the demons in the area – both those trying to fight back as well as those trying to escape were suddenly frozen still.

None of the demons were powerful enough to fight the effects of her magical workings, and their bodies quickly turned stiff as a layer of ice covered them from head to toe. Before long, their hearts stilled as well as they quietly perished in the cold of her creation, turning the area she was in into a frozen wasteland where no life other than her could be found.

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On the east, the corners of Belugur’ani’s lips slightly upturned as she noticed how the strike they planned was going better than what any of them had expected. The Exalted One had outdone herself, the distraction she caused made the demons far too busy and occupied to even notice the attack from outside until it was far, far too late.

Ani had been worried about the possibility of some of the demons escaping and revealing their identity at first, since there were just too many people inside the supply center that the chances of them stopping everyone from escaping was low. With how the Exalted One caused many of the demons to gather in the center of the base, however, the chances of the demons successfully escaping dropped drastically.

After all, they were being hemmed in by attackers from the four cardinal directions, and even if they managed to escape, there were still others waiting for them on the walls where the sentries used to be. Since the place itself was all locked up at night, that eliminated the chance of any quick escape, and anyone trying to escape would just be taken down by those on guard instead.

A plan that worked out perfectly was a rare thing, and Ani knew all too well that it likely wouldn’t be the case all the time, but the for the time being, she just cherished the rare feeling as she slaughtered any demon in her path as she made her way towards the keep where the Exalted One was still fighting. While she knew that the Exalted One would be fine, it wouldn’t be nice to expect her to do most of the dirty work, after all.

Her large harpoon in the lead, Ani charged through the demons who still had the presence of mind to defend themselves, and fought her way towards the center of the base. It took her longer than she liked to reach there, since she also had to pay attention so as not to let too many people get past her, but she made good time regardless.

When Ani reached there, she couldn’t help but to let out a whistle of appreciation at the carnage she witnessed.