“Everyone gather around, our hero and leader is here!”

All of the soldiers surrounded the tent with excitement ready to see their savior. Ash, still holding the bottle in his hand,

“I should put this away or they would probably be off-putting with a hero who takes souls.”

Ash put Isabel’s soul in a metal box he got from his abyss portal and put the box back in the portal. He composed himself,

“For Isabel,”

Ash pushed the tent's door flap open unveiling a thousand soldiers looking in formation. The gear all soldiers wore is chrome with helmets that resembled skulls with a black stripe that went diagonally down the chassis. They were small for an army,

“We are small but we were all trained under Athena’s leadership. We just need a great leader to go against the swarm of untrained soldiers.”

Every single soldier looks like they can take on a hundred men. One man comes from the ranks of soldiers who have a full black but shiny armor with a gold skull helmet who must be a high-ranking officer.

“I was the stand-in for you hero. My name is Ken Nicolas and with me are the six reapers.”

Nicolas takes off his mask/helmet to show his white long hair and muscular features. Behind him five soldiers emerged from the ranks, the first one is a slim, lengthy man who has a maroon color dog skull. He slash marks all over his arms, he was keeping track of something.

The second soldier has a red skull that resembles a lion which matches his attributes. The big man wore a lion pelt around his waist that went nicely with his fang necklace.

The next one to come forth is a muscular woman with a purple panther helmet who moves a little too excited for war, Ash thought of someone who she reminds him of. Her muscles were so taut just standing in formation.

The fourth is a small girl with a cat helmet that was the color of black. She acted serious for being so small but a glint caught Ash’s eye. The small reaper wore a hood that covered her skull helmet but she uncovered it revealing the helmet, her eyes can be seen through the dark sockets of the helmet. Her pure red eyes and a scent of blood but Ash couldn’t tell if it was just from a bloody battle or she is a vampire. Ash saw her pasty skin when she lifted her hood with her hand.

Lastly a man with horns coming out of his head and a full mask/helmet of a dragon that is white as snow and a tail that was spiked like a weapon.

“So you are a half-dragon right,”

Ash directed the comment at him in which he nodded slowly in agreement,

“Hmm so you are mute and you little one, are you a vampire? I probably shouldn’t be calling you little, you might be a hundred and twenty.”

She shifted her eyes looking for an enemy ready to strike her down.

“Now you, the one with the lion skull, I am guessing you are from the fearful tribe that hunted the dangerous beasts to prove yourselves.”

He proudly puffed his chest loving the appraisement from the hero, while the vampire almost shivered after being found out so fast. She looked around looking for an escape just in case Ash gave an order to take her out.

“You don't have to do that, I have no intentions of killing you,” Ash reassured her.

The vampire looked up and asked him, “How did you find out, I've been keeping my cover from being blown for many years now.”

Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.

Ash confidently, “Your bright red eyes and the scent of blood but that was a little hard to tell because everyone here smells like blood. The real dead giveaway is your skin, it is pale white. Vampires are dead and so your skin turns pale, like your dead.”

She rested her shoulders from being alert to relaxed. They all wore shiny gold chassis, greaves, boots, and gauntlets besides the helmet.

“Now you with the really fit figure, are you perhaps from the fallen kingdom of Zestia. Wasn't it only women that lived there, that is probably why it fell, not saying it was your leadership that made it fall but the lack of men.”

Ash criticized her kingdom which made her grip her broadsword tightly.

Ash moved on to the guy with a dog skull, “I know you were trained only for tracking given your helmet but where did you come from, you don’t have a familiar aura.”

The man with the dog helmet responded with a quiet tone, “I was born and raised in this army, I learned everything from Ken Nicolas.”

Ash was impressed with the power that came off these six, and figured out why they are called the six reapers,

“Now all of you give me your names and I will give you mine,” Ash projected his voice.

The first one to speak is the vampire, “We are not to give out our names, it is because when we joined this army we left everything behind that is including names.”

Ash was mildly disappointed, scratching his chin, he got an idea, “How about I give you names for the time being until you come up with new names.”

He gave the reapers no chance to respond to his idea,

“Alright, first you, half breed, your name will be Stone because you are as talkative as a rock.”

The soldiers in the back started laughing and so were the two brutes in the reaper group.

“Alright vampire you are next, how about Fang it fits.”

The little vampire showed her little fang biting her lip,

“Next muscle head, what name should you get, umm let us see oh Brick, it works both ways for your body and brain.”

He pointed at Ash and yelled out while everyone was chuckling around him,

“HEY, just because you are the hero doesn't mean you are the most powerful one here. How about we fight, come on, are you scared of losing.”

Ash sighed already knowing how this is going to end, “Okay bring it but if I win you are going to shut that big mouth of yours for the rest of the name picking.”

Brick laughed, “Ha ha ha alright scrawny let's do this,”

before Nicolas could stop him he charged Ash with his Warhammer to be chopped in the back of the neck by Ash. The big burly man tipped over, hitting the floor with force,

“Does anyone else want to pick a fight with me, come on, anyone? Alright, let me finish the names please.”

There was chatter in the ranks like “wow with one blow,” and another like “He was the strongest out of all of us.”

Fang threw in her joke, “He sure did shut up.”

Ash smiled at her joke but continued to think for the other names, after a minute of brainstorming he finally bestowed their names,

“Alright how about Tessa for you the one wearing the panther. Next is you tracker, your name, for now, is well, Tracker, sorry you can see I am not good with coming up with names.”

Ash tried to change the subject before anything else happened, “Okay with all of your names done and made it is my turn to tell all of you soldiers. So my name is Ash. I am a demigod and if you have to know my father is Hades and don’t ask me about him or you will face a swift death.”

Everyone was open-mouthed at who his dad was and finally was able to meet Ash, “Excuse me hero sir but are you really Ash, one of the dark brothers.”

Ash with power in his voice answers, “Yes, I am Ash the Strongest Demigod; and if you follow me, we will win this war!”

Everyone raised their swords in unison shouting hurrah, “Now I am going to be in my tent planning if you general Nicolas or other reapers want to ask questions I will be there, everyone just ready yourselves for the battle and that will be all.”

Ash turns around and walks back into his tent to plan a siege on the bridge and castles.

A few hours pass, Nicolas enters the tent to ask Ash how he will win with such a small army,

“Excuse me, hero, oh I mean Ash, how are you going to pull this off with such a small army.”

Ash pointed to the middle of the map, “Maybe we don’t even need an army for what we are going to do. My plan is to let them come at us in waves because the bridge is too narrow for a full force to attack at once.”

Nicolas understood his tactics, “So how many soldiers do you want to bring along.”

Ash began to evaluate how much room a single soldier would take, “I will have three reapers and twenty soldiers.”

Nicolas asks, “What reapers will be joining you on this mission and who will sit out.”

Ash picked out who will go, “The three that will be going are Brick, Tessa, and Stone because they can hold their ground without being pushed back, the others are going to wait at the beginning of the bridge and wait until I give the signal. That is all, relay the mission to them please.”

Nicolas humbly, “I will give them their mission and tell them to get ready.”

Nicolas walks out of the tent to tell the reapers their mission. “Now who am I facing in this war, what demigod will I have to fight and beat,” Ash speaks his mind.