We jogged at a quick pace southeast. Dillon, in full plate armor, hauberk, and chain coif underneath seemed to be keeping up just fine. He didn’t look fatigued in the slightest. I guess I should say, as expected of one of the Seven Virtues directly appointed by the king?
“So… Veloth was it? I heard some banter of manna spirits before… What was that?” Dillon casually asked. For a guy who managed to get separated from his unit and knocked out, he was pretty calm.
“Veloth is a manna spirit. Right now he is shapeshifted, but I assure you he can handle himself in a scrap.” Tara answered proudly for me. Why are you acting like I’m some sort of achievement for you?
“That reminds me Tara, since you are here did you... accomplish your goal?” Seriously, this guy is chatty. Actually, I was starting to wonder about that myself, but I never thought to ask.
“Yeah why aren’t you off fighting the demons at that black prison?” I chipped in.
“Ah, you mean Pandemonium? Turns out I’m not strong enough yet. I need to be stronger. After fighting you, Veloth-“
“You fought?” Dillon interrupted.
“Y-yeah… there was a misunderstanding. So after I fought you Veloth-“
“Mind you Dillon, the misunderstanding was entirely on her side. Attacked me out of nowhere, spouting something nonsensical like taking down the floor boss to carve her path to revenge.”
“I said no such thing!”
“Close enough.”
“So your reason for being here Tara?” Dillon insisted.
“Well if you two would let me-“
“We’re close! Stay quiet and we will keep the element of surprise.” I interjected in a whisper. Tara looked furious now, but she complied.
The sounds of clashing metal and a few explosions were heard periodically through the thinning trees. At this point they were basically out of the forest and at the foot of a mountain. The sounds of battle could be heard further up the slope of the mountain, and as we neared, we saw three demons standing guard outside the entrance to a cave.
“There, in that cave, is where your unit is holding Dillon.” I whisper to him as we stealthily moved from the sparse shrubbery at the edges of the forest to a nearby outcropping of rocks. Dillon earned another point of respect from me as he moved as quietly as a ninja even with that bulky armor.
“So what’s the plan?” Tara fidgeted. Was she nervous?
“I will face Ira Wrath directly. You two should help my unit as well as you can. Tara, I will be counting on your light mana’s healing ability to keep my men alive.” Tara nodded in confident affirmation. “Once you guys have cleaned up their scouts we can team up against Ira if we are still fit for battle.”
“What about this lot?” I jerk my thumb over my shoulder in the direction of the three guards in front of the cave.
“Don’t you have spell you can take them out silently with?” Tara raises her eyebrow. I think you might be overestimating me silly woman… however…
“Hmmm there is something I have considered trying. I don’t know what the results will be though.”
“Give it a shot. My unit doesn’t have the time for anything else.” Dillon tensed up. He was ready. I nodded and turned to peak ever so slightly over a rock. There the three guards watched their surroundings. One guard watched the mouth of the cave, while the other two were on the lookout for unwelcome guests.
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For scouts they were pretty heavily armored. Illustrious red scale armor covered them from head to toe, the only signs of individuality coming from the appearance of an imp-like tail on one figure. Well, I have my new lab rats, so I may as well start. I slowly willed the oxygen away in a large sphere around the trio. I did it slowly to avoid their attention until the last moment possible.
The guard watching the mouth of the cavern abruptly dropped to one knee, drawing the attention of the other two. One of the others had turned his head too sharply and stumbled from dizziness. Noticing the state of his companions, the one still standing was about to call out. I made the sphere I was controlling completely devoid of gasses to block the travel of any sound.
The trio writhed on the ground for a few more moments, and stopped moving. The sudden depressurization must have caused a lot of damage, as liters of blood seeped out from each armor and dyed the earth crimson.
“Just what in the god’s names did you do?” Dillon asked awed as he moved to take off a helmet to feed his curiosity.
“Wait! First, I don’t recommend taking that helmet off. It is a mess inside that armor, trust me. Second, your unit doesn’t have much time, right?” I drew his mind back to the battle before us.
“You’re right. Let’s go!” Dillon took the lead as we moved swiftly into the cave, maintaining our stealthy approach.
The battle was growing louder, but more than that, one man’s curses and yells could be heard as though his voice were a megaphone…
“Break their fucking formation! Do I have to do this shit myself? Useless fucking fodder! Get out of my way or I’ll gut you along with them!”
“That was definitely Ira’s voice! Quickly! We have to strike him before he makes his way forward!” Dillon surged forward, all pretense of stealth gone. Literally one second later, we came around a sharp bend, and just turning around to meet us was a very angry looking demon.
He had short, white, messy hair. He was at least seven feet tall, and his muscles bulged as though they would overtake the red scales that grew in patches on his black skin. His eye were a fierce red and his eyebrows had a steep incline, making it appear as though his brows were permanently furrowed. He wore the same red scale armor greaves, cuisse, and gauntlets that the guards outside did, and his top was nude. He seemed to be the type that relied on his build for defense.
“Oh and what have we here? The incompetent fool Dillon Diligence makes an appearance with back-up! Came back for your beating, coward?” Ira smirked at our appearance. Instead of answering Ira’s provocation, Dillon thrust his sword forward…
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