The battle began just like any other, with two sides clashing. The monsters utilized similar a similar approach to what they normally employed, though Abby knew better than to grow complacent. The creatures had shown a remarkable ability to shift tactics at a moment’s notice, and some of her lesser commanders had found themselves on the losing end of a battle they’d thought would be an easy victory.

“Idiots,” she muttered to herself.

Against these monsters, there was no such thing as an easy win. Even when the Radiant Host had emerged triumphant, they’d paid a heavy price for their victories. Sometimes, the cost was in simple numbers. Every knight they lost was a blow to their chances of winning the overall conflict, largely because they were so far from home. Any reinforcements they might get had to travel overland for weeks or, if they were lucky, take to the skies in one of the Imperium’s airships.

But the fleet was only so large, and most of it was occupied with other concerns, like protecting their merchant vessels from pirates or powerful airborne monsters. Before Ignatius had taken over, they’d taken care of the former with bribes that kept them at bay, but the new Lord Commander refused to kowtow to the pirate kings and their own fleet of airships. So, the only answer was war, and one that had been frustrating to wage.

The problem was the sheer volume of area they needed to control. The Imperium was large, and the Radiant Host was powerful, but the world was huge, wild, and pockmarked with places to hide. Whole enclaves of pirates could exist without the proper authorities even knowing about them, and Abby had heard tales of entire cities that depended on those scum.

If she’d been in charge, that war might have gone differently. However, she had her own concerns, and handling the army of bestial lizard-men was enough to occupy the whole of her attention. But once she’d finished putting down the monsters, she would turn toward the pirates.

None would survive, she’d already vowed.

But for now, she focused on the battle unfolding before her. She’d deployed her cavalry in a flanking maneuver that she hoped would serve to scatter the creatures. However, they’d reacted to it smoothly, and when the knights struck, they found a heavy shield wall, enhanced by the powerful collective skill, blunting their attack. The heavy cavalry should have been able to break through it – that was their purpose, after all – but they were rebuffed and forced to break off the charge, retreating until they saw another opportunity.

Meanwhile, the infantry clashed with the front lines, meeting an even more powerful wall of shields. However, they had no opportunity to retreat. With the press of thousands of bodies pushing them forward, they had no choice but to continue to press the attack. And that took them right into spears of their enemies.

Hundreds had already died, and the battle was only minutes old.

Yet, the Radiant Host was not without teeth of their own, and the powerful archers and mages loosed one volley after another. Some of those attacks were stymied by the shield, but many made it through to wreak havoc on the hulking lizard monsters. As was always the case, the injured were quickly taken away, where they would be treated by other, slimmer monsters.

Abby had read all the reports. Her spies, each one equipped with potent skills dedicated to stealth, had observed the structure of the deceptively sophisticated operation. If she hadn’t known better, she would have labeled them people. They were not even on the level of human-like elves or dwarves. Instead, they were purely monstrous, even if they sometimes acted far more civilized than that label would have suggested.

Once, Ignatius had explained it to her in no uncertain terms. “You can teach a dog tricks. They can follow directions and mimic some human behavior. But you cannot change their nature. They are beasts, and nothing any of us can do will ever change that. It is the same with monsters. They may stand on two feet. They might speak. They can even parrot human intelligence. Yet, their natures will never change. They are inferior creatures, and they deserve to be subjugated.”

Abby had taken that statement to heart, and once she’d begun to accept it as the truth, everything had come into focus. It was so obvious that humanity was superior, and she wondered how she’d ever failed to recognize that fact.

Still, that superiority didn’t mean that the monsters of the world were any less dangerous. She respected their ability to kill, even if she knew that their lives were worth far less than that of a human being.

In the back of her mind, though, there were doubts. And those doubts were seeded by a simple question: was she only making excuses so that her actions – which included wholesale slaughter of many of these “monsters” – were more palatable? She’d buried those doubts – and the question that led to them – deep in the back of her mind, and yet, they were always still there, waiting to pounce on any situation that might support them.

But for now, she had no room for such superfluous thoughts.

“Loose the juggernaut,” she said without looking at her second-in-command.

Eran said, “As you say, commander.”

Then, the woman relayed the command to another subordinate, who in turn would take it to Serpentus. In her mind’s eye, Abby could see the beautiful demon’s smug expression at being told his little project was needed. So far, she had kept it in her back pocket, fully intending to leave it there.

Because the thing scared her.

However, with so much on the line – and her army slowly being pushed back – Abby felt that the time had come to make some tough choices. And the time had finally come to loose the full might of her demon allies. Hopefully, she would not come to regret it in the future.

For a few minutes, nothing changed. Her people continued to die, while the lizard-men remained steadfastly ensconced behind their nigh-impenetrable shield wall. If she’d had a few of Ignatius’ archwizards on her side, perhaps things might have gone differently. Her own mages, as strong as they were, were no elites, and the power they could bring to bear was quite limited.

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Briefly, she considered adding her own skills to the mix, but as impactful as they might have been, she chose to hold them in reserve. When she struck, it would not be to destroy some shield and save a few meaningless soldiers. Instead, that action would only be undertaken when she could make the most difference. With her power, she could absolutely obliterate anyone below level seventy-five, so she could severely wound even those at the peak. Wasting that on a lesser opponent was the height of stupidity.

No - she would use it as a surprise attack whenever the monsters’ leader – Ak-toh, according to her people’s interrogations – showed himself. Until then, she kept her power in reserve.

Even using one of her aces by unleashing the demons left a bad taste in her mouth, but she was tired of losing battles.

So, she watched as the fight continued, and ten minutes later, a rumble in the earth announced the arrival of the demons. They swept in from the east, a horde of monstrous humanoids that would strike fear into the hearts of any human. However, the lizard-men reacted to their charge with the same tactics they’d used on Abby’s knights.

But when the two collided – an unstoppable force versus a seemingly immovable object – the shield broke. It shimmered back into existence a second later, but by that point, the demons had already broken through the more mundane shield wall. The monsters reacted quickly, switching to a more conventional melee, but the damage was done.

Especially since it was only the first wave.

Thousands of demons had already struck, but there were thousands more on their way. They swept across he plains, hitting the already sundered front lines like a tidal wave of corrupted flesh. The monsters were thrown into disarray, but to Abby’s surprise, they managed to recover and, over the next few minutes, regrouped. The order they imposed on the battle was only tenuous – at best – but it was far more effective than she had expected. Even when the third and fourth waves joined the battle, they held on.

But Abby had never intended for those four waves of demons to be her ace. No – they were there to soften the enemy and prepare them for something far more horrifying.

Once again, the earth shook, but this time, it wasn’t afflicted with mere tremors. Rather, it was as if a sizable earthquake had struck the area. It heralded the arrival of a monstrous thing, the likes of which Abby had never encountered.

It was a demon, though it was far larger and much more grotesque than any of the others of its kind. At nearly fifty feet tall, it became visible from miles away, and it covered that ground as only such a large monster could. With four legs, a form bulging with pitch-black muscle, and a head covered in thick bone, it lived up to the name of juggernaut. And when it hit the army of lizard-men, they were smashed beneath its massive hooves, but many more were thrown aside like so much trash.

“It is a terrifying creature, is it not?” came Serpentus’ smooth voice.

Abby didn’t look back, but she knew he wore an infuriatingly smug grin. He’d been campaigning for his demons – and the juggernaut – to be included in her battle plans for weeks, but until then, she’d refused. After all, she had seen what they did when they were let loose, and as much as she detested the monstrous lizard-men and beastkin, she knew that Ignatius had big plans for them.

Who would throw away such a ready source of labor? Or shock troops? They would make for grand fodder in the coming battles.

But they could not be used for anything if they were eaten by demons.

“What level is it?” she asked. The creature was too far away for her inspection skill, but judging by the way it was rampaging through the enemy, she guessed that it was well past the level seventy-five threshold.

“Ninety-three,” he said. “If it wasn’t for me, that thing would rampage through these lands and destroy everything it could find. It may even create a new Scar.”

Abby didn’t respond, but inwardly, she was horrified at the notion that such a creature’s presence was so strong. If it remained in the area, it would corrupt everything and create a region of demonic influence. She didn’t believe the corruption would be as strong as the Scar, which was a region populated by demons and demonkin, located halfway around the world. However, even if it was a fraction of that size, it was still a troubling prospect.

She was about to say something when her words caught in her throat.

Something huge and metallic had suddenly appeared on the battlefield. It looked like a mobile statue, and it was surrounded by ten others that were smaller but of similar composition. What’s more, Abby could feel the power wafting off of the creature.

Then, a beam of black-and-red fire erupted from its forehead. The energy was so intense that, for a moment, Abby only saw white spots. But her vision cleared just in time for her to see the juggernaut fall apart. Even as its top half slid free at the waist, Abby let out a gasp of surprise.

A moment later, the monster hefted a giant hammer and smashed it into the mass of demons. When it hit, dozens were smashed into pulp, but that was only the beginning. Six more times, an invisible force descended upon the area, hitting like mortar shells. Earth erupted, and a cloud of dust billowed, and just like that, a quarter of the demonic horde had been slain.

Then, the metallic monster did it again.

In moments, the horde – as well as the knights who were still fighting the lizard-men – were in disarray, but Abby knew that her time had come. She embraced her skills. First, she began the charging process of [Ire of the Sun Goddess], and as its power built, she let loose with a series of [Eruptions]. At the same time, she fired a dozen arrows a second. They streaked across the battlefield, looking for all the world like a series of white lasers, and when they hit the monster, she was satisfied to see that they dug divots into its torso.

Abby recognized that those attacks wouldn’t really contribute to the creature’s defeat, but she also knew that if her least powerful skills could harm it, then it was vulnerable to the others. A beam of pure and destructive sunlight smashed into the creature, and she was even more satisfied to see it melting like a candle.

Then, finally, [Ire of the Sun Goddess] finished charging. She drew one last arrow and fired. It streaked across the battlefield, then split into three more arrows of light. A second later, those split into three more arrows apiece. On and on it went until hundreds of arrows filled the air.

But they stopped only a few dozen feet away from the melting monster, forming the visage of Abby’s patron. Light coalesced into a massive and disapproving face. “Insolent whelp!” Shar Maelaine bellowed as she fixed her gaze on the monster. Then, a force unlike anything else Abby had ever felt exploded, bathing the entire area for thirty feet in pure and radiant fire.

The solar pyre burned for a full five seconds before Abby’s mana gave out. That was better than the last time she’d used it. Back then, she’d only been able to maintain it for three seconds, but she still remembered the devastation it had wrought. So, she fully expected that when the dust settled and the smoke cleared, she would only see a crater.

And that was precisely what she saw, except for one rather striking problem.

The monster had clearly been injured, and its body looked like a misshapen mass of silver putty. However, with every passing moment, the creature pulled itself back together.

“I don’t –”

Just then, a series of screams erupted from behind her, and she turned to see a dozen small, black lizard-men tearing through her officers.