Chapter 51: Eve of Battle

I walked along the walls of the fortress as I looked down at the soldiers below trying to clean up what little they could of the devastated fortress. We took this fortress with little to no resistance, the demons were by then so depleted in numbers that taking the fortress was a cake walk. It looks like the operation was going well. Now the only thing left was to weather the next day's wave and then make an assault on the Rift.

The next day will be a bloody one, the fort was heavily damaged and with no trees for kilometers around the Alvs were fighting on unfamiliar terrain. I remember when I first arrived in Sapporo my platoon wasn’t used to fighting on streets covered in rubble and destroyed cars. Many of us were killed when we hid behind cover that was too thin or falls caused by the uneven terrain.

Our training was on open flat ground with none of the rubble that was strewn about. We lost about quarter of the platoon in the first week, mostly from stupid mistakes like tripping and falling during a charge to cover and taking cover behind things too thin to count as cover.

The Alvs were used to the terrain itself helping them, the forest actively helping them and hindering the enemy. Out here there was no forest, just ashes and dead trees stretching for as far as the eye could see. The only light out there in that wasteland was the silver glow of moonlight, the orange glow of Hearthian and the green glow of the rift...

I looked back towards the southwest and I could still see the orange glow of the burning city. It was still burning almost six hours later. By the time the fires are done there will be truly nothing left. As for the Rift well it was on the edge of the horizon so that means it’s less than five kilometers away, since the horizon is about five kilometers away. Unless this world doesn’t share the same curvature of the earth.

I took out the spyglass that the ship captain gave me and I peered at the Rift. I saw what’s left of the demon army standing around the Rift. Looks to be about ten thousand demons give or take a few thousand so about a division’s worth of demons left. I couldn’t see the commander itself or her familiars, they were behind the wall of demons.

Ideally we should attack now but the soldiers were exhausted, they have been fighting for the whole day. I’m not even sure that a night's rest would be enough to get them back in top shape. This is concerning as tomorrow will be even worse than what we just did. The Alvs better be prepared to take some heavy losses…

I think we could probably break the assault, the fortifications are still more or less intact. The fort couldn’t hold the entire army though so we will be fighting with the fort as the center line and troops on the flanks. The plan as of now is to let the demons sort of rush in a little into the fort and we bombard those that enter in a killzone. A similar tactic to the kill boxes, the danger of this strategy of course is if the demons managed to fully swarm in this fortress will become a death trap. But I think we can hold, I’ve already summoned a bunch of breaching charges and placed them on the wall above the gate we are going to leave open. When things look bad I’ll just kick one down and blow it up, the blast should buy a short respite and give time for the defenders to shore up their defences. I also have the Regus mages in position above the wall to bombard the demons swarming in. We should be able to empty out the kill zone every once in a while…

“A lot of people are going to die tomorrow,” Charlotte said softly from the side.

“Yeah, but it’s the last mile isn’t it? After tomorrow one way or another Alvuan’s fate will be decided.” Jacob said

“We’ll win, it’s only the second Rift and we have a plan this time. We also know what to expect, not only that we are a lot better at fighting now. The other heroes cleared the Rifts before us and I don’t like to disappoint.” I replied calmly.

“Yeah I guess you’re right.” Jacob muttered in reply.

“Come on, we should get something to eat. Long day tomorrow. The Alvs brought food so the food will be better than what Regus serves.” I said with a smirk.

That comment elicited a small laugh from most of my party, Ella just looked a little confused.

“You’ll understand at the next Rift, although Regus will need to step up their vegetarian meals from now on.” I said as I patted Ella on the shoulder and she gave me a small smile.

“Come on, who’s hungry?” I said as I took the lead and began heading down the wall. Honestly I was just sounding confident, I wasn’t really…

A leader must be confident, or at least appear to be. Morale makes and breaks armies, the soldiers must believe that they can win. They must believe that even if they die their fellows will win. If that isn’t possible at least make them think they have nothing left to lose. Anyone can guess what option I chose when I spoke to my men back in Sapporo…

So I suppose this war is still better than my last one, this one at least had hope for victory.

I walked towards a small space in the center of the fortress that was given to us. The rooms in the fortress were unlivable, covered in blood with most of the furniture destroyed. So everyone had to camp out either down here on the walls themselves. It was only one night anyway, and at least we had some sleeping bags that we brought from Regus.

Then I walked past a line of groaning and weeping wounded soldiers lying on the ground. Again I saw the black bandages and I paused as I gazed at the soldiers.

“What’s wrong with them? Why aren’t they healed?” I asked.

“Their wounds are blighted, it’s a cursed wound. It reduces the effectiveness of healing spells, it can’t be cleansed and requires the anti-curse which is difficult to cast. It also has the side effect of causing great pain to the afflicted.” the healer said wearily as she wiped the sweat on her brow.

“Is it fatal?” I asked.

“No, a dead body is easier to handle and death is a mercy. The demons are not so kind, these wounds will not kill but they will debilitate them for a time. Although the curse will fade in time.” the healer replied as she peeled back one of the bandages. It revealed a wide gash that looked like black necrotic flesh, the wound wept black blood and yellow pus. Around the gash black veins radiated from the wound like spider webs. The demons are really cruel aren’t they, their abilities are well suited for protracted warfare...

But yet it is a good attrition strategy, a dead body is a lost soldier but a cursed incapcitated soldier is a lost soldier and a burden. If the soldier is in this state manpower will need to be diverted to take care of them. Leaving them to die would be a waste and a moral hit. After all, the soldiers will fear the demons more if they know that they would be abandoned if wounded…

If I recall, my SMG also has the status [Blighted Wounds] so I guess even if I wound and do not kill my target, they will be debilitated. They won’t be able to be healed as well by the looks of it…

“Shall I try? Charlotte asked.

“You haven’t had the chance to try, have you?” I asked.

“Yes, with all the chaos, I never really got the chance. I should still have some pending skills, so if I heal them I might be able to gain some new skills.” Charlotte said.

“Alright, it would be good to know what your spells do against cursed wounds.” I said.

[Isha’s Embrace] Charlotte intoned and three green orbs shot out to three of the wounded. Their bodies were bathed in green light. I watched as the wounds closed slightly and the black necrotic flesh returned back to a healthy red.

“By the Goddess of Life, you can end the curse…” the healer said as her eyes widened.

Charlotte didn’t reply; she just went silent for a moment as if lost in thought. I’ll bet she just got a skill…

“Bring the wounded near here, as many as you fit in a ten meter radius…” Charlotte said.

“We don’t want to tire you out Charlotte.” I said.

“Well it is best I test out this skill before we go into battle. It is a good source of EXP for me as well. Also I barely cast any spells throughout all of this, I have the strength to spare.” Charlotte said.

“Alright, fair enough.” I said as I gestured for her to go ahead.

We waited for a moment as the healers brought most of the nearby wounded to us, it turns out you can fit quite a bit of wounded in a circle that was twenty meters wide. It wasn’t nearly enough to heal all the wounded but there were a decent amount here. Those who could stand were helped to their feet to conserve space, those who could sit up did so, only the horribly wounded lay down. Some even stacked ontop of each other to fit more into the circle.

“Ok, this will be quite draining but I do have a night of rest…” Charlotte muttered.

“If you’re sure you can do this, then go ahead.” I said with a nod and Charlotte gave me a small smile at my show of trust.

Charlotte took a deep breath and she stabbed her staff into the ground.

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[Respite of Bethlehem] Charlotte intoned and a wide gold circle emerged around her. From behind her back sprouted golden wings and a figure appeared behind her… is it just me or does that look like the Virgin Mary? Well they do say the heroes abilities take after the heroes themselves. Charlotte is a devout Catholic so I guess this isn’t that surprising…

Although her version of Catholicism does seem a little different from what I hear from Jacob. Apparently Catholics usually don’t marry outside of Christianity, there were some theological issues with that. Well I’m Buddhist and I am in a romantic relationship with Charlotte. She mentioned that the Catholic church in her world wasn’t so hung up about that, believing love transcends religious, ideological and racial boundaries. According to her Jesus loved all the early converts as a father would his children, they were not Christian yet he loved them anyway. So by that logic why should his adherents be any different? Faith is a gift after all, one will receive it when they are ready.

I looked around and saw the wounded bathed in gold light and their wounds healed shut. I could see every Alv in the fortress looking at her in awe. I’m not going to lie, she looks almost angelic, with her cape flourishing and her golden wings. Then after a few moments the spell ended and the light faded.

I saw Charlotte pant as her face grew red, she looked a little unsteady on her feet…

I rushed forward and caught her just as she started to tilt off to the side. I could tell she was burning up, she felt like she had a fever. I saw one of the healers frantically give me a Cooling Potion and I brought it to her lips. As Charlotte drank it greedily I felt the heat in her body dissipate.

Then when she finished the potion she stood up shakily. I held onto her arm steadying her and she gave me a small smile. I looked around and saw all the wounded Alvs getting up. The wounds were all gone, some of the missing limbs were back as well. For all intents and purposes they looked as good as new. Not only that I realised I felt a lot less tired, so her spell even healed Stamina. Powerful spell but it looks pretty useless in combat, looks like she can only use it when she is around full strength. Using it in the middle of a battle would be dangerous for her, probably will have the same effect on her like my last attempt to use [The Scarlet Harvest] when I was already tired.

Probably not wise to risk that considering Charlotte was the one that brought me back from the brink. If Charlotte is the one that is down, we’ll be a little short on healing. Sure Amethine and Ella could do something but I doubt their healing was as powerful as Charlotte’s.

Then I heard movement around me and I saw the Alvs fall to their knees and lowered their heads in respect. Here comes the religious fervour…

Charlotte looked around a little stunned at all the Alvs.

“Thank you for your mercy, Life Hero.” the nearest healer said reverently.

“It’s fine…” Charlotte muttered a little uncomfortable.

“I think she needs some rest, so we’ll retire for the night.” I said, as I tried to spare Charlotte the discomfort.

“Of course Dark Hero! We will bring food and refreshment.” the healer said fervently.

“Thanks…” I replied as I began helping Charlotte to our little corner of the fort.

When I helped Charlotte onto one of the mats that were laid out on the floor and sat down next to her. Charlotte snuggled up next to me and I wrapped an arm around her shoulder. I planted a kiss on her head and she gave me a small giggle in response.

“Good job there, although I feel that it isn’t that useful in a fight.” I said.

“Yes I think so, I think it’s more useful in between fights to ensure the strength of our army.” Charlotte said.

“Yeah if you cast that and drop it may not be worth it.” Jacob said.

“I guess it’s like a spell that helps in grand strategy. It’s obvious this war isn’t going to be us taking on the rift alone. We will need armies to help us get to the Rifts. Perhaps we will get spells that will help us accomplish that task.” Ivan suggested.

“Yeah it would make sense, it looks like we aren’t just supposed to be good soldiers. It looks like we will need to be leaders as well.” I said.

“Yes I suppose you are right.” Charlotte said slightly glumly, my words perhaps reminding her the possibility of her being crowned queen.

“Hey at least you got the training for it. That’s more than the rest of us have.” I said as I gave her shoulder a comforting squeeze. I know Charlotte doesn’t want to lead. I can tell she would be good at it but still wanting it and being good at it are two different things.

“Well you have some experience in that as well Katsuro.” Charlotte replied.

“Yeah I guess I do. We’ll figure it out. Just look at most of those nobles, I wouldn’t trust them to run a study group let alone a significant piece of sovereign territory.” I said with a small laugh.

“They would be terrible study group leaders.” Charlotte replied with a small laugh.

“We’ll be fine. Not much competition after all.” Jacob added with a smirk.

“We have a more viable business strategy when there’s no good competition?” I asked.

“You know it. First thing you do when you assess a situation is take stock of strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats. Judging by what I see, most of the nobles are idiots. There are a few exceptions of course, like Filianoreh and Ophelia. Still those two look like they are on our side, well at least Ophelia is. So lots of opportunities and little threats.” Jacob replied, ever the optimist.

“What remains unchallenged for too long invariably grows weak.” Ivan said.

“Well those nobles don’t really have any challenges that’s for sure. Two hundred years is almost 7 generations if you count a generation as thirty years. That’s plenty of time for the rulers to grow weak and soft.” Charlotte said.

“From what I can tell only the Successor houses seem to have a good head on their shoulders.” I said.

“Well we will deal with them when the time comes, we aren’t getting any weaker after all. I leveled up as well after that spell. I noticed I was falling behind in levels slightly, I suppose I need to heal the wounded after the battle to keep up with my EXP.” Charlotte said.

“No rest for the weary I suppose.” I said.

“I don’t mind, people are going to get hurt, it’s better to be able to do something rather than just watch them suffer.” Charlotte replied.

“Yeah well me and Ivan’s levels are simple, fight and get EXP.” Jacob said.

“So that brings all of you to what level 28?” I asked.

“Yeah, you’re at 32 right?” Jacob asked.

“Yeah, I suspect I’ll continue to pull ahead. I get more EXP from sealing Rifts after all. I just hope that I don’t out level all of you too significantly, I don't want to breach the ten level gap.” I said.

“Well I just have to get beat up I guess. I get EXP for taking damage, pity I’m not the type that likes the girl to use a whip in bed.” Jacob asked.

“Why not? You look like you can take it. You're not the kinky type?” I asked with a grin.

“Huh?” Charlotte asked, looking confused. I turned to the rest and saw them just as confused as Charlotte. I guess BDSM isn’t that big of a thing in this world.

“Never mind, it’s better that you don’t know.” I replied with a smirk.

“It’s something dirty isn’t it?” Charlotte asked with a scowl.

“You could say that.” Jacob replied.

“Then never mind, I don’t want to know.” Charlotte said with a shake of his head.

Then the food arrived as we dug in and pleasant conversation flowed, I noticed most of the fort was dead silent. I guess tomorrow's battle weighed heavily on them, my party was surprisingly resilient to these types of things. All of them were tough, focused and intelligent. A good combination for a soldier, I barely had to do much motivating. They were all quite self motivating honestly. If I can say anything about the gods, it is that they chose well…

“They seem very worried, don't they?” Charlotte said softly as she looked at the rest of the fort.

“Yeah, we all are but I guess we are better at hiding it. Can’t look worried for the troops after all.” Jacob said.

“You’re learning.” I said as I gave Jacob a look.

“Of course Sergeant, I just imitate what you do, reckless bravado and fearlessness.” Jacob replied.

“You could do with a little less fearlessness. Try not to get yourself almost killed this time. I don’t think my heart can't take anymore of those stunts.” Charlotte said as she gave me a scowl.

“Yes mom.” I replied with a sly grin. Charlotte in response reached up and flicked my forehead.

“Ow, right, sorry sorry.” I said with a small laugh.

“You better be.” Charlotte said with a grin.

“Although they do look worried…” Ivan said softly as he gazed at the troops with their heads downcast as they silently ate their food.

“I’ll give them a speech or something tomorrow morning. Doesn’t seem like the right thing to do now. Best to have the speech on the eve of battle.” I replied.

“Perhaps you are right… this reminds me of this song my family would sing during Christmas when we had a particularly hard year.” Ivan said.

“I don’t think it’s Christmas Ivan and To Wish You a Merry Christmas doesn’t exactly seem appropriate.” Jacob said.

“No not that, do you all know God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen?” Ivan asked.

“Oh yes, that’s more of a hymn isn’t it?” Jacob asked.

“Yes it is.” Charlotte said.

“Well I’ve never heard of it.” I replied.

“It goes something like this…” Charlotte said.

God rest ye merry gentlemen, let nothing you dismay

Remember Christ our Savior, was born on Christmas Day

To save us all from Satan's power, when we were gone astray

Oh tidings of comfort and joy

Comfort and joy

Oh tidings of comfort and joy

“Wait, we have that hymn. It’s a version that’s been adapted to this world. So the hymn came from your world?” Ella asked.

“Yes I know of it as well.” Amethine said.

“Really?” Charlotte asked in surprise.

“Yes it goes something like this…” Ella began.

Rest easy children of the gods, let nothing you dismay

Remember that our Saviors, came on that Holy Day

To save us all from Demon power, when we were led astray

Oh tidings of comfort and joy

As Ella sang Amethine joined in and I started to notice the rest of the camp was now looking at us. Then I saw one of the Alvs on the wall above us take out a flute and began to play the tune…

From the mighty Gods above, our blessed saviours came

And unto certain shepherds, brought tidings of the same

How that in foreign worlds were born, a child of God by name.

Oh tidings of comfort and joy,

Soon more and more of the fort started to sing, even the knights and mages started to sing. Even more surprisingly Bovarian and his crew joined in as well. Looks like this hymn was known through both cultures...

Fear not said the Gods, let nothing you afright

This day comes your saviours of great and holy light

To save all those who trust in them, from the demon’s power and might

Oh tidings of comfort and joy,

Now to the gods sing praises, all you within this place

And with true love and brotherhood, each other now embrace

This Holy tide of justice, that the Demons doth deface

Oh tidings of comfort and joy

Comfort and joy

Oh tidings of comfort and joy...