Jack caught one of the humans that were fleeing toward them and started to question him.

"where is the rest? Does the demon keep them as hostages?" the caught man "what? No, they decided to stay. Why aren't we already leaving? He will come soon and kill us!"

It was already more than a month since Jack parted with Jordan and Jack didn't idle around, he found a way to absorb mana from the beasts and reached the peak of the second circle, now he was only a bit behind the third circle, and with the progress he made he gained new abilities.

Majestic aura spread around Jack as he spoke to the man "calm down, there is a second group that is going to kill the demon, we will just free you and then regroup and act as a support for the second group", the man calmed down and nodded, the only bit of panic made it through when he heard that they will be support for the second group but the panic was quickly drowned by the majestic aura.

"yes, you are right, we must gather and support the second group" Jack nodded and patted the shoulder of the man, this was the extend of his ability, he could calm people and make them believe what he says, to some extent he can even force people to do things but this is very limited for now, it depends on the distance, on the belief of the person, even on the first impression.

Also, he can't force someone to do something that´s against their belief, for example, he can´t suddenly convince the enemy to switch sides, at best he can nudge those that aren't decided and are wondering about what to do, still if you combine this ability with the innate ability of angels to detect lies of those with a lesser power… It´s a terrifying interrogation/negotiation combo.

"so are the others held there as hostages? What´s the situation?"

"no they are not, upon seeing you they decided to group up and hold the position until reinforcements come"

"WHAT? Aren't they afraid of the demon? Shouldn't they rebel against him?"

"well… it's hard to tell… the demon isn't exactly a bad leader… he is competent and provides us with everything we need in exchange for our work, if you are useful and do your best you will be treated quite well, that´s how he is"

Jack´s ability was still in use and made the man tell more than he would normally say, it was like an itchy feeling that didn't stop until the man said the whole answer.

The situation is bad if a large number of the humans tries to defend they won't be able to support the group that is going to kill Jordan, that shouldn't be a big problem as they are only supposed to kill the small fries but that isn't the main point… that should have been redemption for the humans that were under the cruel leader of the demon and yet…

Jack wasn't a fool, he won´t fight the humans if a large number chooses to not join them but he may try to assassinate the one leading them or at least try to convince them.

This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

"how many humans decided to stay where they are located and is there someone leading them? Are there any awakened ones?"

"around 700, they are regrouping in the old fortress, leading them is the human representative Jane and there are none with an awakened center of power"

Thinking to himself Jack found the whole situation turning for worse ´even if all the refugees joined us our force will be at most 400 in total, it should be doable if they are without awakened ones but still… I would rather avoid needless deaths… I will try to convince them and then I will see´

***

The group with the goal of killing the demon progressed steadily, they knew the general location of where the demon lived and was going there, they weren't all that worried about the demon fleeing as the real problem were the troops he gathered, if the demon escapes they will kill all the beasts occupy the area and claim all the food, the existence of the demon is an eyesore but still secondary.

By cleaning this camp, they will show others still not decided camp who is the boss here and with all the food that is there, they may even be able to unite the town.

Besides the obvious quest for peace, this is one of the reasons for Carl´s attack.

***

Just as the first group was nearing the center an arrow came flying through the air, but it wasn't at all like an ordinary arrow, the air made a whistling noise as the force with which the arrow was send was beyond formidable.

The arrow pierced the angel flying in the air making her forcefully crash down.

Shouts could be heard as the leader commanded "HEAL JESSICA, GET BACK IN FORMATION, THEY ARE COMING"

Jordan put the bow back on his back and took his ax, this time he chose the battle-axe as it's more flexible in a fight rather than the hammer... even though he prefers it.

The feeling of the hammer as it crushes bones and tears flesh, the destruction the hammer wrecks it was simply addictive, on the other side the war-axe makes everything tear and slice which isn't exactly bad… the hammer is just starting to grow on him.

Just as the angel fell from the sky Jordan jumped down from the roof of a family house, for now, he chooses guerilla tactics.

Tiring the angels and humans with disposable monsters such as ratmen and young lizardmen and then finishing them with strong monsters and beasts such as the goblin warriors, Max, and other beasts in the third phase, its a shame that they killed Sunny.. he would be a great addition to the force.

´they will pay for killing Sunny´ The ratmen, lizardmen, and first phase beast together with several second phase beasts swarmed the attacking group and Jordan made his way through as well, he picked someone here and there, and slowly lowered the number of humans, he didn't go after the angels as they would gang up on him and try to finish him off.

Every time the angels spotted him, he would just retreat and fire a few arrows from the back, rinse, and repeat.

Slowly the forces of both Jordan and the angels were drained, most of the weak monsters and beasts under Jordan were killed but those are rather easily replaceable.

The same cant be said about humans and so far Jordan killed more than 20 awakened humans, and half of those non-awakened, the angels though were still holding pretty good, even the angel Jordan shot down was already healed but this will soon change.

After the arrow went through the angel Jordan collected it and then send the arrow by the cat beast Luna to the witch Mary, in time the curse will kick in.

But before the curse could be even set in another chance showed itself, the big angels who were almost 4 meters (13 ft) tall couldn't hold his anger in and chased after Jordan, that was the perfect opportunity to reduce the number of angels.