The year 533 marked the end of the Age of Adventurers. Its replacement was the Age of Darkness.

Though not all [Historians] would wish to demarcate our passage of time by our failure to stop the [Demon Lord] from opening the portal to Hell, it was a decision that was out of our hands from the start.

As soon as the portal opened, all time-keeping spells, including the simple [Get Date], returned the new System-given name.

The dawn of that age was a time of terror. Of unrest. Of despair at what the future could hold in this new age of darkness.

As the [Demon Lord] marched his army forth from the portal and destroyed the armies arrayed against him, many thought that it was finally the end.

However, there were allies on our side that no one could have foreseen.

* Excerpt from A Brief History of Placeholder Volume 8, chapter 4

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Cunningham watched the arrows fly.

A naïve part of him hoped that arrows would be enough for the vanguard, mainly composed of large club-wielding demons. That hope was dashed as the first volley didn’t even give them pause.

In fact, it was hard to be certain with the scrying mirror zoomed out far enough to see the entire battlefield, but he was reasonably sure that the brute in the front had used his club to bat the arrows targeting him out of the air.

That could mean only one thing about his level.

“Besti, go!” he barked. The [Princess] was off without even a nod. “[Priority Target]!” he used his level 4 [General] skill and then watched as, without another command from him, the bulk of the archer fire swapped to the enemy commander.

While some may have questioned the soundness of that decision since the arrows weren’t doing that much, Cunningham knew from experience that it was the right call. While [Lineholders] could take a beating, someone as strong as that brute would be able to punch a hole right through their battle lines.

If his army had any hope of survival, the lines needed to hold.

And the first part of that line was the traps. Demons fell into pit traps that were cleverly disguised beneath the ash, and the spikes at the bottom ensured they took a chunk of damage. They also had to contend with a field of razor wire that was made extra potent by the muddiness of the ground in that spot, courtesy of the Bestian [Well Wizards]. Then, in the last remaining space, a liberal coating of caltrops paved the way up to their makeshift anti-cavalry barricades.

While Cunningham knew that the barricades were designed to stop Dryadal’s heavy cavalry, he also knew they were little more helpful than a dave would be in the same spot.

Unfortunately, the rest of the traps seemed to do no better. The pitfalls were all triggered, but it seemed like every demon that fell in climbed out little worse for the wear. The razor wire and caltrops didn’t even give the monsters pause as they charged through it, ignoring the HP damage. And finally, the barricades… didn’t even last through a single hit from the commander leading the charge.

Just like that, the traps had been breached, and the demons were ready to engage with the shield wall and the spears ready to stab over it.

The brute bellowed in anger as he reared back his club for a running swing that Cunningham was sure would send even his strongest [Lineholders] back, but he was stopped just in time by a blur of movement.

[Princess] Violet Besti [Flash Stepped] over the line to kick the commander in the chest with an [Air Strike].

The monster stumbled back, and the [Soldier] was saved. However, now the [Princess] was in a precarious position. Her movement ability was on cooldown, she was outside the shield wall, and enemies surrounded her.

She ducked under the first club sent her way, then knocked her attacker back with a quick [Air Strike] punch. She sidestepped the second and gave that monster the same treatment.

It was a valid strategy. Simply buy time for the archers by pushing the enemy back.

Unfortunately, such a strategy was doomed to fail with the slightest bit of coordination from the enemy brutes.

Fortunately, it seemed they were sorely lacking in that department. One of the other brutes got in the way as the commander charged [Princess] Besti again, and the commander slammed him aside with his club without a second thought.

That cowed the others away, and it was soon a 1 versus 1 between the enemy commander and the high-level [Monk]… excluding the fact that her damage was boosted ever so slightly because she was attacking the [Priority Target], and that the few archers who still had a good angle on the brute were still shooting at him.

By all accounts, Besti was severely out-leveled and should have died then and there. However, that wasn’t what happened. Instead, Cunningham could only watch in admiration as she made her faster, stronger, higher-level opponent look like a fool.

She sidestepped the first swing, stepped in, and responded with two quick [Earth Strikes]. Then, she ducked the retaliatory horizontal swing and turned it into a sweeping kick that took the monster straight off his feet.

By the time he got up, she had hit him with three more [Earth Strikes], and from there, it was almost humorous to watch.

The stagger effect made it harder for the brute to hit her. That made him angry. Being angry made his moves even more devastating, but all the easier to dodge out of the way of, leading to him getting increasingly frustrated.

Cunningham let out a breath he didn’t realize he had been holding when the giant was finally turned into nothing but dust. [Princess] Besti stumbled, and the [General] tuned his artifact to her frequency.

“Congrats on the levels. You certainly earned them,” he stated. Before she could respond, he continued. “Now get back behind the shield wall. We’ve got more incoming.”

While the commander had been his primary concern, the other brutish demons had been causing their share of casualties along the formation. Most of them were still alive, despite the punishment that the army had been dishing out, and to make matters worse, he wasn’t exaggerating about the incoming enemies. The four-legged monstrosities were rapidly approaching.

“Someone get me an [Identify] on one of those beasts,” he ordered.

“Level 15 manticore, [General]!” came the immediate reply.

“By the blue text,” Cunningham swore. “Level 15?” Composing himself, he continued. “Archers, target those manticores!”

Most of them were already doing that. Most of the brute demons were already too close to friendlies to aim at, and, fortunately, his [Commanders] had good heads on their shoulders.

Unfortunately, the beasts were fast. Many shots went long, and the manticores soon returned fire with spikes fired from their tails.

Those were shorter ranged, and the only targets in range were the [Lineholders]. As the spikes bounced off their shields harmlessly, Cunningham gave a nod of grim satisfaction.

Line’s still holding. This next wave won’t change that. The [General] thought. We just need to prepare for the bulk of-

His thoughts were cut off as the manticores leaped. They easily cleared the shield wall, the spearmen behind it, and started shooting spikes at the much softer targets behind.

“[Rapid Formation Change]!” the [General] used his level 2 skill. Everyone in the army moved. [Monks] were moved into position to fight the dangerous and flighty beasts. A single [Lineholder] was moved back to each squad of archers to protect them from the spikes.

Even so, it was a nightmare. In the few moments where they were unchecked, those beasts caused more casualties than his army had faced yet, and they were still darting around in his backlines, wreaking havoc.

Only one thing kept that from being the end of his army.

“They have relatively little HP!” [Princess] Besti called out on all channels. “[Monks], [Flash Step] and grapple them into place! Archers, do the rest!”

A lesser [General] might have taken offense at having command stolen from him.

Cunningham wasn’t a lesser [General].

“You heard the [Princess]!” he bellowed. “Take them down!” And then, his attention was needed elsewhere already. “Mages and [Engineers], report!”

The last command came because the main contingent of the [Demon Lord’s] army was almost there.

They had only one shot at unleashing their secret weapons, and he had to ensure they were used on the bulk of the enemy forces.

“Rituals prepped. Main contingent within range,” came one reply.

“Stone throwers ready, [General],” came a dwarven reply that got translated. “In range to send ‘em back to Hell.”

“Good. Unleash on my mark,” Cunningham ordered in reply. And then, there were a dozen tense seconds as he simply waited.

This was the first time these new weapons were revealed, and he had to ensure that the surprise they generated caused as many casualties as possible.

Can’t have them simply retreat and get back out of range. He thought.

“Steady,” Cunningham called half to stabilize his own nerves and half to keep the attacks from being launched prematurely. “Steady!” he called once more. The enemies had reached the razor wire, and that was good enough. “Now! [Battlefield Skill: Monster Killing Ground]!”

And that was the skill he had received on his auspicious 5th level of [General]. Supposedly, every [General] received a single version of the skill for their 5th level that corresponded to how they used their armies up to that point. Since Cunningham had only ever fought monsters and the undead, it made sense that he received something specific to fighting those kinds of monsters.

There was little to denote the skill’s effect. Just a simple shimmer of silver in various places around the battlefield. In some ways of looking at it, the skill was also rather limited. All monsters within it would be slowed down by a hair and take imperceptibly more damage.

However, it was a skill that affected all monsters on the battlefield. Cunningham believed that it was truly one of the strongest skills granted by System, even with its 7-day long cooldown.

He saw a few looks of surprise from the demons, which confirmed that System viewed them as monsters, but those looks were short-lived. They were soon replaced by looks of panic at the boulders that were launched in their direction.

And that was the 2nd part of his 3-part command. The dwarven-made stone throwers all launched their 200-pound boulders easily over the top of his entire army and into the middle of the demonic horde. The rocks crushed some of the weaker enemies outright, but it was a vain hope that it would take care of everything. The stronger enemies simply shifted the stones off and then kept charging.

However, it was now the mage’s turn. Their chants finished, and the magic salvo was unleashed… even larger boulders were magically summoned and tossed into the enemy lines.

Centuries of military experience. Months of research and development. And we still couldn’t develop a better spell than “throw a big rock at them.” Cunningham thought with a bit of dry humor. Most of Gram’s classified siege spells were fire-based, which wouldn’t do a thing to the oncoming horde. Thus, the multi-caster, ritual version of the spell [Boulder Toss].

It wasn’t the best name either, but the [General] knew those also took time. Time which the researchers most definitely had not had.

Either way, those boulders were a lot harder for the demons to shrug off. It didn’t matter who they hit. After getting nailed by one of those spells, the demons didn’t get back up.

Their charge stalled in place. The manticores were slain. The brutes were also being pushed back.

Things were looking up… and then the mages were finished with their salvo. The demonic army realized it only a second after Cunningham himself did.

“Excellent work,” Cunningham said on his line to the mages. “Resume fire with [Mage Bolt] and other spells at will.”

And that was the one problem with mages. They could make great spectacles capable of routing entire armies, but afterward, they were near useless.

Fortunately, the dwarven stone throwers still had ammunition. They continued their steady bombardment of the army all the way until the demons reached the front lines.

I underestimated how much someone with [Pack Mule] could carry. The [General] mused as he watched the dwarves continue to slowly pull the giant rocks out of their inventory and place them directly on the throwers. Cunningham shook his head. More things to tell command about… should any of us make it out of this alive.

It was about then that the two lines clashed once more.

Leading the demonic army were abominations of twisted flesh. Their grotesque forms crashed into the shield wall without any hint of self-preservation… and the wall held.

Cunningham couldn’t help the slight grin that stole over his face.

If they can’t breach the shields, we can win this. He watched as the [Commanders] started deploying skills to keep the line… and then looked on in horror as parts of the line suddenly broke and ran.

Without the shields, the spearmen behind were sitting ducks… if they hadn’t broke and fled as well.

Cunningham took that all in in a heartbeat and called out his orders.

“[Rapid Formation Change]!” he called, reusing his 2nd level skill. He moved the line back and plugged the holes but wasn’t done yet. “First heal on point zero three!”

An elven voice acknowledged him with an affirmative, but he barely heard it. His eyes were focused on the men who broke formation. They were run down and killed to a man, and several others were caught up in the breach in the battle line.

It’s an insanity effect. Similar to Titus the Mad. The [General] realized. Hurry, healers. Hurry!

His prayer was answered. A nova of white shone out on the battlefield at the point he indicated. Through the army link, he could feel that all of his men in that area had been brought back up to full.

However, that wasn’t all. The madness was removed, and many of the demons caught in the area turned to dust or fled immediately.

Cunningham shook his head in amazement. And their claim is their [Wide Area Heal] ritual was just an approximation of Saint Sarah’s power. He focused back up and looked at the rest of the battle as the thought continued. If that’s true, I can see why they venerated her.

Mentally making a promise that he would pay his respects to her if they made it out alive, he realized the next issue was coming up.

“Archers, focus down those fliers!” he called out. His ranged attackers shifted their aim, letting them shoot the flaming bats and smaller demons out of the sky before they could reach any of the less durable targets in the backline.

From there, it was just one thing after the other.

The flame breath from the hellhounds was difficult to deal with. While his [Lineholders] had good resistance to most damage sources, that was primarily true for just the mundane ones, piercing, bludgeoning, and slashing. The fire damage started racking up. Fortunately, the Placeholder army had its own version of the hellhounds to help keep them in check. The heavenhounds that had gradually built up in number during their trip across the ashlands made their debut, and they kept the line stable with their healing breath attacks.

Next were the demons with golden weapons. Similar to the brutes, they seemed to be able to damage the [Lineholders] even with mundane damage, but the one thing that kept the Placeholder army from being overrun was that they didn’t seem to get along with the brutes that were still in the front lines. They got in each other’s way and occasionally attacked each other. Cunningham was more than happy to let them.

Meanwhile, [Princess] Besti seemed to be everywhere at once. She reinforced anywhere there was a breach, bought time for lines to reform, and was like a force of nature. However, it seemed that the part about being everywhere turned out more accurate than Cunnigham expected. Soon, she was beset by a group of… herself?

Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author.

The good news was that her doubles were easily distinguished. Their clothing was darker, and their skills were… lackluster.

[Princess] Besti was more than capable of fighting five of them at a time, but that took Cunningham’s most precious fighter out of the mix.

His lines started crumbling, and even more so once his [Soldiers] started acting sluggishly. The spear thrusts slowed down, and one [Lineholder] simply fell over where he was, despite there being no obvious injuries.

Cunningham hesitated calling for his final heals, but that doubt was removed when one scrawny demon simply ate the shield that stood in his way.

“All remaining heals!” he called out. “Points one two, one five, and two six! Hit them with everything you’ve got!”

The healing magic rained down from the sky and caused a temporary rout, which gave Cunningham time to restore his battle lines and take stock.

We have a chance. He thought. It’s slim, but it’s there.

Things were bleak, but his men were holding. The lack of organization and the slight bit of infighting that occurred among the demons was enough to make up for the vast gulf in strength between the two armies.

Cunningham gave a humorless laugh as he thought about how dire the situation would be if the enemy had used any strategy whatsoever.

Sending the fliers in around us… flanking us. By Jake’s sword, they could have simply waited out my skill.

Speaking of waiting, Cunningham realized something else. His army was tired. And even worse, he had a sinking suspicion that the demons shared the same level of regeneration that their [General] did. If so, that would mean that to win, all they had to do was constantly harry his troops until they were out of resources.

That meant he had to finish the fight as soon as possible.

“Besti,” he called into his artifact. She had cleared out her demonic body doubles, and he was going to need her help. “Get ready to move. We’re counterattacking on my-“

“[General]!” one of his aides shouted the warning a second too late.

He felt a burning sensation as the knife plunged into his back.

It cut through his HP like butter. He collapsed onto the table that was holding the scrying mirror and then onto the ground.

Through the haze of unconsciousness, he vaguely heard the screams as his aides futilely fought back against the [Assassin]. Meanwhile, said killer didn’t say a single word. There were only quiet giggles.

The next thing Cunningham processed through his daze was that he was being dragged somewhere.

He heard Violet Besti calling out for him over the communication artifact, but he couldn’t respond. He couldn’t do anything.

The sounds of fighting slowly grew duller, and then Cunningham’s head thudded onto the ash.

“Oh, is this the [General]?” the [Demon Lord] asked. There was a slight pause. “Well… good work then, I guess, Trickery. Now, get back out there.”

The only answer was another giggle and then nothing.

“Well… that pretty much sinks my chances of losing,” the [Demon Lord] muttered. “[Heal].”

Cunningham popped up, ready to fight for his life.

The [Demon Lord] looked at him impassively.

“You put up a good fight,” he finally stated, looking back at the battle. “The catapults were a good touch.”

“Cat uh pull?” Cunningham asked before he could help himself.

“Yeah, your… Oh, right,” the [Demon Lord] stated softly. “You guys don’t have France.” He sighed. “The big machines in the back? That threw the rocks?” the [Demon Lord] asked as he turned back towards Cunningham.

Cunningham frowned. “You know about the stone throwers?”

“That what they’re calling them?” the [Demon Lord] asked. “Yeah, I guess that makes sense.” He shrugged and turned back to the battle. “And yeah, we had them back on Earth. A long time ago, anyway. I’m impressed that you got them that powerful with just the torsion version. But then again, dwarves. I don’t know why I’m surprised.”

Meanwhile, the [General’s] mind was racing. He was alone with the enemy [General].

He immediately devised several plans… that he discarded almost as soon as he had them.

Neither my knife nor sword will damage him. He thought as he dismissed the plan to try to assassinate the [Demon Lord]. I cannot outrun him. He out levels me significantly.

There was one last thing that he could do. The [Demon Lord] didn’t seem to be paying him any attention, so he could still relay orders to his army if he did it quietly enough.

Cunningham looked out at the battle… and it was already over. His soldiers were routed and fleeing. The demons had complete control of the battlefield. The [General] didn’t know of a single order he could give to help.

However, his army wasn’t the only one he could talk to.

“I can’t watch this,” he stated for the [Demon Lord’s] benefit as he turned away and pulled out his secure messaging artifact.

“This is [General] Cunningham,” he stated softly. “I have been captured, and the army is lost. For what may be my final report, here is the composition of the enemy troops.”

“[General]? What do you-”

“There’s no time!” Cunningham hissed. “I could be discovered any moment. Prepare to take down everything that we learned from this defeat!”

The [General] racked his brain and gave every single detail he could about all the enemies they had faced. He detailed the different types of demons that had come against them: the brutes, the monstrous ones, and the shapeshifters especially. Then, he described the monsters and their capabilities. Finally, he reviewed the enemy’s battle tactics and how they were non-existent.

“And that concludes my report,” he continued in a quiet voice.

“I’m impressed you got all that out of a single battle,” the [Demon Lord] stated from right next to him.

Cunningham’s eyes widened in horror as he realized that the monster had been standing undetected next to him for nearly the entire report.

“There were quite a few things that he missed, of course,” the [Demon Lord] stated as he snatched the artifact out of the [General’s] hands. “There was more than one enemy commander. There were…” He paused and counted briefly on his fingers. “7 of ‘em?” he said half as a question. “Anger was the commander of the wrath demons. Your army killed him, but that still leaves about 6 more alive.”

“Who is this?” command replied. “Who are we speaking to?”

Cunningham was ready to yell that it was a trick and not to trust a word that was said, but it turned out that he didn’t even need to.

“Who do you think, genius?” the [Demon Lord] snorted. “Your [General] told you that he was captured. Were you not paying attention?”

The artifact went quiet.

“Aww, they hung up,” the [Demon Lord] said. “I had a lot more to say. Like the fact that demons respawn back in Hell when they die.” He looked the artifact up and down and failed to activate it.

Cunningham wasn’t sure what games the [Demon Lord] was playing. He had no idea why the monster would expect anyone to believe a word out of his mouth. However, the [General] was relieved. That artifact was keyed to him specifically. No one could activate it but him, and with the oaths that soldiers of Gram swore, there would be no possible way for the [Demon Lord] to-

“Got it!” the monster said as he finished cutting the enchantment with an adamantium knife. “Hello again. It’s me. Anyway, there was another piece of information you needed about the demon army. It turns out that when they’re killed-“

The line went dead again. The [Demon Lord] frowned and tried to reactivate it but couldn’t.

They’ve destroyed the paired artifact. Cunningham thought. Good. The [Demon Lord] only has a useless half now. And if I can just get that back to keep him from learning about Gram’s secret communication runes… He edged closer and tried to swipe the artifact back out of the [Demon Lord’s] hands.

With how easily the monster moved it out of the way, [General] Cunningham knew it had been a mistake to make a play for it so soon.

But I don’t know how much longer I have. He thought grimly. It was only a matter of time before he was bound, interrogated, or killed.

“Anyone else in your command have one of these?” the [Demon Lord] asked as he waved around the artifact.

Cunningham immediately went rigid as his oath took effect. “I am [General] Cunningham of Gram’s military. I am under oath and will not reveal any information about our nation’s forces.”

The [Demon Lord] sighed. “Look, I’m not trying to have you reveal information about your army. I’m trying to give you information about mine.”

What a strange interrogation tactic. Cunningham thought as he replied with the exact same sentence.

“I’m serious! If they do, I could even let you make the report!”

The [General] replied with the same oath-required sentence, and the [Demon Lord] scowled.

“Oh great, they don’t even have the Geneva Convention, but they managed to still come up with the name, rank, serial number bull spit. But, of course, they had to make it a real oath and make it even more annoying.” He shook his head and then gave Cunningham a defeated look. “So, you won’t let me help send Gram information?”

“I am [General] Cunningham of-“

The [Demon Lord] waved it off. “I get it. Understood.” He sighed and then looked up at the sky. Then the monster jolted as if he was struck. “What am I doing?” he laughed. He looked back down at Cunningham and snapped in his direction. “Now, would you let me help you out?”

The [General’s] eyes widened as he realized what had happened. The [Demon Lord] had a skill that let him nullify other skills or spells… and it apparently worked on oaths.

He could no longer be sure that he could maintain Gram’s military secrets. His plan to stay alive for as long as possible, find out as much information as he could, and then escape was quickly dismissed for plan B.

I’m sorry, Chelsea. He thought as he discretely pulled out his knife… and then jammed it into his own chest.

His [Knifemanship] was good enough, and the [Demon Lord’s] earlier [Heal] poor enough, that he was down to the negatives with that single strike.

“What the frick are you-“ the [Demon Lord] shouted as Cunningham fell to the ground, dying. With a sigh, the [Demon Lord] put his hand to his face. “Power of light restore health to my ally. [Cure].”

That immediately put Cunningham back into the land of the living. Unfortunately for the [Demon Lord], Cunningham was prepared for the [Cure]. As the heal was coming, he pulled a vial out of his inventory. Then, once he was back in the positives, he downed it before the stunned monster could do anything.

“Poison!?” the [Demon Lord] shouted in frustration. “Seriously!?”

“Looks like… you lose this round,” Cunningham smirked through the debilitating pain.

The [Demon Lord] threw up his hands. “Fine. Whatever. Go ahead. I would probably have to kill you anyway unless I wanted those a-holes down there to torture you.” He sighed. “I’ll just have to find someone else to talk with.” He muttered. “Maybe [Teleport] over to Gram.”

That was the last [General] Cunningham heard before unconsciousness took him, and he never woke.

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I had a dead general on my hands, a bunch of demons running around terrorizing the few remaining members of his army, and a useless half of an artifact that used to be able to contact Gram.

Oh, and the beginnings of a headache caused by sheer annoyance, but I mostly assumed that one was a given.

Anyway, from there, I decided that I would need to [Teleport] to Gram to get the information out… and also call for evacuations from Gram’s western cities.

I most definitely wasn’t up to date on my Placeholder geography, but I was still pretty sure that most of the fortified Gram cities were in the east due to the deathlands, with next to none in the west since there were no threats that came from that direction.

I ground my teeth and wished that I had a more solid target on the west side of Placeholder to throw my army into… and then I realized I was an idiot. Pumil exists; their entire thing was their giant enchanted wall surrounding their whole territory.

From there, my plan was pretty simple. I told my army to meet me at the mountain pass into the deathlands in a few days, [Teleported] there, made a beacon, used [Teleport to Beacon] to show up in a Gram’s capital, disguised myself, found someone that I coerced into being an intermediary, had them pass along a note with all of the details I could think of that Gram didn’t already have, and then used [Teleport to Beacon] to get back to the mountain pass before my army even got there.

… Yeah, it was actually a lot of steps, but it’s not like any of them were that difficult. It wasn’t like it was rocket science… or the [Restart] ritual.

Then it was a straight shot to Pumil’s western wall and its single gate.

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“I don’t want excuses,” I snarled. “I want you to breach that gate!”

“My lord, my lord, my lord!” Hysteria replied, and the other named demons cowed. “We try! But we cannot! The gate is too hard!”

It was almost more than my [Actor] levels could take. I desperately wanted to smirk or break character.

I had seen the remains of the camp after the demons had fought Placeholder’s army. The horrors there had removed any semblance of pity I had for the monsters in front of me, and I was feeling a good deal of catharsis throwing them into the meat grinder again and again.

“And why don’t the gluttony demons just eat it?” I growled, already knowing the answer, of course.

“We’re trying!” Voracity interjected. “But every time we get close, they hit us with boulders which aren’t tasty, shoot us with arrows that are too fast to eat, and then drop that water that’s absolutely horrid!”

The last point was an interesting one. Normally, armies dropped boiling oil off battlements, but that wouldn’t have affected the fire-damage immune demons much. Instead, they just had [Priests] [Bless] the water a whole bunch.

It was very effective.

Anyway, I acted as if I was debating for a moment, then sighed.

“Very well,” I stated. “I will grant you all a one-hour reprieve. Then you will try again.”

“Yes, lord!” they shouted in reply.

“Dismissed,” I said with a wave of my hand, acting as if I had been merciful and not like the world’s worst [General]… which, given what I had seen of demons, might have actually been true from their perspective.

I shrugged. My note seemed to have worked, and the dwarves were more than prepared for our invasion of their western gate. That meant I just had to keep throwing demons into the grinder until the [Hero] finally showed up and killed me.

Or at least, that was the initial plan.

“My lord, the gate is opening!” one of my demons shouted.

Inwardly I groaned. Come on! You just had to keep it shut, and you had a guaranteed win!

Outwardly, I gave the command. “The gate is open! Hurry! All forces advance!” I shouted. That was… kinda a gamble, honestly. I was hoping that the enemy knew what they were doing, but that was a risky game to play.

Fortunately, they did. Before my forces could muster and charge the gate, the dryadal [Heavy Cavaliers] charged through.

My forces were meeting them out on an open plain. It was going to be an absolute slaughter.

So, of course, I stuck to my order.

The heavy cavalry cut through the rank-and-file demons like a hot knife through butter, but they hit a brick wall whenever they came across a named one. Or when they rallied and charged me.

I had been planning on waiting for a [Hero], but if this can do it… I shrugged. I would let them have a free shot.

The brave rider that charged me at the head of his group lowered his lance at me and prepared to skewer me.

It went about as well for that rider as it did for a certain truck responsible for interdimensional transport… though, I didn’t even have to attack this time.

His lance bounced off me harmlessly and didn’t budge me an inch. Meanwhile, his forward momentum suddenly halted, causing him to be immediately unseated from his now-panicking horse.

“Sorry about this,” I muttered. “Gotta keep up appearances.” I pointed my staff at him. “[Hell Blaze],” I cast.

That wasn’t enough to kill him, but other demons nearby finished the job soon enough.

Meanwhile, the riders called for a retreat, and they all made it back with the gates slamming shut behind them.

While their plan to send a hit squad after me hadn’t worked, their overall attack seemed decently effective. I lost several low-rank demons during their charge.

What do I do if they slowly kill off all my army except for my named demons? I asked as I realized nothing was stopping them from making those kinds of charges whenever their resources were topped off. I shrugged. I guess I call a retreat and then try to find another way to get the [Hero] to kill me?

I had a feeling that it wouldn’t come to that, and I was proven correct after the fifth time the gates poured out heavy cavalry. That time after the riders were done massacring the rank and file, the gates… didn’t close.

And while I could have ordered everyone to get away from the gate instead of charging it, that seemed like more than I could get away with.

This time, the charging horde passed the gate, with the voice from an ordinarily quiet demon ringing out. “Come in, come in!” he said before devolving into giggles.

Frick. I thought as we engaged the troops stationed inside the walls. Trickery just snuck in the last time the gate opened… I wonder if he was just chilling next to the wall waiting for his chance this whole time.

I sighed. Trickery was by no means the strongest, but he was certainly the one who was proving the most problematic in my quest to have my army defeated.

First the [General], now this. I thought as I watched my remaining madness demons making short work of the unprepared [Soldiers]. Gram really needs to hurry it up and develop some countermeasures for invisibility.

I was worried that my army would slaughter their way past all the defenders, which would mean the next target would be an unsuspecting dwarven town. Needless to say, I didn’t want that on my conscience. I already had more than enough.

Fortunately, a group of [Paladins] seemed to be holding things together, and they also knew just what to say.

“Oh, mighty System!” they shouted. “Save us from these foul demons!”

Weird prayer. I thought. And it’s not like the System will-

My thought was cut short as a bright light suddenly shone down from the sky on both armies, and the fighting stopped.

The light was… very uncomfortable for me. My armor’s dark flames, which had been a near constant, flickered and died, and my skin felt super-itchy.

The surrounding demons took it quite a bit worse. They cowered, and the lowest level ones even started screaming as they sizzled and burned.

“When the forces of Hell attack the faithful, Heaven responds,” came a familiar voice as figures appeared in the sky and descended on the battlefield.

Heaven and its angels had answered the [Paladins]. And I now had my ticket for both my death and my army’s defeat.

“I am-“

“Mishael, archangel of Placeholder!” I interrupted him with a shout as I pushed and shoved my way to the front of my army, who were more than happy to let me through. “As leader of the forces of Hell, I challenge you to representative single combat!”

He gave me a confused look as I approached.

Is that not a thing here? I thought. Or maybe I got the name wrong. Maybe it was just single combat?

I had been going for “we duel one on one, and the winner’s army wins,” but it turned out that was not what the confusion was.

“You… are not a demon,” Mishael stated as he looked me up and down. “You are-“

I stopped him right there with a [Flash Step], and Insurance thrust at his face.

His broadsword moved almost faster than my eyes could track to parry my attack.

“I am your opponent,” I snarled as I changed the character from my actor skill. “I am the leader of these demons, and you face me!”

“I have no need to fight you,” Mishael stated as he easily blocked my next three powerful strikes. “My fight is with the forces of Hell, not those that they have deceived.”

“Then your fight is with me,” I growled as I feinted with Insurance and then caught him off guard with a [Fire Strike] kick to his side. “I opened the gate. I brought them here. I am the leader of the forces of Hell!”

He leaped back from me, aided with a quick flap of his wings, and examined me. “You are telling the truth,” he stated quietly. Then, with a deep sigh, his sword suddenly burst into white flame. “I do not enjoy what I must do, but you are too dangerous to live.”

The follow-up strike was impossibly fast. Perhaps some type of skill? All I knew was that one second he was standing there with a flaming sword, and the next, it was thrust into my chest for about a fourth of my HP.

I had already assumed a thing or two about his power level, but that let me know for sure. I needed to step it up if I wanted it to even look like I tried against the archangel.

“[Haste] activate, [Strengthen] activate,” I called to my armor. I was awkward as I ducked under the next swing, and then threw out my own horizontal slash that Mishael easily dodged, but that was all it took to dial it in and get used to my speed.

Three quick blows clashed after, but then my fourth slid under his guard by less than an inch and scored a hit across his chest.

He responded with a heavy two-handed downward strike that I tried to catch on my own sword.

Insurance, the blade commissioned by Pride that had served me well for centuries, was sheared in two.

Its sacrifice significantly decreased the incoming damage, and his sword didn’t penetrate my armor. However, I took a few points of damage from the white fire anyway.

With a grimace, I stowed the pieces of my sword in my inventory, stepped in, and punched him in the chest with a [Fire Strike].

[Ice Strike] or [Earth Strike] would have been better, but I didn’t want to pull out a come-from-behind win accidentally.

He took the attack without flinching and then brought his sword down on me again.

I tried to block it with a [Fire Strike], but I regretted that immediately as his sword cut through it with minimal resistance.

Had a feeling that would happen. I thought. That was why I started it out as a swordfight, even though it wasn’t my best weapon.

I tried my best to fight against him with my fists, but he kept me at a distance with his superior swordsmanship. Soon, I was down to two-fifths of my HP.

Already, now, just to make sure they didn’t think I left anything back… Singularity appeared in my hands. “[Blink]!” I cast, suddenly reappearing a hundred feet away.

The archangel took a moment to locate me, and I used it to start casting. “Lightning, become my radiant blade that will pierce the darkened heavens,” I chanted.

He flew towards me quickly but stopped and held his ground when he saw the lightning arcing from my staff.

“[Lightning Spear]!” I shouted as I dumped all my mana and stamina into it while slamming my foot on the earth to cast [Ground].

Just like the first time I had tried it, Mishael somehow split the lightning bolt in two.

The remaining fragments didn’t stop, however. They both slew about a dozen demons in a straight line behind him.

My MP and SP were empty as he charged me, and unlike a villain, he didn’t even stop to monologue.

Two quick slashes and that stage of the fight was over.

System: Critical HP Detected. Sufficient Level Detected. Demon Lord Form detected. Auto-activating Demon Lord Form.

System: Attempting to activate despair form

I groaned as I began my transformation once again.

System: Despair Form Activated

My health bar began refilling, and I wondered how the archangel would deal with my actual demon lord form.

… The answer was he didn’t plan to.

He slammed his flaming sword into the ground.

“For your crimes of consorting with demons, face the [Judgment of the Light]!” he decreed.

A dozen small swords made of golden light pierced into my body, but they did no damage.

I’m invulnerable during this. I can’t believe he wasted it. I chuckled to myself. It was also a pretty lackluster skill for all the buildup he had given it.

Then, I saw the archangel and everyone near me take several steps away.

I was confused and mostly locked out of doing anything due to the automatic transformation. Still, I looked up just in time to see the titanic blade of light, as blinding as a supernova, crashing toward me.

I paused.

Yup. That’ll do it.

With a slight smirk on his face for a mission accomplished, the 8th [Demon Lord] of Placeholder, Titus the Doombringer, was no more.