Leaving the rest of their goblin party, Chum crept along the hill behind Nori with both Tiria and Orchid in tow. Instead of walking directly over the hills as they had, they took a circular route to stay at the base of them.

Chum knew Nori's range was long, but it still took over ten minutes before he could hear the sounds of battle himself. With all the voices clanging in the distance, it almost sounded like the Bazaar from the base of Igna, but there was a chaotic air to it that even the monster city didn't have.

It was only a few minutes more when he recognized the screams.

Nori crawled up a hill on her belly and then pointed when she reached the top.

"The war has already started."

When Chum himself could finally see, he was surprised. Despite the clamor, the battle itself was relatively small compared to the battle for Igna. A group of demons who shared the same look as Galvina were assaulting a small city of humans which was withstanding their attack from the ramparts of their walls.

Both only had between a hundred to two hundred combatants on each side, but the level of combat was a step above what they'd demonstrated in Igna.

Igna's tactics could be summed up as send in the fodder until the enemy weakened enough for the Classers to move in. This was... far more coordinated.

The demons were lined up. Both the first and second line used Aether to mold water from gourds on their back into a shield that protected their entire group. Those in the back worked their Aether in concert to pull huge chunks of earth from the ground and fling it at the wall.

Only the Sky Clans of Igna would have been able to even attempt to fight back against that and yet somehow the humans did. The Earth aspect seemed to be shared across both sides and each chunk of Earth was a battle of control for the projectile. Momentum and gravity would have favored the demons, but there were a dozen human mages that flew through the air and used wind to slow each projectile down.

It was a stalemate. Shouts echoed from both sides and the occasional arrow from the humans or spike of earth from the demons would strike someone through their defenses, but otherwise, neither appeared to be making progress.

"The Demons will win this," Nori said. Her tone didn't seem to brook any disagreement, but Chum didn't see any way to tell how the stalemate would break.

"How?" Tiria asked, her eyes drifting from the small army of demons to the cliff at their back that hadn't even begun to taper to something assailable.

"The Demon Empire uses close to the system standard for their armies. This is a company. Four platoons to a company and four Squads to a platoon. The water group is a shielding platoon and the two in the back are a sieging platoon. If you look closely, you can see that last platoon is just biding their time. That's an assault platoon."

Chum followed Nori's gaze and realized that she was right. There was a group of demons wielding some type of short sword along with a small shield buckled to their other arm simply waiting behind the shield.

He looked to the humans' side, but there was no comparable sized force waiting in the wings. Every one of the humans was fully engaged in the defense.

Nori's eyes were closed when Chum looked back to her and a small smile was forming on her lips. "This is a good opportunity. These Demons are fairly weak for the Empire. The three of us alone could change the course of this battle."

There were four of them there, but before Chum could correct her, she was already rushing back down the hill. Tiria followed so he and Orchid did as well.

"We don't want to be involved with this," Tiria said as Nori walked back towards their small group.

"You're already involved. The Demon Empire wants to bring the entire world to heel. Do you want to be a slave? If not, then congratulations, you've joined the war effort."

"All I need is to get into the forest." Tiria stabbed a finger in the direction of the cliff.

"Then climb up there. Oh wait, you can't. That means the only way is past that siege that we need to break."

Tiria's protests stopped, but she pulled her compass back out and watched as the needle pointed directly to the forest on the cliff. Snapping it shut, she returned it to her [Expanded Pocket] before turning to Chum and Orchid.

"Do we fight?" Chum asked.

"Maybe...," Tiria said, a lot less decisive then she would have been before.

Additional Soul Orbs might prove wise for our future endeavors? Orchid offered.

Tiria tilted her head. "That's... a good point. We won't be able to bring Gi back if we're too weak."

They also couldn't help if they were dead, but Chum held his own thoughts back. The three of them finished following Nori back in silence. Most of her group had returned with the Goats, but she still had a handful and Glom.

Their trio still didn't speak as they made their way back to the hill overlooking the battle. The stalemate hadn't progressed to Chum's eyes, but Nori seemed pleased that they'd made it in time.

"It should be any minute now. Rush straight for the remnants once the assault team is out. If the humans survive, great. They will be a good wall to keep them away from us in the future. If not, that's their problem."

"If you see a demon, kill a demon," one of Nori's goblins said and the rest nodded like it was sage advice.

They all started to hype themselves up by slapping each other and growling. It seemed asinine to him so he was surprised when he turned to Tiria and she was bouncing and shaking out her neck.

When she saw him looking, she slowed down. "Do you think that monsters by their nature are monstrous?"

To him, that sounded like asking if food is foodish, but her serious expression caused him to actually consider what she was saying. "I'm... not sure. That old Possession Flower in the Queen's cave made us tea and helped us even though we were going to kill him."

"I've been thinking about that too. Was that part of his nature or in spite of it? And regardless of what it was, was it a good thing?"

"I think it's good," Chum said. He honestly kind of admired Yoto. The strength to calmly sip tea in the face of death was a strength that he aspired to. He didn't really understand what that had to do with the battle ahead though.

"I do too, but I think it's against our nature. For a long time, Samba has been concerned about Gi's actions, and for a time, I was too, but I just realized... it was because he was monstrous that Samba could be good. He shielded us from the reality of ourselves and made us better for it. We took him for granted... and now he's gone."

A dark look marred Tiria's features that he didn't like it. That simmering frustration and anger might be better than the depression that had plagued her since Gi's death, but it was hard to see that look on her. "What are you going to do?"

"I'm going to be monstrous."

***

Chum looked thoughtful as Tiria laid out all the thoughts that had been banging around in her head. He was one of the good ones so it made sense that her words would trouble him. Maybe she could be for him what Gi was to her?

Her eyes drifted over to the lines of demons and her frustration spiked. She hadn't been able to fight back against the Fighting Drakes or Galvina, but she could fight here.

Fighting these demons was needed. She needed strength to enter the forest. She needed strength to be the monster that could bring Gi back.

What was her sense of self compared to that?

At some unseen signal the assault demon burst through the water shield sprinting across the plains that led towards the human's fort.

"Wait for it," Nori cautioned.

Each of the demons wielded a short sword in one hand and a small buckler strapped to the other that left their hand free. Tiria was confident that there was some variation in their Stats, but they all sprinted in parallel lines.

The humans weren't going to let them approach for free though. Arrows and the odd Aether attack launched towards them, but most of the attacks either missed or were too weak from their lacking Aether reserves. As one, the demons leapt and crashed into the humans still holding the top of the castle walls.

"Now!" Nori yelled.

The goblins could only be disciplined so long and started yelling out war cries as their small sortie sprinted down the hill and into the plains where the exhausted remnants of the demon's company.

Unexpectantly, Tiria found herself yelling as well. Even more unexpected were the tears that started to drift down from her eyes, but it wasn't time to examine her feelings any more. It was time to fight.

The tired demons had drawn their own short swords and set to receive them, but she wasn't going to let them form up. Her [Charge] was intercepted by the first demon, but her Strength was greater and the demon stumbled backwards into another that was trying to reinforce their lines.

Activating [Lord Commander], three all white otters appeared around her. Globes of water swirled into being out of the air and handles shot out to be grabbed by herself and her summons. The maces were a mainstay of her [Waterborn Armory] Domain but until now she'd barely tapped the surface of it.

Like an army of her own, she blasted through the first demons to form up, instantly killing the one that she'd already caused to stumble. In unison, her summons stepped forward with her and swung mightily to new targets.

The demon in front of her dodged her blow and tried to slash under her arm, but another watery mace appeared in its path. For once, her mind didn't nag her about moderation or holding back so she'd be strong enough to help the clan if it stumbled.

She let loose.

Aether poured into her Domain and four maces quickly turned to over a dozen, each hovering around her. She didn't have true telekinesis over the conjured weapons but wherever they were they had substance and weren't so easily cut through.

She grabbed two of the maces, flinging both of them to the sides to open up space in the demons that had started to crowd. Plucking another mace out of the air, she brought it down on one of the demons in front of her.

Blood and brain matter erupted from its head as it fell to the ground at her feet. Despite being of a similar level, that one at least must have had a low Vitality.

Grabbing another mace, she stepped forward and swung towards the next demon like a baseball bat. The blow connected and sent that demon tumbling to the ground, but at the same time, a short sword bit into her side and Tiria hissed, flinching backwards.

Chum appeared at her side to block the attacking demon's follow up attack with a shield from his [Expanded Pocket]. Tiria turned to batter away another demon the next demon in line but her attack was cut short as a third slashed downwards towards her arm.

She darted backwards to keep herself safe, but then immediately had to jump back in to keep Chum from being overwhelmed.

Despite their enemies being exhausted, there were just too few of Tiria's own. Off to her left, Nori was plowing through one of the platoons completely on her own, her entire body glowing with Aether. The goblin leader was clearly more of a peer to Gi than to her, but Tiria wasn't willing to give up.

She knew she could fight harder. Her own Elites had pushed harder in the battles in Igna... and that gave her an idea.

With a roar, Tiria grabbed two maces out of the air and started swinging her maces in a blurring succession of attacks. She didn't block. She barely dodged. She only attacked. It was the overwhelmingly aggressive style that was Kumo's hallmark.

And it worked.

The demons around her were slowly pushed back as her overwhelming aggression ground them down. She took wounds, but Chum's Domain was running full force and they were either blocked by his barrier of Aether or healed quickly.

Chum himself was having trouble keeping up with her unending assault as she pulled herself and her summons deeper into the enemies lines, stepping over the bodies of her enemies who'd already given up their precious Soul Orbs to her.

More than anyone else, Tiria was connected to the Clan. Gi was the peak that had forged the way, but she was the hand that guided the clan along the path and Kumo wasn't the only member that she'd guided.

Dismissing her summons, Tiria activated [Charge] again bulling over a demon that was raining down blows on Chum's shield. Her [Charge] sent them stumbling backwards. Another blade came down towards her and she brought back her summons to guard Chum even as she stepped into the attack.

Her forearm went to the demon's elbow and her other paw wrapped around the back of the demon's head. Twisting, she flung its body into the next foe that rushed forward, tangling up both their limbs before a series of knees to the demon's sternum let them drop before her.

A mace pulled out of the air ended it's life.

Tiria danced around the battlefield, switching from overwhelming aggression of Kumo to the defensive clinch of Samba. As she fought her feelings flowed, the Clan had been everything to her and it still was even after their loss.

She'd do anything to bring it back.

One of the Earth demons sent a spike into her shoulder, but she ripped it out so that Chum's healing could fix her up. Creating a smaller profile by turning sideways, she overcharged her Domain, flinging a mace towards the ranged attacker.

The mace swelled as it flew through the air and Tiria could practically hear the twins shout on the mountain that they protected the peak. The massive water mace smashed into the opposing attacker. Tears had returned to her eyes, but she wasn't done.

The platoon of Demons that she fought were trying to engage a fighting retreat. Whether that was Tiria's power or Nori's that convinced them of that, it was hard to say, but she couldn't let them go.

She was a monster.

Only the fact that her Skill was her Domain had kept her with any Aether at all, but with the end in sight, she poured out even more except this time into [Lord Commander].

Tiria dodged out of the way of an attack and spawned a pristine white otter who tore a mace from the air and crushed the foe in front of her. Another mace appeared in her hand and she blocked a short sword with it before another summon appeared to crush its knee with a heavy paw.

A stomp of her foot sent blood and skull squirting along the ground, but she'd already found her rhythm. She was the clan and she'd fight like all of them were at her back.

Your [Fighting Style] has evolved from (Unnamed) to (Path of the Clan)!

The notification came when the immediate area around her had stilled. Both Chum and Orchid were several dead demons away from her. The goblins were going systemically through their downed foes to make sure they were dead while Nori kept an eye on the desperate struggle on top of the humans' walls.

Tiria looked at her blood soaked paws and clenched them into fists. For the first time since Gi's death, bringing him back felt like something within her grasp. It might take her some time to be strong enough to do so, but whether it was one year or ten, she'd see it done.