Chapter 40: Tide of Battle Part 2 [MOON]

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We finally made it to the centre of the city. The townhouse was thankfully still intact to be our landmark, otherwise we would had lost our way with all the chaos that is happening around us. Soldiers were everywhere and not all of them were demons. We had to fight with so many soldiers on the way which slowed us down. Sadly there were a number of adventurers that were either too afraid to do anything or just doesn’t trust anyone. I told them if they wish to avenge or stop this war, just head over to the castle to help out. If they still had any semblance of rationality, they should do what is best for themselves. My main goal is to escort Rose to the city centre and here we are. What does she need to do to cast it?

She looked up the townhouse and sighed. She said that she will most probably need to climb the townhouse to reach the highest point which is the bell tower. This would maximise the coverage of the spell as she does not know what how the spell would spread out. I told her to follow her guts and do what she needed to do while I fend off anyone that comes close to the building. Rose nodded and rushed into the townhouse to climb up.

A few of the adventurers and soldiers came charging at me as though they knew what we were trying to do. Strange, demons usually do not have such intellect. Is there someone leading them nearby? Or perhaps they are just attacking anyone on sight now.

I stood at the entrance of the townhouse and fought the enemies. I was not in a position to pull my punches so if there was any humans fighting with me here then may you rest in fist. I was swinging my punches and kicks more now. Why does it feel as though there were endless of them? I made a quick glance and noticed that a lot of them were demons in disguise so I pressed on in fending myself.

There was a loud roar that caused the soldiers and adventurers to back-off. A soldier was walking towards me in a calm manner. He threw his weapon away and started morphing. Is he.. changing back to his demon form? I guess it is pointless to remain in disguised now. This demon was blueish in colour but had no wings. It looks slim but definitely have the muscles to rip me apart. His claws is extremely long alright. This must be a great demon that the three of them kept talking about. Now I have to fight this one alone. Do I stand a chance? I get the feeling that it is imperative that I use Concentration against this strong opponent.

I took a deep breath and activated imperfect Concentration. The demon roared as it starts charging towards me. It made a leap and wanted to take a bite at me. I dodged to the side and avoided the bite but held back in giving a counter. I do not know what this demon is capable of. It took a swipe at me but I ducked low. It then tried to kick me which I took advantage of. I did a minimal dodge and punched hard on the demon’s knee, shattering the bones. The demon roared in pain and held on to the broken knee. I pushed my advantage and continued attacking the demon. There is a wax that Zen created which prevent demons from healing quickly but it is useless for me. That wax is only useful for bladed weapons but I am a brawler.

We traded some blows but the demon is healing quickly. Even his shattered knees had healed by now. I need to end this quickly. The demon tried to stab me with it’s claws. I dodged to the side and arm-locked its arm. Then I gave a punch that broke its arm resulting it in a flabby mess. The demon pulled back its arm roaring but I gave no quarters. I gave a kenpo double punch to the demon’s stomach and sternum. The demon was spewing blood from its mouth. Now to aim for the head. I rushed in to deal the finishing blow but a blade suddenly pierced through its skull from behind. The blade twisted and sliced through the skull.

Who’s blade is this? Is it from an adventurer? The demon slumped to the ground and stood there was Rick. He performed a chiburi before slotting his katana back into his scabbard. He walked closer to me but I remained wary of him. I was certain I saw Rick’s dead body in that alleyway. He was either ambushed or assassinated by someone powerful enough to kill a Dark Knight. This demon is going to be harder than the Great Demon earlier. But why did it kill its own kind?

“Pretty crazy, isn’t it? This war has gone to hell. I’m surprised to see you here in the middle of town. What are you… doing here?” asked Rick.

Wow, even his voice and mannerism is exactly like Rick. What is John and the Elementalist doing? I thought the both of them were supposed to be hunting Rick but here he is. I guess he does not know that his cover was blown. No matter, let me just play the fool then.

“We got lost and fought our way here. And then I was ambushed by all these soldiers, adventurers and suddenly a Great Demon appeared. Thanks for helping me back there,” I said to him with a smile.

“I see. Well you better get out of the city while you still can. City Of Pines is lost now. There is no saving it anymore. I will be leaving too as soon as I found Zen. Do you happen to know where he is?” he asked me.

“I don’t know. I thought he was still outside of the city trying to find his way in. Weren’t you tasked to protect him?” I asked him.

I looked up at the townhouse and saw Rose finally made it to the roof. She is close now. Just a few seconds more and she will be able to climb her way up to the bell tower. I turned my head to look for any other soldiers or adventurers that might be heading my way. I was shocked to see a cannon being pushed here. The cannon bearers were readying themselves to shoot at Rose!

I rushed towards the cannon but I felt a murderous intent behind me. I quickly turned myself to block Rick’s blade. This bastard is stopping me from destroying the cannon.

“How did you know about my secret task? No one was supposed to know about it. Unless, he told you himself,” said Rick as he pushed his blade stronger against my gauntlets.

Damn it. A slip of the tongue. I need to destroy that cannon before it fires at Rose!

BOOM!

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Shit! They fired so fast? I turned my head and saw Rose leaping towards the ladder that she needed to climb to reach the top of the bell tower. The cannon ball destroyed the portion of the roof that she was running on a second ago.

Nice one, Rose! Now they will need some time to reload before firing again. I wanted to rush towards the cannon but Rick was pressing his attack now. His attack was precise and fast. This is no ordinary demon. I might have to use Concentration just to fend off his attack.

I heard the sound of a cannon ball being loaded in. Argh, I need to destroy that cannon but this bloody demon is not letting me! I made a quick glance at Rose. She was still climbing the ladder. The cannon is going to fire before she make it to the top. This demon is taking all my attention just to block his attacks. I am going to need to use Concentration to defeat this demon quick. I focused myself to use Concentration but was suddenly hit in my stomach. Where did that attack came from? It took opportunity of me trying to focus and attacked me.

I clutched my stomach due to the pain. I was starting to hear signature “tssss” sound which can only meant that the cannon was about to fire at any moment now. I pushed through the pain and dashed to the where the cannon was disregarding my safety. But deep down, I knew that I could not make it. Rose will not be able to avoid the cannon ball while she is climbing. She might have to jump away to safety but without reaching the top, is the spell effective enough to cast? I can sense the demon’s blade aiming for my neck behind me. But I have to try. I have to save Rose. Zen will not be here to save me like he did before.

Something can be heard flying behind me. The cannon that I was staring at misfired and did not fire. That’s weird. The fuse fell off the cannon which puzzled the soldiers. It was then the Elementalist appeared behind them and incapacitate them by slamming his dagger hilt on their temple. Thank the goddess the Elementalist made it in time! I turned my head behind and saw John blocking Rick’s blade with his axe. Finally the both of them are here. About time they started doing the job assigned to them.

I looked up and saw Rose reaching the top of the bell tower. Finally she can start casting her spell. I can finally focus on beating the shit out of this imposter.

“After Rose casted her spell, go to the castle to help Zen. The Elementalist and I will fight this imposter,” said John.

“What are you saying? You will need all the help you can get in fighting this imposter. This demon is strong!” I shouted at John.

“Zen is all alone in the castle right now. You two must help him! Who knows what other strong opponents he will be facing alone. Go, both the Elementalist and I will handle this. Keep your future husband alive,” pleaded John.

"Damn it John, I'll be coming back to punch you for that. Don't you dare die on me!" shouted Lily as she headed towards the bell tower.

Rick leaped back as he saw the Elementalist walking over to my side. Seems he is wary in fighting two guildmasters at the same time.

"You can stop your foolish disguised now. We know who you are," I warned the imposter.

"What are you talking about? I'm Rick. I don’t understand why two guildmasters are picking a fight with me," pleaded the imposter.

"I had a clear view of you trying to kill Lily. Cut the chatter and bring out your halberd. It's your favourite weapon anyway," I said to him.

Just then, a bright ray of light engulfs all of us. I embraced the light as it was warm and calming. The Rick imposter on the other hand was screaming in pain as his face mask was searing. He quickly removed and threw his mask revealing who he was. It turns out my suspicion was entirely correct.

***

I reached the top of the throne in a blink of an eye. Just a swing from Inazuma and the Queen will be dead before the captain can even react if he is hiding somewhere. It will all be over in just a second.

PING!!

No, the sound effect was not because of network latency. The Queen stopped Inazuma with her raised index finger. How is this even possible? Inazuma can slice through many things and fingers are absolutely one of them. How strong are her flesh and bones?

I pulled back Inazuma, did a pirouette and attempted another slash to her neck. This time she stopped my blade by gripping with her index and middle finger. It felt as though Inazuma is stuck in-between her fingers. Not good, I had thought she would be at the rank of a greater demon but she might even be stronger than that. I hope she is not the actual Demon King in disguise.

I summoned Tengu-kaze with my left-hand as Inazuma was stuck and swung at her. Before it even reaches her, she kicked me with her high-heel on my stomach and sent me flying all the way down to the bottom of the throne steps. Bloody hell that hurts.

As I was clutching my stomach on the floor, I saw a sharp heels in front of my vision wanting to stomp me from above. I quickly rolled aside and stood up powering through the pain. How is this woman jumping around while wearing heels and a big corset. Demon or not, I am impressed that she was able to pull such a stunt in the first place.

The Queen was smirking and had her hand on her hips as she stood there waiting for me. Trying to taunt me, is she? I smirked back. If she were to die so easily after all the trouble she had caused me I would had been left unsatisfied. I closed my eyes and did my breathing routine.

I activated imperfect Concentration to face this bitch. I de-summoned Tengu-kaze and focused on using Inazuma as I had not learned how to dual-wield properly. I charged at the Queen full speed and attacked from all possible angles. I couldn’t hurt her no matter how hard I swung Inazuma. She was blocking all my attacks with just her hands and arms. I’m surprised that her skin and bones were this tough.

Seeing as I was doing no harm, I summoned my trusty gauntlets Hand of the Lightning God. Say goodbye to your roof, Miss Queeny. I lifted my left arm and a lightning struck through the castle from above to charge my gauntlet. I ran it across Inazuma making sure to coat it properly. The Queen had a more serious look on her face after seeing what I showed her. I am able to destroy the Underwater Dragon King’s scales with Shadow Strike and Lightning Charge combo. Now with my upgraded Dark Slash, let’s see how your skin and bones fare with this combo.

I lunged at her with maximum speed. The Queen leaped to the side to avoid my attack. Trails of lightning can be seen as I readied to swing Inazuma. Turns out she is afraid, huh? She scratch one of her palm with her index nail causing it to bleed. Then out of nowhere, a bluish looking dagger covered with thorns emerged from her hand and she tossed a couple of them at me. Does she have blue blood? I dodged them skilfully avoiding every single one of them. We were now fighting among the pillars of the throne room. Just as I had hoped.

As she continued throwing her daggers, I hid among one of the pillars and used Conceal. The Queen started looking around due to my sudden disappearance.

“I can still smell you, you know? Playing hide and seek with me is useless,” she said out loud as she continued sniffing around.

She walked closer behind one of the pillars and summoned more daggers at on her hands. Upon reaching my hiding place, she threw all her daggers that she summoned. All of them hit the wall instead. She had mistaken the scent of my cloak and assumed that I was hiding there.

I appeared behind her holding Inazuma with both hands. I spun myself for more momentum sliced at her. The Queen reacted quickly and leaped backwards but I was faster. I sliced her right hand below the elbow cleanly. She looked at her wound and shrugged it off. Strangely, there was no blood spilling out of that wound.

I kicked her severed arm away nonchalantly and pointed Inazuma at her.

“Your head will be next,” I warned her.

She smirked and just laughed while walking away from the pillars. She is now standing in the middle of the room and taunting me to attack her. I quickly collected my cloak and wore it back. I obliged and ran towards here with full intention to decapitate her head. However, I was stopped midway when something grabbed my neck from behind. It was her severed arm! She can move it even after I severed it?? The arm swung forward and attached itself back to her body while still gripping my neck. I can barely move from her grip. I tried trashing around but I was running out of oxygen to slice her hand off with Inazuma.

She brought me out of the throne room through her balcony while chocking me with one hand. This location is where she give her speeches to the people overlooking from above. Now it is going to be my execution ground. She easily lifted me higher with one hand and brought me over to the edge. I continued to struggle to break free from her grip but I just couldn’t think straight right now.

Just then, a ray of bright light showered ran through my vision. Rose did it. She casted her Revelation spell. I squinted my eyes as it was bright and noticed that the clothes of the Queen was searing and she was changing her features. Now I can finally see her true form. She is a demon with a seductive outfit, green eyes, horns and had wings that looked like a skirt.

“H.. hey.. you’re…. not… as bad as you look,” I managed to mutter out those words.

“Oh my, flattery from a human? I would had considered it if the Demon King had not had his sights on me. I am the Demon Queen. I commend you for being able to sever my arm earlier. Not many beings were able to hurt me in the first place. Remember this as it is the last words you will ever hear.

She took a deep breath and released her grip. I thought I will be free falling from what looked like 30 storeys high. But I was greeted with a loud scream. I lost consciousness while I was sent flying.