I spent two hours every morning telepathically drilling Anna through rifle marksmanship training exercises as best I could. She couldn’t conduct live-fire drills, so dry-firing was the most we could do until Duin and his team perfected large-scale ammunition manufacturing. Although most of the shooting fundamentals could be trained to near-perfection with dry-firing, so it wouldn’t matter too much. Anna was studious and diligent. Honestly, she was better than Rebecca when she first started and she was an absolute natural at competition shooting, although that may have been because the System existed in this world and not on Earth. Attributes, so long as they were 10 or above, were a boost, not a crutch, and Anna’s Dexterity and Wisdom were both over 13, which marked her to be far above average and halfway to transcendent.

Now that I thought about it, she killed a bandit without any knowledge of hand-to-hand combat and nothing but a knife. With that in mind, I added shortsword and knife drills to her morning regimen. Even though I could overpower Idyia with the weight of my stat block, she was far better than I was in terms of technique and experience, so she took over those portions. Anna’s general physical fitness and combative training were being closely and personally guided by General Belmond, a special privilege granted to her by virtue of her station. The soldier within me wanted to remove any hint of favoritism in order to provide a more harsh, but genuine training experience, but the husband in me kicked the soldier in the balls, shot it, then buried it in a ditch somewhere in the recesses of my mind. I’d give Anna every edge she could. Training. Equipment. It didn’t matter, so long as she survived.

When I wasn’t working with Anna, I was helping the army build fortifications or pushing back small assaults from the demons who wandered into the Pass expecting an easy trip. Caraeteous Pass was secured and easy to defend. While the rest of us were fighting smaller demonic attacks, the logistics teams and unengaged soldiers would fortify this location using the tools forged from Goldfire Renala’s scales. With Captain Rhodes coordinating the efforts, they could easily dig into the mountainside and tunnel a dwarven-style keep within a week or two thanks to their high-quality equipment. The Pass would become our Forward Operating Base.

Renala returned after three days.

I assisted the logistics teams when they started to unpack and take account of all the supplies Renala brought from the Peak as soon as she landed. Archbishop Balin and the dwarves spared no expense in crafting a fine travel pack for my baby girl. Considering her size, I imagined they hunted down the Peak’s entire deer population in order to make it. Practically every inch of her was covered in large bags that fit several barrels and crates of various supplies. There was more than enough to restock our losses and then some. Renala was almost as large as the legendary Antonov AN-225 Mriya, the largest transport aircraft on Earth, so the only major limiting factor was how much the dwarves could cram into her saddle bags. To round it out, there were two wagons full of more gear clutched in her forearms.

Once she was unburdened, I turned to the 100 men and women who would join me in the next operation. Lieutenant Martha, who was promoted to Captain, and Captain Finlay would be my direct subordinates and handle platoon-level tactical decisions. Lydia and Idyia would work together as a special unit, while I sniped from on high and provided intelligence updates and strategic direction.

The plan was simple: we would mount Renala; with the soldiers piling into the oversized saddlebags and make aerial assaults behind the enemy lines. There were enough bags to hold 7 men and women, though the fit would be tight and uncomfortable. This enabled us to make lightning-fast attacks against the demon horde’s trailing supply lines and exfil before the horde could mount a proper response. After each assault, we would return here, rest, reassess, refit, and rotate the 100 soldiers out with a fresh set and repeat the raids until the situation at Castle Velmonar changed.

To be perfectly honest, Renala and I were enough for what I intended. We could just annihilate the backlines under dragonfire and arrow barrages from on-high, but I needed to power-level my soldiers, which meant dragging them into combat over and over again. Lydia, Idyia, and I would be the only constant members of these maneuvers; the three of us working together meant we had a lower chance of failure and would boost their leveling speed. Nepotism at its finest, but I learned quickly that Renalis was not a kingdom of fairness and I didn’t have the luxury of playing nice-king. The fact of the matter was I wasn’t strong enough to contend with the greater forces playing in Valeria’s backyard. My encounter with King Arthur was more than enough to hammer that point home. I needed to make my wives as powerful as possible so they could take care of themselves if their lives depended upon it.

I ordered my soldiers into the saddle bags, but the ranged Classes and Captain Martha were given special positions on Renala’s back so they could shoot in case of an aerial battle or some other engagement that required ranged weapons. Lydia and Idyia sat on the main saddle right behind me while Captain Martha and the others lashed ropes around their waists to strap themselves to Renala’s back using the knots I taught them before we mounted.

Once I did a final check on all of my soldiers, I leaped to the front and Renala slowly took off like a VTOL before clearing about 100 meters off the ground and bursting at full speed, leaving behind a hurricane gale with a single flap of her immense, mighty wings. She could now fly at about 300mph, halfway to the speed of sound and half the speed of a commercial jet plane. The world was about to become very, very small once she could break the sound barrier. I took a look behind me to gauge everyone’s reaction and their ability to endure the speeds.

My soldiers were fine. They were dressed in Mythical plate armor, although they all tucked closely to Renala’s body to shy away from the wind shear. Idyia and Lydia were in a similar situation, although they were clinging to my back to protect themselves to make up for their more unconventional armor. Lydia wore a battle dress - a mix between a gown and armor to emphasize her beauty while Idyia demanded a modified set of armor in order to maximize her movements and flexibility. Both provided less protection than I would have liked, but it was adequate enough according to Balin. Anyone capable of even scratching Mythical equipment had to be a demi-god or higher. At that point, it was better to avoid being hit at all. There wasn’t much protection to have, even if they were in the full plate versions.

My thoughts were enough to occupy me until we arrived at our destination behind enemy lines. Renala flew high and kept above the cloudline while I used my World Map to navigate through the visual impediment. Once again, my Map and my World Map were among my greatest assets. Everything from high-level strategic movement to field-level tactical assessments could be done even if I were to close my eyes. It was like playing a mix between an isometric strategy game and an FPS.

We dove into a forest for cover and landed among the trees so my soldiers could dismount. We’d march for about ten miles through forested terrain then engage the nearest concentration of demonic activity. Once we were grounded, Renala soared back into the sky at full speed, knocking over several trees and blasting some of the weaker soldiers onto their backs. She needed to stay as undetected as possible, so walking along the ground was not an option. That left hiding above the cloudline. Thankfully, the rain clouds didn’t completely disperse, so she had plenty of cover in the sky.

I assessed Lydia and Idyia, but Lydia was who I was most worried about. Her Constitution wasn’t that high and she rarely trained with the troops due to the difference in social standing making everyone awkward and lowering the drills’ overall effectiveness. Could she march for miles through a thick, muddy forest and then engage an enemy force? I threw a glance at her while she used a special function added by Anna to draw her battle dress from her shins to above her knees.

Thank god for Anna.

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

“Captains, are your soldiers ready?” I asked while they formed up in a square to do a final equipment check.

Both of them saluted. “Yes, General!” They replied.

“Good,” I stepped around them to address the formation. “From here on out, we will be exercising full noise and light discipline. No lights. No sounds. Recall your hand-signal training.”

We began our trek immediately after. The soldiers, fresh off of their first win, highly motivated, and well-rested after four days, moved through the forest without issue. Like I feared most, Lydia’s stamina was our weakest link and we had to sedate our pace to ensure she didn’t exhaust herself before the fighting even started. I was tempted to just carry her, but giving her too much preferential treatment might affect the troop’s perception of me as their leader and Lydia as their dragonkin Queen. The Army standard for ruck marches was about 12 miles in three hours, or 1 mile every 15 minutes, carrying a full Approach March Load of around 100 pounds. We slowed to half that and it took about 5 hours before we were within combat distance.

I ordered my men to take a quick break while I leaped into the tree canopy to scout with my magnified vision.

The demons were about 500 meters away and outnumbered us 3 to 1. There was even a Greater Demon among them. Unlike the other more beastly ones, this Greater Demon was far lither and sported a five-tailed whip instead of larger, two-handed weapons. She didn’t wear any helmet and instead sported an elegant tiara that swept her shoulder-length hair back. The demon gave off an aura strikingly similar to Idyia's. She stood in stark contrast to the Beur demons that stomped forward like a barely controlled mob.

“A Succubus?” Idyia chimed in after I sent her a telepathic image. “Perhaps the Demon Goddess Vesper is assisting the invasion? I have not heard of this, Master. This may be far more dangerous than we anticipated.”

“Does it Charm?” I asked, focusing my gaze on the demon. “This actually explains why the Beur demons are so organized despite their penchant for harming their own.”

“Yes, but I believe your Skill is strong enough to shield your mind against it.” Idyia evaluated.

“I’m not going to risk a direct engagement,” Morgan’s mind-reading and strange, attractive aura reminded me I was not totally immune to mental interference. “I’ll snipe it from here.”

“Wait, Master. Succubi do not specialize in straightforward combat. It is out of character to find one out in the open.”

“You think it’s a trap?”

“Or at least, it is bait. Regardless, Succubi, especially Greater Succubi, can warp a person’s mind nearly instantly with their Charm Skills and Spells. The soldier’s equipment doesn’t protect them against mental attacks.”

Suddenly, the Greater Demon turned her head straight at me and then pointed her whip in my direction.

“Prepare for combat. We’ve been compromised.” I sent the message to Lydia, Idyia, and the Captains. I clicked my tongue as the Beur demons began to orient their path toward the forest.

How the hell did she detect me from that far away?

“Your thoughts are not as quiet as you would like to believe,” echoed a male voice through my mind.

My telepathy was being hacked, again?! I needed to upgrade this Skill with some encryption method ASAP.

“You’ve seen one of my concubines. I shall introduce myself: I am known in Valeria as Dalentous the Breaker.”

“The one who opened the Rift?” I replied, deciding to try and pry as much information as possible out of this enigmatic voice in exchange for losing the element of surprise.

“Is that what you’ve been told? Well, I am responsible in part, but the true credit should go to Seras.”

“What?!” This time, I spoke aloud.

“If you seek answers, come find me in the Endless Abyss. But beware, the truth is often much worse than the happy lies you’ve been fed. For now, entertain me.”

My Reflex Dagger pinged my mind. It was the only warning I received before four Greater Succubi teleported to surround me. Their eyes glowed red and I felt a deep, carnal desire for all of them before my spike in lust faded. The Succubi were surprised at how ineffective their Charm was but my bow was already halfway drawn.

I lashed out with Wind Elemental Rounds combined with Stun Grenades on fully automatic. The arrows exploded out with fierce gusts of wind. The chaotic change in air pressure caught the Greater Succubi’s leathery wings and sent them reeling away to give me space. The arrows then exploded in bright, searing light and ear-splitting sound that signaled the start of the battle. I relied entirely on my transcendent Constitution to preserve my senses, but the hurricane gales threw me off the branch I was perched on and I barely landed on my feet by backflipping in mid-air during the tumble.

I didn’t give any quarter and continued to spray the Greater Succubi with arrows while they tried to recover from my disorienting counterattack. Two went down quickly, crashing into the forest floor after I pincushioned them with armor-piercing rounds. The remaining two threw felfire at me while strafing between the trees for cover and evasion. They were both extraordinarily fast and nimble. Their Dexterity must have been transcendent. Neither side could score any good hits.

Rather than fire pointlessly at them, I paused and siphoned Mana from a Magic Crystal, then waited for them to approach. It would get exponentially harder for them to dodge my shots as they closed the distance. I was certain I could nail them both to the trees once they crossed the 20-meter range. They halted their advance to take cover behind some trees. Their only real chance to attack me again was to wait for their teleportation abilities to come off Cooldown. I could try to shoot through the trees with armor-piercing rounds or force them out of cover with grenades.

But I noticed a blip on my Map and immediately changed tactics.

Idyia emerged from the shadows behind one of the Succubi and drove both golden blades through the demon’s unguarded neck in an X-shape that would have skewered a human’s lungs, heart, and other vital organs. Her swords could have potentially cleaved through the Succubi’s armor, but I appreciated her precision and accuracy. Her deadly combination of Skills and Aspects rendered any HP the Succubi had irrelevant.

Idyia then kicked herself and her weapons free of her target’s corpse as it fell to the ground and flitted back into the foliage just as a ball of felfire was thrown at her last known position.

I didn’t waste any time and fired armor-piercing arrows at the final Succubi. She managed to block and dodge some of them while relying on her Health to endure the rest of the barrage but eventually tried to flee into the sky only to come face to face with Lydia, in her fully transformed state, waiting above the treeline. There was a feminine scream of agony before Lydia’s dragonfire burned through the canopy; the Succubi’s flaming corpse fell to the ground.

“Levin! Are you Charmed?” Lydia returned back to her human state as she landed in front of me to grab my face and search my eyes for something only she could see. She sighed in relief after she found whatever she was looking for.

“I’m fine,” I shook her off and focused on my Map and World Map to update my tactical awareness. Despite losing the element of surprise and being outnumbered, the Captains were leading the strike team well. The forest prevented the demons from simply overrunning my men with sheer numbers, nullifying their numerical advantage. I could have Renala sweep overhead but that would ruin the purpose of this raid: powerleveling my troops.

“Idyia, go,” I nodded once at her and she immediately disappeared into the shadows to fight as she knew best. In this place, surrounded by cover and concealment of all types, she was probably stronger than I was.

Lydia drew a jeweled scepter and a one-handed sword. I unsheathed my own sword.

“Would you like to dance?” I asked without turning to Lydia, but I felt her grin viciously through our bond.

“I thought you’d never ask.”