Chapter 13 – A steadfast attack requires a good heart

Randalph returned by reviving next to us.

“Where you discovered? Why did you die?” (Lucius)

“I managed to avoid discovery. The demon carrying me was lost, though.”

“Did he run?”

“No, he simply attacked me, but I was able to burn him to death before I died. It seems, taking only one of them was the wrong choice. I didn't want to risk more than a single demon, in case I was found out. Most likely, he thought this was a chance to escape for him. However, I was able to confirm it. You were right, it is Godmother.”

Considering where he went it wasn't a wrong thought. Still, his thinking showed me that he was prepared to sacrifice the demon right from the start. A scenario I had tried to avoid. Nevertheless, I didn't dare to blame him. Not only would it be naïve, it would've also been hypocritical. While I thought of sacrificing them to cover for my mistake of getting stuck, he simply calculated the risk and tried to minimize his eventual losses from the start. [So that is one of the fine differences between a murder and collateral damage, huh?] I was supposed to be wiser than him, yet I didn't think of that. That just showed me a wise person could still be inexperienced. [Lesson learned.]

“What are your thoughts, then?”

“Honestly, I have no clue how we would be able to rescue her. But I will try it nevertheless.” Just as I thought. He had no intention of giving up on her. Well, while he was out to confirm my findings I had some time to think.

“I might have an idea, though I would need some of your men for it. Volunteers...”

“Volunteers?” Randalph made a wry face at that. “I don't like the sound of it, but lets hear you out, Lucius.”

“Basically, we have three options. Escaping this prison by foot, rescuing Godmother, or trying for the demon's teleport-circle.”

“You aren't suggesting that we should abandon our leader, are you?”

“No, I realized that she's our best option. However, the demons wouldn't know of this. So ask yourself this: What would happen in case of a breakout? I am talking about the demon's reactions.”

The captain brought a hand to his chin and thought for a bit, before answering my question.

“They would increase security at their circle and the entrances, if there are any at all.”

“I am pretty certain that there have to be other exit-routes, besides the teleport-circle. How else would the air be able to flow? For such a big dungeon there should be appropriate caverns to allow for some ventilation.

Regardless, you are still right. They would increase manpower at those spots. That would leave the cavern where Godmother is more vulnerable.”

“You are talking about a diversion, I see.”

“I am talking about two diversions. One at the garrison and another one at the entrances.”

“Now I know why you asked for volunteers. Mate, you are saying some pretty nasty things. Those two groups would have to sacrifice themselves to allow the escape of the third...”

“Exactly. Naturally, I will be with the group attacking the settlement.”

“What? Why do you have to go?” (Aoi)

“I understand your concern. Be that as it may, I already once broke free from the curse and might be able to do it a second time. There will be a day I could try another breakout, now that I have the knowledge about auras. I am not helpless against them, anymore.”

Aoi wasn't convinced. Asking the others to give us some space, I was thankful when they were thoughtful enough to crawl away. I drew closer, put my forehead on hers and whispered.

“I beg of you, please go with the group aiming for Godmother.”

“I will do so.”

With my mouth agape and my mind going blank I asked.

“Wait! Why was that so easy? I thought you'd be absolutely against it.”

“Should I explain to you why I said it?” I was completely baffled. Usually I had a decent amount of insight into people but this time I had no idea what was going on. Was she angry about something?

“D-did I do something wrong? Did you start to hate me? Why wouldn't you want to stay with me?”

“Now you want me to go with you on a suicide attack? Very well, Lucius. I will abide.” [Oh no she tricked me...]

“Did you honestly believe that would work? I changed my mind. Go and rescue Godmother! It's an important task that I can't give to anyone else.”

“My love, why would you think that I am capable of doing such a thing? Leaving my man behind, what kind of woman would I be?”

“The kind that would honour his wishes.”

“Even if he wishes for me to betray him?”

[Doesn't she understand the concept of manly chauvinism? It's the man who protects the woman when it comes to fighting. The woman can protect her man by lying for him in front of others.] Then it dawned to me. She was lying without a single untrue word leaving her lips!

“Ohhh! Now I get it. You are planning to go and save Godmother, then you want to immediately head for my location without leaving with them, am I right?”

A smile appeared on her face.

“I just love how smart you are, Lucius.”

I started to put some force with my forehead onto hers in an attempt to overpower her, showing my displeasure that way. However, she dared to fight back. Having both only one point in strength, we were evenly matched and neither of us wanted to yield. The unexpected duel went on for some time and I felt the veins on my head started to become visible in my anger.

“You stubborn woman, why are you doing this to me? Do you think I would propose such a thing if it weren't for saving you that way?”

“Yes, I think you would still do the same to save the others. I've come to know you over the past few months.”

[Aoi, I love you but I hate you...]

“This isn't over!” If she wouldn't listen there was still the way of simply forcing her. I had more allies than her, namely the demons. They feared me more and if I told them to keep her with the main group they would listen to me. Otherwise I will kill them with no questions asked. A rather underhanded method but it had to be done.

So I went on with our meeting with the others. There was no way Aoi would think she won there.

“Randalph, you should belong to the group going for Godmother. It seems you have a greater attack power than me. We should send our strongest people with this group to heighten their chances of success.”

“We do have three problems, though.” As often, Crence had been silent and only started to talk when he had something of value to say. That was one of his good points. He seldom said something without thinking it over, first. He was impulsive but at the same time there was a well of knowledge hidden behind his anger.

“First, we would need more men for this. Second, we need more demon-mounts, thirdly we would need a way to persuade those demons to carry the men, responsible for the diversions. I fathom they won't be too happy with this and might start rebelling no matter the consequences.”

“I already thought about this, too. How many 'Children of the Dawn' are approximately captured on this side of the bridge?”

“Exactly 65 without us. Also, there were no guards to be seen anywhere.” Brensek was the one who surprisingly said this. [They weren't idling around either, when I was out.]

Then he looked at me and added.

“I would like to volunteer for your group, Lucius.”

“Me, too.” (Fillion)

“Are you two sure about this?” Both of them didn't give me a verbal reply, just a simple nod with determination in their eyes. They knew exactly what would happen to us.

“Very well. Glad to have you with me. When we attack the guards we should shout something like: 'Go for the teleportation-circle. It's our only escape!'. The group trying to leave on foot should also frantically yell: 'To the exit!'. That might fool the demons a little bit and hopefully distract them from our true objective.”

At this point I realized that we were already talking about some details when Randalph hadn't even given his consent yet.

“Randalph. What do you think about this?”

“From the beginning I knew it was impossible to rescue everyone. We might have been able to deal with the trainees but when I saw some guards it became clear that they have too high of a lvl for us. Thankfully, our auras are as strong as ever but they wear equipment that provides them with high resistance against elemental-based magical attacks. One or two at once could be manageable but any more than this and they would simply overpower even 20 of us before we could do any real damage.”

“There is a way to protect yourself against auras? I didn't know this...”

“Nearly every magical attack can be countered with the right means and it's obvious that their gear has been chosen with our peculiar abilities in mind, though the effectiveness can vary a lot. Well, back to your question. I don't like it but we have always been fighting by sacrificing ourselves over and over again. I won't hinder anyone who volunteers...” (Randalph)

Resistance against auras and a high lvl. Our task was impossible to begin with but I had failed to take these facts into account. It was a different world, though it's rules weren't completely unknown to me, it was still something I hadn't been able to internalize into my way of thinking, yet. That had to change fast if I didn't want to go under. Sadly, I had no secure tomb and myriads of servants that would allow me to safely learn everything I needed. We had to act fast. [Well, our objective isn't to win against them anyway. It is just to stall for enough time so the others could escape.]

It was never wrong to gather more information so I asked.

“What is the lvl of the guards supposed to be?”

“From what I've seen I would put them around lvl60. In their case they could survive inside the range of your aura for two minutes or longer before any real harm would be done to them.” (Randalph)

“Lvl60 would make them captain in most armies. That is as strong as I was, before coming here. You are telling me there are 50 of them? That's going to be rough...” (Crence)

“Our objective still stands, though. There was no chance of winning a fight to begin with, we knew that already. Nothing really changed. Or do you have a suggestion on how to better our situation?”

“Not really, just that the group attacking the teleport-circle is done for. Have fun, Lucius.” Crence said that with a smirk on his face. Good for me I had already been prepared for him.

“Oh, I have to tell you that the group trying to leave by foot will be accompanied by you. No teleport for you. Just go already and run while I entertain the guards. There won't be anyone left to notice you. You are only the back-up plan. The idea for that group came to me with specifically you in mind. I figured your character would know how to appreciate minor duties.”

“You bastard, I was starting to have some respect for you because you'd willingly storm the enemy place to let us escape. So you won't let Aoi go with you but you'd sacrifice me without a second thought?”

Joking around with a comrade before a violent fight to lessen the stress. Who would have thought that I would ever do this? Harassing him was fun but we began to waste time. [Though I had started it...

How should I answer him?]

If I were a side-character in an anime about clapping your hands and getting shot by homunculi I would have now tried to overact the situation by saying something like 'I don't want to be the only one left after this. Keep me company!'. The reality was much harsher, though. Even without the ability to use an aura, Crence's skills were just too valuable to leave him without a task. I wasn't able to find an exit but he could.

Before I was able to say something serious to him he stopped with his act and shrugged his shoulders.

“I guess I'll go with that group then.”

Just like this. [You already knew it would be like this, didn't you?]

With this our planing was concluded and we started to aggressively free the prisoners and capture demon trainees on this side of the lava-stream. Randalph positioned some 'Children' at the bridge to cover our backs and also stop any demons that might have been able to slip through our grasp while we were doing our work. It wasn't really hard. With the element of surprise we were able to use the same method as always: getting close unnoticed and then activating a fiery prison for them. Cavern for cavern we cleaned up that way until we reached the second last one.

Brensek's information was wrong. A guard was there with 3 younger demons. From afar we could hear him scolding the trainees for some kind of mistake. Demons came in all forms and varieties. This one was more than two metres tall, had red skin and a set of barbed antlers. I could imagine that if he used them in battle they would have a similar effect as a saw. His upper body was clad in an armour with excessively long shoulder-plates, below it a leather tunic that would stretch over his inwardly-bent knees. On his back, a two-hander.

Was this a chance? Absolutely! Randalph and I were together with nine other 'Children'. After he motioned us his desire to attack and confirmed it with me, we readied ourselves. Reaching their position in a sneak attack was impossible, it was one straight line of 40 to 45 metres towards the end of the cavern. Eleven of us faced of against the elite guard with each 'Child' on top of two demons. In a crescent formation we stepped into their line of sight and moved towards them.

The bloodlust in our eyes was enough to tell the guard everything he needed to assess the situation in a heartbeat. He reacted immediately and barked out an order to the three trainees.

“You three, form up a line! On my command, fireball!” It took the three a couple of seconds to react but they followed his words .

Randalph let out orders of himself.

“Demons, if you want to live, counter those spells! Fillion, a 'Defiance-Aura'! Support the demons! Move steadily forward until we are in range for an offensive aura.”

“Fire!”

Upon this, the rookies performed sweeping arm movements as if they were throwing rocks, while the guard put his two arms above his head, drew a circular arc away from his body and ended the exercise when both of his palms where stretched out in front of his breast. With this, three small fireballs and an excessively large one were aimed at our direction. In the middle of it's path the large fireball had to split off in six smaller ones, of all things and for a moment I understood why cluster bombs had been banned by the Geneva Convention. Panic could be seen from our demonic mounts but they still frantically fulfilled their task.

Each one of them had a different understanding of how to counter a fireball. Five let out fireballs of their own, while three others used something akin to an incredibly piercing jet of water. One even erected a wall out of earth. The most impressive one simply held out his finger and a barrage of small explosions appeared at the spot where he pointed towards.

Even then it was barely enough to counter the six smaller fractions of the fireball which had been cast by the guard. Although they were hit by multiple other spells during their flight, they didn't completely vanish and where about to hit us. I could already feel the heat as the fiery death drew closer but some ten metres in front of our position they were suddenly clad in a white bluish light and began to disperse. Only small bits of flames were able to reach us in the end to inflict minor wounds.

“Lucius, good work with the 'Sanctuary-Aura'! Keep it up and lets move forward before he can cast another one!”

He said it himself. It was a defensive aura of the highest grade. Instinctively, I understood that we would need the best defence possible against this kind of attack. After Randalph had explained to me the nature of an aura I realized what he meant, when he was talking about me using a 'Sanctuary-Aura' unconsciously. Somehow or the other it had a similar sensation to the time when I realized that physical pain means actually nothing in the face of true agony. Feeling my own Mana-pool and turning it into a mirror was something I was not able to do. But if the same effect could be created by recalling this sensation, I was more than content with it at the moment.

The guard snarled at us and showed his teeth. After this first violent greeting a fierce fire-fight broke out with magical spells and counter-spells. We didn't only concentrate on defence. Surprisingly, some demons fired off their attacks at what were supposed to be their allies. [Areti wasn't lying when she said that one guard could keep dozens of trainees in check] He handled the countering of our spells completely by himself, calmly covered for his trainees, gave out orders for targeting, and shot magical attacks of his own towards us. Despite his appearance he wasn't a beast, but a trained soldier. In one word: it was incredible. When he failed to counter an attack he was still able to simply kick a small-sized magical projectile away or punch it with his hands, protected by gauntlets.

Still, our formation steadily approached them in a way that three men would move up, while the rest covered for them. then the next three and so on. We had already closed half of the distance.

This is when the red-skinned guard suddenly let out a shout: “Defend!” And began with the same movement as in the initial moments of the battle. He had obviously been waiting for us to draw closer so we wouldn't have enough time to chip away at his fireball's strength. His three rookies weren't able to counter all of our spells and some hit the guard and managed to hurt him badly but he didn't stop in his tracks.

Fillion and another 'Child' both spurred their demons to move faster so they would be in range for their auras to stop him from finishing his movement but they came too late. Another one of these excessively large and deadly balls of fire came out of his palms.

Our two companions in their advanced position had no chance. Them and their four mounts were hit straight on and got shredded in the erupting explosion.

Now I understood why they would still fight in a tight formation, despite the obvious destructive power of those attack spells. A close formation allows you to counter them easier. Would the wars on my old world look the same if such a formation allowed for protection against grenades, rockets and artillery fire?

[Oh wait...they died and I'm calmly analyzing the situation. Well, not that it's forever...]

We lost two men but it was finally the time for us to seriously strike back, now that we were in position. The guard made a mistake by aiming at our two men in the front instead of the whole group. Randalph's fiery aura was the first to give our four opponents it's regards.

I had thought the battle was now decided but the elite still didn't give up. When he realized with wide eyes what was happening he clanked twice with his left arm's bracer at his breast-plate and the stone embedded in it began to glow, signalizing the activation of some kind of defensive barrier for him and his three demons who were already visibly exhausted from casting all those spells.

[Why didn't he use that from the beginning?]

The answer came in the form of Randalph's next order.

“Varying offensive auras, now!”

The 'Children' abode by using auras of different elements. Fire, ice, and lightning auras hit the barrier in quick succession. However, only fire was held back and even then it wasn't negated completely. Then, whenever a different element would hit, the guard would clank his bracer once, twice, or thrice to change the type of his barrier, but was hardly able to keep up with us. Like this, he was immobilized himself, could only defend and had to hand over the task of attacking to the three young ones after barking another order. This barrier only allowed for a defense full of holes. [So that is why he had waited with it until there was no other choice.]

Backed into a corner, the three rookies were the first to die. Shocked and frozen they fell on their knees, their eyeballs had long been burst.

The reaction of the guard was truly astounding, though. In the face of a superior enemy he didn't give up. When the three demons fell and the stone in his bracelet crumbled into pieces he gripped his weapon and charged boldly forward. With billows of smoke following his movements he ran towards another human as he burned to death. In his last rise, the already burning demon let out a dreadful shout and performed the miracle of an incredibly fast swing that cut through both, the 'Child' and one of his slowly reacting mounts. They could have survived it the other demon-mount wouldn't have panicked and abandoned them in his desperation.

The fight was finally over. We had lost three men and five demons, although we were 33 against four.

[How long will my group be able to hold out against dozens of those guards? So this is a high lvl opponent with superior gear...]

Stolen story; please report.

“He never gave up. Rather disciplined.” (Lucius)

“We had luck. Despite his high lvl it seems he wasn't really experienced. If I were him I would have cast three or four of those splitting fireballs in the beginning without any break to crush us. I also wouldn't have covered the three rookies for that long. He probably counted on their support instead of realizing how little difference they made in this fight. The moment we were in range for the offensive auras he should have abandoned them and simply rushed towards us with his two-hander. However, they have their drills down, that much credit you have to give them.” (Randalph)

“We still lost three men.” If you counted the demons, too, the number of casualties rose to eight.

“Well, he had the superior firepower and the advantage in terrain. We had to attack without cover, so I'd say it was within expectations. Rather, we only lost three men. Though the number could have been lower if our demons had attacked him with more vigour. The second splitting fireball could have been avoided...”

I inspected the remains of the demon, he was burned beyond recognition and his armour was badly damaged.

“Can we use some of his gear? He has another bracelet.”

“Yes, it's really another one. The idiot used his first one too excessively. Usually you'd only put a barrier around yourself. Then the Mana-stone could hold out longer. You should take it, Lucius. You'll definitely need it.”

“It works by clanking it to a metallic object?”

“No, see those runes here? Just draw them in the air with a finger to cast the respective barrier. It takes longer than clanking, so the guard didn't use it. This rune is for fire, this one for water. However, it can't fend of against lightning. Still, a high grade object. Normal soldiers wouldn't wear such a thing.”

I somehow expected him to give me another snarky remark at my question, just like he did when I was asking about auras. It was a pleasant change of pace but I suspected a certain reason for it.

“How much did Aoi and Crence tell you about me? Where I come from, specifically.”

He realized what gave him away and had to smile wryly at that.

“Honestly, I can't believe it. Regardless, it seems you believe it, so I'll simply take it as it is. It wouldn't be the first time I had to deal with insane people. If that insanity was the reason why you could free us, then I'll take it as a blessing.”

[Those two windbags will get a scolding later...] The only answer he got from me at that was an honest laughter. I had no desire to further discuss the topic, nor was there a need for it at the moment. That is why I moved back to the equipment of the elite guard.

“What's with the armour and his weapon?”

“Too heavy to carry for us in our situation. A real shame...the carvings in it indicate that the wearer could replenish his personal Mana with the one outside of his body. So this is why he could fire off so many spells...it deformed anyway so there's no use in crying over spilt milk.”

The fight was a disillusioning experience altogether and showed me clearly what to expect in the upcoming confrontation.

Notwithstanding, this engagement taught me a lot. We lacked long-range attacks and had to use our demons to cover for us, who were barely able to hold out. Melee was out of the question, either. With the intelligent use of our auras, however, we were able to overcome a high lvl opponent, despite our shortcomings. Mid-range is where we excelled during this combat. [If we had the strength to fight in close combat situations and a strong armour to keep us alive longer, it would enable for the full use of our auras. Bring in a possibility that allows to hastily approach the enemy even under a barrage of magical attacks...then the 'Children of the Dawn' would turn into a truly fearsome force to be reckoned with...]

Without taking the fight against the elite guard into account only one other 'Child' died during the operation and had to revive, while 7 demons fought back and had to be killed, three others were injured to a degree that they couldn't move any longer. Altogether, we were now 73 humans and 89 demons. The squad at the bridge alone, caught 26 trainees. Freeing the prisoners from the chain still took some time but they were wide awake. A 'Sanctuary-Aura' had to be simply activated for their sake to dispell the curse and they were immediately ready to be carried away.

73 humans against 900 trainees and 49 elite guards. Matters were complicated further by the fact that not everybody had the ability to use offensive auras. After counting, the final number of attackers amounted to 64, which was still high, according to Randalph.

What impressed me a lot was the fact that all 70 'Children' (including Randalph) volunteered for either suicide mission after the situation had been explained to them. Self-sacrifice was something none of them feared. If you counted Aoi, Crence and myself in, then every one of us was ready to give himself or herself up to allow the others to flee. [Just what kind of a community did I become a part of?]

After two hours of rest, it was finally time for our main attack.

-------

Location: The not so secluded vantage point above the main cavern.

A young demon, maybe around the age of 14, was there together with a female representative of his species. Of course, his only intentions right now were to sweet-talk himself into her pants. He had asked her out with the promise to show the lady a wonderful view and a picnic. Unbeknownst to her, he even prepared a love potion to smoothen the process.

The training in this facility was rather hard and he was already close to the end of his time here. In his opinion he had earned himself some fun to alleviate the accumulated stress. There was still another day left to reach his desired goal of lvl 20. In two months he would have attained adulthood and was already strong enough to be considered for the position of a petty officer.

The plan was in it's final stages, the love potion had been secretly administered long ago; his pubertal instincts were at their maximum and ready to take over.

This is when something unexpected happened. From what the adolescent could gather some other trainees barged in from the other side of the cavern and produced a commotion. Not long after, the sound of a horn could be heard. He didn't know it's meaning but the fearsome guards obviously did. They gathered and quickly left in the direction of the garrison, which only resulted in further agitating the situation.

By now all rookies had stopped to find out what was happening. The girl on the lecherous boy's side began to show more interest in the situation than in her date. She looked over the 50m high cliff and shouted down.

“Oiiii! What is going on there?”

Someone was kind enough to not let her out of the loop and answered back.

“Some humans escaped and are now attacking the settlement!”

The female was all ears at that, her lust completely gone. Not even the potion was able to bewitch her any longer. Their position allowed them to overlook the whole cavern and they saw that a number of young trainees had already left for the settlement and many more were just setting off in that direction.

She grabbed the shoulder of the boy that suddenly appeared a lot less attractive and spoke to him.

“Ne, ne...should we also go to the settlement and watch? It's bound to be interesting!”

The boy, worrying that his quality time might be cut short, was quickly rebooting his brain that was sent into  snooze mode. Searching for an answer that would sound convincing and could prevent the girl from leaving, he began to think.

In this facility the only real harm to the body ever came from the guards and the occasional dispute with another trainee, but basically it was a very safe place to be in.

“Don't! Stay here. Mingling in the guards business is never a good idea. We might see something that we could regret and there has been no order for us to mobilize, too. See those hundred or so that are staying back to train? These are the smart ones who know that nothing good ever comes out if you stick your nose into things that do not concern you.”

He waved his hand over the people that stayed back and made an approving gesture.

Certainly, the boy's thinking wasn't wrong. You could even see some kind of intelligence in them. Granting all this, no five minutes later his words would be proven fatal, though.

From the entrance, opposite to the one leading towards the settlement, a stampede of particularly weird figures appeared.

Humans, carried by demons as if they were riders. Unparalleled consternation was reflected on the faces of their unlikely mounts. With tears and screams accompanying their charge, they stormed into the crowd of confused young recruits. His pubertal instincts were blown away by this sight and a more primordial one took over. The will to stay alive. Behind them some sounds could be heard.

“This must be the vantage point that the Captain has spoken about.”

“Someone's there. Clear them out!”

Leaving the girl behind the boy's head was only filled with the thought of fleeing from all of this. In his helplessness, and because of the lack of escape routes the only thing that he could come up with was to climb down the steep cliff. He heard his date begging for her life but paid it no mind, worrying for his own survival only.

“Someone climbed down! Throw rocks at him!”

Hearing such a thing, the near-adult doubled his already frantic pace and lost his balance. In this short moment, where weightlessness would soon merge into gravity, he vaguely noticed that for the first time the shadowy play on the walls would display the death of demons.

-------

Randalph's POV

I saw the idiotic demon that thought it was a good idea to climb off the cliff, violently rolling down and landing on the ground. There were no motions from his body to be seen.

The attack itself was a success until now. I had moved the main camp close to the bridge, positioned another team to watch out for our escape route, and sent a third team up to the vantage point so they could tell us about how the situation looked from up top.

The team at the vantage point gave a sign that everything was secured, a finger was held up high to tell me that they had one captive.

[Good. They followed my order to capture them alive if possible.]

We went on with our attack. The demons were more or less caught off guard by our assault. There was no telling what drove them to stay back and blindly follow their training, despite the case of an emergency. [Was it the greed for an extra ounce of experience?]

My tactic was rather simple. Every possible advantage was on our side. The enemy was unprepared, unorganized, not in any kind of formation, and was slightly fewer in numbers. Our wedge formation split them into two groups, one consisting of a third of the demons and the other one of the rest.

There was practically no resistance at all when we took care of the smaller group. All they could see was a fiery wall that came closer and we drove them like cattle with whooping cries against the end of the cavern and into their death.

The tactic itself wasn't all that important. It was just something I came up with in the spur of the moment. The important part of the assault was to present the enemy the steadfast and spirited approach of a closed formation. Such a sight should induce them with enough panic to not put up any resistance and that was my aim.

Lucius did a wonderful job. All the guards and most demons had been enticed away. I couldn't believe my ears when he proposed the plan earlier, allowing the rescue of Godmother. Certainly, his actions do have a logical basis, but they only supplement his reasoning. He is mainly driven by his ideals.

That thing where he came back from the scouting trip with his limbs cut off made it absolutely clear. After that I couldn't possibly tell him that I simply killed my demon to get back as fast as possible, hence I would risk a serious rift between us. Such a useless debate couldn't be afforded at this time. [Well, it wasn't a lie that he attacked me. He just did it after realizing what I was up to...]

It would be also good if he never found out that I killed five demons before the attack to set an example and heighten the morale of the other captives. If my suspicion about him is right, and he was really able to feel the presence of Godmother, then I have probably already sealed my demise. Still, if I could save anybody by sacrificing all of our demons, I'd do it in a heartbeat.

But I don't despise this new 'Child'. Admiration, I believe, is what I actually feel for him. His actions aren't the result of a naïve kindness like the one you could find inside a man who has never seen any true horror. Instead of kindness, he has morals which he upholds in an ironclad fashion, even if it hurts himself. Yes, he was simply a better man than me.

[Our ground has chosen...]

The first third of the demons wasn't completely annihilated yet, but most of them had serious injuries and none had the will to fight. For a moment only, I humoured the thought of making no prisoners here to break the morale of the bigger group which had started to organize a weak resistance, but decided against it.

Closing their door to life would have only motivated them to seriously fight back.

I detailed two 'Children' to keep an eye out on those injured trainees and made my way towards the other side of the cavern where the confrontation was still going on.

The two groups didn't really engage each other. We had split of a portion of our men with the task to  stall for time until we defeated the smaller pack of demons. From time to time some spells came flying through the air that were mostly blocked by our defensive auras. During the fight against the elite guard only Lucius' aura was able to give some kind of protection. Against these weak spells a 'Defiance-Aura' was more than enough. Though, with Aoi and her 'Sanctuary-Aura' present we had absolutely nothing to worry.

Still, I didn't like what I found. Content with their position, none of our demons were actually shooting out any attack magic. [It might be time to negotiate. We have no time for a prolonged fight.]

I went forward into the first line and let out a shout.

“Demons! Ground your weapons and live! You have ten seconds! Otherwise we will begin with our attack.”

It was useless to say anything else. A group that lacked any structure or representative was best pushed into a mass hysteria as a whole by proclaiming an ultimatum. They might also mistake the lack of attack spells coming from our side as a calculated act of mercy that would soon find it's end.

A couple of demons began to study the reactions of their comrades, some to seek out advice through sharing gazes, others to see if they weren't the only ones willing to give up. I had no patience for this.

“Ten! Nine! Eight! 'Children', ready yourselves! On the count of five, activate the offensive 'Aura of the blazing Sun'! Demons on our side, on the count of one, a barrage of magical attacks. After that you will move up in an orderly fashion! Comply and live!”

A visible shock went through our opponents. Movement could be seen, some demons tried to get behind others, a first weapon was thrown on the ground.

“Seven! Six! Five!”

It is an impressive sight if a space of 15 metres in front of a line of men suddenly begins to exude fire out of nothing. It is even more impressive if those people are not harmed by it in the least but the opponent would begin to imagine what would happen if they came in contact with that fire.

68 demons surrendered in that instance.

After this, they were searched for Mana-Stones and other helpful items. Altogether, we were now in possession of five of those precious marbles. [That should be enough to teleport a hundred of us out.]

Ten trainees were tasked with freeing our leader as fast as possible. The attack had only happened eight minutes ago and we were already able to proceed with the most crucial part of our plan.

Positioning a lookout at the main path to warn us if anything happened, I began to worry about the situation in the settlement. How long would they be able to stall for time? Ten minutes? Fifteen?

The more time went past, the greater my anxiety became. Freeing Godmother took nearly half an hour. Just when the last bit of her skin was unshackled from the chain, a messenger riding on two demons arrived. Those who couldn't fight were left at the camp to observe the reviving spots of the 'Children' with the two diversionary teams. Like this, we would have been able to immediately know it if those groups had been defeated, and the messenger's duty was to inform us of this.

[We were able to free her just in the nick of time...]

“Captain Randalph!”

“Speak! Have they finally been defeated?”

“A message from the attack team has arrived. Lucius Faber sends his greetings. He has laid waste to the enemy settlement and is currently engaged in a fight with the remnants of the guards.”

[He did what?]

Then the whisper of a female voice reached my ears.

“Randalph...explain the situation to me. Also, who is Lucius Faber?”

The messenger and I reacted at the same time. Both of us went down on a knee. The greeting we had longed to say, was finally allowed to leave our lips.

“I am yours to command, Godmother.”

-------

Location: Original Demon Continent

The route from the embassy to the underground dungeon was rather roundabout. If one wanted to take this visit upon him, he had to first use a teleport-circle to transport on the original demon continent, go by carriage for three days, and then you had to enter a specially made circle that would connect to the one in the main hall of the settlement.

All this had to be done in order to prevent the accidental discovery of the prison, if the embassy was ever invaded.

Entering this special circle was accompanied by many inconvenient bureaucratic formalities. However, for his personal use Lord Bagrat had installed a private teleport-circle that would lead directly to his mansion in the settlement, situated beneath the surface.

His entourage counted 20 ceremonial guards and his aide, Nertiri. It was the usual amount of soldiers he took with him on official inspections, adhering to the credo that a sufficient number of visitors would always have the right effect on the inspected.

With a glass of fine wine in his hand he gave the order for the first ten men to teleport over. It was a standard measurement. They would inform the servants on the other side of the lord's arrival so they could prepare for everything.

Going by protocol, he waited five minutes and entered the circle himself.

When the black demon left the magical portal on the other side he couldn't believe his eyes. The ceremonial guards were in an uproar and shouting violently orders at each other, confused as to what the next course of action should be. From somewhere outside, the familiar sound of multiple attack spells buzzing through the air could be heard.

Lord Bagrat Ver 'do San slowly left the teleportation chamber and went to a balcony. From there he had a good view over the garrison and the whole settlement. It was a complete war zone. The garrison was gone, half of the buildings were burning, and dead demons were lying around in the streets. Those weren't just nameless peasants but the offspring of aristocrats and civil servants. Explaining this debacle would be hard.

He gripped one of his ceremonial guard's neck with a muscular arm, held his face down towards the floor and used enough force to nearly break it. His usual elegance gone, he said with a voice that barely contained his anger.

“What, in the empire's might, has happened?”

“W-we are under the attack of human prisoners, Milord!”

“Then stop shaming the empire any further and lets begin to collect their heads.”

End of Chapter 13

Afterwords: You can't imagine how often I accidentally wrote “Paladin Lucius sends his greetings.”? Damn! I, myself can't wait for the moment when I can finally use this line.

I also hope some of you got goosebumps at Lucius's thought of what the 'Children of the Dawn' might become if you clad them in full body armour and give them close combat skills...

Question: Could anyone tell me the right english term for the leather part of the elite guards armour? I couldn't find anything, despite searching for 20 minutes. Initially it wasn't supposed to be a tunic but some kind of skirt with metallic plates on it, somewhat resembling a scottish kilt.

Before anybody asks. They do not need to sleep, yet. Only Aoi took a nap. She was the one who was freed from the chain the longest and didn't revive for quite some time.