As the group settled down in the barrier, two battles unfolded before them. One was between the Right Arm of Xemir and the two Demonic leaders. The other battle took place near the castle gate between the castle defenders and the demonic armies. While the first battle saw its combatants still staring each other down, the second battle was well underway. Even in this late stage of the war, the demonic soldiers streamed in like there was no limit to their numbers. The valiant efforts of the castle defenders saw them cutting down droves and droves of demons but, for every demonic soldier they killed, two took its place.

How are they giving humans such a hard time? Dreu asked Bayard. I fought those demonic soldiers. They are numerous but they are weak individually. The castle defenders are all veterans compared to me. In terms of experience, training and skills, they all vastly outrank me. I can also tell they have a great formation to greatly minimize the numerical advantage of the demonic soldiers. Yet, it looks like they are slowly getting overwhelmed.

It’s all Eglallin’s doing.

She cast a buff on all of them?

In a way, said Bayard as he gestured to the castle defenders with his head. Do you notice something abnormal about the way those humans are fighting?

Dreu took a whole minute observing the humans and recalled the training Bayard provided him. Once he compared what he was taught and what he observed, one flaw jumped out.

They are attacking with all their might when engaged with the demonic soldiers. Why are they doing that when they only need a fraction of their strength? Don’t they know they need to pace themselves out?

As I mentioned before, a human, when fighting in fear, doesn't always make the most logical decisions. They generally rely on their instincts. Do you remember the three reactions a human may have in these situations?

Fight, flight or freeze.

Correct! Those are battle hardened veterans so flight and freeze are out of the question. Yet, their fighting style changes if they experience fear. That’s the secret weapon of the demons.

They are battle hardened veterans as you described. There’s no way they can be afraid of those demonic soldiers.

That’s where Eglallin comes in. Demons have an inherent aura that can cause fear in low level humans. The demoness has a spell that increases the potency of that aura by several magnitudes. No human is safe from that aura when the demoness is around. Feeling fear, those veterans are subconsciously overexerting with each attack and they won't realize until fatigue has settled in. Now you know how the demons managed to reach the capital.

This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

Since you and the other summons don’t rely on stamina, you all appear unstoppable compared to any human.

We have a massive advantage over the humans when it comes to facing the demonic soldiers. We can act logically and not worry about statuses like fear. Given that we also don't bleed or suffer concussions, we can fight at our full strength until we're defeated. Bayard gestured to the two demonic leaders. Against those monsters or the Demonic Scorpions, we are completely out of our league.

Dreu took a moment to digest all the information. He had always wondered how the humans were defeated so easily. The knights he aspired to be were so powerful in stories and appeared pathetic in actual combat. The fact that the demonic invasion wasn't slowed down could originally be seen as the humans being both weak and complacent. Bayard just provided him with a couple of puzzle pieces needed to see the bigger picture. He turned to Eglallin and was in awe of her. Regardless if she was an enemy or an ally, he couldn’t deny the terrifying ability of her spell. The death of so many of the kingdom’s best warriors was proof to that.

Dreu snapped out of his thoughts when the two demonic leaders made their moves. Braglames approached from Rowan’s right side while his shadow approached from the left. Green fireballs formed around Eglallin but those fireballs transformed into the shape of arrowheads. The arrowhead fireballs hit Rowan just as Braglames and his shadow struck at the demi-god. The fireballs were once again thwarted by the barrier while Rowan expertly parried the two halberds with his two swords. Braglames and his shadow continued striking at the demi-god but, despite their best efforts, Rowan always positioned himself so he could intercept each halberd strike coming his way.

“They’ve broken through!” Sela shouted as she pointed at the castle gate.

Everyone turned their attention to see the last of the castle defenders brought down by the masses of demons. At that sight, Sela sobbed as she fell to her knees.

“I’m sure there are more brave soldiers defending the rest of the castle,” offered Jeane.

“I heard the king himself is quite a warrior too,” added Gaenor.

If they needed to buy time, Dreu asked Bayard. Why didn’t they keep the castle gate closed?

Gaseous Ghouls would make short work of the gates. The defenders probably thought they could hold out longer without the gate. I estimate there’s only 20 minutes left before the Purificator would be ready. They were close a-

Before the footman finished his sentence, he quickly raised his shield and stood in front of Dreu.

“Sela! Pour all your magic into the crystal!”

The sorceress hesitated for a brief moment before she went along with what Bayard said. Moments later, they felt a blast hitting their barrier like a tidal wave. The barrier came close to fully shattering multiple times but Sela managed to repair it in time. When the blast finally subsided and the dust settled, everyone looked in the direction of where the blast came from. To their shock, a being similar to the Right Arm of Xemir stood at the castle gate and it was slaughtering the demonic soldiers with ease.

“Who is that?” asked someone in the group.

When no one responded, Dreu repeated the question to Bayard.

I don’t know, replied Bayard simply.