Rows of leather tents lined up a few meters away from us, the lazy hue of the moon barely lighting its roofs. Unlike the monster villages, this camp -- more like a village -- was set in an orderly fashion. With the Mossquitoes still following the Golden Sun’s faction, Bria easily tracked and got their coordinates with her search spell.

Splitted into units, G1 and G4’s troops took north, while G2 and G3’s were on the east. Each of them had half a Kobold village and three War Orcs. Gorda, along with the other Kobold village and the remaining War Orcs took west. The four Nighthowls became mounts for my four Goblin subordinates. The Skizmos, Rihoku, Bria, and Shiki stayed by my side and took south.

I patted Rihoku’s soft, black fur and whispered to him, “Let’s do this, buddy.”

Rihoku’s ghastly howl haunted the night, signaling the start of our attack.

Specks of orange suddenly appeared at the distance, quickly moving towards the camp. The sound of stampeding footsteps filled the air, and the sound of a bell rang a few moments after. The humans’ camp started to clamor as, I assumed, they scrambled to prepare their forces. Suddenly, an orb of light rose from the middle of the camp towards the sky and affixed itself five meters above the ground.

The orb acted like a sun, lighting the entire camp and a few meters around it. What’s that? I thought as I turned my gaze to Bria, whose eyes glimmered in curiosity. I figured asking her in that state wouldn’t bode well. Instead, I looked back towards the camp.

The specks of orange from my army’s torches continued to advance. They had arrived near enough for their faces to be lit by the light. The ones in front had even started to engage the adventurers.

“Tsk. They weren’t defenseless,” I muttered under my breath just in time to watch in horror as lit arrows rained down my army, felling more than a dozen at once. I shifted my gaze towards the camp, where a dozen or so hooded figures were setting another volley of arrows. Behind them were robed adventurers holding staves and seemed to be blanketed by different hues.

Wizards! I mentally shouted. The ones who kidnapped Bria flashed across my mind, and a spark of rage lit inside me. Still, they weren’t ones to be underestimated. They could do more damage than the volley of arrows. I grit my teeth. Things weren’t going in our favor. But just then, the wizards started to fall one after another. A fountain of crimson staining their robes from neck down, and my worry diminished a bit.

“That’s our signal. G4 is taking care of the wizards.”

I mounted Rihoku, who sent another howl, and ran at full speed. Shiki was just beside me, keeping up with Rihoku’s full speed with ease, and the Skizmos were behind me. Each of their steps shook the steps, an obvious failure of every aspect of a surprise attack. Still, they were an indispensable part of our attacking role. Finally, the last of our force, Bria, remained. Her role was to support the entire battlefield and save as much of our force as she could.

Rihoku continued to dash towards the southern part of the camp. Since it wasn’t initially attacked, it was completely defenseless. I did my best to avert my eyes from the carnage of my army and look forward, but the stench of blood and the sound of death made my stomach churn still. We slowed down, reaching the area lit by the orb. I looked left and right, searching for our target while my heart beat like a rampaging drummer. Where are you, Golden Sun?

Then, a realization hit me. I looked up, blinded by the bright light. He must be there.

“Rihoku, follow the light. Let’s go to the center.” I gave Rihoku another gentle pat, and he took a step forward. Suddenly, we swayed. I almost lost my grip, but Rihoku immediately regained balance. “What’s wrong, Rihoku? Are you tired?”

Rihoku simply whimpered in response. I figured something was wrong and alighted.

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“I’m afraid not, my liege. This light is imbued with light magic, monsters and demons’ weakness.”

“Demons’ weakness?” I thought aloud. Why is it not affecting me? I’m a demon too, right?

I brushed the thought aside and looked at Rihoku. Indeed he seemed weakened and was even struggling to stand up. Lost in thought, I somehow loosened my guard. When I looked sideways, two bolts of lightning were zooming towards me. But before they could hit, a massive metallic armor appeared in front of me and blocked the attack.

“Are you uninjured, my liege?” Shiki asked without looking back.

“No,” I replied, shocked by how fast things happened. But I didn’t have the time to gawk. When Shiki moved, six adventurers were already rushing towards us, while another two were chanting behind them.

“Attack!” I shouted in a rush, springing everybody into action.

The still slightly weakened Rihoku regained his feet and snarled. Meanwhile, if the two Skizmos were weakened by the light in the slightest, they weren’t showing it. Their war axes met spears, swords, shields, and maces. Even though our side was clearly outnumbered, our strength was equal to the adventurers, and they were obviously stronger than those we faced before. Adrenaline fueled me, and my confidence was boosted seeing how great we were holding out.

“Shiki, make a path for me!” I told Shiki.

“As you command, my liege.” Shiki drew Kiriwan and Kirito. Heavy black aura covered the both of them, which were quickly sucked in. Shiki crossed them in front of him, then slashed. An X shaped slice ten times darker than my Crescent Slash materialized, cutting the ground as it rushed towards the adventurers.

The wizards finished chanting and bolts of fire and lightning flew towards the Shiki’s X slash, but the bolts were merely cut down like they were nothing. Seeing the slash, an adventurer wielding a huge shield came forward. He stuck his shield on the ground and planted his feet behind it, ready to receive Shiki’s attack. Another moment, a purple aura blanketed his entire being, while the X continued on its path without any hint of slowing down. A moment before it hit the shield, a familiar golden wall appeared. Energy surged, and the air crackled. Black and golden sparks flew from the collision. The momentary standstill quickly ended as cracks on the golden wall appeared, and it was starting to be pushed back, pushing the shield and its wielder alongside it.

The other adventurers joined in and supported the shield wielder, but the golden wall already broke. The X slash hit the shield and forced its way through it, leaving it in four pieces. The shield wielder, having lost his shield, roared, and for a moment, I swore I could see his muscle bulked inside his silver armor.

The X slash hit his chest plate, but to my surprise, it didn’t cut him like butter. He held each slash with each hand and pushed back, shouting in the process.

The X slash started to wane, but so was the shieldwielder’s hand. His gloves were cut, and trails of blood sizzled as it dripped to the ground. Still, the X slash cut through him, hitting his plate and sending the whole lot of them flying, sending them a few steps back. The shieldwielder laid still, a deep X cut revealing his organs.

My stomach churned, and my hand went to cover my mouth in case my lunch decided to show itself once more. I forced my eyes to look elsewhere, scanning the others. The other adventurers were already regaining their feet. Although they were sent flying, they didn’t seem injured. Other than the gory state of the shieldwielder, everyone else was unscathed.

“Commendable.” I heard Shiki saying in his usual husky voice.

Did he just compliment the adventurers? I shook the thought. It wasn’t the time to be having those kinds of thoughts.

The adventurers picked up their weapons, stared at the fallen shieldwielder for a moment, then roared.

“Now, my liege. Go.” Shiki signaled.

Seeing the path Shiki’s attack had created, I used Wind Walk to rush forward. The adventurers charged towards me, but were stopped by two green giants and a walking armor of death, keeping the path open. I continued to use Wind Walk to pass them. Still, both wizards were unfazed with me passing them. Instead, they continued chanting. Seeing that, I anticipated another volley of lightning bolts or fireballs. However, those didn’t come. Instead, the solid earth underneath my feet turned into mud. Fortunately, I wasn’t relying on the ground to dash forward. I used Wind Walk and made sure to kick just before my soles touched the ground.

Seeing that, the wizards resumed chanting, then pointed their staves at me. But before they could, sharp fangs had already sunk on one of the wizards’ neck, prompting him to send a fireball towards the sky. The other sent a green glob of liquid towards me, but it didn’t have the speed of the lightning bolt. I sidestepped, and the glob easily missed. I used Wind Walk again to zoom forward just as Rihoku pounced on the other wizard.

My lips curled to a smile. I gave my silent thanks to Rihoku then threaded the rows of tents, keeping my eye on the golden light hovering above the camp. These moments were when I wish Bria was beside me. Her search spell would make things a lot easier.

As if on cue, a voice spoke on my shoulder, “Head left. He’s on the sixth tent to your left.”